Our mission

Forestwise's mission is to #StopDeforestation and create #RainforestValue. We do this by developing markets for valuable rainforest products, which creates an economic incentive that empowers local communities to keep protecting the remaining rainforest. By maintaining the rainforest, we also help to conserve wildlife, safeguard fresh water supplies and prevent floods and droughts.

Our impact
So far, Forestwise has forest protection agreements in place with 6 villages in West Kalimantan, for a combined forest area of 36.000 hectares. We have increased the average annual income by 16% for over 1,000 raw material collectors. We aim is to keep adding villages to this list, increasing the area of forest protected to 500.000 hectares and reaching 10,000 beneficiaries by the year 2030. With your support, we can engage with many more communities and reach these goals.
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Our products have certifications such as Fair for Life (by Ecocert), Organic (by Ecocert and SKAL), COSMOS (by Ecocert) and Halal (by MUI).
Forestwise is also a proud member of the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) since 2020.

About us

Forestwise was founded in 2018 in the Netherlands. We have our own production facility (PT Forestwise Wild Keepers) which is located in Sintang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. PT Forestwise Wild Keepers is a full subsidiary company to Forestwise Netherlands.

Theo Smits and Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn met in 2013, when they were both working for an Indonesian non-governmental organisation. Theo moved to Indonesia in 2007, looking for ways to share his 30-years of experience and extensive production technology knowledge with people in less developed areas.
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Dirk-Jan moved to Indonesia in 2013, together with his partner Alexandra Vosmaer. Alexandra got an assignment to work with the endangered orangutans in Borneo, and Dirk-Jan decided to join to pursue opportunities in Indonesia in community development.

In the following years, Theo and Dirk-Jan witnessed at first hand the destruction caused by massive deforestation in Borneo. In 2018, they decided to set up their own social enterprise, Forestwise, to empower the local inhabitants to protect the remaining rainforest.

Forestwise does this by producing Rainforest ingredients, creating more value for forest communities while increasing the value of the forest as a natural resource, and providing genuinely sustainable alternatives for consumers around the world.