Last week, we brought you the story of our hard-working community development (comdev) team from the Orangutan Habitat Restoration (RHO) program in Muara Wahau, East Kalimantan. The team’s counterpart in Central Kalimantan - the comdev team from the Nyaru Menteng and Mawas programs - is also working tirelessly amid the global pandemic.
Due to growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19, a number of villages in our working areas have closed themselves off to outside visitors, or implemented tight monitoring of returning residents; especially those coming from ‘red zones’. According to the official COVID-19 national register, as of May 2020, there were 223 detected cases in Central Kalimantan. In order to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, our comdev team adjusted their work programs in the target villages. Meanwhile, the greater village community conducted a traditional ceremony or ritual to “repel bad luck”, and consumed traditional herbal medicine believed to boost immunity.
Our comdev team from Nyaru Menteng, like their colleagues in Muara Wahau, distributed masks, hand soap, disinfectant, and other sanitation equipment within the local communities. The plan was to distribute a total of 500 masks evenly among nine villages: six in Marikit subdistrict, and three in Katingan Hulu subdistrict, both in Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan.
Restrictions on group events and gatherings saw our comdev teams - from both Nyaru Menteng and the Mawas programs - replace regular face-to-face meetings with video-conference calls to discuss planned activities. The number of activities, however, had reduced dramatically following the implementation of social restrictions in various regions.
The Mawas Conservation Program team held a video-conference call with government officials, community representatives, and the village facilitators. Through this conference call, plans were discussed for a nursery, planting, microloan, and crop maintenance activities, which are now conducted individually to avoid gatherings.
Initially, communicating via technology did not come easy for many of our stakeholders, since they were not accustomed to this form of communication in daily use. But thanks to growing internet-service coverage and social media use, it did not take long for them to adapt. Over the past few weeks, our stakeholders have become more familiar with this remote communication method, and field activities are still being carried out, with only slight adjustments.
People all around the world are currently working from their homes to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Like many of them, we too have had to change the way we communicate to continue our conservation efforts and help the local communities in our working areas. In this time of social distancing, please remember that despite the global shutdown, our work is ongoing - and we still need your help and support to protect orangutans and their habitats!
The BOS Foundation, together with the KLHK and the BKSDA of Central Kalimantan will soon conduct the 44th orangutan release from the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Centre to the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR).
Every year on April 22, we celebrate Earth Day to honour the planet that is home to us all.
It was a usual day at the Nyaru Menteng forest school, where young orangutans were learning from one another while their human surrogate mothers looked on from below.
