Start from 2013, Hutanriau has begun its activities by collecting legal data from the provincial government using the law of information disclosure number 14 year 2008. The aim is to collect legal data (including maps) related to forest areas, plantations and AMDAL and to trial the implementation of the law in several government agencies. At the time Hutanriau was known as Portal Hutanriau.
Portal Hutanriau was designed as an organization with joint ownership which is supported by most NGOs in Riau. So the portal was owned by these NGOs and they used Portal as a database center and advocacy coordination. Portal was doing the collection of the data and analyze it. The owners of Portal would become the data guardians and use them for advocacy.
But since the end of 2014 some owners have different opinions about data sharing, so the portal decided to become an independent organization. Therefore, in March 2015, the portal is officially registered as a foundation named Hutanriau.
