Innovative approaches to advance forest management and rural development

Our sustainable development models for the Bentarum landscape focus on two key areas:

Strengthening Forest Governance

Advance Hutan Adat (Customary Forest) to increase indigenous land rights

Facilitate standardised village-level land management

Provide the space for villagers to resolve disputes

Build corporate–community agreements

Advance a multi-stakeholder forest corridor

Establish government-led working groups

Tech-focused landscape monitoring

Forest recovery through Tembawang, a traditional agroforestry land-use system.

Develop a landscape-wide biodiversity dataset

Transforming Agriculture

Education Centre, a community centre for climate-smart agriculture training

Hydroponics as a farming solution in rural areas

Digitalise farming activity

Spatial mapping of NTFP potential

Sangga Canopy

Strengthening Forest Governance

Bentarum is still substantially forested but those forests are categorised for different uses, managed under varying regulations. Corporate concessions are expanding. Road and infrastructure development is popular with residents but fragments forests. Through Sangga Canopy, we advance models to strengthen forest governance that support sustainable development.

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Sangga Farming

Transforming Agriculture

Most of Bentarum’s practice some degree of farming, mainly for subsistence. Productivity is low, hampered by poor soil quality, pests, plant diseases and conflict with wildlife. Market access is limited. Through Sangga Farming, we show that small changes, using locally available products, can have a significant impact.

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