Conservation GOING DEEP and DOING IT RIGHT for nature and people

Our Mission

The Alliance for Tompotika Conservation (ALTo) is committed to helping all of nature, including people, thrive.

Our work is centered in Sulawesi, Indonesia–one of Earth’s most unique biological treasure-houses. At the invitation of local communities, AlTo forges partnerships to protect and restore imperiled species, tropical rainforests, and other natural ecosystems while supporting the dignity and self-sufficiency of local communities in a changing world.

AlTo

 INDONESIA IS THE WORLD’S BIODIVERSITY EPICENTER,

with more species named and yet-to-be described in its terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments than just about any other country in the world. Sadly, Indonesia also has among the highest number of endangered species of any country in the world, most of them endangered by human activities.

The Alliance for Tompotika Conservation / Aliansi Konservasi Tompotika, called “AL-To” for short, is an international partnership dedicated to HELPING HEAL THE RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN PEOPLE AND THE REST OF NATURE, starting in one very special place: the Tompotika Peninsula on Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi.

SIDE BY SIDE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE, 

AlTo works to conserve endangered species and natural areas. At the same time, our partnerships support the dignity, self-sufficiency, and sustainability of the human communities in the area.

OVERVIEW

Learn about who we are and what we do

AlTo’s News

October 2024: The View from the Concession

To most people, they are just a series of odd rectangles on a map.

The blue-hatched rectangles on the map below represent recently-permitted concessions for nickel mines on the Tompotika peninsula, Sulawesi, Indonesia. For most of us in the Global Consumer Class, these rectangles are abstractions: nickel-rich places where we expect to “source” one of the globe’s current “critical minerals.” We tell ourselves that by increasing our consumption of nickel for use in electric vehicles we will get ourselves out of the alarming planetary pickle that we’ve…

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September 2024: How We’re Connected: The Coconut Connection

by Cliff Rice, PhD

Did you know that Indonesia is the world’s leading producer of coconuts? Also, plenty of this production comes from Sulawesi, the island where AlTo works. In this update, we will explore the connections between growing coconuts in the tropics and the consumption of various coconut products elsewhere.

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Newsletter July 2024:

  • Maleos at Kaumosongi: Numbers increased 7-fold, protected until 2044!
  • Conservation Awareness goes back to school
  • Tompotika: with three increasing sites, it’s now a stronghold for maleo recovery
  • New Czech Sea Turtle Collaboration
  • Art for Conservation: Celebrating Forests in the Pacific Northwest and Sulawesi
  • The Faces of AlTo – Etty Seno: “For the future of our children”

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Newsletter April 2024:

  • The Preserve Grows: Land purchase expands protected area in Panganian
  • Monjagai Tompotika Rangers: A new corps of community rangers to protect Tompotika’s forests and wildlife
  • Community Benefits: Free Reading Glasses
  • Restoration: Trees for Tangkuladi’s Bats
  • The Faces of AlTo – Ardi Managkari: Farmer, Dammar Collector, Forest Protector

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February 2024: The Neighing of Horses

When the Alliance for Tompotika Conservation (“Al-To”) was formed, we picked a venerable namesake. At 1600m tall (5200 ft), Mount Tompotika is the hub and centerpiece of the 2500 km2 (c. 1000 mi2) peninsula where AlTo works; geographically and culturally, the whole peninsula turns on Tompotika…

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What we do

Core Programs

FIELD PROGRAMS

MALEO

Saving one of the world’s most unique and endangered birds

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SEA TURTLES

Safeguarding nesting beaches and hatching the next generation

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BATS

Protecting the bats that maintain tropical forests

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FORESTS

Preserving the forests that sustain life on earth

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OUTREACH PROGRAMS

CONSERVATION AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Educating and empowering a new generation of conservationists

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ART FOR CONSERVATION

Expressing and celebrating  love of nature and community

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LAW ENFORCEMENT OUTREACH

Collaborating with law enforcement to end wildlife poaching and illegal timber harvest

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QUALITY OF LIFE PROGRAMS

ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS

Exploring sustainable alternatives while respecting traditional practices

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COMMUNITY BENEFITS

Enhancing the practical and social benefits of conservation

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ECO-SERVICE PROJECTS

People-to-people conservation collaborations

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RESEARCH PROGRAMS

MALEO RESEARCH

Investigating what we need to know to recover the endangered maleo

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BIOLOGICAL SURVEYS

Expanding scientific knowledge of Tompotika’s species and habitats

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OTHER RESEARCH

Enhancing conservation through sound understanding

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