Sustainable steps at PT Mulia Inti Perkasa: activity update May - November 2024

Yayasan Hylobates Awara (Yahywa) continues to support and accompany the environmental recovery programme run by PT Mulia Inti Perkasa (PT MIP). Between May and November 2024, PT MIP carried out a number of recovery plan activities, both within the company's concession and in Kampung Long Ayap, Segah District, Berau Regency.

Inside the concession, PT MIP continued a series of strategic activities such as mapping planting areas, surveying local tree species, and collecting wildlings and seeds of endemic plants to prepare for the nursery. Several sites within the concession have been designated as priority planting locations, including the riverbank buffer zone of a tributary of the Tuyu River. By the end of November, more than 1,900 seedlings of various local species had been collected and were being prepared, some of them already in the hardening-off stage to make sure they can survive in their natural habitat.

Outside the concession, PT MIP and the community of Kampung Long Ayap have carried out several activities covering both conservation and community capacity building. The first was tree-climbing training for traditional honey harvesters, held in August 2024 with the Tree Climbers Indonesia (TCI) team. Besides the technical training, the company also provided two sets of equipment to support the climbing training, which were handed over to LPHD Long Ayap so they can be put to full use.

Then in October 2024, two follow-up activities took place: geotagging and tree maintenance. Geotagging was carried out to map the trees from earlier planting and to produce technical recommendations for the next planting. The process began with a technical discussion, a briefing for the community on using the equipment and supporting apps, and then the geotagging itself. This was followed by maintenance work lasting five days, made up of 3 days of weeding and fertilising the trees, and five days of recording the trees. In total, 702 living trees were recorded, made up of fruit and timber species. During this activity, PT MIP handed over equipment for maintenance work to LPHD Long Ayap.

Yahywa sees collaborative work like this as an important foundation for sustainable forest management. The involvement of the community, the company's commitment and technical support from various parties are what allow the recovery plan to make good progress.