STR has recently added an activity to its repertoire – initiating nature-based climate solution projects. This past July we introduced the Borneo Nature Foundation to Everland. BNF is an outstanding conservation organization that is working on the front lines in Kalimantan Province, Borneo to stem deforestation, protect orangutans and create sustainable economic opportunities for local communities. Everland is a conservation marketer that is harnessing market forces to help end deforestation in the tropics by 2030. They were a good match; BNF was in need of financial support for their research & conservation protocols and Everland was looking for a partner in Indonesia – a country whose extensive rainforests are under severe threat – to create a REDD+ project (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation). STR brought them together and they are now in the pre-feasibility phase for a REDD+ project. The project could encompass as much as 1.7 million acres of forests and carbon-rich peatlands, and reduce carbon emissions by millions of tons over the next 40 years. It would also protect the habitat of about 3,000 highly endangered orangutans. Stay tuned for more developments. For more information about Everland go to www.everland.earth. For more information about BNF go to https://borneonaturefoundation.org/.
Bruce Calhoun, President, Save the Rainforest
