Borneo villagers earn cash for wildlife photos to fund conservation

Villagers in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province use a mobile app to submit photos of local wildlife in exchange for cash payments.

The program, called KehatiKu, was designed by Borneo Futures, a nature technology company based in Brunei. More than 800 people, mostly small-scale farmers, have signed up to document sightings of 73 different species, including birds, monkeys, and orangutans. A team of Bruneian university graduates verifies the submissions before the company issues monthly payments.

The initiative aims to provide faster and cheaper data than traditional one-off surveys. By turning everyday sightings into steady data, the project helps scientists monitor how wildlife populations change over time. The program covers about 200,000 hectares in the Kapus Hulu district, an area larger than New York City. The financial incentives have changed local behaviors and economic status.

Some villagers who previously hunted wild boar and deer for food or to protect crops now support wildlife protection because the photos earn more money over time than hunting does. For some participants, the income provides significant financial independence. The company says the model costs less than US$1 per hectare per year to operate. The project also extends to oil palm plantations owned by Austindo Nusantara Jaya, where workers record wildlife during their daily tasks.

The data has already been used by the Indonesian government for a national gibbon workshop. Borneo Futures plans to share the records with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, an international database.