Yayasan Sangga Bumi Lestari

About Yayasan Sangga Bumi Lestari

Protected areas are not enough. Conservation must also be a systemic part of the broader and complex landscapes where ecosystems, livelihoods and economies need to thrive. Sangga Bumi Lestari (SBL) is an Indonesian NGO that works at this intersection, convening communities, companies and government to align interests that rarely meet. Grounded in deep local relationships and knowledge, and supported by technical expertise and field data, SBL guides land use decisions in West Kalimantan; a high-biodiversity region, shaped by industrial concessions. This work involves stress-testing conservation models that are rooted in local context and responsive to competing priorities. Designed to hold under political, social and economic pressure across Indonesia, these models show that effective conservation is possible even where biodiversity, villages, plantations, and infrastructure coexist.

In Indonesia, most biodiversity exists within landscapes shaped by agriculture, extraction and infrastructure. Without influencing these contested landscapes, conservation becomes confined to increasingly isolated parks and reserves. Sangga Bumi Lestari brings diverse land-use takeholders together to develop landscape-wide sustainable development models. We see joining ASI as a way to shape the development strategies of bauxite mining companies operating in Indonesia's forest-rich landscapes.

- Chris Wiggs - Executive Director