Just for One Ivory
Just for One Ivory
Video sent by gekkostudio
We tame it and killed for it's one ivory that left. See more on www.gekkovoices.com
Bengkulu Elephant Under Siege
Bengkulu Elephant Under Siege
Video sent by gekkostudio
The forests of Sumatera have been the natural habitat of elephants, spread from Aceh in the north to Lampung in the South. But today, the lustrous human activities such as land clearing for big scale plantations, settlements, and agricultural, the elephant’s habitat has vanished.
Only few people know that in Bengkulu Province, we can still meet groups of wild elephant. They spread in the forests area of Seblat, Air Ipuh, Air Dikit, and Air Berau. Like in other places, the populations of hill elephants in Bengkulu are also threatened. There are only 120-14 elephants, half of them are in the Seblat forest area.
Seblat, located in North Bengkulu, is on the border of Kerinci Seblat National Park. The forest is rich with flora and fauna.
see more on www.gekkovoices.com
Aku Mau Pulang "Tragedi Lumpur Lapindo"
Aku Mau Pulang "Tragedi Lumpur Lapindo"
Video sent by gekkostudio
Tragedi lumpur Lapindo adalah bencana ekologis terbesar yang pernah terjadi di Indonesia. Sejak bencana itu terjadi pada 29 Mei 2006 hingga hari ini tidak ada upaya nyata untuk menghentikan semburan lumpur ini. Warga korban luapan lumpur panas yang mengungsi di Pasar Baru Porong mencapai 14.768 jiwa. Meskipun sebagian kecil dari mereka telah mendapat bantuan kompensasi dari pihak Lapindo, warga terlanjur kehilangan mata pencaharian, tempat bernaung, segenap harta benda serta hidup dan kebersamaan yang telah terbangung.
Telah banyak warga yang mengalami gangguan fisik, sebanyak 49.639 jiwa menjalani rawat jalan, 1.130 orang menjalani rawat inap tersebar di berbagai pos kesehatan dan rumah sakit. Penderita gangguan jiwa telah puluhan orang diakibatkan tinggal di lokasi pengungsian. Anak-anak terganggu dalam aktivitas belajar mengajar, 33 gedung sekolah negeri dan swasta, mulai tingkat TK hingga SMA telah terendam lumpur.
Kerugian akibat Lumpur mencapai Rp 33 Triliun, serta tidak terhitung angka kerugian akibat bencana lingkungan dan sosial yang terjadi. Dan angka-angka akan terus bertambah sepanjang lumpur tetap mengalir ….… entah sampai kapan, hanya ada satu yang pasti …warga Porong yang desanya telah terendam lumpur, tidak akan pernah pulang kembali kerumahnya....
Untuk lebih jelas tentang peristiwa ini silahkan lihat di Jatam (www.jatam.org), Walhi (www.walhi.or.id), dan Gekko Studio (www.gekkovoices.com).
Countdown to Nil - Mud Disaster at Porong Sidoarjo Indonesia
Countdown to Nil - Mud Disaster at Porong Sidoarjo Indonesia
Video sent by gekkostudio
Mud Lapindo tragedy is the biggest ecological disaster has ever happened in Indonesia. Since the first time the mud is blasted on 28 May 2006, till today there are no real efforts to discontinue the blast. The number of people must be evacuated to Pasar Baru Porong reached up to 14.768 peoples. Though some of them have got compensation from Lapindo, their lives have come too far unintentionally and they have lost most of their lives, including their jobs, shelters, properties and materials, and togetherness.
Lots of evacuee experiencing physical problems. 49.639 of them are outpatients while 1.130 people must be taken care in several health centers or hospitals. Monomaniacs also found as the result of distress while living in the evacuation. 33 school buildings including public and private schools are covered by mud and affected to children’s learning activity.
The loss of this tragedy reached up to Rp 33 trillion, while the number of environment and social loss effects is innumerable. The number is increasing as the mud kept running – until when? Who knows? One thing for sure, Porong’s community whom their houses are covered by mud, will never return to their homes.
See more on www.jatam.org, www.walhi.or.id, and www.gekkovoices.com.
the Forest Lament Video
My Forest Tears
My Forest Tears
Video sent by gekkostudio
Ethnomusicology about forest in Indonesia
The Poem is
Here at one time
orangutans played joyfully
eating fruits and leaves of the trees
swinging between the branches
generation upon generation for thousands of years
Here at one time
the Meranti, Ulin, and Kamper trees
stood sacredly in great forests
wild orchids bloomed and faded
in-synch with the rhythms of the universe
Here at one time
the Dayak with their blowpipes
hunted deer for their dinner
oo… the plentiful fruit and fish
abundant healing leaves
Here at one time
the sun shone brightly
pouring its light on the dense rain forest
chlorophyll turned CO2 to O2
creating fresh, clean air
Nowadays
no rain forest remain
gone are the Dayak and their culture
gone are the orangutans, only a sad story
with its historical garbage is left behind
Nowadays
millions of hectares of dry barren land
the dried roots of the trees remain
and huge holes of acid run-off water
left behind after the coal was sucked dry
Nowadays
the red sun shines
watching officials, businessmen,
and foreign investors greedily cut down the trees
planted and nurtured over thousands of years
Oh, my people … my people
nowadays …
angry Mother Earth sends floods
thousands of innocents lose belongings and lives
while the sinners play golf with their mistresses
Aach … my forest laments
its eyes are swollen
its mouth gasps for breath
Oh ….
you will see when the islands are drowning
the deserts expanding
disasters grow more violent … disasters grow more violent
See more on www.gekkovoices.com
Calling for Earth Day (ID)
Suara dari Ibu Bumi:
Klik Video ‘Hutanku Meratap’ dan Berikan Perhatian Anda kepada Kondisi Hutan Indonesia
Bogor, 22 April 2008. Sebagai paru-paru dunia, hutan tropika Indonesia telah berkurang dalam laju yang mencemaskan, disebabkan oleh konversi, penebangan liar dan eksploitasi yang berlebihan. Tidak ada lagi tempat bagi masyarakat hutan untuk tinggal ketika hutan mereka berubah menjadi tambang, ribuan orang meratap ketika rumah mereka hanyut oleh banjir, dan hutan menjadi sepi ketika tidak lagi suara burung yang bernyanyi dan tiada lagi orang utan meloncat dari satu pohon ke pohon lain.
Sebelum semuanya benar-benar musnah, dan hanya menjadi cerita bagi generasi berikut, luangkan waktu anda 7.36 menit pada hari bumi dan anda akan menjadi seorang saksimata kehancuran hutan Indonesia. Saksikan ‘HUTANKU MERATAP’ di www.gekkovoices.com yang kami dedikasikan untuk membawakan suara dari Ibu Bumi.
Diproduksi oleh Gekko Studio, bekerjasama dengan Rizaldi Siagian dan Slamet Widodo, --- keduanya adalah seniman yang telah mendedikasikan karyanya untuk menulis puisi dan membungkusnya dalam musik tradisional dayak, --- kami membawakan ‘HUTANKU MERATAP’ untuk mendapat perhatian anda. Jika anda telah selesai menyaksikan video ini dan anda memiliki mimpi yang sama dengan kami, bagikanlah kepada teman-teman anda sekalian. Bersama kita dapat menyelamatkan salah satu hutan tropis dunia.
Masa depan planet ini berada di tangan anda.
Salam,
Gekko Studio
Calling for Earth Day
Voice from the Mother Earth:
Click ‘the Forest Lament’ Video and Put your Attention on Indonesia’s Forest Condition
Bogor, April 22, 2008. As the lungs of the world, the Indonesia tropical forests are being lost at an alarming rate, largely due to land convertion, illegal logging and massive exploitation. The Indigenous people have no place to go when they find their forest changing into mining, thousands of people plight when their houses are lost by the flood, and forest are becoming silent because no more bird are singing and no more orangutan jumping from the big tree to another tree.
Before it is totally gone, and will be only the story for our next generation, just spend your 7.36 minutes during the Earth Day and you will be the eyewitness of Indonesia’s Forest Destruction. Watch ‘THE FOREST LAMENT’ at www.gekkovoices.com which we dedicated to bring the voices of Mother Earth.
Produced by Gekko Studio, collaborating with Rizaldi Siagian and Slamet Widodo, ---both of them are Indonesian artists who have dedicated their talent for writing this poetry and wrapping it into dayak’s traditional music rhythm, --- We bring the ‘THE FOREST LAMENT’ to get your attention. If you already watched this video, and you are the same dream with us, just share it to your friends. Together we can save one of the last tropical forest in the world.
The planet future is on your hand.
With regard,
Gekko Studio
Borderlines
Borderlines
Video sent by gekkostudio
Borderlines: Vietnam's Booming Furniture Industry and
Timber Smuggling in the Mekong Region
Vietnam has become a hub for processing huge quantities of unlawfully-logged timber from
across Indochina, threatening some of the last intact forests in the region, a major new report
reveals. Much of the illegally-imported wood is made into furniture for export to consumer
markets in Europe and the US. Undercover investigations by the UK-based Environmental
Investiagtions Agency (EIA) and Indonesian NGO Telapak have revealed how Vietnam's
booming economy and demand for cheap furniture in the West is driving rapid deforestation
throughout the Mekong river region, particularly in neightbouring Laos.
See more on
http://www.illegal-logging.info/item_single.php?item=document&item_id=609&approach_id=1
Dayak Punan - Our Forest, Our Life
Dayak Punan - Our Forest, Our Life
Video sent by gekkostudio
Saving the Indigenous Forests from the Extinction Series
At present, Indonesian forests are in very dangerous situation due to massive exploitation that has been happened in the past couple of years. Every year, areas as big as 3 times of island of Bali are beeing destructed.
In the other hand – different with the general situation – there are still hope, especially in the ancestral forests that are still being managed by the indegenous people. Forest for them means not only the number of standing stock, but it is related with their religion, wisdoms and many king of socio-cultural aspects.
Dayak Punan community in Malinau (Kalimantan island) depend on their forest for collecting eaglewood (gaharu), Seko people in North Luwu (Sulawesi) get benefit from non timber forest products such as resin and rattan for fullfilling their livelihood, Knasaimos tribe in South Sorong (Papua) consider the forests as their own mother.
Initiative to defend the forest, are facing huge challenges. The indigenous people still worry if their forest will be converted into large scale plantation, forest concession or mining exploitation.
A Film by J.E.E.F. (Japan Environmental Education Forum), Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), and Telapak. Supported by GISPRI and Produced by Gekko Studio
Seko - the Last Paradise in the Hearth of Sulawesi
Seko - the Last Paradise in the Hearth of Sulawesi
Video sent by gekkostudio
Saving the Indigenous Forests from the Extinction Series
At present, Indonesian forests are in very dangerous situation due to massive exploitation that has been happened in the past couple of years. Every year, areas as big as 3 times of island of Bali are beeing destructed.
In the other hand – different with the general situation – there are still hope, especially in the ancestral forests that are still being managed by the indegenous people. Forest for them means not only the number of standing stock, but it is related with their religion, wisdoms and many king of socio-cultural aspects.
Dayak Punan community in Malinau (Kalimantan island) depend on their forest for collecting eaglewood (gaharu), Seko people in North Luwu (Sulawesi) get benefit from non timber forest products such as resin and rattan for fullfilling their livelihood, Knasaimos tribe in South Sorong (Papua) consider the forests as their own mother.
Initiative to defend the forest, are facing huge challenges. The indigenous people still worry if their forest will be converted into large scale plantation, forest concession or mining exploitation.
A Film by J.E.E.F. (Japan Environmental Education Forum), Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), and Telapak. Supported by GISPRI and Produced by Gekko Studio
The Indigenous People of Knasaimos
The Indigenous People of KNASAIMOS
Video sent by gekkostudio
Saving the Indigenous Forests from the Extinction Series
At present, Indonesian forests are in very dangerous situation due to massive exploitation that has been happened in the past couple of years. Every year, areas as big as 3 times of island of Bali are beeing destructed.
In the other hand – different with the general situation – there are still hope, especially in the ancestral forests that are still being managed by the indegenous people. Forest for them means not only the number of standing stock, but it is related with their religion, wisdoms and many king of socio-cultural aspects.
Dayak Punan community in Malinau (Kalimantan island) depend on their forest for collecting eaglewood (gaharu), Seko people in North Luwu (Sulawesi) get benefit from non timber forest products such as resin and rattan for fullfilling their livelihood, Knasaimos tribe in South Sorong (Papua) consider the forests as their own mother. Initiative to defend the forest, are facing huge challenges. The indigenous people still worry if their forest will be converted into large scale plantation, forest concession or mining exploitation.
A Film by J.E.E.F. (Japan Environmental Education Forum), Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), and Telapak. Supported by GISPRI and Produced by Gekko Studio
NUFF Competition - Sui Utik
Awal Juni kemaren kita berhasil mengikuti sebuah kompetisi film internasional the Nordic Youth Film Festival (NUFF) yang vertemakan Climate Change. Sang produser Ramadian Bachtiar juga bisa ikut langsung acara screening di Tromsow, Norwey. Dengan ide yang sederhana kita mencoba mengangkat kebijakan local di Indonesia yaitu Masyarakat Sungai Utik dalam menjaga hutan mereka untuk mencapai sebuah kesetabilan alam dan kesejahteraan masyarakatnya.
Film yang berdurasi lima belas menit ini sengaja narasinya menggunakan bahasa dayak iban agar penonton bisa mengetahui lebih jauh lagi mengenai kearifan masyarakat utik.
Walaupun tidak bisa mendapat gelar sebagai the winner, tapi kita sudah sangat senang sekali bisa mengikuti kompetisi ini. Semoga ini bisa menjadi salah satu semangat untuk terus berkarya.
Sui Utik
Documentary, Indonesia 2007, 15'00
Dir: Ramadian Bachtiar
Prod: Ramadian Bachtiar
Camera:Nanang Sujana, Een Irawan Putra
Editor: Nanang Sujana
Story Building: Ramadian Bachtiar, Nanang Sujana, Mulia Nurhasan
Music Director (Arranger): Uyung Mahagenta
Music Player: Sinyo, Hendry
English Subtitle: Felencia Hutabarat
Dayak Iban Translator: Simon Salim, Conkordius Kanyan.
Additional Footage: Perkumpulan Telapak & EIA, Yayasan Al-Kahfi, Yayasan Triton
Indonesia as the 3rd highest country that release carbon emission in the world and most of it came from deforestation, experience an anomaly weather – caused a catastrophic impact in everywhere. But in Sui Utik – right in the hearth of Borneo, different situation happen. Pak Janggut – Dayak Iban Tribe Leader – narrates about his people way of live. He tells us about their way in agriculture and how their forest support their life.
Their promise to their ancestor to take care the forest had lead the tribe to survive the severe dry season which hit Indonesia. They held a harvesting ceremony as their gratitude to Betara – their god.
http://www.nuffglobal.net/News/TheFeFilmsscreenings:
Tuesday 05.06
11:00 Verdensteatret prog 2a
12:00 - 15:00 Fokus Kino Youth Climate Conference
Wednesday 06.06
13:00 Tromsø Museum prog 2a
Thursday 07.06
11:00 Verdensteatret prog 2a
Sunday 10.06
15:00 Verdensteatret Prog 2
Dicuplik dari link ini
Voices From The Forest in India
Voices From The Forest in India
Video sent by gekkostudio
All across India, non-timber forest produce (NTFP), spell a critical source of income for indigeneus people and forest-dwelling communities, who are among the poorest of the poor. Not only do the NTFPs play a crucial role in the livelihood of these people, but from a key incentive to conserving the forest of India. Moreover NTFPs are woven in with the social and cultural fabric of the communities living in India.
Communities are working hand in hand with grassroot non-government groups, traders, and government to address the challenges posed by low productivity, lack of tecnology, irrational NTFP law, and wide-scale contract based extraction. Over the years of hard work, inroads are being made. Community-based conservation, management, value addition, and marketing of NTFPs are being successfuly practiced. Honey, mahua, resin, amla, sal leaf, and the thousands of other NTFP species will continue to flourish and play its role in the lives of communities today and in the future.
© Gekko Studio/Dusty Foot Production - India/NTFP Exchange Programme 2007
Pursuing Harmony With Nature
Pursuing Harmony With Nature
Video sent by gekkostudio
At the heart of conservation of Indonesian, natural resources are the needs of people who live within some of the richest environments of earth, this is a story about fragile situation in one of these known as the jewel of Java Seas.
© WCS /Gekko Studio 2007
6865 ha
6865 ha
Video sent by gekkostudio
Pusat Konservasi Gajah Seblat or Seblat Centre for Elephant Conservation (PLG Seblat) is the forest area designated to protect the wild animal, such as Sumatran elephant, hornbill, owa, etc.
The total area is 6,865 ha, surrounded by large oil plantation. Land clearing for oil palm plantations, illegal logging, and main road project construction have serious impacts on elephant’s habitat.
Se more on www.gekkovoices.com
Rinjani, the Hearth of Lombok Island
Rinjani, the Hearth of Lombok Island
Video sent by gekkostudio
West Lesser Sunda have lost more than 500 thousand ha forest since 1998. On Lombok, small island with only 5.000 km2, it does have big impact to the livelihood. In 15 years, springs has reduce from 702 to 262. If the forest degradation continue, what would happened on the next 15 year?
See more on www.gekkovoices.com
Lak Coa Lak : Hidup Adalah Pilihan
"Lak Coa Lak : Hidup Adalah Pilihan"
Ade adalah seorang anak yatim piatu yang dari umur 9 tahun harus bekerja menyadap karet untuk menghidupi seorang nenek dan dua orang adiknya. Lak Coa Lak (bahasa daerah rejang, di Bengkulu) dalam bahasa Indonesia-nya berarti "Mau Tau Mau". Film ini aku buat ketika aku pulang ke kampung halamanku yaitu Arga Makmur, Bengkulu Utara tepatnya di rumah nenekku yaitu Desa Kali I.
Saat mendengar kisah tentang kehidupan Ade, aku seolah tak percaya. Anak seumur dia bisa menafkahi tiga orang keluarganya dan bisa mensekolahkan kedua adiknya.
Dari pukul 7.00 sampai pukul 15.00 setiap harinya dia harus bekerja menyadap karet. Hari-hari yang seharusnya ia habiskan bermain dengan teman-teman seumurnya terpaksa ditinggalkan demi sebuah harapan dan impian. Terkadang, setelah menyadap karet ia harus membersihkan sepetak kebun peninggalan ibunya dan memetik buah kopi jika memang pohonnya sudah berbuah. Karena umur nenek yang sudah tua, tidak bisa banyak bergerak dan melakukan perkerjaan berat, maka ia pun harus mengambil kendali untuk mengurusi rumah. Setiap pagi dan sore hari harus memasak dan menyiapkan makan untuk keluarga.
Terus berusaha selagi itu halal merupakan prinsip hidup yang selalu ia pegang. Walaupun hidup ini sengsara, tapi hidup memang harus dijalani. Mungkin ini sudah takdir Tuhan.
Dalam hati aku hanya bisa berdoa "semoga Tuhan selalu memberikan kemurahan jalan dan kelapangan hati" kepadanya. Anak seumur ini sudah harus berfikir dewasa dan bijaksana. Tetap rajin bekerja, tak pernah mengharapkan bantuan dan rasa iba dari orang lain.
Sementara, beribu-ribu kilometer dari tempatnya, seperti di Jakarta, Bogor, Surabaya, maupun kota-kota yang pernah aku kunjungi. Lelaki sehat dan bertubuh tegap, hidup hanya mengandalkan rasa iba dan kasihan dari orang lain. Hidup hanya bermodalkan gitar dan ocehan, terus meminta-minta kepada orang lain. Seolah-olah teramat gampang untuk mendapatkan uang.
Masih beruntungkah Ade? bisa bekerja di kebunnya, jika dibandingkan dengan anak-anak di kota yang berdiri di perempatan jalan?
Aku sendiri tidak tahu seperti apa itu hidup yang "beruntung"
Tapi yang jelas, film yang berdurasi 9 menit ini aku bikin bukan untuk membuat rasa penyesalan dan patah semangat, melainkan untuk memunculkan rasa optimis dalam menjalani hidup. Seperti yang dijalani oleh Ade. Walaupun dia harus bekerja dan tidak sekolah, tapi dia mempunyai impian besar, yaitu mensekolahkan kedua adiknya sampai tamat dan mempunyai kebun karet sendiri.
"Sampai kapankah anak-anak Indonesia harus menengadahkan tangannya di perempatan lampu merah. Di kereta. Di bus. Di angkot dan di warung-warung makan. Hidup dengan kemiskinan dan masa depan yang suram. Dan tak jarang juga menerima pelecehan seksual, penganiayaan".
"Sementara... Kepedulian akan sesama jauh dari harapan. Perbedaan status sosial kenyataan memang, sengaja diperlihatkan. Korupsi terang-terangan dilakukan. Undang-undang dan hukum dibikin hanya untuk mendapatkan uang dan juga memang menguntungkan yang punya uang".
Teluk Jakarta, Under Pressure
Teluk Jakarta, Under Pressure
Video sent by gekkostudio
More than 14,000 m3/day of household garbage place the Jakartan under threat. During the period 1999-2002, the fisheries production dropped significantly to 38%. If everything is already polluted… is the judgement day will come soon?
© P4W/Gekko Studio 2006
Rinjani, the Hearth of Lombok Island
Rinjani, the Hearth of Lombok Island
Video sent by gekkostudio
West Lesser Sunda have lost more than 500 thousand ha forest since 1998. On Lombok, small island with only 5.000 km2, it does have big impact to the livelihood. In 15 years, springs has reduce from 702 to 262. If the forest degradation continue, what would happened on the next 15 year?
©WWF/Gekko Studio 2006
5x5 Bukit Lawang
5x5 Bukit Lawang
Video sent by gekkostudio
The film is based in Bukit Lawang, where devastating floods caused over 239 deaths in 2003. The flooding was attributed to illegal logging in the surrounding Gunung Leuser National Park. Since the floods, this village community has been involved in voluntary forest governance enforcement schemes in an attempt to curb illegal logging in the National Park. The community has also started to recognise the important role of ecotourism in the preservation of their surrounding forests.
Eco-Tourism replaces Illegal Logging:
The story of Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia
It had rained heavilly for two days. Few of the locals along the Bahorok river in northern Sumatra showed much concern. The river communities of Indonesia have grown familiar with flooding during the rainy season. This time things would be tragically different. On the night of 2nd November 2003 a massive flash flood swept through and devastated settlements along the banks of the Bahorok. The epi-centre of the tragedy focussed on one small village, the tourist resort of Bukit Lawang.
Sometimes the issues surrounding climate change, deforestation and illegal logging can seem so inordinately vast: the human side - the personal story - can often be forgotten. Occasionally these global problems of deforestation
impact themselves in one tiny area: and suddenly, in a microcosm, all the devastation and horror has a very real human face. The village of Bukit Lawang inadvertently found itself thrust into such a position.
Bukit Lawang had originally been a small village on the edge of an oil-palm plantation, but since the founding of the Gunung Leuser national park and the establishment of the world famous orangutan rehabilitation centre a mile upstream, the village had prospered and thrived through tourism. In the space of a few hours that tragic night Bukit Lawang in effect completely dissapeared: 400 houses, 3 mosques, 8 bridges, 280 kiosks and food stalls, 35 inns and guest houses: all had gone. 239 villagers, as well as five tourists, were dead. 1,400 locals found themselves displaced.
When the worst of the flood water had abated and the desperate search for survivors finally called off, the villagers found a curious sight surrounding them. Thousands of massive logs mixed with rocks and mud stood in ugly heaps along the valley, the riverbank and the site of the village. Some of these piles stood more than two stories high. It suggested the tragedy was not natural but caused by logging in the national park. It was discovered, although stringently denied by the authorities, that loggers had felled several thousand trees in the upper reaches of the mountains and had been storing them in an artificial dam, before sending them downriver. After the heavy rainfall, landslides from deforested parts of the park tumbled into the swollen river: the Bahorok, beyond its holding capacity abruptly burst its banks. The flood water roared downstream carrying with it its deadly cargo of chainsawed logs and timber, which acting like battering-rams, smashed and flattened everything in their path.
The clean-up operation cleared away the accumulation of debris, aid organisations and local authorities constructed new bridges, reinforced the banks of the Bahork and built a new housing complex on the higher ground. Slowly things are adjusting back to an air of normality, thanks largely to the strength and spirit of the community. Village members share whatever aid they recieve and work together without question. But despite the rich, often cheerful spirit of the survivors – a deep sadness remains hidden just below the surface. It’s the fourth year since the flood and Rahmad Nasution will be thinking about his life before the tragedy: his daily routines, his family that he will never see again, the others who were lost in this remarkably close community. Rahmad’s memories are unequivocally painful
“...I tried to save the older people, but I was trapped in the middle of the river, it was very dark and I still heard the crying for help. I had no chance to save my family, my sweetest people, my child, my supersede, I was not strong during that time...the day after, I found my sister, my wife’s-parents, then my wife, that is the unforgettable moment, it will be my wound...I thank God he gave me my life, I pray to him for the people who died...”
Since the disaster, something unique has occured in the vicinity of the Bahork river which could well send a message to other areas within Indonesia. The strength in community has led to a motivation among many villagers to finally put an end to illegal logging in their forests. Through the aid and suprevision of YLL, an NGO based in nearby Medan, the communities themselves are forming initiatives and organisations to help stop the practice of illegal logging in the national park. In the nearby village of Penampean local people have joined a volunteer ranger unit which patrols the forest.
“...the history of ranger in Penampean started after Bukit Lawang flood, triggered by YLL we established a ranger organisation to protect the forest. Many of my friends had been involved in illegal logging activities but now they think again: our forest is nearly broken, people have had a negative impact, so our ex-logger friends have joined with the rangers to curb illegal logging in Gunung Leuser national park. Our purpose now is to establish eco-tourism in the vilage...”
Bukit Lawang has slowly rebuilt itself since the flood. Along the riverside where women of the village launder, whilst their children play and totter in the slow swirling shallows, there are once again small restaurants and food stalls and guest houses. The few remaining hotels are also opening and recieving tourists. The orangutan rehabilitation centre has been repaired and already visitors queue at the river crossing to see the great red-haired ape of the Sumatran rainforest. Bukit Lawang is open once more.
“...regarding eco-tourism actvities we started to organise meetings to make the community aware of the importance of eco-tourism, such as forming groups of (forest) guides...the impact of the Bahorok flood has not been good on the tourist industry, if we compare today with the past, less tourists have come than before, so our strategy is to promote the benefits of eco-tourism ...this is being implemented in daily life...eco-tourism will protect the daily life of the community as well as the national park...” said Didi Charamsar, executive director YLL.
Voices From The Forest
This film is the story of people living near tropical forests in Southeast Asia, in particular the story of indigenous communities in Malaysia, Indonesian and the Philippines. The film explores a community life entwined with the fate of their forest homes. The Voices from the Forest.
Profiting From Honeybees
Traditional and sustainable non-timber forest product management has been practised for generations by the community living around Lake Sentarum, one of the South East Asia’s largest wetlands. They have developed a honey harvesting method that does not adversely affect the regeneration rate of the bees. The video records the harvesting method practiced by the local community, from the selection of the colony, honey extraction, harvest treatment to the packing.
Water Crisis in the City of Rain
Water Crisis in the City of Rain
Video sent by gekkostudio
Bogor City is one of the cities with highest rainfall in Indonesia. Ironically, it is experiencing water crisis due to the degraded catchments areas in the headwaters. The video highlights environmental degradation resulting from non ecologically-based spatial plan. Surrounded by mountains, the city serves as the catchments area for the area as well as for the lower land. The ecosystem degradation will affect the country’s populous capital, Jakarta, to which the city rivers empty.
© Telapak/Gekko Studio 2005
Profiting from Plunder
The video details how ramin, the precious hardwood banned for export, is illegally shipped from Sumatera to Pasir Gudang Port in Johor Baru, Malaysia. There, ramin logs are dried and attached with falsified Malaysia paperwork before exported to Hong Kong and mainland China. In China, they are processed into various end-products such as picture frames and snooker cues and exported to international markets, including the US and Europe.
Bring Me to Life
Bring Me to Life
Video sent by gekkostudio
Indonesia’s coral reefs have been depleted by destructive fishing, notably cyanide fishing. Law enforcers have been reluctant to curb the practice as they have been benefiting from it. Police raids have been used as a new means of extortion.
Forest on the Edge
The community of Alaaha Village has been utilizing non-timber forest products in a wise and sustainable way to sustain their local economy. Now, illegal-logging and large-scale plantations are threateningly approaching their area.
Forest on the Edge
The community of Alaaha Village has been utilizing non-timber forest products in a wise and sustainable way to sustain their local economy. Now, illegal-logging and large-scale plantations are threateningly approaching their area.
The Story of Java Bamboo
The Story of Java Bamboo
Video sent by gekkostudio
Bamboos are known for its multi-fold function. Commercially, bamboos are used to make various furniture, handicrafts and building materials. Ecologically, bamboos preserve water supply. Where there are bamboos, there is water.
Planting Disaster
Planting Disaster
Video sent by gekkostudio
Rather than inviting investment and prospering the nation, Indonesia has planted disaster through its oil palm development scheme – the scheme that has been generating conflicts with indigenous.
The Report (Planting Disaster - Biodiversity, Social Economy, Human Rights Issues in Large-Scale Oil Palm Plantation in Indonesia) could be found on www.telapak.org.
© Madanika, Puti Jaji, and Telapak 2000.
