Imagine a project that protects an apex predator, improves people’s lives and promotes planetary health. It may sound like the stuff of fantasy, but this is no fairy tale. It is precisely what Fauna & Flora International and our in-country partners have achieved in the Indonesian province of Jambi, deep in the heart of Sumatra.
Phys.org
Tim Knight, Fauna & Flora International
May 12, 2021
Imagine a project that protects an apex predator, improves people’s lives and promotes planetary health. It may sound like the stuff of fantasy, but this is no fairy tale. It is precisely what Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and our in-country partners have achieved in the Indonesian province of Jambi, deep in the heart of Sumatra.
There is more to tiger conservation than a crack team of rangers, however. Beyond the park boundaries, another tale has been unfolding. It is a multifaceted story about community activism, land tenure, indigenous rights, gender equality, carbon sequestration, certification schemes, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, seedling propagation, coffee cultivation and honey harvesting, featuring a cast of characters far too numerous to namecheck here.
Forest guardians
The communities living around the national park and interacting directly with nature are crucial to forest conservation. Since 2010, FFI has been involved in a raft of community forestry initiatives—supported by, among others, the Disney Conservation Fund and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. These began in Jambi, but have since expanded into other, neighboring provinces.
The nature of the work—which is characterized by incremental steps, endless consultations, unforeseen setbacks, bureaucratic obstacles, the literal and metaphorical planting of seeds that are slow to germinate, and painstaking efforts to win hearts and minds—dictates that it rarely hits the headlines in the way that, say, the discovery of a new species, or supporting the designation of a new protected area or the breaking up of an illegal wildlife trade syndicate might. Nevertheless, the cumulative impact on people’s lives, and on the biodiversity that surrounds them, is immense.
