Coffee fells Sumatra Forests: Sumatra

December 23rd, 2007 | By Barrie | 5 Comments »

The island of Sumatra may have lost some five million hectares of forest — more than a quarter of its total forest area — between 1990 and 2000, according to statistics. Lampung Wildlife Conservation Society activist Dwi Nugroho Adhiasto said conversion to farm land was the worst problem, followed by mining and new roads.

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Lampung Finds Solution to Forest Conservation

December 7th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Lampung administration has developed a forest conservation area which involves residents. Since 2000, 6,537 households near Rigil hill and Tangkit Tebak forest in West Lampung municipality have taken part in the “Forest Community” program, regreening the 12-hectare forest which was damaged by illegal logging.

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WWF Declare Special Conservation Area: Mount Lumut, Central Kalimantan

October 31st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Indonesia has declared a protected forest in Mount Lumut in Barito Utara (Barut) district in Central Kalimantan a conservation area for Heart of Borneo (HoB) program. The protected forest in Mt. Lumut which covered 25,802 ha-land was considered a sacred place by native Dayak Hindu Kaharingan community.

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Sumatran Rhino Population Increases: Lampung, Sumatra

October 19th, 2007 | By Barrie | 1 Comment »

Some rare good news for the threatened Sumatran rhinoceros has come out of Lampung. The Sumatran rhinoceros population in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Way Kambas National Park in Lampung has increased in the past nine years. A survey by the Rhino Protection Unit (RPU) and Yayasan Badak Indonesia in 2007 found the population of the rare animal had risen by between 24 and 30 rhinoceroses.

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Nurturing Nature: Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Sumatra

October 9th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Extending from Tanggamus and West Lampung regencies in Lampung province to Kaur regency in Bengkulu, the 356,000-hectare Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is home to rare wildlife and vegetation as well as a haven for conservation researchers.

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Global Warming Affects Orangutans: Central Kalimantan

October 8th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

A study predicts that global warming will further decimate the orangutan population in Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan, home to Indonesia’s largest orangutan habitat. About 6,900 orangutans out of the estimated 14,000 on Kalimantan Island currently occupy the 567,700-hectare park.

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Mount Bromo: East Java

September 21st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Visiting Mount Bromo, East Java’s premier tourist attraction, is soon to get a little easier and more comfortable — though only because a banker found facilities a disgrace.

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Living in a Cave: Pangkajene, South Sulawesi

September 20th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Many caves were used as dwellings in prehistoric times but these days it is only really those who have chosen a monastic life who inhabit caves because of the natural isolation and protection they provide.

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Indonesians in Focus: Yali Kamisi

September 10th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

It was early morning and the grass was still wet with dew. An elderly man was walking home to his village. The deep wrinkles on his face betrayed his age of almost 72, as he revealed later.
Enthusiastic and agile, the grandfather of 14 was hospitable when he spoke early last month. To reach his house, we had to trek for some five kilometers, including wading across a quickly moving river.

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Plan to Save Sumatran Tigers and Elephants

August 30th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

More than 100 experts and officials met in Indonesia on Wednesday to try to draft an action plan to save Sumatran elephants and tigers threatened with extinction. Satellite images show large areas of lowland tropical forests, the primary habitat for elephants and tigers, have been cleared on Sumatra island mainly due to farming and logging, the WWF conservation group said.