The Kapuas River meanders for more than 700 miles, from Borneo’s mountains to the South China Sea. It nurtures the tropical forests that support amazing wildlife: orangutans, gibbons, eagles, hornbills, pythons, slow lorises, pangolins, and much more.

To the villages on its banks, the river is a source of transportation, fresh water, and food. One of those villages is on Tayan Island, in the river itself. Most people there make a living as fishers and farmers. Their health and their livelihoods are threatened, however, by pollution of the river from gold and nickel mining, fishers who use poison and electricity, and sand mining.

These activities are illegal, but enforcement is spotty. So the community has stepped up. About 40 community members now patrol the river, discourage the use of destructive fishing methods, report illegal fishing to village government (the customary penalty is destruction of the equipment), and report sand and gold mining to authorities. They also meet with village authorities and company representatives to keep waste out of the river. They have stopped the sand and gold mining, and their education efforts and monitoring discourage people from flouting the law.

They will use a Seacology grant for both economic and conservation benefits:

• Food security from sustainably raising fish that are safe to eat, unlike fish from the polluted river.
• Income from raising ornamental fish, which the government encourages to reduce pressure on wild stocks. The village will sell some fish and release the rest to bolster wild populations. A portion of the proceeds from the fish sales will be reinvested into river protection activities.
• Native tree planting. Trees stabilize the riverbank, and some produce leaves that can be sold.
• Rebuilt patrol post for better river monitoring. The existing building, where community members gather to coordinate their river protection, has suffered significant damage and needs to be rebuilt.