Java is one of the most densely populated islands in the world. Once, it was also densely forested, but its legendary expanses of rainforest are almost all gone now, cut for timber or burned to make way for farms. 

One profound effect of widespread habitat loss (with an assist from hunting) is the extinction of endemic species. The last Javan tiger died in 1976, and many other species are at risk of the same fate. The Javan lutung (a monkey endemic to Indonesia), gibbon, slow loris, and leopard are all endangered. Other species now hang on only in isolated populations, including the fishing cat, Asiatic wild dog, and Javan warty pig.

Much of what’s left of Java’s forest cover is in isolated patches where clearing, logging, and poaching are still problems. One such area of rich but threatened forest grows next to about 750 people in Godog Village. Most of them grow rice, corn, cassava, onions, and other vegetables and raise some livestock. They know that a healthy forest ensures their water supply, prevents erosion and landslides, and provides the plants they traditionally gather. 

The village is an official co-manager of this critical 100-acre forest watershed, which the government does little to protect. To conserve it, community members plan to put up signs saying that tree cutting is prohibited and that offenders will be punished, and plant native trees in a degraded part of the forest around an important spring. They will also publicize a phone number that anyone who sees illegal activity can use to get help.

The village suffers from a shortage of clean water and will use a Seacology grant to install a water delivery system to households. To further involve local people in conservation—crucial for the project’s success—they will also build a small “forest watcher” house or training center. The building will give people a place to gather, raise native tree seedlings, and learn best practices for farming near the forest.