With over 145 million inhabitants, the fascinating Indonesian island of Java is by far the world’s most populous island–but is still has  breathtaking natural areas that are home to unique plants and animals. Its high and low-altitude rainforests support myriad endemic species, including many critically endangered animals, including the Javan rhino, gibbon, and hawk-eagle. The north coast is also home to rich mangrove habitats.

Over the past two years, Seacology launched two projects on Java that are protecting nearly 1,000 acres of important habitat.

While not far, as the crow flies, from the major city of Bandung, the mountainside community of Puncak Baru has changed little over hundreds of years due to its isolation. (It takes nearly eight hours to drive there over dirt roads that wind through the mountains.) Every family in the village grows rice, but their livelihoods had been jeopardized by an unreliable water supply. In 2016, Seacology funded reinforcement of a collapse-prone two-kilometer section of the canal that supplies water to the village. With a water supply they can count on, community members can grow rice year-round, greatly increasing their standards of living. In exchange, the village is protecting more than 2,300 acres of spectacular rainforest. They have also planted native trees along the canal to replaces ones felled in recent years.

The second new project, on Java’s north coast, will protect 50 acres of mangroves and replant another nearly 200 near the village of Pantai Bahagia. The village sits at the mouth of the Citarum River, a hot, humid, low-lying area prone to flooding. Abandoned fish and shrimp ponds dot the coast where mangroves once stood and contribute to the area’s flooding and erosion problems. Pollution from industry and sewage make the water there unsafe, so clean water for drinking, cooking, and livestock must be brought in by boat.

While the community struggles with poverty, its leaders have taken impressive initiative in protecting their remaining mangroves and restoring some of those that were cleared. Seacology’s grant will fund much-needed water storage infrastructure and a new community center in exchange for the villagers’ commitment to mangrove protection and restoration.