In Central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, the planting season typically runs from October to February and overlaps with the rainy season.
In the early years of our reforestation efforts, which began in 2014, our team and the smallholder farmers could rely on the rains. But this year, the trend observed in recent planting seasons has intensified. The rainy season begins, lasts for a few weeks, then stops again. The rains are becoming increasingly unpredictable, both in terms of timing and intensity.
Then, in early February, uncertainty set in: rain showers failed to show up for almost two weeks, and the ground remained dry. This is the worst-case scenario for both the seedlings already planted and those yet to be planted. Already planted seedlings depend on manual watering, while dry soil makes new planting more challenging, less effective, and considerably more exhausting for planting teams.
To better understand the changing weather conditions, the team on the ground began, for the first time, to systematically record rainfall rather than relying on personal assessments of the decreasing amount of rain compared to previous years.
Strong results despite significant challenges.
But enough about the challenges. Fortunately, we also have some great successes to report. In mid-February, the rains we had been hoping for returned. Heavy rainfall returned and continued until the end of March – four weeks longer than planned. It quickly became clear: as long as there is stable rainfall, planting will continue.
In the 2025/26 season, a total of 108,073 seedlings were distributed to 114 smallholder farmers participating in the 100 Million Trees Programme. As a reminder, Fairventures and GFI’s approach goes far beyond the simple distribution of seedlings: The team in Indonesia supports smallholder farmers with expert advice on any questions they may have, both in the regular Farmer Field Schools and during regular meetings. When distributing free seedlings, GFI focuses on a mix of locally preferred fruit trees as well as tree species that provide long-term harvests. Such mixed systems strengthen the resilience of the crop areas, create additional income opportunities and, at the same time, contribute to carbon sequestration.
The seedlings were planted across 130 hectares of land. This is comparable to the size of 185 football pitches or, to put it in terms of our Stuttgart office: an area twice the size of the entire Schlossgarten.
After the planting season, the GFI team took the time to review and reflect on their workflows, challenges and best practices during a workshop lasting several days. This video offers a brief insight into the workshop:
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More InformationNurseries are operating again, raising new seedlings
Once the planting season is over, it’s time to start planning for the next one. On the ground, work is already in progress to set the goals for the next planting season, and new seedlings are already growing in the nurseries.
Fairventures Worldwide is grateful for the amazing commitment shown every day by the 45-strong team of Good Forest Indonesia. For us, it is clear that reforestation programmes can only achieve their full potential if they are integrated into local structures for the long term.
We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest thanks to all our supporters. Whether through private donations, partnerships or other forms of support – it is you who make our work possible in the first place.
The 2025/26 planting season once again demonstrates what we can achieve together when we unite our efforts and work towards healthy forests as climate solutions.
Together we Empower Farmers & Forests.