From Timber Carriers to Coffee Farmers: How Funding Is Paving the Way for Sustainable Community Forests

The Success Story of the Unggan Village Forest Management Institution (LPHN), Sijunjung Regency, West Sumatra, Indonesia

For the people of Nagari Unggan, forests have long been an integral part of their lives and livelihoods. Unggan, a nagari (the local term for a village in West Sumatra), has a distinctive geographical setting. Its settlements lie between two major rivers, the Batang Unggan River and the Pisang River, which eventually converge to form the Sumpu River.

This geographical setting makes environmental and forest management particularly important. Forests, especially in upstream areas and watersheds, play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem balance, regulating water flows, and reducing the risk of ecological disasters such as floods, landslides, and galodo (flash floods and debris flows) that threaten local communities.

Recognizing the importance of forests, the people of Unggan manage their forest area under Indonesia’s Village Forest (Hutan Nagari) scheme. In 2018, the government granted approval for the management of 5,080 hectares of Unggan Village Forest through Ministry of Environment and Forestry Decree No. SK.2705/MenLHK-PSKL/PKPS/PSL.04/2018. Under this scheme, the community has both the authority and responsibility to manage and protect the forest sustainably.

However, behind these efforts to protect the forest lies a complex socioeconomic challenge. Limited livelihood opportunities have left some residents economically vulnerable. This economic vulnerability was exploited by timber financiers, who have persuaded local people to become involved in illegal logging activities, primarily as timber carriers transporting felled logs out of the forest.

Enticed by the promise of wages, residents took on this physically demanding work. They had to travel for 10–12 hours carrying timber from deep within the forest, earning only around IDR 80,000 per day. Dependence on this work has helped sustain large-scale, uncontrolled logging. The resulting forest degradation has further increased the risk of ecological disasters, including landslides and galodo, threatening the lives and safety of local communities.

In this situation, the Unggan Village Forest Management Institution (LPHN Unggan) faced a major challenge: how could the forest be protected without neglecting the economic needs of communities whose livelihoods depended on logging? The answer was not simply to impose restrictions, but to create pathways for change through financial support and the development of alternative livelihoods.

“Our biggest challenge was the timber carriers. That is why we continued raising awareness and encouraging them to shift their livelihoods from carrying timber to growing coffee. Areas that were previously used for logging activities have now been designated as protection zones,” said Delpa, Chair of LPHN Unggan.

Funding Opens the Door to Change

This transformation began to take shape through funding support from Warsi Grant Management (WGM), combined with technical assistance from Komunitas Konservasi Indonesia (KKI) Warsi. This support enabled LPHN Unggan to implement a series of initiatives that connected stronger forest governance with the development of alternative community livelihoods.

For LPHN Unggan, funding was more than financial assistance to carry out activities. It was an initial investment in transforming the relationship between communities and their forests. People who had previously depended on timber extraction were introduced to new economic opportunities through sustainable forest management.

“Without Warsi’s presence, perhaps Nagari Unggan would continue facing the threat of galodo. In the past, many people cut down trees to obtain timber. Since Warsi came and provided grant funding, we have begun helping 80 timber carriers shift their livelihoods through training and the provision of coffee seedlings. They now have the opportunity to become coffee farmers, with approximately 14,000 coffee plants developed,” Delpa explained.

The initiative began in 2024 with awareness-raising activities on the status, functions, and importance of the Village Forest. These activities helped build community understanding that the forest they had long depended on was a shared asset that needed to be managed and protected for the future.

LPHN Unggan then introduced coffee cultivation as an alternative source of livelihood. A total of 80 former timber carriers participated in coffee cultivation training, covering planting techniques, crop maintenance, and plant management.

Support was further strengthened through the gradual distribution of coffee seedlings to 80 former timber carriers. In the first phase, in 2024, 9,183 seedlings were distributed to 40 people. In 2025, a further 6,000 seedlings were distributed to another 40 people. In total, 15,183 coffee seedlings have been provided as initial capital for developing community-based livelihoods.

From Coffee Farming to Economic Independence

The transformation did not stop at planting coffee. LPHN Unggan recognized that communities needed further support to ensure their new enterprises could generate greater economic value.

To strengthen community-based economic institutions, a Social Forestry Business Group (Kelompok Usaha Perhutanan Sosial/KUPS) focused on coffee was established. The group provides a platform for farmers to develop their businesses, improve product quality, and expand market access.

Funding and technical assistance also supported the development of coffee enterprises beyond cultivation, extending into post-harvest processing. LPHN Unggan received support for a coffee roasting machine to increase the added value of local coffee production. Communities that previously relied on wages from carrying timber are now beginning to establish coffee businesses, including producing and selling ground coffee.

“We also felt sorry for the timber carriers. To earn IDR 80,000, they had to travel farther and farther into the forest to find timber, not to mention the impact on our village if forest logging continued. Since Warsi began providing assistance, their livelihoods have gradually shifted. We have now established a KUPS, received a roasting machine, and started selling ground coffee at higher prices. This has created better economic opportunities for the community,” Delpa explained.

Coffee development is particularly important because it creates economic value from the forest without requiring trees to be cut down. As a result, the forest is no longer viewed solely as a source of timber, but also as a productive landscape capable of providing sustainable economic benefits.

Strengthening the Protection of the Village Forest

Alongside changes in community livelihoods, LPHN Unggan has also strengthened forest governance and protection. Economic development must go hand in hand with clear management boundaries and ecosystem protection.

To achieve this, LPHN Unggan marked 100 points along the outer boundaries of the 5,080-hectare Village Forest. This effort aims to clarify the community-managed area while preventing logging and other activities that do not comply with agreed management arrangements.

Through community deliberations, residents also agreed to divide the forest into two zones: a protection zone covering 2,410.99 hectares and a sustainable-use zone covering 2,664.14 hectares.

In the protection zone, the community is committed to safeguarding forest areas, water sources, and vegetation cover through regular patrols. Meanwhile, the utilization zone is designated for sustainable economic activities, including the development of coffee enterprises through the KUPS.

This zoning arrangement provides an important foundation for ensuring that improvements in community livelihoods do not come at the expense of the forest’s ecological functions. Instead, the success of community enterprises is expected to strengthen their shared commitment to protecting the forest.

Conservation Funding: An Investment in the Future of Forests and Communities

The experience of Nagari Unggan demonstrates that conservation funding can serve as a powerful instrument for driving social and ecological change. When financial support addresses the real needs of communities on the ground, conservation is no longer perceived simply as a restriction on economic activities, but as a pathway toward more sustainable livelihoods.

Through Warsi Grant Management, financial support has opened opportunities for 80 former timber carriers to develop coffee farming as an alternative livelihood. A total of 15,183 coffee seedlings have been distributed, community economic institutions are beginning to grow, and forest governance has been strengthened through zoning and boundary demarcation.

Nevertheless, the journey toward economic independence still requires continued support, particularly in strengthening cultivation skills, post-harvest processing, product quality, and market access. LPHN Unggan hopes that technical assistance and financial support will continue until its coffee enterprises are capable of independently financing forest management and protection activities.

“Our hope is that Warsi will continue supporting and accompanying us in the future. To be honest, our budget is still limited, especially with government budget cuts. However, we hope that once our coffee business and Tree Adoption program are running well, LPHN Unggan will become increasingly self-reliant and able to finance its own forest management and protection activities,” said Delpa.

The experience of Nagari Unggan offers an important lesson: protecting forests requires more than regulations and prohibitions. Communities living in and around forests need access to funding, technical assistance, stronger local institutions, and viable economic alternatives.

From timber carriers to coffee farmers, Nagari Unggan demonstrates how livelihood transformation can become a pathway to forest conservation. The right kind of funding does more than stimulate the local economy; it creates new hope for the future of forests. When communities can earn a living from sustainably managed forests, protecting them becomes a shared interest.

This is the true meaning of investing in conservation: not simply financing efforts to protect standing trees, but also investing in the transformation that enables communities to move away from activities that degrade forests and build a better future.