|
|
|
November - December Newsletter from
by Friends of
the National Parks Foundation (FNPF)
WILDLIFE PROGRAM
On 21st December,
our vets were awakened at dawn by the urgent call of Pak Cobe, an orangutan
keeper. That morning, Pak Cobe had gone
into the Forest Quarantine area, and discovered a young orangutan dead in her
cage. Both her arms were chewed off; her
chest torn open. We found footprints, claw marks and animal hairs nearby, and
tooth and claw marks on her body. From
these and the nature of the injuries, we concluded she had been attacked by a
big cat, most likely a clouded leopard which is the only large carnivore found
in
There was nothing we could do for her; we immediately
notified the Park Authorities and focused on increasing site security for staff
and orangutans. We shifted young
orangutans indoors immediately; set about reviewing security, commenced
all-night patrols, added spotlights and strengthened the undersides of cages to
prevent access.
The savagery of the attack
caused deep shock. We have young children and babies at the post, and a
reaction among some quarters was to get the Forest Police to hunt and shoot the
leopard. Happily however this has been
averted. We pointed out that the leopard
was only following its instincts; no human lives have been lost; there is
plenty of scope for harm-free methods such as trapping, tranquillising and
transferring the animal to less populated areas. The clouded leopard is also an endangered
species which should be protected. Yes,
we grieve for the orangutan who was lost and we understand the risk to humans;
however we cannot take a life for a life.
To date, we have not succeeded in trapping the
leopard. We will continue with our attempts;
we will also do all we can to better protect our orangutans and our staff. We have discontinued work at our
reforestation swamp site for the time being, as staff must go through dense
forest to reach this site; work will not recommence until we are more confident
staff will not be placed at risk. We
wish to thank staff, visitors, Forest Police, villagers at Desa Sei Sekonyer
and the Park Authorities for their support during this difficult time.
In this period, we received disturbing news of a
potentially significant threat to the orangutan population in the Park. Robert, the semi-wild orangutan we treated
last period, has tested positive for Tuberculosis and Hepatitis C. We also received information that research
carried by Dr Dondin Sajuthi in early 1990 had indicated the existence of TBC
and Hepatitis among orangutans in the Park.
There are an estimated 2,000 to 6,000 orangutans in
the Park. Given an estimated worldwide population of 50,000 to 60,000
orangutans, the population at Tanjung Puting is a highly important one and any
disease threat needs a strong response. It is also important to distinguish
between the threat to wild orangutans in more remote areas, as opposed to the
300 or so semi-wild orangutans located close to villages and tourist-frequented
areas.
FNPF has spoken to the Park Head, Drs P. Bambang Darmadja, about creating a
multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder research and medical team to identify the
extent of the threat and how we might manage any disease impacts. We are
seeking advice from LIPI, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and have also
spoken with Drh CA Nidom, PhD, a specialist in Hepatitis at University
AirLangga and Ms Lone D.-Nielsen, head of the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Project,
both of whom have offered aid and support.
We hope to see some action on this important issue.
In this period, we received results showing very high levels of mercury in
samples taken at various points along the Sekonyer river. Mercury enters the
river when it is dumped from gold mines upstream. As mining continues, once-beautiful “tea
black” rivers are turning a muddy brown.
At
the entrance to the mines, the level of mercury is 0.016 mg Hg/L. In the
Mercury exposure can cause brain damage and increased
risk of cancer in humans and wildlife.
Once mercury enters the food chain, the risks are multiplied as it can
accumulate in fish tissue and other aquatic life, leading to effects such as
Minamata disease when ingested over long periods. In October, FNPF began
working with mining villages near the Park; we have run two health and
awareness clinics and will continue our efforts to find
environmentally-friendly solutions to mining and to lobby local government to
respond appropriately.
In November 2002, local
authorities gave 381 chickens to villagers in Desa Sekonyer. Within 2 weeks, 227 chickens were dead,
mainly due to infection including Newcastle Disease, Chronic Respiratory
Disease and Laryngotracheitis infection. The remainder were slaughtered to prevent
further disease spread, or died shortly after. Sadly, this is a depressingly
familiar scenario, where ‘things’ are given, but often in poor condition and
with no training on how to look after and maintain them.
Thanks to DEH Australia, FNPF
is now able to work with villagers to increase skills in animal husbandry. Drh Made Marthady has commenced a Field
Learning program for villagers at Desa Sungai
Cabang and Desa Sekonyer, based on the FAO’s
Farmer Field Schools. Topics are agreed jointly and include sanitation,
nutrition, care and reproduction. Participants learn from each other; the
format is informal, interactive and uses group discussions to identify issues
and generate solutions. The goal is to build villagers’ knowledge and to increase
problem-solving skills, with 1-2 individuals being able to act as a livestock
‘first aid officer’ longer term. We wish
to thank Pak Lorens for his assistance in setting up this program.
Following on from the health
awareness and treatment clinic we ran in October at Danau Rasau mining village,
the Local Health authorities made good their promise to run a Posyandu
(health check for children and babies) at Rasau, with the costs for vaccines
and medicine being borne by the authorities.
25
children were treated and immunised for Polio, DPT, Hepatitis and smallpox; 3
pregnant mothers were also treated. FNPF
organised the visit, bringing a midwive Ibu Ida, contributing transport, food
supplements for babies, and helping set up a “Mothers’ Cadre”.
|
Ibu Ida trained four
mothers to take notes, weigh children, and run a Posyandu themselves as the
village has no health personnel. We also brought Ibu Liah, an experienced mothers’ |
|
cadet from another
village, to help train and motivate the new mothers’ cadre. FNPF is committed
to continue supporting this mother’s group, which we hope will also foster
awareness of the dangers associated with mining. We thank DEH Australia for this
program. |
On the night of 17th
December, a loud crash shook the air at Desa Sekonyer. When villagers came out to investigate, they
found a part of the school roof had collapsed. Two classrooms were totally
destroyed; the roof lay flat on the floor with furniture, walls and equipment
crushed beyond recognition. Thank God, the building was empty at that time.
Pak Sabri, the School Head, immediately contacted the
Head of the Education and Teaching Department, the local MP, the regent and the
sub-regent. In keeping with a generally agreed approach to work with and not
against the local authorities, the school refused to give comments to other NGOs
and the press. FNPF has continually
supported the school in its efforts, and we are pleased to report that, as of
January 2005, Local Government has agreed to finance a total refurbishment of
the village school and to provide an additional teacher for the students.
In this period, the Park
Authority delivered on its promise of aid for the eco-tourism program at Desa
Sekonyer. The Park will build 4
extensions to the homes of villagers, who will run these as homestays. FNPF
will organise with local health authorities and the tourism department to train
villagers in sanitation, hygiene, customer service and bookkeeping, aiming for
official certification. We will also work
with villagers to put in place a monitoring and community benefit-sharing
system, where the large portion of income from the homestays will be put aside
for repairs, maintenance and for a Community Benefit Fund. We thank the Park for inviting our participation
in this matter.
We are also very pleased to
announce that the Rimba EcoLodge Hotel has agreed to promote traditional village
health and beauty services to its guests.
Village ladies will offer relaxation and deep tissue massage as well as
‘batimung’, a beauty treatment combining an exfoliation treatment using scented
herbs with a traditional perfumed ‘sauna’. FNPF has worked with villagers to set prices,
agree benefit shares and to produce brochures.
The Rimba will also consider offering a ‘welcome drink & dance’
package using village talent.
FNPF thanks the owners and managers of Rimba, Pak
Allan and Ibu Meryl, as well as their on-ground manager Pak Yani for this
important support. We also thank DEH
Australia, the Park Authorities and the Village Authorities for their
invaluable contribution.
CONSERVATION EDUCATION
PROGRAM
Information Room Transformation !
Jon Wild, what can we say? Our volunteer Jon
joined us for two months, in which time his creative vision and practical genius helped us transform
an ugly empty space into a magical forest setting, complete with indoor
walkway, old tree trunks, a forest floor and natural materials such as rattan
and purun. We now have a space worthy of
an Information Room for Tanjung Puting; we will endeavour to add information
materials and complete the work by end March.
JON, KAS, TEAM, YOU GUYS ARE THE GREATEST!!!
This period we are very pleased to introduce Pak
Basuki Budi Santoso, SH. Pak Basuki is a experienced forester who has worked
with government, private sector and local and international NGOs such as WWF
and Wanariset. ‘Baz’ joins us to review
the work in our US Fish and Wildlife funded reforestation project, and to share
his knowledge with staff, students and other local groups.
Baz will stay for three months
as a volunteer, courtesy of a DEH Australia program where experienced
Indonesian conservationists join us to help build the local talent pool. In his short time here, he has improved our
soil media mix, shown staff how to better utilize naturally occurring
vegetation and pioneer plants as shade trees, trained staff to correctly map, work and
monitor semi-random plantings (vs neat rows) and set up a 4 hectar experimental
plot for research, training and evaluation purposes. Importantly, he is supporting staff to be more
independent and to take greater responsibility.
Baz has somehow also found the time to assist our
conservation education efforts, sharing his knowledge and experience with 20
schoolchildren brought to our Pesalat site by Yayorin. He will continue to
support our conservation education efforts.
We look forward to a very useful and productive three months; thank you
Baz!
In this period, we welcome Anna Cherry, a volunteer
teacher with experience in multi-lingual settings. Anna has worked in
In this period, longstanding
staff member, Mr. Mohd Kasri Zurain was
blessed with a son. It was a difficult
birth; the baby was his wife’s first, and at the time of birth was in a breech
position, necessitating a ceasarian.
Thankfully, the operation went smoothly and mother and baby are now both
doing very well.
We wish Kasri, his wife & child all the very very
best.
Such is our
newsletter for the period. Thank You
Everyone!
Respectfully, FNPF staff and volunteers
