The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

The current orangutan population of TPNP is estimated to bemore than 4,700 individuals (OFI 2008). Adjacent forests in theProject Area provide an additional 44,000 hectares of suitableorangutan habitat, supporting an estimated 760 individuals. Thisfigure represents an augmentation of the TPNP orangutanpopulation by an additional 14%.It is expected that the project will greatly reduce deforestationrates over the coming years, primarily by preventing oil palmplantation development in the park buffer and limiting access tothe national park from the eastern border. These preventivemeasures will have marked impacts on the long-­‐term populationstatus of the orangutan. A 2008 analysis of past and futureprojected deforestation in the Project Area found that forest inthe Project Area would be completely deforested in a ‘withoutproject’ scenario and that TPNP would lose an estimated 147,000hectares (60%) of its forest cover during this same period. Byextrapolation, this simplified ‘without project’ scenario suggeststhat the orangutan population in the Project Area would bereduced by more than one-­‐half and that of the greater TPNPorangutan population would be reduced by a third.Plants. Twenty-­‐four HCV 1.3 plant species were identified asconfirmed or likely present in the Project Zone (see Table 11).Most common among these are members of theDipterocarpaceae (18 of 24 species), including six species listed asVulnerable by IUCN, 14 as Endangered IUCN, and six protectedunder Indonesian law. These species are concentrated mainly inpeat and mixed freshwater swamp ecosystems of the ProjectZone, but at least 14 species are also likely to occur in the area oflowland dipterocarp forest in the north. All of these species,especially dipterocarps, are largely or totally dependent onnatural forest for pollination by out breeding, seed predatoravoidance, seedling recruitment, and growth.The two most significant threats to HCV 1.3 plants in the ProjectZone are illegal logging (most HCV 1.3 plants are timber species)and habitat loss by fire, small scale agriculture, and conversion tooil palm. As mentioned under HCV 1.2, the cessation of logging,apart from limited selective timber harvesting for localconsumption in the Project Zone, will be the main conservationintervention measure of the project. In addition, the project aimsto protect all remaining forest by eliminating any furtherconversion to oil palm and controlling fire. If successful, netproject activities will therefore serve to maintain or enhance HCV1.3 plants by eliminating the two main threats to long-­‐termviability of plant populations.There is the possibility that livelihood activities supported by theproject could take place in a location where HCVs 1-­‐3 are present(e.g., limited wood production for local subsistence consumptionthrough selective logging). Considerations for how to minimizesuch impacts were discussed in Section G1.8.1, and will beadopted by the project. The key element of a managementstrategy to minimize this potential negative impact will be toensure subsistence harvesting levels do not exceed thoserequired to maintain or enhance viable populations of HCV 1.3tree species whose harvest may be permitted as part of a broaderlivelihoods development program (e.g., Shorea uliginosa in mixedpeat swamp forest or Shorea balangeran in freshwater swampand riparian forest).Herptofauna. Seventeen HCV 1.3 reptiles are identified as likelyor potentially present in the Project Zone, seven of which havebeen confirmed in neighboring TPTN (see Table 12). Of these,259