Merangin and Sarolangun District

Project Background

Illegal gold mining is a specific issue in the project area, whilst forest fires and human-wildlife conflict are wider issues across the entire region.  

Location & Total Area 

The four project areas are managed by four respective Village Forest Management Institution (LPHD) across two districts in Jambi province; Pematang Pauh and Talang Tembago in Merangin District and Tambak Ratu and Batin Pengambang in Sarolangun District with a total area of 10,887 hectares.

The project safeguards a substantial portion of the buffer zone surrounding Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP). 

What is special about this project 

The KSNP landscape, of which the project area is part, is an integral component of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the 'Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra' (TRHS). The landscape boasts exceptionally rich biodiversity and serves as a critical site for the in-situ conservation of endangered species, including the Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and Helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil). 

The four Village Forests (HD) are located at a deforestation frontier; inroads of forest clearance in the vicinity is a serious threat to KSNP and the wider KSNP landscape. These four sites can be seen as bastions of defense against a creeping tide of deforestation from the northwest.

How we add value to this project 

Together with the Rimba Collective, Yayasan Satunama will look to mitigate all these threats primarily by improving the management and technical capacity of local community groups and empowering local law enforcement to better protect the boundaries of the four village forests.

Given a growing issue in the region concerning human-wildlife conflict, the project will also look to work with the four LPHDs in implementing human-wildlife conflict mitigation measures in the project area.