“Everything Flows Into the Community”: Connecting Forest Health to Business Wealth in West Kalimantan

Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, is also known as Tanah Seribu Sungai, or ‘Land of a Thousand Rivers.’ Here, a vast network of waterways act as cultural, spiritual and economic arteries in the landscape, shaping the lives and identities of Kalimantan’s Indigenous communities. For those that live and work in this verdant water world, the rivers are lifelines; they provide a connection to nature, access to healthcare and pathways to progress.

And yet, in this landscape of abundance, communities face stark realities. Limited access to income, employment and resources has driven some of those living in remote areas to engage in illegal logging, land clearance and over-extraction of forest products. The Kapuas Hulu region in particular has been hit hard by deforestation, losing an average of 51,782 hectares each year from 2012-2018. For many local people, the choice between survival and sustainability has often felt like an impossible trade-off.

But even rivers can change their course. Together with local NGO Bentang Kalimantan Tangguh (BKT), the Rimba Collective is working to shift the narrative in West Kalimantan. With long-term corporate funding and deep local engagement, our joint approach combines forest protection with livelihood creation. By addressing poverty at its source – and investing in economic activities that are regenerative, rooted in traditional knowledge and respectful of nature – we aim to reduce pressure on the forest, while creating new, self-sustaining channels for community development.

In this edition of our Stories From the Field series, we travel to the villages of Tamao and Melemba to witness how this integrated approach is flowing into everyday life: from honey farms and community-led water enterprises to sustainable weaving and rattan handicrafts, Rimba Collective corporate funding is providing a wellspring of nature-based solutions, flowing into remote areas like the rivers of Kalimantan.

Connecting Forests to Health, Wealth and Community Well-being

Ibu Yuliana carefully lifts the lid on a wooden box in her garden, revealing a miniature city of amber that’s bustling with stingless bees (kelulut). For the villagers of Tamao, these boxes represent a golden opportunity for the local economy. As she explains, the bees and their treasure have been a relatively recent discovery.

“When I was a child, no one really paid attention to stingless bees,” says Yuliana, a 45-year-old schoolteacher and part-time farmer who was born and raised here in Tamao. “People only collected honey from wild bees that make their colonies in trees. But now, we realise kelulut have so much value and potential – for health, economy and the environment.”

Yuliana’s communal garden is home to around 50 colonies, each one cared for by different members of the community. Villagers usually harvest twice a month, and can yield up to 20 litres at a time. The honey is a natural remedy for childhood asthma and coughs, and is used by some local women as an anti-ageing treatment. Tamao’s bees provide financial benefits too – one 150ml bottle of honey sells for IDR 80,000 (US$ 4.85), while larger ones go for IDR 150,000 (US$ 9). “At a recent exhibition,” says Yuliana, “we earned over IDR 2 million (US$ 120) in just one week.”

In Tamao, stingless bees (kelulut) are supporting community health and offering value to local economies, while also acting as indicators of a healthy forest (photo: Chris Alexander)

Throughout the village, communal gardens are brimming with new hives, each one cared for by different members of the community (photo: Chris Alexander)

With training and funding support from the local LPHD, villagers in Tamao have learned to set up, care for and cultivate their colonies. Each hive repays its keeper with around 40 litres of honey a month (photo: Chris Alexander)

Ibu Nicola (left) and Ibu Yuliana (right) split their time between beekeeping and working at the LPHD and the local school, respectively (photo: Chris Alexander)

The honey they produce has a sweet, citrus flavour; a taste of nature’s bounty in a bottle (photo: Chris Alexander)

“A healthy forest means healthy bees and healthy communities; protecting the environment is crucial.” – Ibu Yuliana, local beekeeper and schoolteacher, Tamao (photo: Chris Alexander)

The beekeepers of Tamao are harnessing the value of nature and its capacity to provide. Along the way, they have noticed a connection between ecosystem health and the wealth of the community. “A healthy forest means healthy bees and healthy communities,” says Yuliana. “If the forest is damaged, the bees suffer, and so do we; protecting the environment is crucial, not only for us now, but also for future generations.”

Using funding from the Rimba Collective, the LPHD in Tamao is helping beekeepers like Yuliana to unlock the full potential of honey production, through a combination of training, marketing and promotion. “With more support and resources, this programme could grow far beyond our current reach,” says Yuliana. “We could even inspire local kids to get involved. If we invest in this now, it can provide a reliable source of income for our children and grandchildren.”

A healthy forest means healthy bees and healthy communities; protecting the environment is crucial, not only for us now, but also for future generations.

Ibu Yuliana

Beekeeper in Tamao

BKT in Brief:

An Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) project
Categorised as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)
Covers 14,249 hectares of tropical rainforest in Kapuas Hulu District, West Kalimantan
Home to 89% forest cover, 11% non-forest (lakes, swamps, shrubland, etc.)
Covers four village forests (Kensuray, Lanjak, Melemba & Tamao)
The project area is an essential buffer zone between the Sentarum Lake and Betung Kerihun National Parks, part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves
Rimba Collective funding for BKT II began in February 2024

From Pipelines of Progress to KUPS of Water

Tamao is located in the Embaloh Hulu sub-district of Kapuas Hulu Regency in West Kalimantan; an area renowned for its rich biodiversity and dense tropical rainforests. However, the village's remote location means those who live here have limited access to basic resources like safe drinking water. With support from the LPHD, another local enterprise is finding nature-based solutions to this challenge.

“Our target is for everyone in the village to have access to clean drinking water,” explains Cesari Rizloni (Roni), who is chairman and treasurer of a social forestry business group (KUPS) that is working to meet the needs of the community, while also reducing local deforestation. “Before, people had to boil water and collect firewood from the forest. Now they can just buy a refillable gallon for IDR 5,000 (US$ 0.30).”

Water comes from the forest. If the forest is damaged, the water source will suffer too.

Cesari Rizloni

Chairman of KUPS, Tamao

Roni’s group bottle water from a natural spring in the forest, which comes to the village via a small reservoir and pipeline maintained by the LPHD. As he explains, “the initiative has made a tangible difference – now they have clean drinking water, fewer people are getting sick.” With support from the LPHD, the pipeline is also channelling economic benefits into the community. “Every 6 months, if revenue meets our targets, we share profits among the 13 members of our group,” explains Roni. “It’s just enough to help with their household needs.”

Like Yuliana, Roni insists there is a clear connection between environmental protection, the health of the community and the future of his business. “Water comes from the forest,” he says. “If the forest is damaged, the water source will suffer too.”

Water in West Kalimantan is essential to community wellbeing. It provides a connection to nature, access to fresh water and pathways to progress through sustainable livelihood projects (photo: Chris Alexander)

Mas Huber, a member of the Tamao LPHD, beside a natural water course in the forest that has been redirected to provide safe drinking water for the community (photo: Chris Alexander)

This water is then treated, bottled and sold to the villagers by a KUPS established in collaboration with the local LPHD and supported by Rimba Collective funding (photo: Chris Alexander)

Pak Roni, the chairman of the group, says “the initiative has made a tangible difference” to the health and well-being of his community (photo: Chris Alexander)

For the 13 members of Roni’s group, water flowing from the forest has brought new economic opportunities into the village (photo: Chris Alexander)

Rivers & Lakes: The Arteries of Melemba

Around 60 km and a 5-hour boat ride from Tamao, the floating village of Melemba sits on a lake between two national parks (the region is an essential buffer zone and wildlife corridor for biodiversity, including orangutans). Here, another LPHD supported by the Rimba Collective is generating new livelihood opportunities around age-old traditions; through a combination of rattan handicrafts and traditional fabrics, the women of this community are leading the way in a project that generates income through the sustainable use of NTFPs.

The group utilises an abundant natural resource – rattan – which they use to weave baskets, bags, mats and even laptop covers. Pak Sodik Asmoro is the Head of the Melemba LPHD. Many years ago, he worked these forests as a logger, but says there’s more long-term value to be gained from a healthy forest, when managed correctly. For Sodik, rattan is a symbol of this shift in perspective. “Rattan is the opposite of timber,” he says, “because the more you take, the more it regenerates.” Importantly, the value extracted from these resources stays local, rather than being siphoned off to outsiders. As Sodik explains, “it all flows into the community.”

Women living in the village longhouse in Melemba use rattan to weave baskets, bags, mats and laptop covers. Supported by training from the LPHD, these activities are bringing additional money into the community, while reducing pressure on the forest (photo: Chris Alexander)

In addition to being a strong and malleable craft material, rattan is uniquely suited to cultivation, as it requires regular harvesting to stay healthy and regenerate (photo: Chris Alexander)

The finished products include high-quality rattan mats, which can be used to furnish the longhouse or sold to buyers outside the community (photo: Chris Alexander)

Training from the LPHD has helped Melemba’s women develop their skills, including the use of natural dyes made from fruits, roots and other forest resources (photo: Chris Alexander)

Pak Sodik Asmoro, head of the Melemba LPHD (photo: Chris Alexander)

The longhouse in Melemba, surrounded by healthy waterways and lush, productive forests that support the community’s livelihood projects (photo: Ivan Batara)

But arguably the most valuable – and most renewable – resource the community have is their traditional knowledge. As members of the Iban Dayak tribe, many women here are skilled weavers of traditional fabrics called tenun sidan. Working at backstrap looms in the long, sunlit corridor of the community longhouse, they create intricate motifs inspired by nature, using colourful dyes provided by the forest itself.

One of the women on tenun duty today is 21-year-old Utas, who splits her time between weaving and working as secretary of the LPHD. “Working about 8 hours a day,” she explains, “I can finish one piece in around 2 weeks. It’s hard work, but I find it really peaceful.” In her role at the LPHD, Utas supports the group with training in natural dye techniques, product development and marketing. “We already have the products to sell and skilled women to make them,” she says, “we just need help reaching buyers.”

BKT II Targets for Livelihoods & Biodiversity

14,249 hectares of tropical rainforest conserved
78 species of flora and fauna protected
10 social forestry business groups established across four villages
646 households with improved NETT income through project activities
193 women benefitting from empowerment activities

One of BKT’s main goals for the project is to support communities in improving their livelihoods and create new job opportunities. This is aligned with the Rimba Collective’s wider objective to empower women in forest‑frontier communities; improving their work conditions, creating jobs and increasing access to education, health and drinking water. Crucially, by strengthening local economies, BKT and the Rimba Collective are helping women to achieve their potential as business leaders.

We’ve worked with NGOs before, but they give and then they go. The Rimba Collective is different; this long-term partnership is rare and powerful – it gives us time to build something more sustainable.

Sodik Asmoro

Head of the Melemba LPHD

Every finished piece of tenun sidan textiles represents generations of traditional knowledge, usually passed from mother to daughter (today, Utas is teaching these skills to Sodik’s 5-year-old daughter, Evelina). In recent years, this cultural heritage has attracted broader attention, not just as an emblem of Indigenous identity, but as a sustainable form of artisanal craftsmanship. For Utas, Evelina and the women weavers of Melemba, tenun fabrics represent a connection to the past and a pathway to the future; a way to sustain their forest-based livelihoods, while proudly sharing their heritage with the world.

Dayak longhouses are uniquely communal, productive spaces, where new ideas are quickly shared and skills are passed down through the generations (photo: Chris Alexander)

Mbak Utas, working on a new tenun sidan fabric (photo: Chris Alexander)

Working 8 hours a day at their traditional backstrap looms, it takes the women here around 2 weeks to produce a single tenun fabric (photo: Chris Alexander)

“It’s hard work, but I find it really peaceful.” (photo: Chris Alexander)

Finished tenun pieces feature intricate motifs inspired by nature, along with ancestral stories told through geometric shapes that are unique to each tribe. The colourful dyes come from the forest (photo: Chris Alexander)

These traditional skills have been passed down by generations of Dayak mothers to their daughters, like 5-year-old Evelina (photo: Chris Alexander)

Common Threads: Sustainable Livelihoods, Interwoven With Forest Protection

Like the rivers of Kalimantan, Rimba Collective funding has been the lifeblood of new, community-led business ventures. In Tamao, beekeepers like Yuliana have connected forest health to the wealth of the community, and waterfalls have created a wellspring of new ways for entrepreneurs like Roni to support their well-being. In Melemba, the BKT II project is not only encouraging local people to protect their forest, but empowering them to create new livelihoods from the resources it provides.

Turning potential into progress, and progress into lasting impact, will take time. For Sodik and his team, this long-term partnership represents a positive change of direction, and a break with disappointments of the past. “We’ve worked with NGOs before, but they give and then they go,” he explains, before adding: “The Rimba Collective’s 30-year commitment is different; this kind of long-term partnership is rare and powerful – it gives us time to build something more sustainable.”

The Rimba Collective is an innovative collaboration between consumer goods manufacturers, NGOs, traders and growers in the agricultural commodities industry. Looking to the future, Lestari Capital is planning to expand its reach and build new partnerships with the sustainable global fashion sector; for the women artisans of Melemba in particular, this signals an exciting opportunity to elevate traditional handicrafts from local markets to the international stage.

In years to come, investors in the Rimba Collective will be able to draw a clear line that intersects community-led nature restoration with sustainable livelihood development and the preservation of traditional knowledge. Each of these themes are common threads of the Rimba Collective approach; modern finance, interwoven with ancestral wisdom to form a tapestry of positive developments across Indonesia.

ABOUT THE RIMBA COLLECTIVE

The Rimba Collective is an innovative, long-term collaboration between leading consumer goods manufacturers, NGOs and forest-dependent communities in Southeast Asia. Our aim is to protect landscapes, livelihoods and biodiversity through a portfolio of high-quality conservation and restoration projects. Over the next 25 years and beyond, this approach will achieve lasting, long-term impact at scale, with over 550,000 hectares of rich forest landscapes protected and 32,000 local livelihoods improved.

To find out more, and to join the Rimba Collective, please get in touch.

ABOUT PERKUMPULAN BENTANG KALIMANTAN TANGGUH (BKT)

BKT is a project developer and operator working in West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. They develop and operate high-integrity projects which provide benefits to climate, community and biodiversity. BKT projects provide natural solutions to the climate crisis by reducing emissions and sequestering carbon, helping biodiversity grow and flourish, and empowering local and Indigenous communities to thrive and be resilient. Phase II of this project is implemented in four village forests in the Kapuas Hulu District of West Kalimantan Indonesia, namely Kensuray, Lanjak Deras, Melemba and Tamao.