Borneo (Petuk Barunai)
On Borneo, Trees for All is working on restoring a rare type of tropical forest: heath forests. We’re doing so with our partner Borneo Nature Foundation and the local population of the village of Petuk Barunai.
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The challenge in Petuk Barunai: deforestation for palm oil
On Borneo, many forests are disappearing due to the production of palm oil: an ingredient used in nearly all our everyday products, such as food, cosmetics and cleaning products. Another problem is illegal gold mining. Around the village of Petuk Barunai – with a population of over 600 – many forests have already been lost for these reasons. What remains are scorched tracts of land where only ferns thrive, which hinder natural forest regeneration.
So the residents of Petuk Barunai want to work on restoring and protecting the forests. With the help of our project partner Borneo Nature Foundation, they’ve set up a community forest to prevent the development of a new palm oil plantation on that spot. Their aim is to restore and protect the native forest there, as well as to ensure they can live from the forest in an environmentally-friendly way.
The lack of budget poses a considerable challenge to that aim. But your donation will enable us to help the community get started, along with our partner Borneo Nature Foundation!
Scorched tracts of heath forest, where the only thing to thrive are ferns that hinder natural forest regeneration.
Forest restoration and protection: how it works
Along with Borneo Nature Foundation and the community, we’ll be planting 20,000 trees on around 23 hectares of land:
- Some of these are native trees that are endemic to heath forests, such as the rare Shorea hemsleyana. The villagers will plant them in the scorched parts of their community forest, which are now overgrown mainly by ferns. Planting trees provides shade, so that the ferns gradually disappear, making way for natural regeneration: the process by which native species of tree start to regrow spontaneously.
- We’re also introducing agroforestry, whereby fruit and nut trees are planted. Examples include Durian, Rambutan and Cashew, which provide products like fruit and nuts. Before long, the villagers will be able to harvest various forest products and sell them at the local market, while the native forest remains intact as far as possible. A sustainable alternative to palm oil plantations and illegal gold mining!
Yet another advantage of forest restoration is that nature benefits as well. After all, more forests means more habitats for endangered animals on Borneo, like the Bornean orang-utan, the gibbon, the Malayan bear, the clouded leopard and the Borneo bay cat.
From tree nursery to forest protection
The villagers receive support not only in planting trees, but also in maintaining and protecting the forest and in preventing fires. Our partner Borneo Nature Foundation – who also helped set up a local tree nursery – gives special training courses in these areas.
Education and research are also important parts of this project. For instance, Borneo Nature Foundation provides information about the importance of forest restoration and maintenance. In addition, we support research into the restoration of heath forests and the reforestation of land that’s been damaged by illegal gold mining.
We hope that this insight will enable us to successfully restore even more forests on Borneo in the future.
More forests also means more habitats for animals in the tropical forests of Borneo, such as the Bornean orang-utan, the Bornean clouded leopard and the Malayan bear.
The planting location
The forest of Petuk Barunai is situated in the Rungan Landscape, where the rare, critically endangered heath forests (also known as Kerangas) grow. These lowland forests grow on sandy soil and are found in only a few places in the world. Officially recognised as a community forest in 2023, the forest of Petuk Barunai is managed and protected by the local community itse.
Our partners
We’re working on this project with our partner Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF). This non-profit organisation has already been working for 25 years on nature conservation and scientific research in the rainforests of Borneo. The local team of Borneo Nature Foundation supports the village communities on location with planting, managing and maintaining the forest, while focusing on areas like technical training, education and research.
Aditionally, the planting of this forest is made possible by The Flower Farm. This brand is known for its 100% palm oil-free products to reduce deforestation of rainforests. The Flower Farm appeals to consumers to also donate a tree and is doubling all these donations.
This Trees for All project contributes to the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals
