In many villages across Riau Province, Indonesia, we have seen how peat fires, coastal erosion, and degraded mangroves directly affect local communities. During the dry season, smoke from peat fires impacts health and livelihoods, while damaged mangrove coastlines leave villages more vulnerable to waves and erosion. These experiences motivated Yayasan Gambut to work closely with communities to restore and protect the ecosystems they depend on every day.
Our project works in peatland and coastal landscapes that are globally important for biodiversity and carbon storage, but are increasingly threatened by drainage, land conversion, and climate change. Many local communities still rely on these ecosystems for farming, fisheries, and daily income.
Together with farmer groups, women’s groups, youth, universities, and village institutions, we implement community-led peatland and mangrove restoration. Our activities include canal blocking for peatland rewetting, mangrove planting, community nurseries, fire prevention systems, agroforestry with Liberica coffee, and restoration monitoring.
To date, we have planted more than 50,000 seedlings, constructed 11 canal blocks, installed community-based fire monitoring systems, and trained 635 local participants.
In the next year, we aim to strengthen ecosystem recovery while improving long-term community resilience. We hope restored mangroves will reduce erosion, rewetted peatlands will lower fire risk, and peat-friendly livelihoods will help communities protect these landscapes for future generations.
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