The guardian angels of Halmahera

The forests of Halmahera in North Maluku are home to a fabulous wealth of flora and fauna, many of them undiscovered and unidentified. One of these areas is the Akatejewe-Lolobata National Park where 23 species of birds native only to North Maluku, are found. They attract serious bird watchers who make the long trek to indulge in their hobby. Given the potential to improving local livelihoods, youths in the area have taken the initiative to develop ecotourism, as an alternative money-making project for all stakeholders of the forest. But the governments have not matched the youth’s enthusiasm with the needed political will. Contributor Budhy Nurgianto recently visited the National Park in Halmahera and filed a report for Tempo English Edition.

THE air at 5am in Tanah Putih Sidangoli—in the Aketajawa-Lolobata National Park—was cold enough to make your teeth chatter. Dawn was another hour away. But Delvi, Stevianus and Yance had already been up and about for a while. After tidying themselves up, they woke up their guests. “Come on, wake up, if you don’t we won’t get to see the angels,” said Delvi while slapping Tempo’s reporter on the back.

You can only get to see these unique angels at a special time. This bird, found only on Halmahera—called the weak-weak by locals—will only show itself at the dawn’s first light and will then vanish once the sun has reached the height of a spear above the horizon, or around 6-7:30am. Although the time to espy this angel is brief, and requires a 6-kilometer walk to get to its location, bird lovers are very happy to do all that.

The opportunity to see this creature of the bird of paradise or cendrawasih family (Paradisaeidae) is no less valuable than that of seeing a heavenly angel, say a number of visitors. That’s why they are quite prepared to travel thousands of miles from the United States, the UK or Australia to avail themselves of it. Apart from the weak-weak angel, Akatajawa-Lolobata National Park has another 104 kinds of birds. The park also offers a ‘home’ to 23 species of bird unique to Maluku as well as four more species found only on Halmahera, where all can live safely and peacefully.

Demianus Bagali, 49, has carefully studied the park’s tourism potential. In 2004 he formed the Angel Youth Community. The association has as its members a group of young men trained as guides for foreign tourists. “Rather than them being unemployed, it’s better I give them work,” explained the heavily mustachioed Demianus. The result? In the last five years, foreign tourist numbers have increased. In 2009 there were 95 visitors; by December 2010 this had increased to 115. Generally they are bird lovers joining the King Bird Tour from the US or the Bird Quest Tour from the UK.

“Demianus cares greatly about the forest. He is well-acquainted with all the birds there. I would certainly immediately recommend him to any visitors looking for a guide,” said Ria Saryanthi, 40, Indonesian Bird Conservation Program Manager. The subdistrict local government, too, acknowledges Demianus’s role. “Thanks to him, in the last five years lots of tourists have begun to visit Tanah Putih Sindangoli,” said Muhammad Syarif, South Jailolo subdistrict head.

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BEFORE 2004, Delvi, 25, and Yance, 28, didn’t have permanent jobs. Both young men assisted logging operators, “If no one had a logging contract, we would usually just hang out with the other guys at a deker (collection of roadside concrete benches),” said Yance. Stevianus, 28, is a copra farmer who only received any income from that every three months.

They eventually decided to become guides for several reasons: Yance was initially drawn to it because he would mix with foreigners. He claims he wanted to protect the National Park from illegal logging and mining. “I only want to make sure this, my ‘home,’ can later still be enjoyed by my children and grandchildren,” he said.

Since becoming guides, their incomes are generally up to Rp1.2 million a month. They are paid on average around US$10 dollars a day. This does not include the additional money they get from hiring out their cabins for tourists. The Angel Youth Community has three of them in Tanah Putih and three more in the area of Labi-labi, a waterfall tourist attraction. The fee to rent each cabin is around US$7 a day, “They’re all long and rectangular, with no separate rooms,” Delvi explained. Their income from hiring them out averages another Rp1.2 million a month.

The cabins are like those built by croppers, with each able to accommodate more than five people. The walls are made of wooden boards and woven bamboo, with a thatched roof made from sago palm leaves. Apart from their shacks, this community of tourist guides builds tree houses for those tourists who want to see the birds closer up. These are shaped like mini houses, built in trees at a height of 10-11 meters. “The initial money to build these, around Rp5 million, came from my income as a tourist guide,” said Demianus. The rest came from ownership shares provided by others as well as donations from foreign tourists.

They share out equally any profit they get from hiring out the cabins. Some is put aside to be used later. “We still use the mutual self-help gotong-royong, the village style of management,” said Delvi, smiling.

The young men generally say they very much enjoy their work. Their main difficulty is in the mastery of foreign languages. “I’m just a lower secondary school graduate, so I only know how to say yes and no in English,” said Delvi, laughing. This language issue has been the cause of many funny occurrences. “Once someone referred to a ‘yes and no,’ bird,” Demianus recalled, smiling. Eventually, this man of Sahu ethnicity taught his charges how to remember birds’ names in English. To talk about other things, they usually rely on body language. “Others carry a small dictionary everywhere,” said Delvi.

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THE many tourists the Angel Youth Community have guided so far have brought the other locals much good fortune. One example is Mursid Soleiman, 56, owner of the Sindangoli Indah guest house. “Once Demianus brings in his visitors, my income can rise to Rp4-5 million a month, whereas it’s usually only around Rp2 million,” he said. “From my laundry business I can then make another Rp100-200,000 a month. If there are no tourists, no one else uses it,” said the well-fed man.

The small-scale traders also do very well. One such is Jumainah, 53. She usually serves food and soft drinks. When foreign tourists come, she says her income can rise dramatically from only Rp30,000 to Rp100-150,000 a day.

The transportation operators probably benefit the most from the presence of the foreign tourists. Nurdin, 47, a driver serving the Sindangoli-Tobelo route, says his income triples: “On a normal day it’s around Rp350,000, but once there are foreign tourists that can shoot up to Rp1 million.” Speedboat operator Sahril, 38, also enjoys the economic flow-on effect from the ecotourism business. “Torang (I) am happy that people come here. It means my village has already become known,” he explained. In the tourism season, his speedboat can bring him in at least Rp750,000 a day.

This flood of good fortune has also had a positive flow-on effect on forest conservation, “In the past many of us hunted birds. Now some already realize that they can yield us their own good fortune,” said Lukas, a Sindangoli villager.

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ALTHOUGH their incomes have improved, Delvi, Yance and Stevianus cannot yet meet their families’ needs only from acting as guides, “The income could be greater if there were more tourists. Unfortunately, many access roads are still substandard, making many tourists reluctant to come,” said Stevianus. He strongly hopes the government will help by building suitable roads.

Sindangoli villager, Alpian, 35, had the same complaints. “I do hope the government will build roads and cabins in the National Park so the tourists feel comfortable,” he said. Especially as the business Demianus pioneered has proven to be so successful at improving people’s incomes. “The government ought to offer them greater support,” he stressed.

Muhamad Tabur, Head of the Aketajawe-Lolobata National Park Conservation Center, acknowledges the problem. “If we talk about constraints, what usually comes up again and again are the issues of budget limitations, facilities and infrastructure, as well as human resources,” he said, mentioning all the classic reasons given. However, he says, it is not as if the government has never attempted to develop the National Park. “There is its promotion of nature tourism for those with special interests, such as the Conservation Exhibition in Ternate, the distribution of information and its efforts to develop tourist locations within the National Park,” he said.

Other issues concerning locals include the threats of illegal logging and mining in the National Park area. As of this year, the Halmahera government has already issued 314 mining permits. There are even plans to change the function of the National Park forest into a mining area. “I don’t want that to happen. My income from it now is very reasonable,” Stevianus explained.

Demianus, too, hopes the regional government can draft stronger regulations as dozens of people’s livelihoods now depend on nature tourism. Especially as this National Park is one of only very few locations whose ecosystem has been kept intact. “The other forests on Halmahera have now largely gone for mining or for industrial plantation forests,” commented Ria.

To develop public awareness, the members of the Angel Youth Community continue to educate local communities about the importance of looking after the forests. “It is fair to say we also double as free community informants and educators,” said Stevianus, smiling. The results so far have been quite good. Now many people are of the opinion ecotourism is better than mining. “Its long-term benefits are better and the natural environment is maintained,” said Sahril.

West Halmahera Regent Namto Hui Roba has stressed to locals that they need not worry. “The West Halmahera local government confirms it will protect all of Demianus’s activities related to forest and wildlife conservation,” he declared. Namto says nature and marine tourism are the regional government’s unique competitive advantage. “As local government head, I guarantee I will issue regulations that are positive for everyone, especially those regarding forest protection,” the regent promised.

His promise will determine not only the fate of those living in his area, but also that of this unique National Park, whose value certainly cannot ever be measured in monetary terms.
Source : http://www.asiaviews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31231%3Athe-guardian-angels-of-halmahera&Itemid=44