Category Archives: The Environment

Charities, Published articles, The Environment

Voices for the Orangutan

February 17, 2015 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

Seeing an orangutan in its natural habitat is a rare and magical experience that, for many, will only happen once in a lifetime. 96.4 percent of our genetic makeup is shared with these Great Apes found in the wild on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo only. Due to mankind’s continued encroachment of their natural habitat—particularly for palm oil plantations, hunting and capture for the illegal wildlife trade—the Sumatran Orangutan population sits at critically endangered (6,500 left in the wild), and the Borneo Orangutan at endangered (54,000 remaining in the wild). Although they are protected by Indonesian, Malaysian and international laws, it is estimated that between four and 5,000 wild orangutans disappear every year.

Dr. Gary Shapiro was the first person to teach a symbolic communication system to an orangutan at Chaffee Zoological Park, California, and the first person to teach sign language to orangutans in their natural environment in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan). “When I spent two years in the forests of Indonesian Borneo teaching sign language to a group of formerly owned “pet” orangutans that were learning to return to the wild, I became much more interested in the species and their plight,” Dr. Shapiro tells me. One particular orangutan named Princess adopted Dr. Shapiro as her father. “We did many things together as she learned her signs and became a free-ranging juvenile orangutan. It was during that time I knew I would devote my life to helping the species survive.”

At the time, Dr. Shapiro felt that not enough money was being spent on education and community outreach to address the root cause of the orangutan’s dilemma. It was clear to him that more had to be done to educate people about the species and their plight, which is why the Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) was founded.

OURF works towards saving orangutans from extinction in the wild by funding education and outreach programs in Sumatra and Kalimantan, through the Orangutan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI), an Indonesia-registered non-profit project active since 2004. These organizations were born of the belief that saving orangutans can only be ensured by the people of Indonesia and Malaysia.

One of the foundation’s unique programmes is university scholarship funding to Indonesian students of biology, forestry and veterinary science. Students receiving these scholarships are required to work with local organisations, becoming more knowledgeable about orangutans during their schooling. They graduate as advocates for orangutans.

Another OURF project is Orangutan Caring Clubs of Indonesia, where the message of conservation is brought to schools, government offices and the wider community. Outreach projects include visiting schools in Jakarta and Medan with film and education materials, engaging local and national government officials in conservation issues, and recently, partnering with other orangutan advocacy groups to fund an educational forum with environmental advisers to the Indonesian presidential candidates.

Ridhwan Effendi is Director of OUREII and ensures all aspects of their programme run according to plan. He feels that due to ignorance, there is no sense of urgency among Indonesians to protect the orangutan. “Orangutans are an endemic species to Indonesia, but many Indonesians are not even aware of them,” he explains. “They often see the orangutan as a problem that must be eliminated, causing damage to crops and plantations. Even at managerial levels of palm oil plantations in Central Kalimantan, they consider the orangutan an enemy.”

Although the government has passed laws to protect the species, Effendi believes the problem remains in law enforcement. In 1990, the government passed UU No. 5 1990, article 21, where it states that a sentence of up to five years and a fine of 100 million rupiah will be given to those who capture, harm, own, kill or sell a protected animal, including orangutans.

In 2011, instructions were passed down from the president (Intruksi Presiden No.10 tahun 2011) to stop any further destruction of rainforest and peat land, however there has been no follow through – in the first three years since its passing, 6.4 million hectares of protected forest were cleared. Effendi believes the new government is more focused on political issues rather than the environment. “It does not seem that the new government is doing anything yet to protect the remaining rainforests and natural habitat of the orangutan. According to national statistics, 48.8 million hectares of ancient rainforest remain on Kalimantan, however Greenpeace’s figures are much lower, at 25.5 million hectares,” he tells me.

Wild orangutans in Central Kalimantan by Angela Richardson

Although it may feel like a lost cause, due to the hard work that non-governmental organisations such as OURF and OUREII do, there is still hope. “For every person who might have purchased an orangutan and decided not to because of our programs, six to eight orangutans may have been saved,” Dr. Shapiro explains. “Our field education program helps save individual orangutans that might be killed as pests when they wander into a farmer’s garden or orchard. Peoples’ attitudes have changed and many who would have poached or killed an orangutan are not doing so anymore.”

According to Dr. Shapiro, we can each help to make a difference by paying attention to the contents of our grocery shopping. “Stop buying products made of conflict palm oil, which is produced under conditions associated with the ongoing destruction of rainforests, expansion on carbon-rich peat lands, and human rights violations, including the failure to recognize and respect the customary land rights of forest-dependent communities and the use of forced labour and child labour,” he says. Choosing products that are orangutan-safe will require some investigation, but Dr. Shapiro assures us that there are guides and apps available to help us.

Partaking in ecotourism can also make a difference. Dr. Shapiro urges us to join small groups that visit orangutan viewing areas near and around national parks in Kalimantan and Sumatra, as this helps to support families and small businesses that have an economic interest in keeping forests and orangutans alive. He adds, “It also sends a message to local officials that forests are worth saving for their tour value.”

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For those in Bali who would like to help support the orangutan, OURF will be holding a fundraiser, Voices for the Jungle, on March 6th in Seminyak.

Contact balifundraiser@orangutanrepublik.org for more information. If you can’t attend, please make a donation online: http://orangutanrepublik.org/donate-now

Visit www.orangutanrepublik.org or www.orangutanodysseys.com for more information.

Charities, Photography, Published articles, The Environment

The School on a Landfill

November 23, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

The province of DKI Jakarta (Daerah Khusus Ibukota, not including Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi) has a population of over 9.6 million (2010), each individual of which produces waste. Shockingly for a city of its size, there is no solid waste management plan in place, and recycling is left in the hands of a few non-governmental organizations and the pemulung (rubbish pickers), who work hard to sort through millions of people’s mixed rubbish before it’s taken to a landfill. An estimated 6,000 tonnes of rubbish is produced a day in Jakarta, 2,000 of which is thought to end up in the rivers, causing flooding and diseases.

Rubbish collected in the province of DKI Jakarta all ends up at the largest landfill of Indonesia – Bantar Gebang. This massive 111-hectare rubbish tip is more than meets the eye, as it homes 5,000 inhabitants who live and work here as scavengers, including a pre-school and a primary school, where the children of the scavengers come to get an education.

The first thing you notice when getting close to Bantar Gebang is the smell. It is a stench like no other, and the closer you get to the mountain of rubbish, the stronger it stings your nostrils and the back of your throat. It is a smell I will never forget. Driving into the vicinity, you are met with a shanty town built right on top of and amongst the rubbish and flies number in the thousands.

Arriving at the primary school on Bantar Gebang, Yayasan Dinamika Indonesia, we are greeted by children running around, playing and screaming on their morning break. It’s like arriving at any other school, except this school is surrounded by rubbish, and the odd pemulung rummages through trash left in the shrubs on the school grounds as the kids play. Here we meet Nasrudin, Head of YDI, who explains the story of his school to us, which has been in operation since 1996.

“There are 362 children at this primary school and 52 at the pre-school down the road,” Nasrudin tells us. “We have an open door policy with flexible rules to try and keep children in class. We will even let them sleep if they need to.” Nasrudin has been at YDI since it opened and knows more about the children of Bantar Gebang than anyone else.

Beautiful children at Yayasan Dinamika Indonesia, the school on Bantar Gebang

After visiting the classrooms, it is interesting to see that these children are quite introvert, not like street children, who are oftentimes boisterous. The children of Bantar Gebang are well-behaved and many have dreams of becoming something other than a scavenger. Many of the children I spoke to wanted to be a teacher, a policeman or even a football player. The sad reality is that most end up working on the landfill or in factories nearby.

Aspirations of the children at YDI, Bantar Gebang, include policeman, football player and doctor

“Once the children know how to read and write, they often want to leave and start earning money for themselves doing what their parents do,” Nasrudin explains. “90% of the crane drivers on the landfill are YDI alumni and we also have many grandchildren of alumni attending.” This truth becomes evident when looking at how the number of students goes down as the grade number goes up: Grade 1 (69 students), Grade 2 (79 students), Grade 3 (54 students), Grade 4 (59 students), Grade 5 (41 students) and Grade 6 (27 students).

Pemulung who live and work on Bantar Gebang predominantly come from Indramayu in Cirebon, with a minority from Madura and Karawang. The pemulung mostly work directly for the pengepul, someone who acts as a middle man and buys the rubbish from them at a cheap price, selling onto their bosses, who then send the recyclable items on to recycling factories. There is a monopoly system at play here, whereby the pengepul give the pemulung loans in order to keep them under their thumbs, forever indebted to them. On this landfill, the pemulung work five days a week, wading through mountains of mixed waste in search of recyclable items, with two days left to sort through what they’ve collected, earning between Rp.150,000 to Rp.200,000 a week. The children usually help with the cutting up of plastic and sorting of collected rubbish after school hours.

“Many of the children have skin irritations, and they all have cacingan (worms),” Nasrudin tells me. Anemia is also another common illness these children face, although surprisingly, the number of dengue fever cases is very rare and there have been no reported cases of tuberculosis. Living on a landfill is extremely unsanitary and dangerous, and four pemulung lost their lives recently to a landslide of rubbish. When touring the landfill, I was saddened to see men, women and children working in such terrible conditions, completely oblivious to the foul smell or rotting garbage they have become accustomed to.

“The children find it hard to make it into state schools after they leave us,” Nasrudin says. “There is a certain stigma which is attached to children of Bantar Gebang.” It is wonderful to hear from Nasrudin that a few of his students have gone on to working at big companies such as Panasonic after completing a university degree, thanks to Yayasan Dinamika Indonesia. Oman, one of the alumni of YDI, even came back after studying Mathematics at STKIP Kusumanegara, to teach the children at a place which gave him hope for the future.

YDI now receives financial support from the government under Biaya Operasi Sekolah, which helps to pay for their operational costs, however they are currently looking for sponsors to help pay for teacher’s fees, as the funds they receive do not cover this.

If you are interested to sponsor this extraordinary school, or volunteer your time to teach English or Mathematics to the children of the pemulung, please contact Nasrudin at +62 (0)8129848401.

First published in Indonesia Expat, February 2014

Charities, Published articles, The Environment

Rainforests on the BRINCC: Barito River Initiative for Nature Conservation & Communities

November 17, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

Borneo, the largest island in Asia and the third largest in the world, is home to ancient rainforests that are 140 million years old, making them one of the oldest on planet Earth. Shared by Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia, with Indonesia’s territory making up approximately 73% of the southern territory, the island of Borneo is an incredibly rich and diverse place in flora, fauna and culture. Sadly, development has been encroaching on her territory and is quickly destroying her natural beauty.

In the 1950s, the chainsaw and the tractor arrived on the island, causing much destruction to its rainforests. Satellite studies show that 56% of protected lowland rainforests were cut down between 1985 and 2001 to supply global timber demand. Protection laws are in effect, but inadequately monitored and enforced. The global demand for the production of palm oil has been one of the most devastating reasons for the demise of these ancient forests, as Indonesia and Malaysia account for over 90% of the world’s production area of this product, increasing from 600,000 hectares in 1985 to six million hectares in 2007.

With much of the lowland rainforests already destroyed, pressure is being put on the highland regions, like the Barito River watershed in Central Kalimantan. It is here that The Barito River Initiative for Nature Conservation and Communities (BRINCC) was founded whilst working at a research station in the Sebangau National Park’s Natural Laboratory, and where this pioneering organization is working on the forefront of conservation.

“Progress is inevitable,” Michal Zrust, BRINCC’s Director of Conservation tells me, “however, through science-based mitigation measures, we can help lessen the destructive impact on this fragile environment.” Michal graduated with a degree in Economics and ultimately ended up working in conservation via a number of research projects. He also works with large multinational palm oil companies to push for better production standards for the Zoological Society of London.

BRINCC’s work is separated into capacity building, biodiversity surveys and working with local communities. Their most impressive work is mapping one of the most understudied regions of Borneo, the Murung Raya Region. This map provides new data on species distributions, densities and population numbers, which are essential for making informed conservation decisions. BRINCC’s latest expedition extended the known ranges of many bird species, found numerous endangered tree species and tried to find the boundary of a known gibbon hybrid. This information will provide a deep understanding of the ecology of the region, essential in the policy decision process of the future.

BRINCC use standardized methodology for biodiversity mapping, such as the use of remotely activated camera traps to survey nocturnal animals. They also actively engage in the use of cutting-edge technology to provide researchers with an opportunity to field test and perfect methods. “On our current expedition, one of our visiting researchers is looking at the feasibility of using genetic analysis of blood extracted from leeches to survey rare mammals. If the leeches have sucked blood from, for example, a clouded leopard, we will know it is there, even if we never actually photograph it,” Michal explains.

BRINCC is very proud of the fact that their expeditions are majority Indonesian, employing local staff, including government officials and villagers. They take promising undergraduate and postgraduate students in Indonesia, fund them and bring them on their rainforest expeditions to gain invaluable knowledge.There have been two expeditions so far; the first expedition took place in 2011 and the latest, this year, is still ongoing. Team members are dedicated and extremely passionate individuals from varied backgrounds. BRINCC’s directors consists of: Andrea Höing (Germany), Director of Social-Ecological Research; Dominic Rowland (UK), Director of Expeditions; Director of Wildlife Ecology, Peter R. Houlihan (USA); Director of Mammal Research, Dr. Susan Cheyne (UK); and their leader, Michal Zrust (Czech Republic), Director of Conservation.

Working in the jungle environment for months at a time, and living in very basic conditions, can be very challenging. The team have suffered inevitable illnesses and nutritional deficiencies, not to mention the general lack of home comforts. But their passion for this region’s welfare has helped them through each expedition, bringing them back to this magical area which most of them have dreamt of coming to for years.

In order for their work to bring about a positive change, BRINCC believe that other stakeholders need to be engaged in the process, most importantly the companies themselves.

“The industries working in the area need to acknowledge the fragility of the environment in which they are working and as a group work to ensure mitigation of impacts on the landscape level. We are working to engage the industry players before extraction begins,” says Michal.

The government is a fundamental player in ensuring that such extraction is done within the confines of the law and is the ultimate judge on where it is done and that it avoids negative impacts as far as possible.

Michal urges Indonesia’s economists to think of this natural habitat as having true monetary and intrinsic value if left intact. “Indonesia’s natural heritage is of fundamental value to its society, not just in terms of the magnificent biodiversity it holds, but also in terms of the services that it provides to its citizens and those of the world. The results of deforestation can be seen in the recent haze and this is underlined by loss of clean water provision, loss of fish in rivers, loss of micro-nutrients for local communities, as well as the incredible costs to human health from chest infections (amongst others).”

Deforestation in Borneo (courtesy of BRINCC)

Michal’s words on how mankind must evolve to live side by side with nature are poignant. “It is only when we begin to value the services we receive from nature, rather than perceiving it as a free, exploitable good, that we will begin to make more sensible and sustainable development decisions.”BRINCC provides field data to inform and support policy development and implementation and are always open to collaboration, whether it is with the government, local or international civil society. They believe that with these partnerships, their work can have a much greater impact.

BRINCC’s work runs solely on donations and sponsorships. They welcome anyone who wishes to collaborate or support them in other ways to visit http://www.brinccborneo.org or email info@brinccborneo.org.

First published in Indonesia Expat, August 2014

The Environment, Videos

Clean Up Jakarta Day 2015 Official Video

Video November 5, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

On Sunday, October 16^th 2015, Jakarta’s citizens carried out the Indonesian tradition of gotong royong by picking up rubbish and cleaning up Jakarta together in ‘Clean Up Jakarta Day 2015’. The aim of the clean-up is to educate people about the detrimental effects of littering, and in turn spark an awareness of the importance of recycling.

This campaign was carried out by volunteers, of which there were 10,000+ this year, picking up rubbish, separating into recyclable and non-recyclable sacks as they cleaned. All clean-up activities commenced at 7am at 37 sites throughout the city. These sites were nominated by volunteers and approved by the Clean Up Jakarta Day team.

Clean Up Jakarta Day is an annual event which acts as a platform for existing communities, schools, companies and organizations to join together on one day with one united voice against littering. Ambassadors this year included business magnate Sandiaga Uno, actress and TV anchor Marissa Anita and actor and TV host Mike Lewis, as well as Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) and Dinas Kebersihan Kota Jakarta supporting the event.

Rubbish collected was separated into bags of recyclable and non-recyclable materials, and the recyclables were taken by Dinas Kebersihan DKI Jakarta to the city’s waste banks.

Clean Up Jakarta Day is an annual event I founded and I would like to thank all of the Clean Up Heroes for taking part and raising awareness of Jakarta’s rubbish problem, as well as cleaning up the city together.

Please visit www.cleanupjakartaday.org for more information.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this day possible!

Angela Jelita Richardson