RER adopts appropriate protection strategies that include the establishment of a formal guard and patrol function and bespoke community resource management and protection schemes. RER works with local community groups to ensure that solutions are practical and effective.
We investigate and assess the present conditions of the flora, fauna and wildlife habitats, assisted by expert partners. Initial assessments of the area, physical and social environments are also completed to establish a baseline against which future assessments can be benchmarked, and to ensure that communities are part of this process.
Once protected and assessed, RER carefully restores degraded sites through a process of restocking, using seedlings from surrounding forests. We establish nurseries to cultivate seedlings collected from the wild before carrying out a program of staged replanting. Water level restoration will be developed to maintain water levels critical to the health and functioning of the peat forest ecosystems, with continual evaluation of the effectiveness of our efforts.
We develop comprehensive, long-term management plans with our advisory panel of international and local specialists to ensure the sustainability of the restored forest areas. These incorporate consultation with local communities, government and adjacent forest concession license-holders, and are distributed widely for feedback.
A critical element of the RER initiative is the adoption and maintenance of an integrated production-protection model, where plantation operations on the perimeter of the restoration area not only provide protection, but actively fund ecosystem restoration and forest protection. Years of experience have shown that this is the most reliable, consistent and effective economic model for restoration in Indonesia, especially given the extent of the resources that are required for ongoing active management.
RER has 70 employees and over 70 team members and rangers who work to protect and restore the forest every day. Over 80 percent of RER’s workforce comes from the two districts in Riau where RER operates, namely Pelalawan and the Meranti Islands. This helps RER to establish trust and better understand the needs of forest users.
