Pulau Rambut (“Hair Island”), also known as Bird Kingdom Island, is one of the closest to the mainland of Java; you can get there in just an hour from Muara Angke harbor. The status of this uninhabited 45-hectare island has recently been upgraded from nature preserve to wildlife preserve, because of the rising level of damage within and around the Pulau Rambut area.

In addition to coastal forest, mangrove forest and mixed secondary forest, the Pulau Rambut Wildlife Preserve is also home to 25 species of water birds, among the 61 bird species found there. These include pecuk ular (oriental darter), kuntul (egret), cangak (heron), bangau (stork), and ibis.

A 20-meter bird observation tower stands near the middle of the island. As well as birds, reptiles also live on the island, including monitor lizards, pythons, and geckos. The only mammals found here are fruit bats. There’s also a great diversity of plant life, with tree species including pidada, mangrove, key lime, and banyan.

Also found on this island is a bird species that migrates from Australia, the milky stork (bangau bluwok, Mycteria cinerea), which arrives here in January and leaves in August. Pulau Rambut is the only breeding ground for milky storks in Java.

Not far from Pulau Rambut lies Pulau Onrust, near Pulau Cipir and Pulau Kelor. Onrust contains the remains of buildings, including a shipyard, built by the Dutch during the 18th century. Construction at Onrust was started in 1618 by Governor General Jan Pieterszoon Coen. In addition to a pier, he built a shipyard with a windmill to operate the saws.

During the Dutch colonial period, this island was very busy as a port of call for ships of the Dutch East Indies Company (Verenidge Oost Indische Compagnie, VOC), hence the name Onrust, which means “Never Rests”.

Beyond Onrust, another interesting island to visit is Pulau Kotok. The Pulau Kotok Tourist Resort is a good example of a tropical atoll, with the original vegetation, clear seas, and colorful coral formations, making it a popular destination for divers. This island is also a rescue and translocation center for protected wildlife species including the white-bellied sea eagle (elang laut perut putih, Haliaeetus leucogaster) and the brahminy kite (elang bondol, Haliaster indus), the mascot of the province of DKI Jakarta.

Further out, around three hours from Muara Angke Harbor, lies Pulau Pramuka. This island houses the Kepulauan Seribu National Park and the Rare Marine Biota Hatchery and Laboratory, where you can watch and learn about the cultivation of rare marine species.

Pulau Pramuka is a sea-turtle dissemination area for the island of Java, particularly Hawksbill turtles (penyu sisik). Twenty years ago, most of the sandy beaches on 108 of the islands provided places where turtles laid their eggs. With the steady increase in human activity and habitation, now the turtles only visit a few islands to lay their eggs, among them Pulau Peteloran Timur, Pulau Peteloran Barat, Pulau Penjaliran Barat and Pulau Penjaliran Timur.

The Hawksbill turtle preservation activities at Pulau Pramuka involve collecting the turtle eggs from the beach where they are naturally laid at Pulau Peteloran. The eggs are then taken to Pulau Pramuka, where they are kept in semi-natural incubation by burying them 40-50 cm deep. The eggs hatch after 40 to 60 days. This turtle conservation activity has made the Thousand Islands a destination for marine conservation and education tourism.

In addition to Hawksbill turtle conservation, other activities on the island include planting of coastal plants – butun, mangrove, and sea grass – and coral reef preservation. The butun trees are being planted in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of coastal forests on small islands. Mangrove planting is done using the Spaced Cluster method, the nationally-approved method for planting mangroves on small islands using coral sand as the medium.

The fabulous underwater panoramas and exoticism of Kepulauan Seribu offer you an action-packed weekend of swimming, snorkeling and diving – a delightful and unforgettable experience.

In a recent visit to Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (TNBBS) in Lampung, southern Sumatra, I and my colleagues from WWF Indonesia saw just a small portion of the assets the park contains, but had a tremendous experience.

We chose this park because it’s not too far from Jakarta and thus fairly easy to get to; it’s just a short hop across the strait from Java, followed by a land journey of about five hours from Bandar Lampung via Pringsewu and Kota Agung. If you’re using public transport, take the bus from Raja Basa terminal toward Kota Agung and stop in front of the TNBBS main office.

Several campgrounds are available for visitors to rent; information is available at the park office. I chose a small but comfortable site called Rhino Camp, operated by the Indonesian Rhinoceros Foundation (YABI) specifically for people who want to explore the park.

The camp is also designed to accommodate the patrol personnel who monitor large endangered mammals such as tigers, elephants, boar and rhinos. This camp, located in Tanggamus Regency, was the starting point for my journey into TNBBS.

It’s easy to get up early in the camp; the natural “alarm” sounded by various wild creatures rouses you to start your morning journey. From Rhino Camp, we headed towards the headwaters of Way Bamban, through some fairly easy terrain. Our guide told us that if we were very lucky, we might see some elephants or rhinoceros, which receive special attention, as their numbers are steadily declining.

The Head of the Rhino Patrol Unit told us that during 2000-2002 there were still around 80 rhinos in TNBBS, but by 2003 they were down to only 60. However, no rhinoceros deaths have been recorded since that year. One reason the population has remained fairly constant is that rhinos have a life span of up to 30 years.

Along our way, as we headed toward the small stream that runs through the trekking area, we encountered some trees whose bark had been stripped off, as if rubbed by some large object.

“These are traces of elephants, which probably just passed through this area,” said one of our friends from YABI, who seemed quite familiar with this phenomenon. And in fact, we saw a lot more of this indicator later.

We kept walking; after around two kilometers, we headed into a hilly area with soggy soil. Though the trek itself wasn’t very tiring, we still had to be very careful; the area is full of leeches that can creep unnnoticed into the crevices of your body.

As we were about to return to the camp, we saw a hornbill display; we had heard their loud cries constantly during our trek through the woods. We tried to conceal ourselves and watch from afar so that the big birds would continue their “performance” on the tips of the tall trees. Data from the Park’s main office state that nine species of hornbill, or rangkong, have been identified here. Hornbills are very lively creatures; they can run and leap so fast that your eyes can’t catch their movements. Their display really enlivened our hike.

We continued hiking after lunch in order to see the giant flower, Rafflesia Arnoldi. We had to drive to the trailhead, as it was quite far from camp and the trail was slippery from the previous night’s rain.

We took a rather long but level route so as not to tire ourselves out. Along the way we encountered a Rafflesia Arnoldi that was now a bit wilted, as it had bloomed a month earlier, in February. The area was also teeming with insect and mushroom species. As well as flowers of several Rafflesia species, there were odiferous snake plants (Amorphophallus titanum and A. deculsivae), known in Indonesian as bunga bangkai, or “corpse plants”. This is also an excellent place for night hikes, as it is inhabited by tarsiers, those cute, tiny, wide-eyed nocturnal primates. We continued until we came to the Rafflesia Pillar, erected to indicate that this area is home to the unusual flowers, which attract both tourists and researchers.

This pillar also marks the boundary between Tanggamus and West Lampung districts.

The clear weather that day gave us a splendid view of the vast forest, part of which is within the Park. With an area of 356,800 hectares, the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park plays an important role in supporting life systems by conserving wildlife and their ecosystems, thus enabling the sustainable utilization of the larger environment.

The main problems faced here are illegal logging, which generates a lot of income for the perpetrators but causes great losses to the state, hunting of wildlife, and clearing of the forest to grow commercial crops such as coffee and cacao. WWF Indonesia is working with other NGOs to help tackle these problems.

After our afternoon hike, we visited a village where a group of organic robusta coffee farmers has recognized the importance of conserving the park area. After being given instruction and provided with certain facilities, they have applied the concepts of sustainable agriculture.

Their local wisdom alone has not sufficed to maximize coffee production outside the park zone, but it has inspired other farmers to protect this and other important areas for future generations. UNESCO declared this National Park the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra in July 2004.

Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park extends over the provinces of Lampung, Bengkulu, and South Sumatra. Its natural phenomena include unique topography combining forest, beach, and mountains, and no less than 23 watersheds that support the lives of at least ten million humans. Lying within it are five specific tourism destinations: Tampang, at Belimbing, with a prestigious tourist resort; Kubu Perahu, with waterfalls and a variety of orchid species; Suoh, with natural hot springs; and Keramat Menula and Pemerihan. To the southeast, south and west, the park is bounded by Semangka Bay, Tanjung Cina, and the Indian Ocean, offering spectacular views of the waters.

We ended our experience in the Park with a visit to Bengkunat, the village closest to West Lampung. Here we saw another form of local wisdom at Sungai Way Baru, where the local people are generating their own electricity with a “micro hydro” plant using the swiftly flowing water and turbines. The villagers operate the plant collectively and use the power they generate for their own purposes.

According to the TNBBS Main Office, there are around 215 such micro hydro plants in and around the Park, with generation capacity of 3,000 to 7,500 watts each. In total, these plants generate 860,000 to 1,000,000 watts. At a rate of Rp 650 per watt, the power generated by micro hydro plants at TNBBS is equivalent to between Rp 559.000.000 and Rp 650.000.000.

From this fact alone, it is clear why application of local wisdom is essential to conserve our national parks.

A three-hour drive south from Jakarta, a billboard by the side of the road greets us: “Welcome to the largest tropical rainforest mountain ecosystem in Java – Gunung Halimun Salak National Park”. The largest in Java? And so close to the bustling capital, Jakarta?
There’s no public transport going to Gunung Halimun Salak National Park (GHSNP); visitors have to go by car or charter a vehicle. As instructed in the website, we stop to report our presence at the Cikaniki Research Center.

The number of visitors to the park quadrupled during 2008. This surge in visits is a two-edged sword for GHSNP: more visitors means more people gaining the educational benefits of nature tourism, thereby spreading the message of conservation so that the forest will be better protected. On the other hand, with more visitors, the wildlife – gibbons, surili (leaf monkeys) and deer will be disturbed and forced to move further up the mountains. But the forest at 1000 to 1500 meters above sea level offers them little food.

Visitors who want to go hiking are urged to have no more than four people in each group, and not to speak loudly or carry radios or tape players. When trekking, visitors are also advised not to wear bright-colored clothing or perfume, which could annoy the wildcats (panthers, leopards, etc.).

The ranger on duty at the Cikaniki Research Center greets us warmly. “We’re really sorry, but we don’t have any rooms – we’re full up. You should book at least a week in advance.” Several researchers from Japan are staying at the Center and doing research in the forest.

The Cikaniki Research Center consists of two elevated houses built jointly by the governments of Indonesia and Japan, represented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Not far from the Research Center is a species of mushroom that glows in the dark.

So we head to the Citalahab homestay – accommodation operated by residents of Citalahab village. It looks just like a village in a painting: distant mountains in the background, framed by the tea plantation in the foreground; fog gradually descending on the far-off peaks. Déjà vu: halimun. No wonder it’s called Gunung Halimun Salak National Park.

The three-room (twin sharing basis) platform house is in the middle of the village, facing the valley, river, and rice fields. It’s very basic, lit by only a few 5-watt bulbs with power from a turbine driven by the river water. Don’t expect to charge your hand phone; but you won’t need it anyway, since there’s almost no signal here. The wide floor is completely devoid of furniture.

It’s extremely cold at night. Even though we’re sleeping on a spring bed mattress with both sleeping bag and blankets, we still shiver from the cold.

The next morning, Pak Dedek offers to take us trekking into the forest to the canopy trail – a long bridge hanging 20 to 25 meters above the forest floor, built for research purposes. I’m constantly impressed by how well the Park personnel maintain the forest.

There’s no litter along the trail, and the signage is very clear, so you can’t get lost. Unfortunately, the canopy trail is closed; much of the iron the bridge is made of has been stolen. Apparently conservation is a difficult concept for hungry, uneducated residents.

Finally we arrive at the Cikaniki Research Center. The friendly ranger on duty gives us a map of Cikaniki, Citalahab and Cipta Rasa, a village of the Kasepuhan Abah Anom traditional community, who moved to Cipta Gelar in 2001. Cipta Rasa is located within the Park, while Cipta Gelar is famous for its Seren Taun annual village cleansing ceremony at rice harvest time, which is part of Indonesia’s tourism calendarCikaniki Research Center.

It turns out that there are many interesting places to go in GHSNP – several waterfalls, hot springs all along the Cipanas Sukarame river, an archeological site of still unknown origin, and much more. There’s also a lot to see in the Park: watch palm sugar being produced in Kampung Legok Jeruk, watch the rice harvest or tea picking in the Nirmala plantation, and of course observe the wildlife – owa jawa (gibbons), elang jawa (Javan eagles) and macan tutul (spotted leopards), while tasting wild plants as part of a jungle survival lesson.

“Could I come along on the next leopard tracking expedition?” I asked the ranger.

He took a deep breath and gazed off into the distance. “Well, it’s like this – the last time we did research, in late 2007, we didn’t find any tracks at all,” he said.

Could it be that the leopard’s presence in the Park ended in 2007? If so, sad news, especially since the Park is working so hard to prevent illegal logging. Since 2003, the limited production forest areas and protected forest areas near the GHSNP have been united into the Gunung Halimun Salak National Park (GHSNP) Conservation Zone. This has made local people who are used to managing the forests feel their livelihood is under threat, and the situation is aggravated by population growth.

After lunch at the Citalahab homestay, we hike up the valley again to go to our car, which is parked near the road on the hilltop. A cluster of village children are stopped at the bend in the road, pointing up and whispering to each other. “Surili! Surili!”
Two surili (grizzled leaf monkeys) are hanging in the high branches, but they quickly “hide” themselves when they sense the presence of humans. They hide their faces behind the branches, but their big bodies are still quite visible.

I wonder – monkeys right outside the village. Are they starting to get used to the presence of humans, or is their habitat under so much stress that they’re forced to seek food near human habitation? If only there weren’t so many people, there would be plenty of resources for all other living creatures, who also have the right to live. And conservation wouldn’t need to conflict with other interests, such as people’s need to eat.

On arrival in Balikpapan, just beyond the oil storage tanks, lies a forest reserve – visit it straight from the airport for your first high oxygen experience of Kalimantan. After a 40km drive over the inland belt of gentle hills, leave the paved road and get onto a thick and muddy one. You enter a tunnel of trees as your four wheel drive jeep careens sideways through heavy mud.

Bukit Bankirai Nature Reserve is a protected jungle area of 18,000 hectares, where Bankirai hardwood tree species over a hundred years old loom all around you. But the main attraction here is the tree-top canopy bridge hanging 30 meters above the forest floor in this dense, hilly forest. Your nerves will be tingling as you walk along the rope bridge, seemingly stepping out into nothingness. Yet for the brave, your feeling of freedom will rise between these mighty trees scattered throughout the canopy. Welcome to the jungle.

The drive to Samarinda is peaceful and, thankfully, mudfree. Your evening arrival to the city offers the first scenic view of the tremendous Mahakam River, the third longest between the coast and the deep interior. These liquid highways attract visitors seeking to head into the jungle regions to visit the traditional Dayak tribes. Once headhunters, they still live in communal hardwood longhouses.

The dense jungle and wide terrain of wetlands have traditionally kept the region isolated from all but the more adventurous travelers. The best way to visit indigenous Dayak settlements along the Mahakam River is by motor canoe or houseboat. The first village after Samarinda city is Tenggarong, which has a waterfront and Sultan Palace turned museum. It huses impressive heirlooms, ceramics, and Dayak art and culture.

Tenggarong has a mix of Kutai, Dayak and Bugis tribes, and is the perfect place for a stroll. Traditional Dayak longhouses filled with vibrant designs can be found at Kumala Island in the middle of the Mahakam River in front of Tenggarong. Its 40 family room longhouses are painted with the characteristically flowing geometrical designs used by the Dayak to portray scenes of jungle life. Each carries Chinese and Vietnamese Dong Son influences, telling the historical stories of Kalimantan’s tribes.

Move further up the Mahakam to reach Muara Muntai, the next stop for sightseeing at the hardwood floating village, before you cross over the Jempang Lake hopefully escorted by freshwater dolphins beside your canoe, going towards Ohong Creek.

Drive through a forest tunnel and listen to the calls of long nose monkeys, hornbill and sunbirds above you. Before long, these calls turn to human ones, as you’re welcomed by a traditional ceremony of the Dayak Benuaq tribe at Mancong village – the oldest longhouse in East Kalimantan. The Dayak religion is based upon Kaharingan, a form of animism. Traditional belief is that at death, the human spirit ascends to a mountain where the spirits of past ancestors of the tribe reside. Over the last two centuries, most Dayaks converted to Christianity. The most lasting feature of Dayak social organization is longhouse living, usually along a terraced riverbank. At one side is a long communal platform, from which individual households can be reached. Longhouses have a door and apartment for each family; a longhouse of 200 doors is a settlement of 200 families.

At sunrise, continue by motorized canoe upstream on the Mahakam River to Muara Pahau village at the delta of Bongan River. Make a short stop at RASI Dolphin Information Center. This journey takes you through tropical forests and dense undergrowth draped in giant orchids, mangrove flowers and lianes.

The wildlife is diverse, and includes monkeys, gibbons, wild ox, wild cats, freshwater dolphin, orangutans, sun bear, parrots, parakeets and crested fireback pheasants.

Dayak elders still practice traditional medicine and mark their status with intricate body tattoos and ear adornments. Everywhere along the river, you will be a welcomed guest as you enjoy the colorful longhouse art and learn about their mystic beliefs.

For those seeking even wilder adventures, try passing the rapids in the middle – to – upper part of the Mahakam. Here, great 50 to 200 meter rocky walls stretch into the sky, reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. Ahead of these walls, virgin rainforests await you – brilliantly cut off from the glare of reality by this natural break in Kalimantan’s great highway of life.