Batutegi Forest, home to critically endangered species like the Sumatran tiger, faces severe threats from illegal hunting, logging, and agricultural expansion. This project empowers local communities to patrol the forest and adopt sustainable practices to reduce threats and protect biodiversity.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Situation
Sumatra faces alarming deforestation rates, threatening ecosystems like the biodiversity-rich Batutegi Protection Forest (BPF). BPF spans 60,000 hectares with a critical 11,000ha core zone, home to 12 threatened mammals, including the endangered Sumatran tiger and Sunda pangolin. Illegal hunting, logging and agricultural expansion drive habitat loss. Poverty, weak governance, and unclear land use laws exacerbate pressure on this critical forest ecosystem and risk irreversible biodiversity loss.
Solution
Our holistic, community-led conservation approach empowers local people to protect their environment. We provide training in sustainable agriculture and support local communities to actively patrol the forest (drones, camera traps) to deter illegal activities and safeguard this vital ecosystem and its threatened species.Despite its name, BPF isn’t a conservation area. We will lobby the government to increase BPF’s protection status to an, Essential Ecosystem Area, to secure its long-term future.
