Expanding our partnerships: Improving governance of Kalimantan’s largest marine protected area.

We are excited to announce that we have once again expanded our support to communities across Borneo. This year, we began offering our services to two communities in Kalimantan’s largest marine protected area, reaching the 2,500 people living within the Karimata Marine Reserve.

Calling this 190,000 ha Marine Reserve home are protected species such as dugong, a host of marine turtles, endangered giant guitarfish, octopuses, mud crabs, tiger shrimp, and all in the coastal wildlife communities that rely on the vast complex coral reef system and mangrove forest to live.

A map of all the places where we work in partnership with over 20 villages

Our primary objective in this protected area is to secure long-term ecological integrity and resilience to its people, its fisheries, and the biodiversity of this rich ecosystem. Helping strengthen participatory fisheries and marine management and good governance structures of the natural resources present here.

Alongside villagers in this historically underserved region, we are working to enhance community-led protection of marine ecosystems, improve livelihoods for coastal households, improve Catch Per Unit Effort for target fishery species, and improve access to healthcare and reproductive rights for community members. Ensuring that marine habitats in and around the Karimata Marine Reserve are under effective co-management, with coastal communities supported, ecosystems secure and adapting to the effects of climate change, and biodiversity thriving.

This important work is all being done through the expansion of our existing partnerships with the government agency BKSDA Kalimantan Barat. With their cooperation, we are looking to improve Marine Protected Area governance and help communities and government agencies sit down together to find mutually beneficial solutions.

This work also grows our partnership with Blue Ventures, with the support of the Blue Action Fund.

Thank you for reading, you can support our work here. If you have any questions please reach out via admin@planetindonesia.org. Follow us on our social media Facebook here and Instagram here to get timely updates on our activities, an insider’s look into the lives of front-line conservationists, and ongoing programs.

This December, donations are doubled thanks to our matching fund donor. See what we are raising money for.