RAWA MEKAR JAYA

RAWA MEKAR JAYA VILLAGE FOREST IS LOCATED IN RAWA MEKAR JAYA VILLAGE, SUNGAI APIT DISTRICT, SIAK REGENCY, RIAU PROVINCE, INDONESIA

The area was formerly a Production Forest owned by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry through the management of KPH Tasik Besar Serkap. Based on the participatory mapping, land tenure in Rawa Mekar Jaya Village is controlled by the State, community groups, villagers, and companies.

Community groups manage land under village forest management institutions with an area of 3,433 hectares; while the company manages land based on licenses granted by the State covering an area of 8080.56 hectares. Through the LPHD (Lembaga Pengelola Hutan Desa, Village Forest Management Institution) Rawa Mekar Jaya has been granted rights by the Ministry of Environment of Forestry to manage a Production Forest Area of +3,433 ha in Rawa Mekar Jaya Village, Sungai Apit District, Siak Regency, Riau Province for 35 years since the permit was issued in 2020.

The area is one of the major sourcing landscapes for palm oil and timber.  Although responsible sourcing and sustainable palm oil programs have been implemented in the area through the SPLP program, the community’s capacity still needs to be built to be able to implement activities to protect and conserve the village forest and to develop forest-based sustainable livelihood.

Grantee Team

Daemeter, the project Grantee, independently or with partners, has been acknowledged by a wide range of donor agencies and companies to manage various projects, starting from those related to responsible sourcing & production, smallholders & livelihoods, landscape & jurisdictional initiatives, and forestry & climate. Together with Proforest, Daemeter has been managing and implementing Siak Pelalawan Landscape Program since 2019.

Daemeter has a strong and experienced finance team comprising management, technical, and finance senior officers. The institution has a track record of managing grant funding from FCDO (DFID) as well as other donors such as SECO, RSPO, Packard Foundation, and several private fundings building up its portfolio cashflow to more than USD 2.5 million annually. Its business approach has enabled it to find public and private partners to fund its projects with increasing aggregate income for more than ten years. There is a robust finance system in place which includes monthly monitoring and quarterly reviews of spending and income program by program and grant by grant. This system has already been checked by other donors and found to be adequate. Additionally, the annual finance report is audited by an independent public accountant with the audit result of Unmodified Opinion to prove the truth and fairness of its financial statements.

Daemeter will be supporting LPHD (Lembaga Pengelola Hutan Desa , Village Forest Management Institution) Rawa Mekar Jaya, through building the community’s capacity to do conservation activities and infrastructures, restoration with native species, alternative livelihood, and water management.

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Biodiversity and Conservation Values

The Rawa Mekar Jaya village forest is home to the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) critically endangered (CR), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) vulnerable (VU), pangolin (Manis javanica) critically endangered (CR).

One of the vegetation in the forest is the Sialang Tree which is the habitat of wild honey bees. Hunting of wild honey bees is a tradition carried out for generations in the village. The critically endangered plant species such as Ramin (Gonystylus bancanus) and Gaharu (Aquilaria malaccensis), are also very common in this forest.

Threats

Rawa Mekar Jaya Village has been one of the empowered villages in the Siak Pelalawan Landscape Programme (SPLP) since 2021. This private sector-driven initiative supports the government agenda to achieve sustainable palm oil in Siak and Pelalawan districts. SPLP has introduced Strategi Jangka Benah (in Indonesian) or the Forest Recovery Program to address the issue of smallholder oil palm plantations that already exist in the village forest area and to create enabling conditions to conduct conservation and alternative livelihood activities.

However, the community’s capacity still needs to be built to be able to implement activities to protect and conserve the village forest and to develop forest-based sustainable livelihood. 

Project Activities

The project includes the following key aCTIVITES:

1.      Mapping and Identification of Village Forest Native Flora and Fauna

2.      Restoration of 500 ha using mixed of native species

3.      Consultation with stakeholders at village, district, and provincial level

4.      Village Forest boundary marking

5.      Support for forest patrol: training and operational

6.      Built 4 patrol shelters with adequate facilities for resting places

7.      Watchtower for forest and fire

8.      Water management

9.      Alternative Livelihood

10. Capacity Building

Quick Stats

Area: 3,433 hectares

Threatened Wildlife: Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) critically endangered (CR), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) vulnerable (VU), pangolin (Manis javanica) critically endangered (CR)

Grantee: Daemeter Foundation

Remaining budget to fund: US$ 139,000

Funding status: Unfunded

Commodities: Palm oil and Timber