Bark Bag from Manokwari of West Papua

Tropical rainforest of West Papua has been the source of food for the indigenous people for thousands of years. It still plays an important role for the whole earth's inhabitants by converting CO2 emissions into fresh air that we breath everyday together with forests in Brazil, Borneo and other parts of the world.

In recent days, this forest is facing rapid illegal logging. Businessmen come to this island and convert the forest into large palm plantations that only give little benefits to the local people. When an area of the tropical rainforest has been cleared, various species of plants, mammals, birds and insects lose their habitat.

Last week, I and my friend went to the Table Mountain to take some bark for making traditional bags. We had to climb up several steep hills before we could find the tree that we need for making the bark bag. More than a century ago, tree barks were used by the indigenous Papuan people as textiles. They had not known how to make cotton thread and for making clothes. It was 4 p.m. when we took the bark from a small tree that would regenerate again after its trunk had been cut.

Then we decended from the Table Mountain of Manokwari. While we were in the middle of our way home we found a burnt land in the middle of this protected tropical rainforest which has just been cleared for vegetable patch by a local farmer. The indigenous people usually cut trees and burn them to clear the land of the forest to make it as their farmland. We could not do anything because we were not the forest authority.

Back to the story of bark bag. Arriving at Paul's house, I was given a seat to watch him pounding the bark to spread its fiber and make it tender. He needs three days to process such raw bark into a traditional bag.

As I don't have enough time to wait for that process, Paul asked his daughter to take the already made bark bag. Yes, it looks just a simple bag which the locals don't use anymore in their daily activities. Modern leather bags have replaced the existance of this bark bags which frequently are decorated with attractive ornaments related to local culture.

Writing the profile of Papuan artists who live in Manokwari is one of my ways to promote eco-tourism that is expected to improve their living quality the local people thus discouraging deforestation.

The earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa enter the internet world

The traditional house of Minahasa has been recognized in Indonesia as one of the best earthquake resistant home construction that is suitable for tropical region. It looks beautiful especially when constructed in a village that is still fully decorated with flowers and green plants. In recent days, these wooden houses are increasingly being exported to other regions in the country and even abroad.

With the availability of internet connection in Woloan village, a major place where the traditional home builders can be found, traders of this earthquake resistant wooden houses try to expand their market by promoting their products on the internet. There are some websites that already offer these wooden houses. Potential buyers can choose the designs that they like based on the ones presented or can request custom designs from the housing company which are more suitable for their needs and climate condition where the houses will be erected.

The science of design and construction of Minahasan traditional wooden house has evolved over hundreds of years through trial and error of experiments that continues to improve the craftsmanship of the designers and builders. As a matter of fact, most of the wooden house design is not created by professional architect who got their expertise from college, not either by the use of Archicad home design software. Instead, the skills in designing and building of the houses have been passed on from generation to generation among the families of the house builders. Although the export of this type of wooden house is rising, there are concerns among the home builders to the availability of the raw materials.

The wooden house of Minahasa is mostly made of Cempaka, Lingua and Jati (tectona grandis) woods. Wood as home materials are getting scarce in the region. Home builders there now order planks and blocks from southern and central region of Celebes island. Some times they order wooden blocks from Kalimantan. This creates sensitive environmental issue such as illegal logging or irresponsible deforestation. This wooden house business can still survive if the local villagers are asked to plant trees that will become the housing materials after 30 years.
Timber frame houses are more resistant to earthquake. But the wood has to be properly treated to protect its fiber from direct contact with water. The application of varnish or paints on its surface will greatly protect the wood from decaying. In addition the standardization of sizes and types of wood used in the manufacture of wooden houses will ensure the safety of the houses. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of Papua

Traveling under the canopy of Papuan tropical rainforest

by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia

Have you ever planned a trip to tropical rainforest In Papua? If your answer is no, then you should consider about it for your next vacation. There are some travel deals to Papua offered by tour agencies in Europe on the internet. Tropical rainforest nowadays plays a very important role in reducing global warming.

After arriving in one of the Papuan towns, travelers can carry on their trip to the interior region by flying with Pilatus Porter. It is a small aircraft that has been the most important type of airplane in the region.

Every year, many European and North American travelers, as well as Australian ones visit Papua. They want to enjoy the fresh and cool air while walking under the canopy of Papuan rainforest. Last month I met an American tourist, Jay Hersker, who came to Papua for studying more about palm and other exotic plants. Jay is a professional whose expertise is on landscaping works. I think he is interested in growing Papuan palm trees in Hawaii. The temperature there is not too different from the temperature in Papua. The price of Papuan seedling here might be very low but when it has been in Hawaii its price can be expensive.

Papuan tropical rainforest has many species of plants and animals. Beautiful paradise birds and Soa-soa are some of the rare species which tourists like to see while camping in the middle of the Papuan jungle. Before deciding to fly to Papua island, you must first go to your doctor and ask for Malaria prevention vaccine. It is vital to increase your body resistant while staying for one or two weeks in Papua.

Sometimes, when you walk through the jungle, you'll see the indigenous people hunting. They use traditional sharp weapons such as bow and arrows, and spears for killing pigs. If you go further to the Star Mountain, you will be able to see the snow capped mountain there.

Papua with its beautiful scenery and rich natural resources is now experiencing rapid destruction and exploitation. Trees are being cut for their timber and land is being drilled for oil and gas. It is the concerned of every one of us that the effect of global warming should be reduced. Therefore, we need to oppose illegal logging practices which threaten the existence Papuan tropical rainforest.

By traveling to Papua, you will be better informed about the real condition and might be able to take any necessary action for attracting the awareness of people in your country about the need to protect the last remaining forest which we have ever had. Also read: Pilatus Porter, a suitable aircraft for travelling across mountainous region; Pacific Islanders know how to built an energy efficient house

Irresponsible Logging the Main Cause of Rapid Deforestation in West Papua

by Charles Roring, Manokwari, West Papua

Papuan forest continues to shrink rapidly due to irresponsible logging. We definitely have to stop this. Here in Papua, logging is legal if loggers have got the license to do so. To obtain a license letter, loggers must pay certain amount of money to forestry agency as contribution to the state for every log they cut. Being a legal logger does not mean that somebody is a responsible one.In recent days the demand for wood in local market is getting higher caused by rapid increase of population in Papua. Such increase is not caused by the improvement in birth rate of native people but more on the massive influx of migrants from other parts of Indonesian islands. I said earlier that the higher the population, the higher the demand for wood as construction material. According supply and demand law, the price of wooden blocks and planks in local market is going up.Another factor for the increase of logging activities in Papua is the practice of logging companies that continue their operation using the reason of opening roads to remote villages in the isolated interior region. While the width of the roads is only four meters, in practice, the width made by the cutting of the trees can reach up to twenty or thirty meters.In my previous article I emphasized my rejection on the conversion of Papuan tropical rainforest into massive monoculture Sawit Plantation using a leasing scheme. The continuous rising of the price of fossil fuel has triggered the use of palm oil for making biodiesel. Supporters of biodiesel say that by increasing the percentage of bio-fuel such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel in our vehicles, we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuel thus making significant reduction in CO_2e

emissions.

I don't think such perception is true. I don't reject bio-ethanol and bio-diesel projects. What I reject is the deforestation of the pristine rainforest both in West Papua and Brazil and many other regions around the world where there are forests. Sawit is a native plant of Africa. It should not be introduced massively into South East Asia region. Such invasive plants will harm the whole ecosystem of the region.If bio-ethanol companies want to make environmentally friendly bio-fuel products and at the same time improve the living condition of the Papuans, they could take advantage the available Arenga Pinnata forest located along the rivers and the swampy areas in Southern Papua. Huge areas of Aren trees (Arenga Pinnata) can produce millions of liters of sweet sap every day. If bio-ethanol companies really want to take it. They don't have to cut any single tree from the region. They can harvest the sap to produce bio ethanol and at the same time hire the local people for collecting the sap. In addition, these plants are native ones and have thrived in the region for hundreds or even thousands of years. The taking of Aren sap will not destroy the environment.Or they can move on to another innovative project such as utilizing the CO₂ wastes for growing algae plantation in the Berau bay of West Papua. An LNG plant operated by British Petroleum produces 12.5% of its natural gas stream in the form of CO₂ that is released into the air. Bio-fuel company like PT Medco Papua Hijau Selaras should work together with BP LNG Tangguh in producing bio-fuel from algae that needs a lot of CO₂. I think this is one of the best alternatives that bio-fuel companies should do to achieve their goal and at the same save the earth from global warming.Technorati : deforestation