Forest Restoration and Enrichment Habitat

The Sebangau Katingan area (SEKA) is bordered by two major rivers, the Katingan and the Sebangau. This 2,359,000ha area has a strategic conservation value function due to its rainforest cover, high biodiversity, orangutan habitat, and the presence of the local community. Administratively, these locations are in the Katingan, Gunung Mas, Pulang Pisau, and Palangka Raya regencies. There are 1,434 villages in the landscape with a population of 320,000 (Statistical data 2020). However, the forests of the SEKA landscape are under severe pressure. Deforestation and forest degradation in SEKA are driven by lack of coordination and non-participatory land use planning. This leads to competing interests in exploiting the forest and drives change in the function of the landscape into plantation, mining, agriculture, and infrastructure development. To help address this loss of forest WWF Indonesia works on restoring forests in deforested areas and enriching critical degraded forest patches. Areas for intervention are prioritized based on corridor connectivity considerations to ensure the continuity of forest stretches for the stability of the orangutan population. We also strive to pursue restoration efforts that protect the growth of rattan species in the Sebangau Katingan (SEKA) landscape. Rattan, which requires trees to grow, is a product of the Katingan Regency forest that can be collected responsibly by communities as a source of income. Rattan-producing forests can create financial benefits for these people, incentivizing conservation and sustainable use of the area. The proposed H&M Group and WWF Forest Restoration and Enrichment in Sebangau Katingan project would contribute to reforestation and tree species enrichment in a further area of 350 hectares. The project will contribute to the overarching vision to support the improvement of forest cover quality in the Sebangau Katingan landscape, orangutan habitat, and livelihoods for communities living in and around the forest area.