Indonesia's Forest Guardians News

Local and indigenous communities play an important role managing and protecting forests. Research published in 2014 by World Resources Institute and the Rights and Resources Initiative concluded that community-managed forests experienced an average deforestation rate that is 11 times lower than land outside their borders. Legally recognized, community-managed forest amounts to 513 million hectares or an eighth of the world’s forests, and there are many more community-managed forests that have yet to receive legal recognition, but should be provided that recognition by the government. To showcase some examples of community-managed forests, Mongabay's Indonesia team is developing a series of case studies in Indonesia.

A return to mixed roots in a Sumatran forest

Mapping indigenous lands in Indonesia’s tallest mountains

An indigenous group reforests its corner of coastal New Guinea

A Bornean village conserves a forest the government listed for cutting

Kalaodi, Tidore’s eco-village in Indonesia’s spice capital

How ‘jobless men managing the sea’ restored a mangrove forest in Java

The cousins from Indonesia who revived an ancient spring

Hectare by hectare, an indigenous man reforested a jungle in Indonesia’s burned-out heartland

Community plants green shoots of hope in the land of the lost Javan tiger

Land rights and access to credit in Sulawesi community brings prosperity to land

A Borneo village maps its land to protect against encroachers

Bali’s mountain dwellers govern with ancient palm leaf treatises

The indigenous community whose forest is their supermarket

An indigenous declaration in Kalimantan looks to make history

Advances from oil palm interests leave Sulawesi village unmoved

Punk rocker likes what he sees in Sumatra’s resin forest

In the shadow of a metropolis, a community revives Java’s lost forests

The village where a curse protects the forest

A village in Borneo turns away from palm oil

After the tsunami, a forest restored along a river in Aceh

Could canned fish soup stop government-community conflict in Sumatra?

A Dayak village campaigns for rights to its forests

Lombok’s blooming community forest bears fruit and raises livelihoods – and haj trips

From conflict to partnership, a Kalimantan community and logging company manage the forest together

Powered by the land: The Sumatran village that conserves forest for electricity

Indonesian villagers transform ailing forests into oasis of fruit

Indonesian village opts to protect mangroves, preserve livelihoods

Palm oil a mixed blessing in Indonesia’s peat peninsula

Communities create timber company to protect Sumatran forest

Sulawesi communities build big, unique houses by sustainably managing forests

Rapid development threatening traditional farms, forests in West Papua

After 10 years vying for protection, Kalimantan community granted legal rights to community forest

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