Bringing Loggers and Villagers Together for Forest Conservation

In a remote forest in Indonesia, The Nature Conservancy worked with indigenous villagers and an Indonesian logging company to halt a long-standing conflict and lay the groundwork for sustainable logging in this starkly beautiful area.

To broker the agreement, the Conservancy helped the logging company, Sumalindo Lestari Jaya (SLJ), adopt sustainable forestry practices that bring more lucrative product to market — because buyers will pay more for certified wood.

Our scientists identified and mapped areas of high conservation value — including socially, culturally and ecologically important areas within the concession such as village cemeteries and the nesting grounds of rare species — that the logging company agreed to avoid.

We strengthened the ethnic Dayak villagers’ collective governance and negotiation skills — skills they used to forge an agreement with the company that brought them electricity, access to doctors, revenues from the logging, scholarships for their children and this road.

Finally, the Conservancy continues to act as an honest broker — helping both sides monitor compliance with the agreement.

Read the whole story by Robert Lalasz, Director of Science Communication, on nature.org.

(Image: Segah River as seen from Long Laai, a Dayak village in the Sumalindo IV logging concession, East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. By Robert Lalasz/The Nature Conservancy)