Protecting the Rainforest


 

Sulawesi’s precious and iconic pristine rainforests face a variety of threats to supply global and local demands, including slash-and-burn land clearance, logging, gold-mining and wildlife poaching. We work in partnership with appropriate government authorities to protect the Nantu Wildlife Sanctuary and B.J. Habibie Conservation Forest by implementing continuous forest protection patrols with 24/7 patrol presence in the field. Patrols are conducted mostly on foot, or by motorbike when the terrain allows. Typically they involve wading across numerous rivers and trekking along rocky riverbeds and up forested mountains.These patrols have been conducted continuously since gazetting of the Nantu Wildlife Sanctuary in 1999 until today.

As a result of patrol teams’ superlative dedication in the face of intense threats the Nantu Forest remains 99% intact rainforest today.

Building Awareness

 

Throughout the world direct experience is key to understanding. We focus on facilitating field learning residential visits at Nantu by diverse stakeholders, from local school-children and their teachers to local civil society groups and undergraduates. Since the gazetting of Nantu in 1999 we have implemented extensive Nantu awareness activities, from live Conservation Concerts by local entertainers to children’s poetry and art competitions, as well as creation of a children’s story book about the Babirusa at Nantu called “The Special Place in the Forest”, posters and calenders. We have published ready-to-teach conservation curriculum materials, distributed throughout Gorontalo Province by the local Ministry of Education. Coverage of these events by local and national media, as well as seven documentaries on Nantu by national and international television amplify the importance of conserving Nantu to a wider audience.

The Special Place in the Forest

 

Science and Species Discovery

Much of Nantu’s rich biodiversity remains undiscovered and little documented. Myriad opportunities for zoological and botanical studies exist here, contributing to Indonesia’s national biodiversity database and rainforest science.

We have worked with national experts and research institutions over three decades, who have discovered the magnificent Giant Stag’s Horn Fern (Platycerium grande), never previously recorded from Sulawesi, the Fanged Frog (Limnonectes larvaepartus), a new species of frog which gives birth to live tadpoles, and Jatna’s Tarsier (Tarsius supriatnae), a new species of nocturnal primate named in honour of Professor Jatna Supriatna. Our discoveries have resulted in the production of two guidebooks to date, documenting Nantu’s plant diversity and also its herpetofauna (Ardiyani, M. et al, 2020 and Hamidy, A. et al, 2020). These are based on our field expeditions over several years, with specimen collections permanently deposited in national herbaria and museums (see our Resources page). We have also supported PhD and MSc studies at Nantu, including on local perceptions on biodiversity as well as on eco-tourism potential and ethno-botany.

Bufferzone Livelihoods and Community Support

 

Today +16,000 people live in villages immediately outside the Nantu Wildlife Sanctuary boundary.

Many are subsistence farmers growing corn, rice and coconut, and farming cattle, chicken and goats. We have supported local livelihoods by provision of 16,500 cocoa seedlings, grown in a community nursery, as well as 8000 teak seedlings and 8 cows to local farmers’ groups; all were identified in local community focus group discussions on local needs. Other community support has included 30 desks and chairs for each of two local primary schools, facilitation of English teaching in local communities by local University undergraduates as well as an Australian teacher, scholarships for two pupils from the Paguyaman area to study at secondary school in Gorontalo for seven years and establishment of a 40-book children’s conservation library at a local primary school, as well as 80-books to Gorontalo’s H.B. Yasin public library.