Collaborative Actions at Landscape Scale: The Case of Wehea-Kelay Forum in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

The Wehea-Kelay Essential Ecosystem Area (EEA) is a 532,000-hectare region in East Kalimantan province in Indonesia. The EEA supports around 1,200 orangutans in mixed landscapes outside of protected conservation areas used by, among others, timber and palm oil companies and indigenous peoples.

The Wehea-Kelay EEA Forum is a multi-stakeholder coalition established in 2015, which has resulted in the development of a cooperative agreement to manage the landscape for biodiversity conservation. The agreement and the Forum are considered a model for other EEAs in Indonesia.

Steered by national and provincial government agencies, the Forum is facilitated by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN). The Forum provides the space for government agencies, indigenous Dayak community, NGOs, the private sector and others to work together toward conservation in the landscape.

The role of the private sector is crucial as the Wehea-Kelay landscape includes large palm oil and timber concessions. The study found that a key motivation for the companies to engage and align with the Forum was to maintain their sustainability certifications and to fulfil other sustainability requirements.