Tana Toraja: South Sulawesi

November 4th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Let’s get this out of the way first: Tana Toraja is not a suitable holiday destination for any of the following: committed vegetarians, animal rights activists, or anyone with a pressing sense of their own mortality. But if you like your meat, don’t get squeamish at the sight of trussed-up pigs on their way to slaughter, and have no problems with a few skeletons, then the green hills of South Sulawesi are for you. The elegant tongkonan houses that sit like boats on a green sea play a central role in Torajan culture. They can neither be bought nor sold (although apparently they can be dismantled and sold in pieces to those wanting to take home a souvenir.

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Mangrove Park: Bali

November 2nd, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

As a small island, Bali is prone to erosion, but protection of its vast beaches and mangrove forests, have helped save much land. The mangrove forests along Jalan Bypass Ngurai Rai to Benoa Peninsula in Nusa Dua, for example, are known as a greater forest park, said Sudrajat Wirapraja, head of the program section of the Denpasar Mangrove Forest Management Agency. The park initially had a coverage of about 1,700 hectares, but the road works and other public facilities have reduced this to 1,100 hectares.

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Rujak the Tapanuli Way - Mangarabar

November 2nd, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Rujak (roujack) or rojhak is a sweet sour salad made from fruits and vegetables and is mostly eaten as a snack between meals throughout Indonesia. The fruit and vegetable variations are many. Some regions even have rujak in their array of ceremonial foods.

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Endangered Species in Indonesia

November 2nd, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

The government has said it is having difficulties identifying the number of native species in danger of extinction. Director for biological diversity affairs at the Forestry Ministry, Toni Suhartono, said much of the existing information on the number of endangered species was based on predictions made before 2000.

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Thousands at Risk from Volcano Lahar: Mount Guntur, West Java

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Thousands of people could face risk from volcanic lahar on Indonesia’s Java island as dams built to collect the material on the slopes could possibly begin to overflow, officials warned. The amount of lahar, a mix of mud and lava, from Mount Guntur in West Java has swelled after heavy rains and as locals continued to mine sand and stones, said Saut Simatupang, an official with Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation in the nearby town of Bandung an Antara News article explains.

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Indigenous Languages in Danger of Disappearing

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Indonesia is known not only for its multiethnic richness, but also for its linguistically diversified provinces and regions. Recent documented records by the National Education Ministry indicate there are 746 indigenous languages in the country, 10 of which have died out.

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The Link Between Earthquakes and Volcanic Activity

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Experts say the tectonic quakes that recently struck Java and Sumatra might be responsible for triggering increased activities at several volcanoes on both islands. A seismologist from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Nanang T. Puspito, said the tectonic quakes that occurred along the West Sumatra and southern Java coasts over the past week have likely increased activity in a number of volcanoes. Nanang said plate movements below the earth’s mantle could increase the pressure of the upper magma pocket of a volcano and trigger an eruption followed by volcanic quakes.

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Mount Soputan Spewing Hot lava: Sulawesi

October 27th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

An erupting volcano on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island began spewing hot lava Friday, a day after shooting ash some 1,500 metres into the air, an official said, although nearby villages were still not being ordered to evacuate. Mount Soputan volcano, which lies in North Sulawesi province, was producing a small lava flow, but authorities were unable to spot it because the crater remained covered by clouds, said Agus Budianto, chief of volcano monitoring for Indonesia’s state-run volcanology centre. Soputan has been at a Level 3 alert since its last eruption in December 2006 due to its “short duration activity” — meaning it only experiences tremors for short periods before erupting, as was the case Thursday morning, Budianto said.

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No Mining in Conservation Zone: North Sulawesi

October 27th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Environmentalists in North Sulawesi warn traditional gold mining activities pose a threat to the Bogani Nani Wartabone conservation zone. They say the conservation zone, in Bolaang Mangondow regency, North Sulawesi, is the largest repository in the province of local floral and fauna.

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Volcanoes - Magnets for Tourists

October 17th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Seen as sacred in some local traditions, devotees living close to dangerous volcanoes are sometimes reluctant to evacuate when warnings are issued. The crater lake of Mt Kelud, for example, is thought to be a source of peace and prosperity by some living by its slopes. Thousands of tourists are also drawn to the symmetrical cones of volcanoes such as Bromo, one of Java’s most active, to see the sun rise through clouds of mist and volcanic steam; and Agung, Bali’s highest and most sacred volcano, which towers over the east of the island.