About Us
Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) is an Indonesian Foundation with a mission to protect the lands and waters on which all life depends. In Indonesia, YKAN is the leading partner of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a science-based organization and experienced in advancing conservation throughout the world since 1951.
YKAN's conservation priorities in Indonesia are to tackle climate change, as well as to protect lands and waters. Working together with governments, communities, and partners, YKAN supports the sustainable management of forests, home to hundreds of thousands of village communities and endangered species, such as orangutans. YKAN also helps bring together stakeholders with a shared commitment to green development to reduce carbon emissions in East Kalimantan through the implementation of the Green Growth Compact.
YKAN also works to create more extensive networks of marine protected areas in Indonesia, helps to transform the management of Indonesia's coastal and marine resources to advance sustainable development, climate change adaptation, and protection of critical habitat. It strives to reform fishery policy, incentivize the transformation of fisheries' supply chains and business practices, and engage local communities to sustainably manage the harvesting of high-value snappers, groupers, and tuna. In 2018, YKAN initiated the Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration Alliance (MERA). This national multi-stakeholder platform focuses on building knowledge to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities and resources, as well as mitigate and adapt to climate change.
ASAP Species That We Work On
What We Do
Collaborative Sea Turtle Habitat Protection in Savu Sea Marine National Park
In the effort to advance management effectivity and ecosystem health of Savu Sea Marine National Park, YKAN collaborated with Savu Sea management authority, the National Marine Conservation Area Agency (BKKPN Kupang). Collaboratively, sea turtle nesting beach monitoring has been implemented to establish a sea turtle database and conservation status in the Savu Sea to design an effective sea turtle conservation program. Moreover, this program simultaneously measures the conservation impact of village empowerment programs.
A total of 14 beaches are monitored from July 2016, spanning over six villages and three districts. Based on the analysis of field data, 12 out of 14 beaches possess high conservation values. Out of the six species that were claimed present in the Savu Sea by the local community, only three were found to nest on our target beaches (Hawksbill, Olive ridley, and Green sea turtle).
The observed threats are predation from human-induced animals, sand mining, sea turtle poaching, and egg exploitation. However, a local indigenous law has been implemented as part of YKAN’s village empowerment program with the indigenous community to foster conservation in a village in Rote Ndao. It has been proven effective in deterring illegal activities regarding sea turtle exploitation. Therefore, YKAN will continue the conservation efforts to protect sea turtle populations and its habitat in Savu Sea MNP by collaborating and synchronizing conservation action plan with the local management authority, indigenous community and other stakeholders.
Protecting orangutan’s habitat in East Kalimantan, Indonesia
The crisis Bornean orangutans face is highly driven by market demand for palm oil and timber and deepened by factors such as inconsistent governmental regulation. Due to the high rate of forest conversion, a survey carried out by YKAN in 2011-2012 shows that 78% of the orangutan population on Indonesian Borneo live outside of protected areas, such as in mining areas and plantations (timber and palm oil plantations). This situation put orangutans at risk as companies considered them as pests (they eat young palm leaves and the bark of acacia trees, companies) and would rather have them killed than suffer financial loss. This underscores the need for multiple relevant stakeholders and license holders to work together to protect the habitat of orangutans.
Using the survey data of orangutan habitat throughout Kalimantan, YKAN identified a 532,000-hectare of landscape in East Kalimantan, which supports around 1,200 individuals of orangutans and covers a variety of ecosystems that overlap with areas allocated for logging, palm oil, and coal mining, and community-managed forests. YKAN initiated a historic public-private-people partnership in this Wehea-Kelay landscape and brought together different government agencies, eight private companies operating in the landscape, and indigenous communities to collaborate so that businesses and orangutan protection can go hand in hand. A working group was established, and a collaborative action plan was developed. This partnership was recognized by Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry as a model for other essential ecosystem areas in Indonesia. Building upon the success of the protection of orangutan habitat through the establishment of the public-private-people partnership in the Wehea-Kelay landscape, YKAN will further its efforts by engaging more stakeholders to protect wider wildlife habitat in East Kalimantan.
Where We Work
Berau, Wakatobi, Savu Sea, and Raja Ampat
Photo Credits
Wildlife Reserves Singapore