Tag Archives: swaraowa

01Mar/23

Siripok Bilou : Mentawai Gibbon Friends

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by Arif Setiawan

Bilou (Hylobates klossii) and the Mentawai Islands since the first time I breath the air on Sikerei’s land in 2010, have their own charm always to re-visit, not just to see but have to continue to contribute to participating in conservation efforts, in a modern cultural wave that rolls forge these islands on the shores of the Indian Ocean.

Since the first time Bilou’s research activities in the Mentawai have become an identity, my colleagues  and I in South Siberut, especially the Malinggai Uma ( a long house) Mentawai team, have at least been known for Bilou’s conservation activities, so we met many people in Mentawai villages. called us by the name of Si Bilou. This nickname has now stuck and has finally made us proud of what we have done.

In Mentawai culture, if there are people from outside the tribe who can then be accepted and become part of the tribe, there is the term “siripok”, which means more or less like a friend, close friend. I, Pak Ismail, and Dami  (both of them from one of the largest clans in Mentawai) seem to have gone through various dynamics since the first time we met them more than 13 years ago. Starting from research and survey activities in the Mentawai Islands, they are the spearhead, not just being guides, pompong drivers, and language translators, without them current activities would not be what they are today, they are lead Malinggai Uma, a local community organization based on cultural activities, and long time workin in the gibbon related activities, this organization have their own role to conserve nature as part of their cultural identity.

Togather with malinggai Uma team, we have done activities to mainstream the value of Mentawai nature and culture. Targeted younger generation and educators and teachers series of books and all availabe online for purchase, and training activities have done already since 2017. Mentawai primate field guide book, Mentawai Bird Guide Book, we created also quartet game for education purposes.

Series of training was done for the teachers in Mentawai with the aims to : 1. Introduce to the current generation of local teachers of Mentawai culture the local flora and fauna, especially our primate species;2. Enable teachers of Mentawai culture to spread the conservation message to their students; 3. Allow teachers to inspire the next generation to contribute to conservation at a local level; 4.Bring together Mentawai biodiversity and cultural conservation activists.

Siripok bilou has become a new spirit for us, which complements Mentawai nature conservation efforts, especially primate species at the grassroots level. The calling of the bilou then becomes a source of pride that we have done something for Bilou the Mentawai gibbon.

We tried to visualize this bilou philosophy , based on the pictures at Uma Malinggai where there is a pair of bilou holding hands. Reading this picture, one can see that Bilou is very close to daily life in Siberut, many research results have stated that gibbons are primates who always live in pairs, the size of the arms that are longer than the body is also clearly depicted in the ornaments at the Uma .

Keep up with Mentawai field works, of swaraowa and Malinggai , with #siripokbilou on social media. Apart from continuing to encourage capacity building for the Uma malinggai team, this siripok bilou logo is a medium to introduce the gibbons, nature and native Mentawai culture, hopefully it will continue to be sustainable.

To support activities in the Mentawai, we made a Siripok Bilou calendar, t-shirt and goodybags which was sold at a price of 100 thousand, you get 1 pack of Owa bilou coffee. For orders, please contact IG @swaraowa or @owacoffee or for those in Mentawai, you can contact Malinggai Uma in Puro2 hamlet, Muntai village, South Siberut. Other previous published books and mentawai biodviersity posters also can be purchased, shipped worldwide through contact us at swaraowa at gmail.com.

This year we the activities in Uma received more support fund from Arcus Foundation through great ape and gibbon program grant, we will continue activities in the 3rd teacher training in Siberut, bring them in the field to learn about mentawai nature and culture. Gibbon spotting and bird watching will be main field lesson in the training event. Coming soon for the event in this end of March 2023.

24Dec/22

Javan gibbon: strengthening conservation networks at grassroot level

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Javan gibbon ( Hylobates moloch)

In November-December 2022 SwaraOwa received visits from parties who have so far fully supported the development of the Javan gibbon conservation program in Central Java, especially Pekalongan Regency.

Mandai Nature representative from Singapore, visited the gibbon habitat November 18-22 2022, Mandai Nature is the new name of the Institution that previously  namely Wildlife Reserve Singapore which has supported the swaraowa’s program since 2014, through the Coffee and Primate Conservation project. In 2022 swaraowa also collaborated with Chance for Nature ( CfN) from Germany which also supports programs that have been running through the gibbon coffee project and provided new input for monitoring the Javan gibbon and became a guest speaker at the annual event sokokembang  primate field course  on 12-15 December 2022 .

Mandai team and Swaraowa team, at Kopi Owa Sokokembang

Special guests from the two institutions visited to see first-hand the programs that have been developed so far. At the gibbon coffee production house in Yogyakarta, the headquartered organization of the gibbon coffee team introduces commodities produced through the project, especially coffee which has been sent to Singapore every year since 2016. Introducing the team and introducing coffee characters from several locations as well as describing the taste of each of these coffees became the main activity in Yogyakarta.

Turning to the field, in Sokokembang we stayed at the swaraowa field station, which had been built and prepared to support field activities, where we could see directly the Robusta shade grown coffee production site, which is managed together with the residents. Part of the production of palm sugar can also be witnessed directly at the Swaraowa field station.

meet the Beekeeper at Tembelan village

Observing the primates in Sokokembang is of course special, because these are the primates that have linked Swaraowa . All primates in this area can be found directly, Javan langurs, gibbons, leaf monkeys and long-tailed macaques can all be found directly by these special guests without having to enter the forest but observing along the road from Kroyakan to Sokokembang.

Christian from Chance for Nature with Mendolo officials

Interact directly with people from Petungkriyono and Lebakbarang who have been directly involved in the development of forest commodity activities and conservation. Visiting Tlogohendro to see Arabica coffee production and nursery locations, and also see beekeeping in the village of Kayupuring Setipis, where native bees (Apis cerana) are developed for economic value bee honey.

Dirk Meyer (CfN) with participants of primate field course Sokokembang

In Mendolo Village, met with village officials and saw the beekeeping activities that have been developed since 2017 and supported by funding from Mandai Nature.

The visits of these supporting partners not only strengthen communication between swaraowa and the sponsors, but also increase self-confidence and pride in what the people around the forest have, because what has been done so far has also been appreciated by people from abroad. What’s more, this visit will at least strengthen the conservation narrative that has been initiated, to amplify and promote activities from the natural habitat of Indonesian primates, to the world.

 

Written by Arif Setiawan

11Dec/22

SwaraOwa at the 8th Asian Primate Symposium, Vietnam

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The first international primate conference held in Asia since the Covid-19 pandemic, the 8th edition of the Asian Primate Symposium took place at the Forestry Faculty of the Vietnam National University in Hanoi.

Word that the event was going to happen first went out in August 2022 and sparked some excitement on social media. The organisers hoped to attract a sizeable number of delegates from Indonesia, the single Asian country with the most primate species. I was therefore honoured to be able to represent Indonesia as a member of the scientific committee on this occasion. On behalf of SwaraOwa I and Aoliya will present and give talks in the symposium.

Vietnam has 24 species of primates, including a slow loris (Lorisidae), six species of crested gibbon belonging to the genus Nomascus, various monkeys (Cercopithecidae) and strikingly coloured langurs (Colobinae). Unfortunately, almost 90% of the primate species in Vietnam are on the verge of extinction, and 10 of these are already critically endangered.

The tragedy that was the Vietnam War has left an indelible mark on Vietnam’s culture and geopolitics that still has consequences for its biodiversity. Vietnam is one of the foremost biodiversity hotspots in Southeast Asia, but is at the same time a global centre for the illegal wildlife trade. Conservationists in Vietnam certainly have a lot on their plates as a result. Visiting Vietnam gave me an opportunity to observe first-hand how initiatives to protect nature, especially these primate species, are unfolding.

When we received the invitation to this symposium, we immediately started making plans for primate watching. Squeezing in a visit to Cat Tien National Park – or Cat Tien NP for short – before the conference was a very tempting prospect indeed. Located in southern Vietnam, it is famous for being home to the Yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus gabrielle) and the Black-shanked douc (Pygathrix nigripes).

An interesting fact about Cat Tien NP is that its logo is a Javan rhinoceros. Indeed, the subspecies Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus once lived in Vietnam. Sadly though, the last known specimen was found dead by the authorities in 2010. The rhino is known to have been shot by poachers with its horn missing, rhino horn being one of the ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine.

From Ho Chi Minh airport, the taxi ride to Cat Tien National Park took approximately 4 hours. Entry to the national park cost only 60,000 VND (Rp. 38,000), very affordable in comparison to Indonesia. Along the way, we had to cross a river surrounded by wetlands on one of the boats on standby from 7 am to 7 pm. For gibbon observation, Cat Tien NP charges a separate fee of 200,000 VND, because you need to be accompanied by park staff and spend the night there in order to set off at 4.30am the next day, when the gibbons usually make their morning calls. Upon hearing the gibbons call, the guide will try and determine where they are calling from and lead you towards that location. It is very difficult to spot gibbons when it is light, as they would usually have retreated into the dense upper canopy by then and there are no ideal locations from which to observe them there.

The Black Shanked Douc Langur

Although hiring a guide made a lot of sense, we ultimately chose to explore the park on our own. The roads here are very good and easily traversible on a vehicle, with only tourists being allowed to use them.

Our first encounter with a Vietnamese primate was with the Black-shanked douc, a type of langur the size of our Proboscis monkey in Indonesia. Its pelage is a combination of black and white, and its thighs a glossy black. This species is critically endangered. Like langurs in general which eat leaves, when we encounter them they are usually at rest, digesting the leaves they had eaten. There were two troops that we saw that morning, and they seemed quite habituated to the visitors.

Macaca fascicularis

On the second day we got around using bicycles we rented at the park office. The bike paths were quite well kept, but the bikes not in top condition considering the route was more than 9 km long. Observing while riding a bicycle is also not like walking where you can listen out for every rustle in the trees. But on a bike you can cover huge distances and see the various types of habitats in Cat Tien. We managed to find one troop of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), one of macaques (Macaca leonina) and one of doucs on this day.

The symposium

There is a rather well developed culture of conservation and primate research in Vietnam, as seen from the many Vietnamese primatologists who were involved in organising the event, as well as the number of international conservation organisations supporting it. The symposium officially commenced on 14 November 2022, in the auditorium of the Vietnam National University’s Forestry Faculty. It opened with a plenary talk by Christian Roos about the diversity and genetic history of Asian primate species.

I myself gave a presentation at one of the sessions on ‘Human – Nonhuman primate interaction and conflict’ alongside four other presenters. An abstract of my presentation, entitled ‘The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic: Learning from the story of Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) conservation’, can be found here[https://www.three-monkeys.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Full-APS-Program-Final-11_11_22_Z.pdf].

There was likewise an interesting session on the use of thermal drones to survey and monitor primate populations in Cat Tien National Park. Commercial drones available on the market are deployed at night, when primates are usually at rest and the surrounding temperatures are cooler as compared to during the day, so that the body heat of primates can be more easily detected by the camera sensor.

I chaired a session  on ‘Human – Nonhuman primate interactions and conflicts’ with four presenters, incidentally all representing Indonesian organisations. The first was Octaviana Sawitri from the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP), who discussed human – orangutan conflict in East Kalimantan. then our team, SwaraOwa’s Nur Aoliya then presented a solution to primates in Petungkriyono accidentally getting electrocuted. The third presenter was Jochen Menner. From Germany, he is works for Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark, Taman Safari, and gave a talk about the online trade in Indonesian primates. And the last talk came from Indira Nurul Qomariah from COP, who also discussed the illegal primate trade in Indonesia.

Nomascus gabrielle

Day two, 15 November 2022, saw us go on a field trip to Chuc Phuong National Park, approximately four hours away by bus. All conference participants joined in. This was in fact my second time in Chuc Phuong. It was great to visit the primate rehabilitation center there again, and also to see various other endangered species. The EPRC was founded in 1993, with the aims to help rehabilitation and rescue center for the illegal primate traded. They will be released if the conditions in the wild are suitable. Among the primates at the EPRC are douc langurs and langurs, which are very attractive. You can imagine that they would stand out even more in their natural habitat, some of which are in inaccessible areas such as karst formations.

Nomascus siki

There is also a centre for the rehabilitation and conservation of reptiles such as turtles and other mammals like pangolins and small carnivores. Some of these facilities are used for visitor education, where the staff and keepers explain their efforts to save the lives of these native animals. Sadly however, as I said at the beginning, Vietnam is a global hub for the illegal animal trade, so releasing these animals back into the wild could cause their downfall because they will likely be caught again and eaten or traded.

The two species of gibbons that I encountered, the Yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus gabrielle) and the Southern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus siki), were in forests near the rehabilitation centre. Because they were outside the cages, they looked like they were in their natural habitat.

After Chuc Phuong, we went to Van Long Nature Reserve to do primate watching in the iconic wetland karst area, where we hoped to find more doucs. Unfortunately, it was pouring when we arrived there and the event had to be cancelled. Quite a shame because this place was renowned as the most visited primate watching destination in Vietnam before the pandemic. This marked the end of my time at the symposium in Vietnam and I returned to Indonesia the next morning.

Our thanks go to the symposium committee, especially the Three Monkey Wildlife Sanctuary. I would also like to thank IUCN SSA  and Fortwayne Children’s Zoo for sponsoring my attendance in the symposium . The next edition of the Asian Primate Symposium in 2024 is likely to be held in Indonesia. See you there!

Written by Arif Setiawan, translated by T.T Chan

 

06Sep/22

Women in beekeeping – Initiative from Sawahan for their family and forest

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Of the many scientifically proven benefits to beekeeping, two stand out as especially important to building sustainable livelihoods. The first is economic, resulting from the sale of bee products. The second is ecological, comprising the service bees do the environment by pollinating flowers. It is in fact estimated that bees pollinate one out of every three food items that we consume daily.

Situated near the rainforests that the Javan gibbon wild habitat, the residents of Sawahan- Mendolo Village in Central Java have a crucial role to play in securing the future of this endangered primate. The men in this village have now enthusiastically embraced the idea of rearing stingless bees for honey, an activity known as meliponiculture. Having mostly hunted for honey in the forest in the past, keeping stingless bees in their gardens has both added to their income and made them more economically self-sufficient. This has strengthened our belief in the potential that meliponiculture has as a means of livelihood that promotes conservation.

In order to get yet more people in the village interested in the benefits meliponiculture can offer, we collaborated with the Young Farmer Group of Mendolo (PPM) to hold a workshop for women there, who have thus far not been as actively involved in beekeeping as the men. The event took place on 19 August 2022. One of our main selling points is that stingless bees, as suggested by their name, do not sting, and are therefore relatively safe to handle.

We believe that women are key to promoting beekeeping on  stinglessbee within the community. Playing an integral role in both raising the next generation and tending to the fields, they are ideally poised to impart new ideas about agriculture and livelihoods to the children and youth of the community. The hope is that they will imbue future generations in Mendolo with the enthusiasm to make meliponiculture a mainstay of the local economy. This has the potential to benefit the village in the following ways:

First, the sale of bee products such as honey can increase family income. If each family keeps enough for their own consumption, the honey could also contribute to their nutrition and enhance their immune systems. This could mean reduced medical expenses in the long run.

Second, beekeeping could make for a more pleasant space to live in. If flowering plants suitable as a food source for bees were integrated into the village design, this would have the added advantage of beautifying both gardens and common spaces. Various types of vegetable crops could be grown for the same purpose, such as chilli and aubergine. With the help of bees pollinating their flowers, farmers could also enjoy increased yields from these crops.

Third, many aspects of bee life can be used to inspire us and educate the next generation. The habit that bees have of storing honey and bee bread, for example, can be used to explain the virtue of saving for a rainy day. We can equally learn from the work ethic of these hardworking insects. Aside from being active all day long, bees have a clear division of labour. A queen bee leads the colony, nurse bees take care of newly hatched bees, guard bees ensure the safety of the hive, and senior worker bees find and gather food.

In the light of all these benefits, we hope that the involvement of Mendolo’s women in meliponiculture can make this and other communities around the gibbon forests more aware of the importance of managing natural resources sustainably, as well as provide them the opportunity to engage in independent entrepreneurship while supporting conservation. Through beekeeping, each community is invited to explore their potential in new and creative ways that foster a healthy planet for future generations.

This beekeeping for women project forms part of the SwaraOwa’s Javan Gibbon conservation programme for 2022-2023, which is supported by Mandai Nature and Fortwayne Childre’s Zoo.

Written by Sidiq Harjanto, Translated by TT. Chan.

 

10Jul/22

Citizen scientists seeking the Javan Blue-banded kingfisher

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Javan Blue-banded Kingfisher by Siswanto, 2022

More than 50 people are involved in our ongoing survey of the Javan Blue-banded Kingfisher (Alcedo euryzona). Divided into several teams, they have to date looked for the critically endangered bird along five rivers in the Pekalongan area, making numerous observations about the habitat in the process and recording other bird species present. This SwaraOwa project, supported by the Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) and the Oriental Bird Club (OBC), shows us what the citizen science movement can achieve.

Before we started on the survey, we held workshops on bird identification and survey techniques for residents from seven villages around the Petungkriyono, Doro and Lebakbarang forests. The event started in Mendolo Village on 11-12 March, and was subsequently repeated in Pungangan Village (25 April), Kayupuring Village (27 April) and Sidoharjo Village (26 May).

Our workshop at Pungangan, 25 April 2022

During the workshops, we taught villagers how to identify the Javan Blue-banded Kingfisher and distinguish it from other species of kingfisher. In terms of survey techniques, we introduced participants to Google Earth to help them find their way to the observation points. Along each of the rivers we covered, participants surveyed consecutive 1 km-long segments that contained five monitoring points 200 m apart from each other. Stationed at each of these points were two team members, who conducted observations simultaneously for one hour.

In addition to confirming the presence of the Javan Blue-banded Kingfisher, observers were asked to record the condition of the local habitat, other bird species observed and any human activity encountered. All this information was entered onto a data sheet.

Trial survey at Mendolo, 11-12 March 2022

As of early June, we have covered 29 of a total of about 37 km of river sections. This figure consists of 10 km on the Welo River, 6 km on the Pakuluran River, 5 km on the Blimbing River (including the Siranda River), 2 km on the Sengkarang River (including the Kumenep River), and 6 km on the Wisnu River.

The survey has produced very satisfactory results so far. We found Javan Blue-banded Kingfisher along two rivers, namely Welo and Wisnu. The kingfishers were found at an elevation of 308-715 m on the Welo River, and at 638-776 m on the Wisnu River. These sightings have extended the known distribution of the species.

Survey sites at Welo, June 2022

The encounter on the westernmost Wisnu River was quite impressive. The Wisnu team, Mendolo villagers who are part of the Mendolo Young Farmers Association, had previously covered 4 km along the river on three visits, which did not turn up a single Javan Blue-banded Kingfisher. It was only on 24 April that the team encountered two individuals, one male and one female.

Deserving of special mention is Siswanto Abimanyu, a resident of Mendolo Kulon Hamlet, whose quick reflexes got us an excellent photograph of the female bird. Sis, as he is known, was at a monitoring point with his colleague M. Risqi Ridholah. It was more than half an hour into their wait when suddenly the female flew in from downstream and landed only about 3 m away from them. A few seconds later she was off again, flying further upstream, but luckily that was enough for Siswanto to snap a picture of her.

Getting photographic evidence to prove the kingfishers were there was one major achievement of the survey. Not only that, the discussion sessions after each round of observation have revealed a total of more than 90 bird species in the area. These include several important and endangered species, such as the Javan hawk-eagle (Nisaetus bartelsi), the Wreathed hornbill (Rhyticeros undulatus) and the Sangkar white-eye (Zosterops melanurus). Some of this data was logged into the Burungnesia app as a contribution by the Pekalongan community to science and bird conservation.

Written by : Imam Taufiqurrahman, translated by T T. Chan

10Apr/22

Mentawai Teacher Training : Strengthening Cultural Values and Nature Conservation

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in the the forest, all participants photo group

Every year since 2020, Malinggai Uma jointly organise with SwaraOwa a workshop for teachers of local traditions at schools (known locally as ‘facilitators of Mentawai culture’). These people have a huge role to play in ensuring that local children of school going age inherit the cultural knowledge passed down from their forebears. Accordingly, we invited representatives from several local cultural and educational organisations to attend this year’s edition of the event. The event is supported by Mandai Nature and Fortwayne Children’s Zoo through swaraOwa’s Mentawai Gibbon Conservation Program.

It aimed to:

  1. Introduce to the current generation of local teachers of Mentawai culture the local flora and fauna, especially our primate species;
  2. Educate them on the importance of conserving Mentawai primates, and measures currently being taken on that front;
  3. Enable teachers of Mentawai culture to spread the conservation message to their students;
  4. Allow teachers to inspire the next generation to contribute to conservation at a local level;
  5. Bring together Mentawai biodiversity and cultural conservation activists.

Opening ceremony, Mentawai traditional dance performance

 

The workshop was held from 1 – 4 March 2022 and involved a total of 29 people, made up of the participants, subject matter experts and the organising committee. The participants represented teachers of Mentawai culture from local primary schools, kindergartens, charitable foundations as well as local community organisations

The event was held at Toloulaggo Hamlet, Katurei Village (Siberut Barat Daya District). For the field survey component, we went to a nearby observation point in the forest of Tololago.

activity in the forest

group presentation towards other participants

Chaired by Ismael Saumanuk, the workshop was officially opened on 2 March 2022 by Karlo Saumanuk from the Katurei village administration, followed by speeches by Damianus Tateburuk (Malinggai Uma) and Nur Aoliya (SwaraOwa). The opening ceremony featured a traditional Mentawai dance performance by children from Malinggai Uma, featuring the gibbon (uliat bilou) dance and eagle dance.

Next came the presentations from the two experts we invited. The first was by Antonius Vevbri, S.Si, M.Sc from Siberut National Park, who covered the biodiversity on Siberut Island and the efforts made to conserve it. Our second speaker was Fransiskus Yanuarius M, from the Yayasan Pendidikan Budaya Mentawai (Mentawai Cultural Education Foundation), who touched upon the importance of preserving both Mentawai customs and local wildlife, introducing the activities of his foundation along the way.

On the first day of the workshop, the SwaraOwa team also launched the Mentawai Nature and Culture card game, a memory game that can be played by young and old alike. It consists of cards with photos printed on them that showcase Mentawai biodiversity and culture. In fact, this card game was born of a previous edition of the workshop. Through this interactive game, we hope that the conservation message will be passed on more effectively from teachers to their students. Attendees were also given a field guide to Mentawai  primate and bird species, which had been jointly compiled and published by SwaraOwa and Malinggai Uma.

On the second and third days, we ventured into the forest in Toloulaggo to look for local wildlife. The participants were divided into three groups named after indigenous primates, namely Team Bilou (Kloss’s gibbon), Team Simakobu  (Pigtailed langur) and Team Joja (Mentawai langur). Each group took a different transect walk, taking note of their sightings from 6.30am to 11.30am. After that, they regrouped in the village to talk about the types of primates and birds they found, as well as discuss how these types of wildlife related to local culture, for example the part they had to play in storytelling traditions.

Below, you can find our photos from these two days of fieldwork.

Mentawai Gibbon

Mentawai Dwarf Toad

Tiger shrike

Written by Damianus Tateburuk  (Malinggai Uma Tradisional Mentawai), Translated by TT Chan.

Malinggai Uma Tradisional Mentawai is a traditional Institution headquartered in Dusun Puro II Muntei Village, South Siberut District, Mentawai Islands Regency – West Sumatra. Malinggai Uma was formed on 5 September 2014 and seeks to promote local forms of art and culture, as well as the conservation of the native biodiversity of the Mentawai Islands.

16Nov/21

Caring for Our Natural Heritage: Mendolo Forest

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a gibbon, photoghraped by Hudi member of Mendolo youth farmers group

Mendolo village is located in the Lebakbarang sub-district of Pekalongan Regency. The Mendolo forest surrounds Mendolo village, and is officially a Limited Production Forest managed by Perum Perhutani, KPH Pekalongan Timur. This site contains one of the 16 critical areas of gibbon habitat in Central Java identified by a 2012 study, and boasts a high level of habitat suitability according to research on the distribution and habitat of gibbons (Widyastuti et al 2020, Setiawan et al. al 2012). SwaraOwa’s long-term projects in this area are all aimed at conserving the Javan gibbons that live here.

According initiate survey, the amount of potential Javan gibbon habitat in this region totals approx 300 ha, (equivalent to 87 football fields) with a gibbon four to six groups in the agro-forest habitat, that we called Wana-Tani in javanese language. other javan endemic primates such as Javan langur ( Trachypithecus auratus), Javan Surili ( Presbytis comata), and Javan slow loris ( Nycticebus javanicus) also occupied this habitat.  Their range comprises locations with natural vegetation of forest and shade grown commodities such as kopi robusta, Durian,Petai, Jengkol, banana, kapulaga,  and many more. A scheme which aims both to improve the local economy and promote agroforestry is a gibbon conservation project centered on this village.

SwaraOwa first became involved in Mendolo village in 2015, when we were tasked with assisting the Pekalongan district government in surveying and inventorying the protected flora and fauna of the Mendolo forest, among other sites . Nowadays, we pay this village a visit almost every month. These visits are part of our efforts to reach out and communicate with village residents, so that we can find out which local commodities in particular can be prioritised for further development.

Mendolo village is also known for its durian production. In areas where agroforestry is practised, durian is an intensively cultivated crop that is grown among wild trees valued for their wood. In the harvest season, this village supplies the durian markets of Pekalongan and surrounds. Although there is currently no research on how durian productivity relates to bio-ecological factors, there are indications that the presence of pollinators plays a role, more specifically bats and  insects such as bees. Honey is one commodity  related to durian agroforestry, being harvested in abundance when the durian trees flower.

Drinking honey, is daily activities for Mendolo villagers

Almost all residents of this village, especially the men, collect honey from the forest. This tradition has been passed down through the generations. Aside from being used for personal consumption, forest honey also contributes to the local economy. We had previously done a preliminary study to find out what potential harvesting forest honey held for this village. This study motivated the Beekeeping team, led by SwaraOwa’s Sidiq Harjanto, to start seriously experimenting with stingless bee.

The Mendolo Young Farmers Association is the driving force for conservation in Mendolo, fostering a spirit of togetherness and inculcating pride in the Mendolo forest. In the early days, meetings in Mendolo village and training sessions on post-harvest handling at SwaraOwa Yogyakarta eventually gave rise to a series of continually evolving projects spearheaded by young people in Mendolo. The project to enhance post-harvest processes for coffee has succeeded in establishing “Kopi Batir”, a small exercise in entrepreneurship that markets Robusta coffee beans grown in Mendolo. The project operates under the slogan ‘nepungaké seduluran’, Javanese for ‘forging strong friendships’, reflecting how this coffee aims to bring people together.

Orange minivet

Projects to promote the conservation of forest areas are emerging at a slow but steady pace, initiated by residents concerned about nature. Birdwatching activities have been and are being developed in Mendolo. These aim to promote the idea that birds and other flora and fauna around the village are an important asset that must be preserved because they promise locals significant economic and ecological benefits.

Activities to strengthen the protection of forest areas but must continue to be nurtured, initiatives from local community  to care for nature. Primates and birds observation activities are being developed in Mendolo (the photos above are some of the species encountered during the observation) the aim is To increase the capacity of the younger generation, recognize the important liars’ lives around the village, birds and flora and fauna are also village assets that must be preserved, it is not possible that they can then be economically more sustainable.

Some of the products from activities in Mendolo hamlet can be obtained through Batir Coffee and Owa coffee. Although still on a small scale, coffee and forest cultivated by local residents can help motivate residents around the forest and support gibbon conservation activities and forest conservation in the Mendolo forest area and its surroundings.

This field reports, part of Coffee and Primate Conservation Project 2021, written by Arif Setiawan in bahasa, and translated by TT Chan,   supported by Fortwayne Children’s Zoo, Mandai Nature, and Ostrava Zoo.

 

 

28Aug/21

Fabric Scraps for Conservation

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“This patchwork tote bag is made of fabric scraps from the garment industry in Pekalongan. Sokokembang is a hamlet in Pekalongan located right next to forests that are home to the Javan Gibbon. Some residents there sew at home for a living or work at a textile factory. SwaraOwa are currently helping several residents in Sokokembang to transform leftover fabrics and discarded materials from the garment industry into useful recycled products. Not only does this contribute to their livelihoods, it also reduces plastic waste and promotes the conservation of the Javan Gibbon.”

The garment industry is one of the foremost drivers of the local economy in Pekalongan. From the city, the textile supply chain stretches all the way to even the most remote villages near the forest. It all starts with cutting fabrics, sewing, attaching buttons and zips, then moves on to screen printing and colouring, sometimes using traditional batik-producing techniques that have been passed down through the generations.

In Sokokembang, one of the hamlets closest to the gibbon forests in the area, activities powering the garment economy are very much present, and have been at least since we first visited in 2006. Such activities form the main source of livelihood for 45% of families here, who contribute to the apparel supply chain by sewing parts of clothing. Other villagers grow various crops or rear livestock in their gardens and the forest. From when we started our projects in Sokokembang up until 2014, villagers engaged in sewing did not do this work at home, instead using the sewing machines and materials at their employer’s place. They worked most days, only having Fridays off.

Garment workers are crucial to the local economy, sustaining those who live around the forest. However, because of the nature of their work, they are generally not as intimately familiar with forest trees and animals as those villagers who enter the forest more frequently. They sometimes even describe Javan Gibbons as having tails! Gibbons, after all, are rarely seen. What these workers do know well is how gibbon calls sound, because these can be heard loud and clear every morning.

Noticing this, the Indonesian wildgibbon team braved the pandemic and tried to find ways of connecting gibbons to garment manufacturing, the sector that provides much of the jobs in Pekalongan. Seeing leftover scraps of fabric everywhere, mostly wasted, the team tried to bring Sokokembang hamlet a solution to this problem.

The solution came in the form of cloth bags. Making them involves villagers who already sew for a living. They form patterns using unwanted fabric scraps and connect them into a highly practical multi-purpose bag. This process is relatively uncomplicated and can be done on the sidelines of everyday sewing. To get the younger generation involved in Sokokembang, they were briefly trained by residents who were already proficient in sewing. After being given the finishing touches by the wildgibbon team, the bags look as illustrated, bearing the logos of Owa Coffee and Sokokembang.

At SwaraOwa, we firmly believe that conservation projects cannot succeed without being made to benefit local communities. Although not without its challenges, this project is just such an attempt to marry conservation activities with fostering an entrepreneurial spirit among locals — all proceeds will go towards supporting forests and livelihoods. By closely collaborating with the locals, we aim to make protecting nature and boosting the local economy one and the same cause, and hope that making conservation pay will encourage further conservation activities in the region and beyond.

 

written by : Elna Novitasari Br.Ginting dan Arif Setiawan, translated by TT Chan

26Feb/21

Sokokembang Forest, wild habitat of Javan langur.

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Photo story by Arif Setiawan

 

1. The Javan langur (Trachypithecus auratus) is a leaf-eating monkey classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Found in Java and nearby islands, it inhabits the Sokokembang forest near Kayupuring Village in the Petungkriyono District, Pekalongan, Central Java Province. They live in groups of two to 15 individuals and are polygynous, meaning that in each group there is one adult male and several females.


2. Javan langurs are often encountered along the forest road in leading to Petungkriyono. Although their numbers have not been researched to date, the SwaraOwa team have observed approximately six troops of langurs frequenting that road.

3. Newly born Javan langurs are orange, but turn black after an average of 2.9 months (Trisilo et al. 2021). Their orange fur makes the babies stand out and allows the adult members of the troop to look out for them and make sure .


4. Javan langurs move on all fours (quadrupedal). They spend most of their lives in the trees and only occasionally come down to look for insects and other food in the understorey or forest floor.

5. Javan langurs are a protected primate species under Indonesian law.


6. Javan langurs are often lethargic because they need time and energy to digest the tough leaves that make up their staple diet. When seen dozing off on a tree branch, these langurs may actually be waiting for the digestive bacteria in their guts to break down their food, much like ruminants.

7. In February 2021, we counted a total of six females with babies in the Sokokembang forest – some were still orange, while others had black fur like their mothers.


8. We also observed two langurs grooming each other. Aside from keeping langur fur free of parasites, grooming also serves as a social activity to strengthen group ties and relieve tension or stress.

9. Being relatively dense, Petungkriyono Forest is suitable habitat for Javan langurs. The fact that some langurs are easily observed along the road and not too bothered by humans can be used to promote ecotourism (primate-watching) in the area. However, measures will need to be implemented to ensure humans keep a distance and do not litter or feed the langurs.

24Jan/21

2020 in review: Humming optimism amidst adversity

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Overview

In January 2020, against the backdrop of a nascent pandemic, work continued unabated to organize conservation activities targeted at primates, gibbons in particular. The gibbons in Central Java and the Mentawai Islands form the twin foci of our conservation activities and have provided us strong motivation to step up conservation at the site level.

Javan gibbon landscape

Mentawai – Education & ecotourism

In South Siberut, we initiated a campaign centered on wildlife photography in collaboration with Uma Mentawai Malinggai (UMM), an organization dedicated to preserving local folk art. The campaign aimed to promote photography as a means of preserving culture and biodiversity, and to equip UMM members with new skills. We armed two UMM members with cameras that they used to document local fauna and natural history, and encourage the local community to part with non-traditional hunting practices.

This program has delivered some tangible results, with a book on the birds of Mentawai and another on Mentawai primates having been published. Active collaboration with local residents has also encouraged them to take ownership of their natural environment by serving as ‘paraconservationists’[read report here]. As such, the message we spread emphasized the importance not only of primates, but also of other components of Mentawai’s biodiversity and the value of indigenous culture.

The activities scheduled for January were intended to promote the conservation of primates in Mentawai through primate-watching tours. A promotion had in fact already been launched on a dedicated website (https://wildgibbonindonesia.com/ and a test run had likewise been conducted blending endemic primate species with highlights of local culture. Read the trip report here. However, after a promising start, progress has slowed since March 2020 owing to the pandemic. Being mainly targeted at tourists from abroad, the project has been affected by cancellations of all tours booked at the end of 2019.

Central Java – Cancelled visits

In March 2020, we had been due to receive staff from the Ostrava Zoo and a representative of the Czech ambassador to Indonesia at our project activities in Sokokembang and the village of Mendolo. Both sites play a crucial role in our Coffee and Primate Conservation Project. However, shortly before the event was due to start, an official notice came in from the Regent of Pekalongan that gatherings were to be banned to halt the transmission of coronavirus. We were of course very disappointed, but are glad that we did the right thing by calling the activities off. In the end, we only managed a brief meeting with representatives of the Ostrava Zoo in Pekalongan, who immediately thereafter returned to Jakarta.

Of all our shade coffee and primate conservation projects in 2020, the most badly hit by the pandemic was our collaboration with the Singapore Zoo. Sales of our forest-friendly coffee had ground to a halt there because the zoo café, which carried the product, was forced to close by COVID-19. Our stock of coffee beans piled up in warehouses in Yogyakarta and in the Petungkriyono homes of the growers near the gibbon forests.

the swinging javan gibbon

 Research & networking

May 2020 marked a milestone in the conservation of the Kloss’s gibbon  (Hylobates klossii), with a survey of this Mentawai endemic having been published in the journal Biodiversitas – Journal of Biological Diversity. Findings were first presented at the Indonesian Primate Congress in September 2019, organized by Indonesian Primatological Society.

June 2020 saw the commencement of two important research projects in Sokokembang. Both were spearheaded by tough and dedicated women who feel more at home in the forest and among the communities who live off it than as homemakers without a voice of their own. Pressing on despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the first is Nur Aoliya from Bogor Agricultural University who studies the Silvery gibbon’s  vocalisation behaviours in the mountainous landscape of the Dieng region. You can find Aoliya’s story here, recounting her search for the diva of the rainforest in the districts of Batang and Pekalongan. The second, Yenni Rachmawati from Airlangga University, researches the Blue-banded kingfisher, one of the world’s most endangered birds  which the SwaraOwa team had found as new record in 2018. Both these research projects are funded by the annual Kopi Owa scholarship program as part of the Coffee and Primate Conservation Project in Central Java. As of early 2021, these projects are still ongoing.

 

Starting where we left off

As we lament no longer being able to travel as we please or meet whoever we want to, perhaps the most important lesson to learn from this global pandemic is that not coexisting with the natural world will only lead to severe socio-economic problems in the long run. Promoting cultural practices that emphasise sustainable consumption and production must be made a topmost priority, even if only on a small scale at first. After all, big things usually have humble beginnings.

Initially beset by numerous delays due to the pandemic, November 2020 saw our work in Mentawai slowly being resumed, targeted at conserving the endemic Kloss’s gibbon. As the erosion of local culture has led to unsustainable hunting practices and the loss of much forest, this work crucially includes providing local teachers training and content on nature conservation and Mentawai traditions.

Not all our activities were publicized on the SwaraOwa website or blog due to limited time for writing. One of the most important achievements for gibbon conservation in Pekalongan Regency was marked by the provincial government initiating a multi-stakeholder forum centered on the management of the Petungkriyono forest area [the initiation was started by this writing]. Although relevant work had already started in 2019, it was only with this forum that a concrete plan emerged, proposing around 5,173.80 ha to be managed collaboratively as an Essential Ecosystem Area.

Looking towards the future: strengthen economy, culture and nature conservation 

stingless bee honey harvesting

The pandemic, giving experience of livelihood program activities with one priority commodity to influence sustainable production and consumption in gibbon habitat’s  is very risky. and now there is also other potential commodity that SwaraOwa is developing in the habitat of gibbons, i.e stingless bee and it’s product development, we started in 2017 and now honey production has begun to stabilize even though it is limited, and motivate the community to involved in wildlife friendly farming practice, colony replication not only multiplied bee hive boxes but also became the start of a social, economic and ecological movement  around the forest.

We closed 2020 with the launch of Owa Bilou Coffee, a commercial project named after the Kloss’s gibbon endemic to Mentawai. It aims to further conservation work on primates, to involve local community on sustainable economic activities, especially the gibbon which is its namesake, its to trigger promoting local commodities and team in Mentawai that can be benefit for community and nature it’s self.

Thanks to all people, agency, local government in Central java and Mentawai,  who involved during 2020 activities, special thank you to our donors Fortwayne Children Zoo, Wildlife Reserve Singapore, Ostrava Zoo, and Arcus Foundation.

Having bade 2020 a bittersweet goodbye, we welcome 2021 with renewed optimism and resolve.