Get to Know One of The Main Programs of Belantara, a Wildlife-Friendly Village
Indonesia is one of the mega-biodiversity countries with thousands of flora and fauna. A very diverse biodiversity (in land and oceans) stretches widely from Sabang to Merauke. However, its richness of flora and fauna often faced with the threat of species extinction. The existence of key species in Indonesia and challenges of its existence has attracted a lot of attention from various groups, ranging from the government, academia, environmental non-profit organizations, private sectors, and also the wider community.
In response to these problems, the Belantara Foundation contributes by conserving endemic endangered species through the Wildlife Friendly Village program. Belantara hopes through this program, local communities can live in harmony with wildlife in their environment.
Conflict Mitigation Strategies
The Wildlife-Friendly Village Program is Belantara Foundation's main program that aims to support government programs in wildlife conservation, where humans and wildlife can live in harmony, and village communities can independently mitigate and resolve wildlife conflicts in their village areas.
This program begins with consensus-building between stakeholders and the community, then the formation and capacity building of groups accompanied by the implementation of an early warning system and also animal patrols as a continuous unit. In its implementation, this program is also accompanied by educating local communities about increasing awareness of the importance of conservation, particularly the existence of wild animals in nature.
Capacity building for groups through wildlife conflict mitigation training in this program is prioritized for communities in direct conflict with wild animals. This is intended so that people who often have conflicts can mitigate the occurrence of wildlife conflicts in their areas so that conflicts can be minimized.
Several facilities such as monitoring towers were also built to support the implementation of this program. The formation of a conflict mitigation team was also carried out to make it easier to realize the goals of the main objectives of this program, besides that the team formation also aims to strengthen the participation, responsibility, and empathy of each member.
Key Species and Area of Work
The Sumatran Elephant conservation program has been implemented since 2017 in Riau Province. In implementing this program, Belantara Foundation collaborates with the GSK-BB Consortium. This program is implemented in 6 (six) villages as follows: Melibur Village, Beringin Village, Koto Pait Beringin Village, Tasik Serai Timur Village, and Tasik Serai Village, Bengkalis Regency
The Sumatran Tiger conservation program has also been implemented since 2017 in Riau Province. In implementing this program, the Belantara Foundation collaborates with the Senepis Consortium. This program is implemented in and around the PT. Ruas Utama Jaya, PT. Suntara Gajapati, and PT. Diamond Raya Timber, Rokan Hilir Regency, and Dumai City.
The Orangutan conservation program has been implemented since 2017 in West Kalimantan Province. In implementing this program, Belantara Foundation collaborates with the Partnership Foundation (co-financing with the IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative). This program has been implemented in Sekucing Kualan Village, Labai Hilir Village, Sekucing Labai Village and Kualan Hilir Village, Ketapang Regency.
