Community programs linked to lower forest loss in Indonesia’s Borneo during COVID-19

A study published in Lancet Planetary Health found that villages in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province receiving health and livelihood support from conservation NGOs saw sharper declines in forest loss during the COVID-19 pandemic than nearby villages without such programs. Researchers combined household surveys with satellite data across 28 NGO-affiliated villages, finding forest loss fell 68% in supported villages during the pandemic compared to a 52% pre-pandemic gap.

The authors attribute broader forest-loss declines partly to weak timber demand and travel restrictions making logging less viable, while NGO-backed villages appeared to benefit further from reduced reliance on forest income. An outside reviewer praised the study's data but cautioned that establishing cause and effect, and scaling any lessons beyond village level, requires provincial policy support that has historically favored resource extraction instead.

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