By admin 
This time final 12 months, we had been asking you to donate to our Room to Rhino enchantment; a marketing campaign elevating funds for very important reforestation efforts in Means Kambas Nationwide Park, Indonesia. With unimaginable assist from you, our donors, we had been capable of ship £20,060 on to assist these efforts. Right here’s an replace sharing how your donations have made a distinction.
Why is Means Kambas vital?
Means Kambas Nationwide Park (WKNP) is in Lampung Province, on the southern tip of Sumatra. It’s one of many oldest protected areas in Indonesia and is dwelling to among the world’s most endangered species, together with Sumatran rhinos, tigers, and elephants. Coated by tropical lowland rainforests, swamp forests, and grasslands, it’s an excellent habitat for a various array of plant and animal species.
A long time of unlawful looking and logging, livestock grazing, and fires have prompted this vital space to shrink. As much as one third of the Park’s rhino habitat has been degraded. But, WKNP is just not solely an vital, biodiverse ecosystem, but additionally helps the diets of 10 rhinos residing contained in the Park throughout the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (every of those rhinos eats round 10% of their weight in crops every day!) Past crops for meals, nonetheless, supporting and defending this ecosystem is essential to offer a wholesome, resilient dwelling for wildlife (together with Sumatran rhinos), for years to return.
How the Room to Rhino Enchantment helped
The cash you helped elevate by our Room to Rhino enchantment meant that regionally led efforts to revive degraded components of Means Kambas may preserve getting in 2024, benefiting the Park, rhinos and – importantly – individuals.
By way of our long-term accomplice, the Worldwide Rhino Basis (IRF), funds had been used to assist members of native communities as they replanted degraded land, maintained restored areas, and constructed networks aiming to cut back encroachment by providing different livelihoods.
As for the forest, the pictures converse for themselves! All three reforestation sits in WKNP have seen big success. Latest drone footage has revealed a outstanding enhance in major forest cowl.
Because the challenge began (in 2020), 166,467 seedlings have been planted, 146 individuals have engaged with reforestation actions, and 99 neighborhood members have been concerned within the different livelihood programme. While no rhinos have been noticed within the reforested areas, there have been different thrilling company, together with Sumatran tigers (the rarest tiger subspecies), and 75 completely different fowl species, most of which weren’t seen earlier than the programme started!
However the impression doesn’t cease there. Forest fires have lengthy been an enormous problem for the realm. Typically set illegally to clear house for farmland, the fires unfold shortly over degraded forest areas and had been extraordinarily damaging. Now, with a extra resilient and wholesome forest cover, efficient firebreaks, fixed monitoring by rangers and stronger relationships with communities, fires have decreased considerably. Between January and June this 12 months, there have been solely seven fires, in comparison with 29 in 2023 and 34 in 2022.
What’s subsequent?
The reforestation challenge will proceed for the longer term, supporting individuals residing in and round WKNP as they watch over the forest and shield the rising variety throughout the restored areas. Alongside our companions, we’ll proceed to champion these vital actions, boosting this habitat right now and sooner or later, for rhinos and for individuals.