Community members participating in land-use planning in Riau and West Sumatra

Land Rights, Mapping and Local Governance

Participatory Land Use Planning across Riau and West Sumatra

Participatory land-use planning in six locations across Riau and West Sumatra, combining community knowledge with spatial analysis and locally discussed development priorities.

  • Kuantan Singingi, Sijunjung, and Dharmasraya
  • 2024
  • Completed

Project Overview

Hutanriau implemented a Participatory Land Use Planning package across six villages or nagari in Riau and West Sumatra.

The project combined spatial analysis, community facilitation, participatory mapping, land-use conflict identification, wildlife-route evidence, and community land-use proposals to support more informed and inclusive landscape planning.

Project snapshot

At a glance

6 locations

completed participatory planning processes

2 provinces

Riau and West Sumatra

3 districts

included in the assignment

6 PLUP packages

prepared with maps, analysis and proposed land-use directions

Project Context

The wider RIMBA programme supported landscape management across areas connecting conservation landscapes in Riau, Jambi, and West Sumatra. Hutanriau’s direct implementation package focused on six villages or nagari in Riau and West Sumatra.

Communities and local governments required clearer spatial evidence to understand existing land use, community priorities, land-use conflicts, ecological considerations, and future development options.

Participatory Land Use Planning provided a structured process for combining geospatial information with community knowledge. The process enabled local stakeholders to identify current land uses, discuss competing interests, recognise important ecological areas, and develop proposals for future land management.

The project was implemented in Kasang and Seberang Cengar in Kuantan Singingi, Timpeh and Taratak Tinggi in Dharmasraya, and Kamang and Aia Amo in Sijunjung.

Objectives

  • Develop participatory land-use evidence for six villages or nagari in Riau and West Sumatra.
  • Strengthen community and local stakeholder capacity to understand and apply Participatory Land Use Planning.
  • Document existing land use, community priorities, spatial issues, and land-use conflicts.
  • Identify critical wildlife routes and other ecological considerations relevant to land-use planning.
  • Prepare community-informed land-use proposals and draft agreements for future landscape management.
  • Strengthen dialogue between communities, village or nagari governments, and relevant institutions.

What Hutanriau Did

  • Collected and analysed spatial and secondary data for the six project locations.
  • Conducted PLUP training and capacity-building activities.
  • Facilitated community discussions on land use, priorities, risks, and future development.
  • Implemented participatory mapping of existing land use and community-managed areas.
  • Conducted field validation and collection of supporting spatial information.
  • Analysed land-use issues and conflicts.
  • Identified critical wildlife routes and ecological considerations.
  • Prepared maps, spatial analyses, and proposed land-use directions.
  • Facilitated the preparation of draft land-use agreements and recommendations.

Results and Learning

Participatory mapping connected technical spatial information with community knowledge, existing land uses and local priorities. The process gave communities and local stakeholders a shared basis for discussing competing uses, ecological considerations and future land-management options.

For each location, Hutanriau prepared maps, analysis, identified issues and proposed land-use directions. These packages support continued dialogue and planning; they are not legal determinations of boundaries or proof that the proposals were formally adopted.

Field Documentation

Selected photographs documenting project activities, field implementation, and community participation.

Planning locally grounded environmental work in Riau?

Hutanriau collaborates with communities, donors, government agencies, research institutions, civil society organisations, and responsible private-sector partners.

Discuss a Partnership