This project aims to preserve 64,000 hectares of tropical peat swamp forest. National forest coverage has drastically decreased over the years, brought about by the clearing of forest for agricultural use. In the project’s absence, the peatland area would be converted to palm oil plantations by logging and systematic draining of the peatland. The ultimate goal of this project is to reduce Indonesia’s emissions and protect the integrity of the Tanjung Puting National Park.

Indonesian wetlands are globally significant as their carbon density and rates of land-cover change are among the highest of any forest type in the world. Indonesian tropical peat swap accounts for half of tropical peat swamp forest in the world, at around 21 million hectares. Today Indonesia loses over 2.5 million acres of forest cover annually. The draining of peatlands and post-fire clearing has propelled Indonesia to be one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, ranking third despite being a non-industrialised nation.

This project is one of the most highly regarded and ranked in the world, by various expert bodies, including the UN. In September 2020, Rimba Raya was audited and achieved the highest possible rating of contributing to all 17 UN SDGs. 

Key benefits:

• Preserves the livelihoods of 14 communities living along the eastern edge of the reserve whose land might otherwise be appropriated by imposing palm oil companies.
• Education and capacity building provided to the local community on reducing hunting activity and forest fires and increasing knowledge sharing around sustainable practices to reduce deforestation.
• Funds the education of 3,750 students in the community over 10 years. 
• Helps protect the 105,000 endangered Bornean orangutans whose populations have declined by 95% in the last 100 years.
• An estimated 104,886,254t of CO2 emission reductions expected over 30 years.

We’ve partnered with the team at BeZero Carbon to provide access to this project for our members. They are some of the best in the business when it comes to high-quality, high-impact climate projects!

This project is verified by Verra VCS - an external audit body that certifies climate projects at scale. Verra develops and manages standards that are globally applicable and advance action across a wide range of sectors and activities.