A MONTH OF EXPERIENCE IN THE KEHJE SEWEN FOREST (1)

My name is Rika Safira and I am 24 years old. I had been working for Restorasi Habitat Orangutan Indonesia (RHOI) for 8 months before the opportunity arose to accompany our joint BOSF/ RHOI team on an orangutan release in August. This was an experience I had long waited for.

Together with colleagues from the Bogor headquarters, we set off on August 26, 2015. After landing at Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, we continued straight on to the BOS Foundation Orangutan Reintroduction Center at Samboja Lestari and picked up technicians from the center who would join the team in the Kehje Sewen Forest.

This year’s release was to be conducted in a new area; the southern part of the Kehje Sewen Forest, in East Kalimantan. Presently, releases in the northern part of Kehje Sewen (around Camp Lesik) have been suspended, to allow time for the orangutans released there to settle into their new territories. So for the time being, activities in the northern part focus on orangutan post-release monitoring.

It took 12-hours to drive from Samboja Lestari to Muara Wahau, our last point prior to entering the forest. In this town, there is a small office which the release team use as a transit post; this is where we made some final preparations for the release.

It took us about three hours from Muara Wahau to a point called 'Jalan Buntu', or 'End of the Road'. From that point, we had to walk 600 meters down a super-steep ridge to the riverbank. Our destination - Nles Mamse camp - was located just across the river. We reached the camp at sunset and had to skip the opportunity of enjoying the view, as we needed to prepare dinner and fix a place to sleep before dark.

Jalan Buntu or End of The Road

During our time at Nles Mamse, we slept in a flying camp - a big open tent with beds made of hessian (rice sacks) tied to wooden poles.

Living in the forest doesn’t mean we miss out on proper meals: The two cooks that came along with the team worked hard to keep us all very well fed. They always had something to do, whether it be cleaning, cooking or preparing; and there was always food ready to eat. The comfortable feeling of togetherness among the friendly crew made me completely forget there was no internet available!
 

Initially, we were scheduled to conduct the release on the August 29-30. However, due to a variety of factors we were not able to do so until September 4. We released five orangutans - Arif, Long, Ajeng, Leoni and Erica - in the southern part of the Kehje Sewen Forest. I was given the privilege of releasing Erica by opening her transport cage; this was such an unforgettable moment for me.

Immediately after the release, we commenced post-release monitoring. The main task is to observe and document the behavior of released orangutans. We conducted nest-to-nest observations; we packed and left before dawn, looking for orangutan nests and taking notes on their activities every 2 minutes. We did this every single day for a whole month. The purpose of this activity is to ensure that all orangutans released are adapting well to their new environment.

Look out for the next chapter of my adventure!