Last week, while wandering the southern part of Harapan Rainforest - in Manggul area exactly - conducted vegetation research, our team walked slowly and carefully because, according to local residents the area is a haunted and mystical area. Area where the Dutch were once made of mining explorations, now many are no longer active. Forests in this area is still good intact and natural where human rarely penetrated as haunted stories and there is often a strange apparition.
The trip to Harapan's base camp is an ordeal in itself, especially when crossing the old wooden bridges on a rainy day. Great concentration and some praying is required to make it across! Thankfully this is no longer the case! from January 2012, the two old bridges on the road to Harapan were replaced with new ones. The new bridge 9 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high from the river.
Since Desember 2011, the communication network has had the support of new device with the installation of VSAT (Very Small-Aperture Terminal) facilities. This is essential for rapid and secure communication channels such as the Harapan Rainforest which are in remote areas. This facility is a signal from a satellite receiver station with 1.8 diameter dish. The main function of the VSAT is to receive and send data to geostationery satellites. This facility support existing networks with the main connection Indosat, for telephone and internet connection. VSAT accomodates and facilitates the communication and data traffic in a low capacity.
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.
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Last week, while wandering the southern part of Harapan Rainforest - in Manggul area exactly - conducted vegetation research, our team walked slowly and carefully because, according to local residents the area is a haunted and mystical area. Area where the Dutch were once made of mining explorations, now many are no longer active. Forests in this area is still good intact and natural where human rarely penetrated as haunted stories and there is often a strange apparition.
The trip to Harapan's base camp is an ordeal in itself, especially when crossing the old wooden bridges on a rainy day. Great concentration and some praying is required to make it across! Thankfully this is no longer the case! from January 2012, the two old bridges on the road to Harapan were replaced with new ones. The new bridge 9 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high from the river.
Since Desember 2011, the communication network has had the support of new device with the installation of VSAT (Very Small-Aperture Terminal) facilities. This is essential for rapid and secure communication channels such as the Harapan Rainforest which are in remote areas. This facility is a signal from a satellite receiver station with 1.8 diameter dish. The main function of the VSAT is to receive and send data to geostationery satellites. This facility support existing networks with the main connection Indosat, for telephone and internet connection. VSAT accomodates and facilitates the communication and data traffic in a low capacity.
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, 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.
Watch our film on youtube!
