Indonesia

Why reforest in Indonesia?

Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet and home to about 23% of the world’s mangrove forests. However, in the last 50 years, Indonesia has lost over 40% of its mangrove forests. It is also consistently ranked in the top three countries for the highest rate of deforestation. The effects of deforestation have significantly impacted indigenous communities, who are often the first to feel the negative effects of climate change.

How we started

In 2017, we began working to restore mangrove forests in Indonesia. By initiating meetings with local leaders, we identified planting sites and learned of the local community’s needs. The leaders on Biak Island had already realized an urgent need for forest restoration and had independently launched a small-scale mangrove reforestation effort. Recognizing our potential for large-scale restoration, they partnered with us to initiate mangrove reforestation projects. This paved the way for us to launch projects and hire local community members to start planting on Biak Island in West Papua.

Where we're working

"Only at Eden": sailing between islands and climbing trees

Working in some of Indonesia's most remote and least developed areas with limited cell and internet service, our reforestation teams have to make some drastic moves to communicate with each other. For example, on Padaidori Island, there are no cell towers. As a result, our leaders must sail to neighboring islands until they have enough cell reception to share tree planting information and planting progress photos. Sometimes, the waves are too treacherous for them to sail back to their home, causing our team leaders to be stuck on a neighboring island for at least a month. In areas with cell towers, the cell service is so weak; our Monitor Leader, Bagus Yuhayya Prihmantoro, has climbed a tree for a phone call with our US Monitoring Department. Sailing to other islands and climbing trees are just two examples of how our Indonesia reforestation team finds creative solutions to the challenges they face in the field.

Our progress to date

After one year, our tree planting efforts in Indonesia exceeded initial expectations, with over 1.7 million trees planted by the local communities. Since then, we have expanded to a total of fourteen project sites in several remote islands and the mainland of West Papua. Through our reforestation and agroforestry programs, hundreds of people living in extreme poverty are given new opportunities for economic self-sufficiency and food security.