We were given a rare opportunity to film a wild honey harvest by the residents of Sungai Kapas-Bato. Naturally we jumped at the opportunity, getting all the equipment together quickly! When we arrived at the location, four members of the climbing team were getting ready to harvest the hives, and what an experience it was! For a start, the tree which the hives were in was over 50 metres high! We could see that there were five hives or colonies, in its branches, but, apart from the immense height, there was the small matter of bee stings to deal with. The potential for fatality was not inconsiderable as we expected these hives to be heavily defended by hundreds of thousands of angry bees. To protect themselves from any untoward mishaps, the harvesting team ensured they were well protected. Two layers of clothing and an iron ‘mask’ over the face and neck, were donned and up they went.
Many of Harapan’s facilities date back to when it used to be a logging camp over 30 years ago. As a result, it is inevitable that repairs and renovation need to be carried out. This is especially true of our tree nursery, which despite the excellent work being done suffers from ‘vandalism’, especially by wild boars and monkeys. In early November, the area was fitted with a 140 cm high wire ‘harmonica’ fence that runs along the perimeter of the nursery, covering around 330 metres. There is still another 180 m to be fenced off. The fence has managed to reduce the destruction cause by wild boars significantly; before it was erected, around 50 per cent of the seedlings were being lost to their activity.
Regular watering is essential if seedlings are to establish themselves properly. A good reliable water supply is crucial, especially during the dry season. Sungei Beruang, or Bear River, in the Harapan Base Camp’s nursery is perfect source for this purpose. New pipes and nozzles were installed.
They were positioned alongside neatly arranged seedbeds to ensure that the tree seedlings were properly watered. We are pleased to say that the new installations are exceedingly efficient, with each nozzle able to water three beds, i.e. up to a radius of four metres.
October 30, 2011, was a landmark moment in the crucial social element of rainforest restoration. Alongside the event to celebrate the sustainable harvesting of wild honey for future sales, the Governor of Jambi also symbolically gave ID cards to the Bathin IX. The ID cards officially recognised the rights of local communities to inhabit the forest, as well as formally stated their agreement on the protection of the forest – something which hitherto had only been verbally agreed.
Good relations with the Bathin IX have been established for sometime now in Harapan. On 3 October, Harapan Rainforest and the Bathin IX of Simpang Macan Dalam signed a letter of agreement to conserve the forest. This letter of agreement is an excellent example of how both parties have come together to agree on the sustainable use of the forest resources, and most importantly, recognise the existence and rights of indigenous peoples.
On 30 October, 2011, the Governor of Jambi, Hasan Basri Agus, attended a very sweet event at Harapan Rainforest’s Camp 35. Over the past six months, the community partnership team has been exploring ways in which non-timber based products can be harvested from the forest in order to provide the indigenous people of HRF with a viable and sustainable source of income.
The harvesting of lulut honey has proved to be a winner. Lulut are a species of bee that do not sting and are prolific producers of an exceedingly delicious honey. The programme to harvest the honey was initiated last June in collaboration with the local people, and its technical adviser was Professor Yunus from the University of Brawijaya, Malang, East Java.
Bathin Sembilan children from Harapan’s mobile school became TV stars last month. They had parts in the first of two episodes of children’s series, Si Bolang, being shot in the forest. Si Bolang roughly means “Adventure Boy” shown in Trans7 TV station. It is shown right across this nation of more than 230 million people. It’s a great way to raise awareness of Harapan, and forest issues. The children learned about the threat of fire. They are shown putting out a fire that someone has left untended. They learned about livelihood benefits when drinking water from a cut vine. Of course, being from Harapan’s indigenous community, they know about these things. But it’s great to spread the message to a wider audience.
Last July, the first’s rainforest ecosystem restoration in Indonesia reached an important milestone with the opening of its newest nursery-Sei Kapas, Bato nursery. Hundreds of thousands of seedlings will be the centre of attention, as these tender young saplings are at the green heart of a massive undertaking – the restoration of one of the most threatened forest ecosystem on Earth.
When we were helping research team installing transect devices last month, we traversing bamboo forest and a pair of sharp eyes staring us from the bamboo grove without us knowing it. The creatures that watching us was hard to identify initially because its body is green just like tree leaves and elongated like bamboo rod. When observed with a clear position, it turns out the creature is a green snake wrapped around a bamboo rod. After studying the picture in detail, the snake is Wagler’s pit viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri).
In the past, the water source for Camp Harapan’s bathing and washing requirements came from a lake that was west of the camp. However, since April, a new source of water has been located from a smaller lake which is east of the nursery. The water from the old source is now used for watering the seedlings, washing cars and other field equipment. The water that had been previously used was very cloudy and it became worse during the rainy season. The water from this new source is clear and is also sheltered by a heavily forest area which is still quite intact. And the water stays clear during the rainy season and it doesn’t overflow. A jet pump is used to feed a kilometer long pipe to a new water container that holds up to 15000 litres. This is then redistributed to around houses around the camp.
Supplying seedlings is a very important role in Harapan and the man for the job is Pak Usman. Pak Usman is also a member of Bathin Sembilan, the local indigenous community that has lived in the area for several centuries. Over the last six months, he has worked with us to manage the Community Nursery in Durian Dangkal. The Community Nursery there is about 1 ha and has a production capacity of over 160,000 seedlings. There are five people in his team. Together they work on finding seeds and seedlings in the forest, transplanting them into polybags, taking care of them and finally planting them when they are ready. According to Pak Usman, the best time to look for seedlings is in the morning when it hasn’t become too hot. The seedlings are collected and left in a cool place such as a pond or stream until the evening.
English
Bahasa Indonesia
We were given a rare opportunity to film a wild honey harvest by the residents of Sungai Kapas-Bato. Naturally we jumped at the opportunity, getting all the equipment together quickly! When we arrived at the location, four members of the climbing team were getting ready to harvest the hives, and what an experience it was! For a start, the tree which the hives were in was over 50 metres high! We could see that there were five hives or colonies, in its branches, but, apart from the immense height, there was the small matter of bee stings to deal with. The potential for fatality was not inconsiderable as we expected these hives to be heavily defended by hundreds of thousands of angry bees. To protect themselves from any untoward mishaps, the harvesting team ensured they were well protected. Two layers of clothing and an iron ‘mask’ over the face and neck, were donned and up they went.
Many of Harapan’s facilities date back to when it used to be a logging camp over 30 years ago. As a result, it is inevitable that repairs and renovation need to be carried out. This is especially true of our tree nursery, which despite the excellent work being done suffers from ‘vandalism’, especially by wild boars and monkeys. In early November, the area was fitted with a 140 cm high wire ‘harmonica’ fence that runs along the perimeter of the nursery, covering around 330 metres. There is still another 180 m to be fenced off. The fence has managed to reduce the destruction cause by wild boars significantly; before it was erected, around 50 per cent of the seedlings were being lost to their activity.
Regular watering is essential if seedlings are to establish themselves properly. A good reliable water supply is crucial, especially during the dry season. Sungei Beruang, or Bear River, in the Harapan Base Camp’s nursery is perfect source for this purpose. New pipes and nozzles were installed.
October 30, 2
011, was a landmark moment in the crucial social element of rainforest restoration. Alongside the event to celebrate the sustainable harvesting of wild honey for future sales, the Governor of Jambi also symbolically gave ID cards to the Bathin IX. The ID cards officially recognised the rights of local communities to inhabit the forest, as well as formally stated their agreement on the protection of the forest – something which hitherto had only been verbally agreed.
On 30 October, 2011, the Governor of Jambi, Hasan Basri Agus, attended a very sweet event at Harapan Rainforest’s Camp 35. Over the past six months, the community partnership team has been exploring ways in which non-timber based products can be harvested from the forest in order to provide the indigenous people of HRF with a viable and sustainable source of income.
Last July, the first’s rainforest ecosystem restoration in Indonesia reached an important milestone with the opening of its newest nursery-Sei Kapas, Bato nursery. Hundreds of thousands of seedlings will be the centre of attention, as these tender young saplings are at the green heart of a massive undertaking – the restoration of one of the most threatened forest ecosystem on Earth.
When we were helping research team installing transect devices last month, we traversing bamboo forest and a pair of sharp eyes staring us from the bamboo grove without us knowing it. The creatures that watching us was hard to identify initially because its body is green just like tree leaves and elongated like bamboo rod. When observed with a clear position, it turns out the creature is a green snake wrapped around a bamboo rod. After studying the picture in detail, the snake is Wagler’s pit viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri). 
In the past, the water source for Camp Harapan’s bathing and washing requirements came from a lake that was west of the camp. However, since April, a new source of water has been located from a smaller lake which is east of the nursery. The water from the old source is now used for watering the seedlings, washing cars and other field equipment. The water that had been previously used was very cloudy and it became worse during the rainy season. 
Supplying seedlings is a very important role in Harapan and the man for the job is Pak Usman. Pak Usman is also a member of Bathin Sembilan, the local indigenous community that has lived in the area for several centuries. Over the last six months, he has worked with us to manage the Community Nursery in Durian Dangkal. The Community Nursery there is about 1 ha and has a production capacity of over 160,000 seedlings. There are five people in his team. Together they work on finding seeds and seedlings in the forest, transplanting them into polybags, taking care of them and finally planting them when they are ready. According to Pak Usman, the best time to look for seedlings is in the morning when it hasn’t become too hot. The seedlings are collected and left in a cool place such as a pond or stream until the evening.
Watch our film on youtube!
