Plant materials tested
Tested through project distillation activities.
Ecosystem Restoration and Wildlife Coexistence, Local Knowledge-Research and Learning, Sustainable Livelihoods and Community Enterprise
Community Livelihoods for Forest and River Conservation in Lubuk Bigau
In Lubuk Bigau, Hutanriau worked with community members to test forest plant materials for essential oils, strengthen practical enterprise skills, and support river conservation activities.
Project overview
Project Overview
Hutanriau worked with community members in Lubuk Bigau to explore forest plant materials as potential sources of essential oils, improve practical distillation processes and build skills around citronella-based products and enterprise planning. The project also supported fish-seedling releases at four river locations and organised a River Festival with camping and traditional games.
Documented reach
At a glance
Plant materials producing essential oils
Produced essential oils under project trial conditions.
Distillation trials
Completed using equipment supported through the LUSH grant.
River release locations
Four locations where 12,000 juvenile baung and garing or semah were released during the River Festival as a restocking activity.
Documented Outputs
- 15 plant materials tested, of which 12 produced essential oils during project trials.
- Three distillation trials completed using LUSH-supported equipment.
- Two citronella derivative-product training sessions completed.
- One organisational management session and one business-plan drafting session completed.
- One learning visit to a soap-processing enterprise completed.
- A River Festival held with camping, restocking of 12,000 juvenile baung and garing or semah across four river locations, and children’s competitions in eight traditional games.
Why this work mattered
Project Context
Lubuk Bigau is a remote village in Kampar Kiri Hulu, close to the Bukit Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve. The final report describes limited road access and constraints in local education and health services. The surrounding forest and river systems are closely connected to daily life and local knowledge.
The project brought livelihood development and river activities into one programme. It combined participatory research on potential essential-oil plants with practical support for distillation, product development and smallholder organisation. Its river work centred on lubuk larangan, a local practice through which the Lubuk Bigau community conserves the village’s river and fish resources.
What we set out to do
Objectives
- Identify and test locally found plant materials as potential sources of essential oils.
- Improve essential-oil distillation practice and explore derivative products based on citronella.
- Support community organisation, business planning and peer learning around smallholder enterprise.
- Encourage river conservation and renew community attention to lubuk larangan traditions.
Delivery
What Hutanriau Did
- Held a discussion and participatory forest search to identify potential essential-oil plant materials.
- Tested 15 plant materials through distillation.
- Conducted three distillation trials using equipment supported by LUSH and compared the process with traditional equipment.
- Delivered two practical training sessions on citronella derivative products.
- Delivered one organisational management session and one business-plan drafting session.
- Organised a learning visit to a soap-processing business.
- Released 12,000 juvenile fish, locally known as baung and garing or semah, at four river locations during the River Festival as a restocking activity for local lubuk larangan waters.
- Held a River Festival with camping and children’s competitions in eight traditional games that were becoming less familiar in the village.
Results and learning
Early Outcomes
The testing narrowed 15 plant materials to 12 that produced essential oils under project trial conditions. This created a practical starting point for further research, but the final report notes that additional testing and training would be needed before developing market-ready products.
Across three distillation trials, the project recorded clearer oil and fuel use up to 10% lower than with the traditional equipment used for comparison. These are project trial observations, not an independently verified long-term efficiency benchmark.
The river component released 12,000 juvenile fish, locally known as baung and garing or semah, at four locations during the River Festival. The restocking was intended to increase fish numbers in the community’s lubuk larangan waters, but no post-release monitoring evidence is available to establish a population change. Children also competed in eight traditional games that were becoming less familiar in the village.
Evidence notes
Limits of the Evidence
The final report documents activities and project-level trials but does not provide baseline and endline data for household income, employment, fish populations, wildlife, forest condition or water quality. The release of 12,000 juvenile fish is presented as a completed restocking activity intended to increase fish numbers in lubuk larangan waters. No post-release monitoring data are available to show whether the fish population changed.
The reported clearer oil and reduction of up to 10% in fuel use refer to three project trials. They should not be read as independently verified long-term performance. The 12 plant materials that produced essential oils also require further testing before any claim of commercial readiness.
Project album
Field Documentation
Selected photographs documenting project activities, field implementation, and community participation.
Work with us
Planning locally grounded environmental work in Riau?
Hutanriau collaborates with communities, donors, government agencies, research institutions, civil society organisations, and responsible private-sector partners.