The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

elated to human impacts on water quality and wetlandprotection will have net positive impacts on HCV 1.4.HCV 2.1 Large Landscapes with Capacity to Maintain NaturalEcological Processes and DynamicsHCV 2.1 was deemed not present in the Project Zone. Thereforeno specific management to maintain this value is recommended.It is noted, however, that if the project succeeds in protectingand potentially enlarging forest cover and connectivity in theProject Zone, then it is possible in the long term that this projectwill restore the large intact landscape function (HCV 2.1) oncepresent in the area.HCV 2.2 Areas that Contain Two or More Contiguous EcosystemsHCV 2.2 aims to identify and maintain ecotones and ecoclinesthat connect different ecotypes (ecosystem classes), especiallywhere they occur in large forest landscapes. Such transitionalenvironments are important not only for the maintenance of keyecosystem functions, by ensuring movement of species and fluxof materials and energy across boundaries, but also as centers ofbiodiversity in their own right.For the Project Zone and nearby TPNP, maintenance of ecotoneswill be important for long-­‐term population viability of mobile,locally nomadic frugivorous vertebrates that forage amongmultiple habitat types tracking seasonal availability of fruit.Broadly different ecosystem types often show asynchronousphenological patterns of fruiting, and therefore enable specialistfrugivores, such as hornbills and gibbons, to maintain a positiveenergy balance by tracking fruit availability among differenthabitat types. Such taxa present in the Project Zone and nearbyTPNP include orangutans, gibbons, bearded pigs, pigeons, andfruit bats among others.Ecosystem transitions listed under HCV 2.2 in the Toolkit presentin the Project Zone include the following (see maps in SectionG1.2):Adjacent wetland and non-­‐wetland area. The most notablewetland to non-­‐wetland transition in the Project Zone occursalong the western edge of Lake Sembuluh.Adjacent swamps and non-­‐swamp areas. The swamp to non-­swamptransitions are centered on three kinds of swamp: (i)shallow periodically inundated grasslands or marshes; (ii)freshwater or riparian swamps; and (iii) peat swamps.Adjacent kerangas and non-­‐kerangas areas. Kerangas to non-­kerangasare most common in northern parts of the Project Zone.The main threats to this HCV are uncontrollable spread ofwildfires into peat forest areas adjacent to periodically inundatedgrasslands in the south (see Section G1.8.4), and continuedexpansion of oil palm, in particular southward from the estate inthe north.Conclusion. Conservation efforts planned by the project toprotect remaining natural forests by (i) reducing fire risk throughprevention of logging, (ii) fighting fires directly throughconstruction of observation towers and development anddeployment of fire fighting teams and equipment, and (iii)prevention of continued expansion of oil palm will result in netpositive impacts on HCV 2.2 in the Project Zone.261