From Production to Protection: The Wehea-Tabang Project

The Wehea-Tabang Project

“Our partnership with the Rimba Collective makes long-term rehabilitation possible,” explains Kasraji Mustari, Division Head of Operations at NCI, “through knowledge sharing, concept development and planning, and, finally, implementation.” With more than 30 years’ experience, during which time he has worked in everything from helicopters to becaks (motorised rickshaws), Kasraji has seen plenty of projects fall short due to a lack of ambition. “Many investors take a ‘hit-and-run’ approach,” he explains, noting that the long-term funding model of the Rimba Collective represents a much-needed break from the norm. “Without this long-term support, projects rarely complete their full cycle,” he says, adding that “this is a key difference.”

Kasraji also identifies the Rimba Collective’s holistic approach as a factor in NCI’s decision to enter into this partnership. The initiative integrates three key themes—climate, community and biodiversity—and Lestari Capital is working with Belayan and Narkata to co-design management approaches that integrate them all into a single, interconnected landscape management strategy. “That holistic approach is a powerful tool in conservation,” he explains, “because it gives us a better chance of achieving our objectives on a much bigger scale than we could by working alone.” Nevertheless, Kasraji and his field teams understand that this kind of development does not happen overnight. “This will be a long process,” he explains. “It will require time, money and patience.” 

Wehea-Tabang Project: Targets & Expected ESO Returns

• 160,000+ hectares of forest protected and restored
• 5,500 people supported across 16 villages
• 40 species protected, including the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)
• 14.5 million tonnes of CO₂ avoided and removed over a 25-year project timeline
• 500,000 trees planted 

Biodiversity: The Foundation of Forest Restoration

“There are four techniques we can use to calm a frog,” explains Khairuddin Iqbal Supartha, Head of the Belayan River Timber (BRT) Carbon & Biodiversity Unit, during a moonlit herpetofauna patrol upriver from the Belayan jungle camp. “First, we dampen our hands; then, we dim our headlights so as not to startle them; after that, we gently stroke their belly, which puts them into a kind of trance and allows us to study them in detail.” The fourth method, Iqbal explains, is to “gently but deliberately” shake the frog by its hind legs—though he prefers not to use this method, as it seems a little indelicate. 

Iqbal has loved frogs, toads and other amphibians ever since he was a child, and began turning passion into profession during his time as student at Gadjah Mada University in Java, where he was a member of the Herpetofauna Study Group. “I find amphibians incredibly unique,” he explains, casually tickling the tummy of a yellow-bellied tree frog in the light of his head torch. “What particularly interests me is that these animals, despite being much maligned and widely misunderstood, can serve as valuable indicators of forest ecosystem health; amphibians are also fascinating because of their unique and beautiful morphology—they are an especially diverse group, and we continue to discover new species out here in the wild all the time.”

By the time dawn breaks, Iqbal and his team have documented a staggering variety of amphibians and reptiles along this river; data gathered on these patrols enable the project to monitor ecosystem health, identify and prioritise areas of high conservation value (HCV) for restoration and evaluate the success of these approaches over time. Iqbal and his team insist that granular data collection at ground level is the foundation on which large-scale forest restoration is built. Looking to the future, and the bigger picture of the project, Iqbal is optimistic: “by protecting these habitats and the wildlife they support, I hope we can continue to gain a deeper understanding of the many incredible species that live here,” he says, before adding that “now we have joined the Rimba Collective, I believe we are moving closer to achieving that hope.”

Read more | Explore the only region in the world where tigers, orangutans, elephants and rhinos all roam wild in the forest, in this Story From the Field in Sumatra.

Climate: Restoring the Lungs of the Earth

Thriving wildlife populations depend on healthy habitats. Large-scale reforestation is the key to restoring these ecosystems, and also upscaling climate impact. In Narkata, the forest restoration team are working to reach an annual production target of 140,000 seedlings to support planting efforts, and are having considerable success; propagation survival rates currently exceed 90%—although survival varies according to species and landscape conditions, this is an unusually high success rate, indicative of the care and expertise going into nursery operations in Narkata.

Workers here see their work as vital, not just to local restoration, but to wider climate mitigation efforts. “Forests are the lungs of the Earth.” says Sutarmono, Head of Conservation, Restoration and Protection at Narkata Rimba. “At the international level, forests play an important role in carbon sequestration and the absorption of greenhouse gases; by maintaining and restoring them, we can help regulate temperatures and contribute to climate stability.” When asked what motivates him personally to do this work, and why it matters, his answer is unequivocal: “because if not us, then who? And if not now, then when?”

Restoration efforts in Narkata and Belayan are essential to achieving climate goals, but their impacts reach out into various other areas too, from biodiversity to social stability and supply chain resilience. While degraded forests upstream from sourcing landscapes can leave supply sheds exposed to greater risk and volatility, healthy forests provide a buffer against climate shocks and support the ecosystem function that underpins productivity. As Sutarmono explains, “a healthy forest contains rich biodiversity, good natural regeneration and complete ecological functions; if the forest is damaged, communities (and companies) will immediately feel the impacts.” And this leads us nicely to the next pillar in the Wehea-Tabang Project structure: social development.

Read More| To better understand the linkages between healthy forests and supply chain resilience, read this article about the 2025 floods in Sumatra.

Community: Sustainable Livelihoods, Rooted in Local Culture

In the Rimba Collective model, restoration is coupled with protection. This typically involves patrols and regulatory enforcement to address identified threats and challenges, such as poaching, illegal logging, destructive agricultural practices and mining, but also addresses the root causes of these threats by working closely with communities to find viable economic alternatives. For the Wehea-Tabang project, the biggest challenge is land-use pressure and encroachment risk around forest boundaries – communities cutting down trees on forest boundaries and claiming the land for future cultivation, to meet their food and financial needs. 

Through close collaboration with local government and the development of sustainable, alternative livelihood opportunities with the communities themselves, the project is working to address the underlying conditions behind these concerns, providing workable, profitable alternatives and building community buy-in for conservation approaches. Ultimately, this will reduce pressure on the forest, while also building the socio-economic conditions and collaborative networks needed for long-term impact at scale. Around the borders of the Belayan concession, a raft of sustainable livelihoods being developed by Wehea-Tabang includes a rattan weaving collective and a farming co-op. In both cases, the project utilises existing local knowledge, traditions and priorities to create solutions that are firmly rooted in local culture. 

“In the past, most of us had never really worked together on activities like this,” explains Sukriyawati, a mother of four who was born here in Muara Wahau Village, but educated in the city. Known to her friends as ‘Bu Alus’, she is now the leader of a local group supported by Wehea-Tabang called Family Welfare Empowerment (Pemberdayaan Kesajahteraan Keluarga, or PKK). “Before joining the project,” she says, “most of our members would plant crops in their own garden plots—but this programme has brought them together and helped them increase their knowledge, experience and practical skills.” So far, Bu Alus’ group comprises 27 women and three men, with additional support from two dedicated farm workers. They work together to cultivate a one-hectare plot provided by the local village government, where they grow chilli peppers, aubergines, bitter melon, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, cucumber, tomatoes, long beans and, more recently, tobacco. 

Crucially, by providing the space, skills and organisational structure to support farming within the village, the project is reducing the need for local communities to open new farmland on forest boundaries. The members themselves are benefitting too. “The women here have not only developed their skills, but also become more independent and more confident,” explains Bu Alus, who insists these changes would not have been possible without guidance from the project and their ties to local government. “The support we have received has been extremely helpful,” she says, “but we hope the cooperation won't end here; we hope it can continue and even grow in the future in order to achieve food security here in Muara Wahau.”

Read More | With support from the Rimba Collective, communities in West Kalimantan are replacing destructive gold mining with sustainable rubber cultivation. To find out more, click here

The Bigger Picture: Investment in Natural Capital

The Wehea-Tabang Project illustrates how the Rimba Collective translates large-scale, landscape-level investment into action on the ground. Reforestation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood development form interconnected parts of the same approach, which not only restores degraded areas but also protects the ecological functions of forests and enables local communities to prosper. Together, these interventions are building healthier, more resilient landscapes which are capable of sustaining both people and nature over the long term.

The benefits of this approach extend far beyond project boundaries. Healthy forests help regulate water flows, protect soils and maintain the natural systems on which agricultural production depends. By investing upstream in the protection and restoration of watersheds in areas like Narkata and Belayan in East Kalimantan, the Rimba Collective is also strengthening the resilience of sourcing landscapes downstream, thereby helping businesses address risks to supply continuity, cost stability and long-term performance. In this way, projects like Wehea-Tabang demonstrate the wider business case for investment in natural capital: that funding ecosystem restoration is ultimately an investment in supply chain resilience.

Twenty years from now, a birds-eye view of the forests protected by the Wehea-Tabang Project will reveal a markedly different picture to the landscapes of the past. A vision of healthy, standing forests, growing beyond their current borders and contributing to climate change mitigation; of ecosystems bustling with biodiversity and thriving wildlife populations; of thriving communities, meeting their needs through agroforestry and the sustainable utilisation of natural resources; and of productive, resilient sourcing landscapes, sheltered by functioning watersheds and the valuable ecosystem services they provide. Wehea-Tabang is a crucial piece in the wider mosaic of Rimba Collective projects; together, they provide a picture of what’s possible and a pathway for investment that can bring that vision into focus.

To learn more about the Wehea-Tabang Project, watch this video on our YouTube Channel