Connecting People, Nature and Supply Chains in Indonesia: Progress from Year 4 of the Mosaik Initiative

Sustaining momentum in Central Kalimantan has never been about a single intervention, a single organisation, or a single year of progress. It has always been about building something that can endure; a model that brings together environmental restoration, economic opportunity, and social justice in a way that is meaningful for the people who live and work across the landscape.

Last year, we reflected on how the Mosaik Initiative, led by Kaleka and supported by Action for Sustainable Derivatives, was beginning to move beyond early foundations and into tangible impact. One year on, that sense of momentum has not only continued, but it has also accelerated, deepened, and expanded into new and critical areas.

At its core, the initiative remains focused on a simple but ambitious goal, which is to bring governments, communities, and markets together to protect forests, restore degraded lands, and create responsible commodity landscapes in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

What has become increasingly clear over the past 12 months is that this kind of transformation cannot be achieved through isolated activities. It requires systems that connect farmers to markets, restoration to livelihoods, and local governance to global standards.

In year four, those systems are beginning to take shape in ways that are both practical and scalable.

Farmers working in the field-looking after seedlings in Suka Mulya Village, Indonesia

From foundations to functioning systems

Across Seruyan District, the work to build a sustainable village economy has moved from concept to reality.

• Infrastructure that once existed only on paper is now operational, including a fully functioning Product Development Centre that is supporting local processing and value creation. Around this, an emerging agri-food cluster is taking root, enabling communities to move beyond raw commodity production and into higher-value products such as essential oils, nipa sugar, and banana flour.

• Production is no longer theoretical; more than 20 kilograms of patchouli oil, alongside significant volumes of other products, have already been generated, demonstrating that alternative livelihood models can be both viable and commercially relevant.

This shift changes the role of smallholders within the supply chain. Rather than remaining at the margins, farmers are increasingly becoming active participants in a more diversified and resilient local economy. Thousands of seedlings have been distributed, new nurseries established, and training delivered to strengthen technical capacity, all of which are laying the groundwork for long-term productivity and independence. What is emerging is not just a project, but a functioning local ecosystem that connects production, processing, and market access.

At the same time, environmental progress continues to anchor the initiative. Community-led forest protection has now exceeded its original targets, with more than 6,700 hectares safeguarded through a combination of social forestry schemes and local regulation. This is not simply a conservation outcome; it represents a fundamental shift in how land is valued and managed. By linking forest protection to tangible economic incentives, such as agroforestry systems and non-timber forest products, communities can see conservation not as a constraint, but as an opportunity.

Restoration efforts are reinforcing this. Across multiple villages, degraded land is being brought back into productive use through carefully designed agroforestry models that integrate ecological recovery with income generation. These systems are tailored to local conditions, combining crops such as coffee, coconut, and fruit trees in ways that improve resilience while reducing pressure on natural forests. The result is a landscape that is not only greener, but more productive and more secure for the communities that depend on it.

Alongside these environmental and economic advances, progress on certification continues to build. More than a thousand smallholders are now on the pathway to RSPO certification, supported by training, data verification, and the establishment of local institutions that can sustain compliance over time. This is a critical step in connecting local practices to global markets, ensuring that sustainability is not just demonstrated on the ground, but recognised and rewarded across the supply chain.

Embedding social impact where it matters most 

Perhaps the most significant evolution over the past year has been the deliberate expansion into social impact. While environmental outcomes and economic development are essential, they cannot be sustained without strong systems to protect rights, resolve conflicts, and ensure that all stakeholders have a voice. The social component of the Mosaik Initiative, now in its second year of ASD support, is addressing this challenge head on by embedding social governance into the fabric of the landscape approach.

This work is already delivering meaningful change. Hundreds of paralegals are now active across the district, supporting communities to access legal documentation, navigate land tenure processes, and engage in informed decision-making. Their role is not abstract; it is practical, grounded, and increasingly central to how communities interact with both government and private sector actors. By strengthening access to justice at the village level, the initiative is helping to build the trust and transparency that are essential for long-term stability.

At the same time, new mechanisms are emerging to manage and resolve conflicts more effectively. A district-level conflict platform is being developed and tested, providing a structured way to register, track, and address disputes related to land and labour. This is complemented by efforts to strengthen social dialogue within companies, including the reactivation of bipartite cooperation institutions that bring workers and management together to negotiate and improve working conditions.

A more connected model of change 

What makes this integration of social and environmental work so powerful is the way in which each reinforces the other. Communities that feel secure in their rights are more likely to invest in sustainable land management, while landscapes that provide stable livelihoods are less prone to conflict. By connecting these dimensions, the Mosaik Initiative is demonstrating that sustainability is not a single outcome, but a system of interdependent relationships.

There are, of course, challenges. Building farmer capacity for new crops requires ongoing support, trust must be earned in communities that have experienced conflict in the past, and unpredictable weather continues to test the resilience of restoration efforts. Yet these challenges are not signs of failure; they are part of the reality of working at landscape scale. What matters is that the systems being built are flexible enough to adapt and strong enough to endure.

What is becoming increasingly evident is that this work represents something bigger than any individual intervention. It is a model for how supply chains can engage with landscapes in a way that delivers real, measurable value for people, nature, and business. It shows what is possible when organisations come together with a shared ambition and a willingness to invest for the long term.

For ASD members, this progress is a clear demonstration of the impact that collaborative efforts can achieve. The journey is far from complete, but momentum is clearly building, systems are strengthening, and the foundations for lasting transformation are now in place.