UNDP conducted monitoring and evaluation of the Kerinci Seblat National Park landscape. Kerinci Seblat is an expansive national park located in Sumatra, covering four provinces: Jambi, Bengkulu, South Sumatra, and West Sumatra. It is a 1.4-hectare forest home to 371 species of birds, primate species, and 85 mammal species, including Sumatran tigers.
Assignment for UNDP Indonesia
The team ready to embark on a four-wheelers to the middle of the forest
Scenic view of Durian Rambun
Abton, a youth figure in Durian Rambun village that borders the national park mentioned that the community’s desire to protect the forest is based on their awareness of the benefits that can be attained from the village forest.
The forest gives the community a sense of security from encroachment threats happening in other areas by people from outside the village.
On top of that, by protecting the forest, the village community has been successfully spared from droughts, while the water supply powering the micro-hydro plant remains protected.
The women in the village use the barrel to manually process coffee beans that they plant and harvest as a part of the women empowerment programme.
Pictured here is a woman with her wooden tool; she was on her way to visit her husband at the coffee plantation.
Common family in the village
Children of Durian Rambun
Rosidi, a former village chief, mentions that Durian Rambun’s village forest serves as a fence for Muara Siau Sub-district
“If the forest in Durian Rambun village is encroached, then other forests in Muara Siau Sub-district will also be encroached.”
“No matter how beautiful a place is, if the forest is not taken care of, then what’s in a name?”
Despite their field work, women of Durian Rambun are not included in the managerial sector of the village forest management for gender reasons.
“Mentorship has enabled us to not only sell coffee in markets, but also manage, and develop the product.”
Novita, a mother of one, was born in 1991. She is one of the women who benefit from the Hutan Kemasyarakatan programme.
Women and girls in Tamiai Village
Girls of Tamiai Village