The Walmart Foundation has awarded the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) a generous four-year grant to enhance their work in Indonesia. This grant will support a landscape initiative in southern Aceh Province, a crucial area for forests, biodiversity, and smallholder farming communities.
Aceh is the location of the highly biodiverse Leuser Ecosystem, often referred to as the “Last Place on Earth.” It is the only place where orangutans, tigers, elephants, and rhinoceros still coexist.
The grant will empower WCS to collaborate with the Government of Indonesia in safeguarding and restoring this valuable forest and peatland landscape while also improving the livelihoods of rural communities living on the forest’s edge.
Home to the Sumatran Orang-utan, the Aceh forest is considered the last place on earth.
Aceh Province boasts 3.5 million hectares of forest, vital for biodiversity and climate change mitigation, yet threatened by agricultural and industrial growth. The surrounding communities often face poverty with limited options for sustainable livelihoods.
The conservation challenges are evident in southern Aceh, where the last remaining intact peatland ecosystem, Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve, meets Gunung Leuser National Park, part of Southeast Asia’s largest intact rainforest. This area is the unique habitat where Sumatran elephant, orangutan, tiger, and rhino coexist in the wild.
Joe Walston, WCS Global’s Executive Vice President, stated, “The grant will enable WCS to facilitate a collaborative effort with the government and stakeholders to implement conservation plans at a local level, supporting livelihoods and ecosystem sustainability on a larger scale.”
Field patrols and conservation plans will enhance protection for key areas like the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve, while capacity building programs with smallholder oil palm farmers will improve productivity and promote sustainable livelihoods.
Related: how palm oil is destroying rainforests
Julie Gehrki, Walmart Foundation’s VP and Chief Operating Officer, emphasized the importance of the rainforests and peatlands in southern Aceh for wildlife, people, and palm oil production. This initiative aligns with Walmart’s commitment to protect, restore, or manage land sustainably by 2030.
::Walmart Foundation
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