About the Katingan Mentaya Project
The Katingan Mentaya Project, managed by PT Rimba Makmur Utama (RMU) is dedicated to safeguarding and revitalizing 157,875 hectares of precious peatland ecosystems. Its objective is to preserve these critical habitats, provide sustainable economic opportunities for local communities, and contribute significantly to combating global climate change through an innovative and robust business framework.
The project area stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) that plays a crucial role in climate stability. It serves as a linchpin in regulating water systems, mitigating the risk of catastrophic peat fires, fostering soil enrichment, and ensuring the provision of clean water. Its ecological significance extends further as a haven for biodiversity, harboring significant populations of endangered species, such as the Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and the Proboscis Monkey (Nasalis larvatus).
The surrounding landscape is adorned with villages where traditional livelihoods, including agriculture, fishing, and non-timber forest product harvesting, intertwine with the natural rhythms of the land. The project not only safeguards these traditional practices but also seeks to enhance them in a sustainable manner, fostering a harmonious relationship between human communities and the environment they depend upon.
Carbon Markets Help Protect Nature
Our global carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius runs out in 7 years. We cannot afford to lose natural carbon sinks that have taken centuries to accumulate gigatonnes of carbon. Ecosystems are complex, and rehabilitating them takes an immense amount of time, effort, and funding, as we learned during this site visit. The Katingan Mentaya Project protects tropical peatland forest, and during our team’s guided forest walk, RMU staff demonstrated a peatland depth measurement exercise. They explained that it takes approximately one hundred years for one meter of peat to accumulate, and we soon found that the peat we were standing on was nearly 500 years old. In some areas within the project, peat depths of up to 10 meters were measured. While these crucial carbon sinks take centuries to accumulate, a fire can burn through thousands of hectares of forest in a matter of days. When canals are excavated to transport timber out of peatland, it can take weeks for the surrounding peat to dry out. When peat dries out, its carbon storage capacity is decimated, and the effect is irreversible.
Often, nature-based solutions projects like REDD+ take place directly next to agricultural or industrial land use areas. Over the past decade, since the Katingan Mentaya Project was started, field staff have become better and better at fighting fires that start outside of the project zone and encroach upon the project borders. 2023 was the first year in which the project area saw no fires. All this work requires a source of funding, and that is why voluntary carbon markets are so important. They provide the crucial financial incentive that people need to protect nature and sequester, rather than produce emissions.
Carbon Markets Provide Opportunities for Communities
Carbon projects not only contribute to protecting our environment but also offer tangible benefits for the communities residing in or around the project areas. As the people living in these rural areas naturally depend heavily on the surrounding environment for their livelihoods, the financing from carbon projects helps to provide opportunities and options to diversify rural economies. For example, RMU is financing a pilot solar project in Tampelas Village to power the village with green energy, alongside constructing a fish processing factory for albumin from the abundant snakehead fish in the area. Such an initiative offers the villagers alternative pathways to financial stability, reducing their reliance on unsustainable livelihoods such as the exploitation of the forests’ resources. Carbon projects also empower communities through capacity building and knowledge transfer, fostering economic resilience and independence in the long run. Through the financing of proper education, training and equipment, the local communities. In Ganepo Village, the RMU staff facilitated the collaboration between the project’s sustainable agricultural school and the local women farmers. These women farmers are now leading the village’s efforts in sustainable farming, clearing lands without burning and producing organic fertilisers of their own. Such initiatives help communities safeguard the environment while simultaneously creating avenues for income generation, fostering economic resilience and independence.
It is worth recognizing that these successes require collaborative and participative approaches, where real change can only be achieved through meaningful engagement, respect, and inclusion of local voices. This would empower local communities to take ownership and foster a sense of agency over their environment and future.
CIX Reflections
Sophia Wu – Originator
Despite having worked in carbon markets for nearly three years, this site visit was the first time I got to truly experience a large-scale, developed forestry project in action. For those of us in this industry that are not project developers on the ground, carbon credits can often feel intangible, just units of data being passed back and forth on screens. This trip served as a much-needed reminder of the tangibility and the true impact of carbon credit projects and of nature-based solutions like REDD+.
Traveling by boat for hours through the project, we experienced just a fraction of the sheer size of the forested area that the project developers manage. The life-threatening reality of forest fires and the accomplishment of the RMU team in eliminating them in the project area became clearer and clearer as we learned of the history of fires in the region. The villagers that we visited near the project area shared the same narrative with us about their lives – funding provided by the Katingan Mentaya Project had materially improved their quality of life, whether through financing improved health centers or constructing solar-energy powered facilities. I left feeling massively inspired by the impact of the Katingan Mentaya Project, and grateful to be able to play a role in the success and longevity of the project.
Joy Tan – Business Development Manager
A significant portion of my daily routine involves guiding clients through the diverse array of carbon projects available on our Marketplace. During these interactions, I elucidate the manifold advantages these projects bring to the environment, biodiversity, and the local communities they impact. Among these projects, the Katingan Mentaya Project stands out as a personal favorite for me to showcase. It’s remarkable achievement of addressing 11 out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), on top of its high Sylvera rating, adds a layer of distinction to its profile. Despite my personal conviction about the holistic benefits of carbon projects and my ability to articulate them persuasively, I occasionally ponder over whether these project descriptors, ratings and certificates have over-inflated the benefits to boost our collective sense of self-worth. The visit to the Katingan Mentaya project site has dispelled any lingering doubts I may have had.
Setting foot on the project site and immersing myself in a few surrounding villages was a humbling experience for me. Despite initially maintaining measured expectations, I was amazed to witness the dedicated collaboration between project staff and local communities in safeguarding the forest and its rich biodiversity. The profound knowledge and technical expertise displayed by the local hydrologists, botanists, biodiversity experts and many others left an indelible impression on me. Engaging with villagers and hearing firsthand accounts of the positive transformations brought about by the project evoked a deep sense of emotion, fostering pride in the impact our industry can have on people’s lives. The resources channeled back into these communities genuinely make a meaningful difference, and this realization has motivated me to strive harder to actualize the goals of these carbon projects. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to visit the project site and to be part of this wider goal of bettering our world.
Leslie Poh – Commercial, CIX Exchange & Clear
Despite having read extensively about the Katingan Mentaya Project and its commendable efforts in combating global climate change while enhancing the lives of local communities, nothing could prepare me for the profound impact of experiencing the project firsthand. The trip to Katingan was an enriching experience that proved to be an exceptional learning opportunity and it surpassed any amount of information obtained from reading materials. Through our interaction with the local villages during our visit, it became evident just how appreciative and grateful they are towards RMU for its impactful efforts within the community.
The diverse array of interactions that I encountered during the trip reminded me of the vastness of our world and emphasised the critical importance of safeguarding its wonders. It also highlighted the existence of numerous local communities that require ongoing assistance and support to enhance their livelihoods sustainably. It’s through initiatives like these projects that such transformative work becomes possible, ensuring lasting positive impacts for communities and the environment alike. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this trip.
