The Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA) in Papua and the Wasur National Park in conjunction with FORCLIME facilitated a number of Forest Farmers Groups (KTH) from the villages of Tablasupa, Dosai, Maribu, Pasir 6, Yanggandur and Wasur to attend the 2022 National Nature Conservation Day (HKAN) celebration. This annual event is organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and was this year held in West Bali National Park from 31 August to 2 September 2022 under the theme Amertha Taksu Abhinaya, which means restoring nature for a prosperous society. The event was opened by the Minister of Environment and Forestry and encompassed a wide agenda which included talk shows and exhibitions in which national parks and conservation centers from all over Indonesia participated.

At the Wasur National Park booth, the attending KTH displayed various non-timber forest products (NTFPs) produced in the villages of Wasur and Yanggandur. Among the products on display were teh sarang semut (herbal tea made from Myrmecodia pendans), trigona bee honey, minyak buah merah (oil made from Pandanus conoideus), virgin coconut oil, eucalyptus oil, candlenut oil, shredded snakehead fish and snakehead fish crackers. In addition, orchids cultivated by community groups from the villages of Wasur and Dosai were also on display. Various types of orchids were exhibited at the Wasur National Park booth, including leopard orchids (Grammatophyllum sp), frizzy orchids (Dendrobium spectabile), Dendrobium johannis and Antenantum orchids, among other species on show. The representative from the village of Dosai, Ms. Agustina Kwano, handed over the Dendrobium spectabile to the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), Dr. Bambang Hendroyono.

During the HKAN celebration, representatives of community groups also participated in talk shows and gained insights and inspiration from conservation activists who acted as resource staff during the event. Ms. Ida Ayu Rusmarini, a 2020 Kalpataru awardee, was one of these staff members and shared information and inspirational tales of how she first started to engage in the cultivation of medicinal plants and rare plants. In addition, the assisted community groups present at the event also shared information and experiences with other exhibitors who are also engaging in the development of NTFP products and environmental services.

Representatives from the assisted community groups also participated in various field trips as part of a series of events that were organized in order to celebrate this year's HKAN. The locations visited during these trips are breeding grounds for the Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi) in West Bali National Park. The community group representatives also visited a number of ecotourism sites on the islands of Menjangan and Menjangan Plataran, which are being managed by the private sector. During these visits, community representatives, particularly those from the villages of Tablasupa, Pasir 6 and Wasur who are currently engaged in the development of ecotourism, offered their enthusiastic participation and engaged in productive discussions with ecotourism managers and community facilitators from West Bali National Park.

“I would like to thank FORCLIME because through this visit I was able to check out NTFP products produced by other groups from various regions and could also engage these groups in helpful discussions. This has increased my level of motivation and I’m now keen to develop products other than the orchids that I have been working on to date,” enthused Ms. Agustina Kwano, a representative from the village of Dosai.

For more information, please contact:
Theodora F. Resubun, Advisor for Sustainable Forest Management and Coordinator for Papua Province
Mohammad Sidiq, Strategic Area Manager for Sustainable Forest Management and Coordinator for Papua and West Papua Provinces