Forestwise – Yayasan Rimba Raya Abadi

Investing in Impact

P4G awarded the partnership US $455,000 in grant funding. 

Forestwise aims to sustain the rainforests of Borneo by producing products that grow and wild harvested in the rainforest such as illipe butter. By creating value in sustainable forest grown products, it’s making it more profitable to conserve the forest rather than cut it down. This is a priority for Indonesia with the Sintang, West Kalimantan region already experiencing 77% tree cover loss from 2013 to 2021. 

Forestwise harvests and processes illipe nuts that grow in the rainforests of West Kalimantan. The nuts are wild harvested, which means they are collected when they fall from the tree, by the native Dayak community. They are processed in a local Forestwise facility and further refined to produce RBD (Refined, Bleached, and Decolorised) illipe butter. Forestwise products are fully certified including FFL, EU Organic, USDA Organic, COSMOS, and Halal. They are now in the process of obtaining food certification and Kosher. 

Illipe butter is a cocoa butter equivalent with a neutral color and scent, a higher melting point, and reach moisturizing properties. This makes it ideal for personal care and cosmetic product such as bars, soaps, lip balm, cream, and lotion. In the food industry, illipe butter can be used in confectionery products like chocolate bars, nutrition bars, and ice cream. 

Global demand for cocoa butter equivalents is growing due to the need for more sustainable, reliable, and traceable alternatives to traditional cocoa butter, especially in response to market volatility and supply chain concerns in some cocoa-producing regions. Illipe is a traceable, sustainable, and natural product, making it a responsible and high-quality choice for both the cosmetic and food industries. 

Forestwise will enter into long-term supply contracts with farmers to provide them with stable incomes. The startup has developed training modules tailored for local farmers and has increased the agroforestry and financial literacy knowledge of more than 300 farmers across 10 villages the region. 

The business aims to register 1,800 farmers on its traceability app to ensure full traceability across its supply chain. The app is currently functional, and the startup is working on integrating the information from the app with a dashboard that can share farmer stories and traceability data with buyers. 

Forestwise currently sells 43 tons of RBD illipe butter and 44 tons of crude illipe butter and has established relationships with 14 buyers. The startup aims to scale that to 120 and 250 tons respectively over the next two years and find seven new buyers. As part of its scaling process, Forestwise is focused on building a robust supply chain and has identified more than 1,500 potential farmers with 300 now registered as suppliers. The startup procured more than 350 tons of nuts in 2024 and formed strategic partnerships with nonprofits in the region with a focus on sustainable agroforestry in at-risk forest landscapes. 

International certifications are another component of unlocking broader market opportunities and Forestwise is currently pursuing B Corp certification and expanding its existing certifications including Organic Ecocert, Kosher and others. 

Forestwise has entered a partnership with IDH (Sustainable Trade Initiative) to explore carbon sequestration and carbon credit opportunities. 

During the P4G funding period, Forestwise will also explore diversifying into different markets including cosmetic, food and natural latex. Part of the work will include sharing best practices from cultivating, managing and processing products such as Arenga sugar and natural rubber. 

In addition to diversifying to new markets, Forestwise is also in discussion with potential buyers on using illipe waste for farm feed. To prevent organic waste from going to landfill, the startup repurposes its illipe and kukui nut waste for other productive purposes such as biochar, farm feed mushroom farming. 

Yayasan Rimba Raya Abadi has a deep understanding of the local community and farmers employed by Forestwise. The nonprofit will support Forestwise in training farmers and develop a knowledge product to help them understand their land ownership rights. This is to get a deeper understanding of the kind of forest land farmers are working on and help farmers learn the process of securing the rights to wild harvested natural forest products and sustainable farming in the region. 

By 2025, Forestwise aims to raise about US $1 million in investment, reduce more than 340,000 metric tons of carbon emissions, create almost 50 jobs, and empower 1800 farmers with greater climate resilience solutions. It also aims to preserve 100,000 hectares of rainforest by 2026. 

The partnership comprises the following partners: Forestwise (lead business partner); Yayasan Rimba Raya Abadi (lead administrative partner).