Walmart Foundation invests in species conservation

Newswise — New York, August 20, 2024 — The Walmart Foundation has awarded the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) a four-year grant that will significantly advance its work in Indonesia. The grant will support a landscape initiative in the southern province of Aceh: a key region for forests and biodiversity, as well as smallholder farming communities. The grant will enable WCS to support the Indonesian government in protecting and restoring this valuable forest and peatland landscape, and improving the livelihoods of rural communities living on the forest edge.

Aceh province has 3.5 million hectares of forests that play a key role in biodiversity and climate change mitigation, but are threatened by expanding agricultural and industrial activities. At the same time, communities bordering key forest areas often face poverty and limited livelihood opportunities. These challenges are playing out in southern Aceh, where the province’s last remaining intact peatland ecosystem – Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve – meets Gunung Leuser National Park, part of the largest intact rainforest in Southeast Asia. This area is also the only place where Sumatran elephants, orangutans, tigers and rhinos coexist in the wild.

“Specifically, the grant will enable WCS to strengthen government support and multi-stakeholder collaboration to translate national and regional plans and conservation goals to the local level, supporting livelihoods and ecosystem integrity at scale,” said Joe Walston, Executive Vice President of WCS Global. “We are grateful for the Walmart Foundation’s commitment to fostering an inclusive multi-stakeholder platform for the landscape and ensuring that the most vulnerable are involved in developing robust management plans for the region.”

Field-based ‘SMART’ patrols and conservation area management plans will improve the protection of key areas, including the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve and other management units that serve as important habitats and wildlife corridors for endangered species. Capacity building with 500 smallholder oil palm farmers will improve farm productivity and, together with wider community engagement and support from Forest Farmer Groups, will help create better and more sustainable livelihoods and reduce encroachment pressures on the forest.

Julie Gehrki, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Walmart Foundation, said: “The rainforests and peatland ecosystems of southern Aceh are critical to wildlife, people and palm oil production. They are important components of our global ecosystem and supply chain, and we look forward to seeing how this work helps advance a more sustainable and inclusive landscape approach in the region. We have committed to protecting, restoring or more sustainably managing at least 50 million acres of land by 2030 – and the conservation efforts catalyzed by this work can make a significant difference.”

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WCS Indonesia

WCS has been working in Indonesia since the first field studies in the 1960s and opened a formal country program in 1997 through a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF). To achieve its mission, WCS works closely with MoEF and maintains partnerships with various government, non-government, private and academic institutions. The WCS Indonesia program has spent 25 years building well-coordinated multi-stakeholder partnerships to jointly address these conservation challenges. To implement its new country strategy, WCS is organized into five key thematic programs – Forests, Marine Conservation, Wildlife Trade and Policy, One Health, and Rights and Communities – that are aligned to the implementation of the WCS Strategy 2030 and the WCS Regional Strategy for the Southeast Asian Archipelago. These programs are supported by cross-cutting science and technology and conservation network and partnership units.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

WCS combines the power of its zoos and an aquarium in New York City with a global conservation program in more than 50 countries to fulfill its mission to save wildlife and wild places. WCS operates the world’s largest on-site conservation program, protecting more than 50 percent of the Earth’s known biodiversity; in partnership with governments, indigenous peoples, local communities and the private sector. Its four zoos and aquariums (the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium) welcome more than 3.5 million visitors each year and inspire generations to care for nature. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org. Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: +1 (347) 840-1242. Listen to the WCS Wild Audio Podcast HERE.