Restoring Indonesian Rainforests.
Built on a family legacy.
We restore and protect Indonesian rainforests by working with nature, local communities, and decades of hands-on knowledge.
Most organisations start with an idea.
We started with a legacy.
For over 40 years, our work has been rooted in real ecosystems.
Not models, not offsets, not assumptions. All across Indonesia, we’ve seen forests return, biodiversity recover, and communities rebuild their relationship with nature.
Today, Restore the Legacy continues that work.
Not by planting trees alone, but by restoring entire ecosystems, the way nature intended
We rebuild living systems where biodiversity, soil, water, and livelihoods grow together.
And where ancient knowledge still has a place.
Knowledge rooted in generations that lived with the land long before us,
Let us take you back in time...
Long before this organisation existed, the work had already begun.
In 1985, Willie Smits, our founder’s uncle, started restoring degraded rainforest land in Indonesia.
Not as a concept.
But as reality.
What followed was proof.
That restoration is possible → if you understand how nature actually works.
One of those places is Samboja Lestari in Borneo.
Once 1800 hectares of barren, fire-damaged landscape.
Now a thriving ecosystem.
And alongside this ecological work, another layer was built.
Systems.
Our founder grew up with a father who turned vision into something tangible.
Through zero-waste village hubs in West Kalimantan and circular production systems.
Theo Smits showed that regeneration can be built into how we produce.
Not just how we protect.
Growing up, this wasn’t something we learned.
It was something we lived.
Forests being restored.
Systems being built.
Nature being understood.
This is where Restore the Legacy begins.
Not as something new.
But as a continuation.
For our founder, that meant making a choice.
Leaving behind a career in corporate banking and sustainability.
Where impact is often discussed, measured, and reported…
But not always realised on the ground.
And she decided to step into a family legacy where real-world impact happens.
Choosing actual ecosystem recovery.
But this is not a one-person story.
It is carried forward by a growing team of skilled experts,
farmers, researchers, partners and builders.
People who don’t just work on nature, but with nature.
Every day.
So today...
We don’t just reduce impact to numbers on paper.
We focus on what actually changes on the ground.
Recovering landscapes.
Returning biodiversity.
Stronger local livelihoods.
We work with communities as our partners.
Because restoration only lasts...
When people and nature grow together.
Now you know how we decided what we want to leave behind..
What about you?
What do you want to leave behind?
