Hello, just the other day rainbow warrior Wildan Iltizam Bilhaq met with the heads of the village of two villages outside of the campsite and they will translate all the information into English soon. Here is some information about knowledge-sharing in Borneo which may or may not be useful: If in doubt, ask the locals. I once noticed a foreign volunteer in Kalimantan repeatedly ignoring local advice that she should not work in the rainforest during the rain, but she insisted on working and said that resting was “lazy.” But in the end she contracted malaria. Be open-minded – if the locals are resting then there is probably a reason why and if they recommend that you should rest for example then it’s probably wise to listen – (as an example perhaps they have been up since 4am, or maybe they are carriers of the malaria virus and therefore cannot over-exert themselves and need regular resting breaks.) In the rainforest try and watch where you put your hands - some specimens of trees and plants contain poison/thorns/spikes etc that can make the skin itchy etc. If in doubt ask the local Dayak villagers. The villages surrounding the campsite are awe-inspiring – they refused to sell their community/tribe rainforest (hutan adat) to the palm oil companies like so many other villages have done across Borneo and Sumatra. This required great wisdom – and they did not succumb to temptation (the palm oil companies often use ruthless tactics to manipulate villagers such as bringing suitcases of money to buy their land and other psychological/bullying techniques, as well as illegal burning.) As you many already know palm oil has (almost) destroyed the rainforests of Kalimantan (Borneo) and the orangutans there are now facing extinction. The locals of the village are experts of the forest- most will know the vernacular names of the forest plants and their uses. There is a lot to learn from them. Apparently some in the nearby villages practice kaharingan – the ancient animist religion which respects the trees and plants of the forest. According to Wildan, the village head asked if we could teach the villagers about the following subjects: 1 – Forest management, food/ production forest, indigenous / community forests. (check out re-forestation too) 2 – How to bring tourism (eco-tourism) to the villages around the mountain of Halau to improve the local economy. 3 – Education for the village children. (English and other subjects) Wildan also asked about planting trees and they replied that there needs to be co-ordination with the local community in this matter. Also please don’t bring seeds or plants into the forest – alien species are considered to be one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Anything that is planted there should have the permission of the community first and the seeds should be native to Kalimantan. love and harmonious, titanic-shaped vibes ♥
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 05:57:29 +0000
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