September 30, 2026
Conservation is often defined by its most iconic images: remote jungles, threatened wildlife, and boots on the ground. Yet behind every thriving ecosystem lies a quieter infrastructure the operational systems, coordinated logistics, and dedicated people who sustain real conservation over decades, not days.
At Restorasi Ekosistem Riau (RER), protecting a complex tropical peatland requires more than just field presence; it demands coordination and logistical backing. In the first episode of our People in the Field series, we meet RER Operations Head, John Pereira. Viewing himself as an “enabler,” John ensures that frontline teams have the tools, resources, and strategic direction necessary to turn restoration goals into reality.
A Long-Term Approach to Conservation
For John, one of RER’s defining strengths is the ability to look far beyond typical project timelines. As a privately led initiative managing a 60-year concession license with 100% of its funding backed by the APRIL Group, RER possesses a rare level of stability. This guaranteed financial and operational support means the team can focus purely on what the landscape requires to thrive over the decades.
“Because APRIL has committed to this program long-term, we can focus entirely on what is actually needed on the ground, rather than being concerned about securing funding every three or four years,” he says.
This long-term approach allows RER to develop strategies over time, test new approaches, and adapt to changing conditions without being limited by short-term funding cycles and keeping the needs of conservation and restoration at the center of its work.
For John, it also means giving teams the space to be practical, creative and responsive in the way they protect and restore the landscape..
Although biodiversity protection sits at the heart of RER’s mission, conservation and restoration require much more than protecting wildlife, and depends on a wide network of people with different roles and expertise.
“It really takes a lot of passion and dedication to be a field biologist, ranger, or restoration technician,” John says. “If I had to sum up the people behind this work, I would say they are passionate, dedicated, and incredibly tough individuals.”
RER brings together diverse teams, from field rangers at remote posts, water management teams building dams across old logging canals, planners working from the Pangkalan Kerinci headquarters, and communications teams helping bring RER’s story to wider audience.
Real Work Happens on the Ground
The value of field teams is clear: they are where conservation becomes visible, measureable and impactful.
“You cannot do conservation from an office alone, you need boots on the ground,” John says. “Those boots need to be supported by stable funding, essential resources, and a common strategy.”
They are the people measuring tree growth, monitoring wildlife through camera traps, restoring water systems, and responding to conditions on the ground. Without them, John says, conservation risks becoming a “paper park”a plan that exists in documents but never takes shape across the landscape.
Building Trust with Local Communities
The influence of field teams also reaches beyond forest boundaries and into the communities connected to the landscape.
Along the Serkap River, harmful fishing practices were once common, including the use of poison and gill nets, burning areas to drive out fish, and other activities sometimes accompanied by bird poaching.
Changing those practices did not happen quickly. It took years of engagement, relationship-building, and establishing agreement with local fishing communities.
Today, the Serkap River is recognized for its high fish yields compared with other rivers in the region. According to John, the change is a reminder that conservation progress is often built through trust as much as technical intervention.
The Strength to Stay the Course
Peatland restoration may take years of monitoring before its progress can be seen.
That slow, demanding nature is exactly why John believes the people behind the work deserve greater recognition. Conservation requires long-term commitment, experience, patience and the willingness to work through difficult conditions. “It is dirty, hot, wet, and highly challenging even on good days,” John adds.
Forests and wildlife may be the charismatic symbols of conservation, but at RER, it is the people in the field, and the teams supporting them, who keep the work moving forward, one patrol, one restored canal, and one relationship at a time.
