Bringing Thriving Futures to the ancient forests of Indonesian Borneo

Local people work toward land restoration in Indonesian Borneo | Planet Indonesia

In August 2024, Legado officially began working with our newest partner, Planet Indonesia.

Our work together will take place in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, located on the island of Borneo. This is Legado’s first partnership in Southeast Asia, and we cannot wait to bring our Thriving Futures methodology to an entirely new landscape!

This partnership will work by integrating Legado’s Thriving Futures methodology into Planet Indonesia’s Core Model approach, which supports local solutions, needs, and values to enhance the potential of Indigenous and rural communities to restore and maintain the balance between humans and nature.

West Kalimantan is home to some of the the most biodiverse regions in the world | Planet Indonesia

By bringing the two models together, local and Indigenous community leadership will become central biodiversity conservation in the area. In the first stages of our work together, Legado and Planet Indonesia will work alongside four Indigenous Dayak communities in Melawi to secure land rights, reduce poverty, and lead across their holistic priorities toward building a Thriving Future.

Here are some quick facts about our newest partnership:

Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.

Planet Indonesia's work spans 1 million hectares of biodiverse landscapes and reaches 43,000 indigenous and local families.

Our partnership starts by working with four Indigenous Dayak communities in Melawi district, nested in the 2 million-hectare Arabella Schwanner landscape.

In the Melawi district, Indigenous Peoples hold potential land rights to 70% of the landscape.

This region is home to Borneo’s largest remaining Orangutan population, among other endangered species.

The helmeted hornbill is one of many rare species that call Borneo home | Justin Grubb/Planet Indonesia

At Legado, we are passionate about conservation led by communities and driven by their self-determined priorities. Only then is holistic, sustainable climate justice—what we call Thriving Futures—possible. Our newest partnership will be a model for using community-led approaches to conservation across Indonesia.

Interested in helping support Indigenous communities in Indonesia as they build their Thriving Futures? Contact Marie-Ève at marie-eve@legadoinitiative.org.