Code Green

01 Aug 2011

Enjoying the peace and serenity of the world’s forests may become a thing of the past if we don’t act now. Learn more about this source of life on Earth.

The lush Harapan Rainforest is a resource of rich biodiversity that’s well worth conserving.

Waking up to birdsong, fishing by a stream or trekking through lush greenery are all great holiday options – and they’re all done in the relaxing environment of forests or national parks. Besides contributing to our recreational needs, forests and trees are also a crucial part of life on Earth. They help maintain biodiversity, clean the air and water, and provide basic and essential human needs such as medicine and food.

The importance of the world’s forests – and the fact that they are being depleted – is recognised this year by the United Nations with a series of events worldwide to celebrate the International Year of Forests (un.org/en/events/iyof2011). The activities to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and development of all types of forests include forums, symposiums and exhibitions. Around the world, initiatives are underway to save at-risk forests.

One such project is the Harapan Rainforest Initiative (harapanrainforest.org), a massive rainforest ecosystem restoration and conservation project in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is spearheaded by a BirdLife International consortium which includes Burung Indonesia and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Harapan received a huge boost in the form of a US$3 million donation from Singapore Airlines in August last year. The contribution supports forest restoration in Harapan Rainforest – an area of 100,000ha, or about one-and-a-half times the size of Singapore – and the creation of sustainable livelihood projects for the local community, which consists of some 500 indigenous people.

PRESERVING HERITAGE

Many of these people, some of whom used to hunt in the very same forest, are employed as forest patrol staff. They are often the people with the best knowledge of the forest area and are invaluable in the work to protect it. Besides patrolling the forest – monitoring for signs of illegal activity (unlicensed logging, encroachment and poaching), looking out for possible fire outbreaks and recording important wildlife sightings – they also maintain and monitor seedlings and saplings in community nurseries (below, left).

Mr Yusup Cahyadin, head of the Harapan Rainforest management team, says, “This is one of the last remaining dry lowland forests left in Sumatra. It is vital in the protection of biodiversity, the livelihoods of the local community and environmental services such as fresh air and clean water. The trees in the forest also lock up carbon and this plays a big part in our fight against climate change. Though Harapan Rainforest has been logged in the past, we are protecting the trees that remain and also replanting others.”

As part of these replanting efforts, seven nurseries are maintained within the forest boundaries. Three of them are managed directly by the Harapan Rainforest management team, and four by local communities. Seeds are collected from the forest and nurtured into seedlings. This ensures the protection of the genetic resource of the forest. When the seedlings are large enough to be planted out, Harapan buys them from the community – making this a source of sustainable income for the locals (above, right).

Of the community nurseries, Kelompok Mandala and Sako Suban nurseries will each produce 150,000 seedlings per year while Simpang Macan Dalam and Simpang Macan Luar nurseries will each produce 75,000 seedlings annually. This will provide the community with an income of around US$53,000 a year.

LEARNING AND DISCOVERY

Harapan also has an active research and conservation programme, which is currently focused on undertaking baseline surveys of animals and plants in the area. One way of surveying animals, for instance, is to use camera traps. These are automated cameras used to capture photographs of wild animals and are triggered when sensors detect motion or body heat from an animal. To date, 54 mammal species have been recorded in the Harapan Rainforest, among them the endangered Sumatran tiger, Asian tapir, Malayan sun bear, Asiatic wild dog and Asian elephant. And among the 293 bird species on record are the blue-banded kingfisher, Wallace’s hawk-eagle and hook-billed bulbul.

An endangered Sumatran tiger caught on camera.

Pig-tailed macaque

The camera traps in the forest also caught images of a western bearded pig, sambar deer, pig-tailed macaque and pheasant.

Besides animals, many of the rainforest’s plants also need to be surveyed and protected as they support the life of the area’s indigenous people. These include agarwood or aloewood – the fungi-infested wood of this species is traded as incense and perfume, and used in traditional medicine – and ironwood, one of the world’s most durable timbers that is under threat from over-exploitation.

Although the Harapan Rainforest is not accessible to tourists now, the organisation hopes that in the future, it will be able to accept guests to witness and experience some of the last remaining dry lowland forests in Sumatra.

Source: Jane Goodall Institute, United Nations