Samboja Lestari

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Samboja Lestari ("Eternal Samboja") is a reforestation project of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) near Balikpapan in East Kalimantan . Since 2001, an area of ​​approx. 1,800 hectares has been acquired there, on which in the past there was tropical rainforest . After it was cleared, the area consisted mainly of grassland. Between 2001 and 2011, BOS largely reforested this area with various tree species.

Ecological regeneration and return of biodiversity

Thanks to the new trees, the microclimate, the soil structure and the water balance have improved significantly. The newly created vegetation layer can better store water and make it available during the dry season. In the rainy season, however, the risk of flooding is reduced. The diversity of species has increased again overall. Among other things, tree species were planted that were sometimes extinct in the region. Numerous animal species settled again. Thanks to the reforestation, a condition could be established within ten years that would have developed over several decades through natural succession . An arboretum with over 750 tree species is also maintained on 18 hectares .

The tree-planting work in Samboja Lestari has been largely completed since the end of 2011. Almost 1,200 hectares have been planted with over half a million trees from over 400 species, and 413 more hectares are left to develop naturally. In the meantime, around 70 species of birds (e.g. the rare hornbill ), porcupines , dwarf deer and many other animal species have resettled in Samboja Lestari . Proboscis monkeys that are threatened in the population are also at home there again. For orangutans , sun bears and other large mammals, the area with its approx. 1,800 hectares is too small to support viable populations, especially since it is isolated from larger forest areas and surrounded by mining and agricultural areas.

As successful and important as the afforestation in Samboja Lestari is, on the one hand, it cannot replace original rainforests that are millions of years old. It is therefore important for the BOS Foundation to secure larger intact rainforest areas in which reproductive populations of orangutans and other larger species can also survive.

financing

Among other things, BOS has developed a system for symbolic land purchase for financing purposes (actual purchase of larger areas of land is not possible under Indonesian law, but various types of usage concessions are granted by the state). On a website specially set up by the BOS Germany association , it was possible to symbolically “buy” square meters in the area of ​​Samboja Lestari and thus finance reforestation, a tree nursery, salaries for Indonesian employees, urgently needed fire protection and much more.

Fire protection

One of the main tasks of the employees on site is fire protection, as the area is repeatedly exposed to fires. For this purpose, a fire tower was built on the site. In addition, a central water collection basin is being built from which extinguishing water can be quickly piped to the scene of the fire via hoses. Portable fire-fighting bags with syringes, spades and two used fire-fighting vehicles ( Unimogs ) donated by the Hagenbeck Zoo are also available. However, extinguishing equipment, fire protective clothing and respiratory masks are still required. Also, more and above all small and fast fire trucks are needed. BOS not only provides a fire brigade for Samboja Lestari, but also fights the fires in the Mawas area, which is under provisional BOS administration and where around 3000 orangutans still live.

Samboja Lestari and the local people

The population around the area is involved in the project whenever possible. A belt of sugar palms is being planted around the future rainforest area. This is intended to serve as a protective barrier against fire on the one hand and as a source of income for over 650 families on the other. In addition, local farmers were able to grow fruit between the growing trees during the planting phase. On the one hand, the young trees were protected from overgrowth by the fast-growing alang-alang grass and the soil was protected from being eroded by wind and rain. The BOS Foundation itself is a buyer of the fruits harvested in Samboja Lestari. For the orangutan rehabilitation station there alone, around 1000 kg of fruit are required as food per day. Samboja Lestari receives the support of the people living there mainly through jobs, the fire protection program and the securing of drinking water resources.

monitoring

The afforestation area is protected from illegal logging and slash and burn in various ways. On the one hand, a belt of prickly salak palms is planted between the sugar palm ring and the actual rainforest area. This makes it difficult for possible wood thieves to get into the area in the first place. In addition, Samboja Lestari is regularly monitored from the air with microlights and satellites. In this way, possible logging can be recognized quickly. With the aerial and satellite images, "square meter owners" (see financing) can also get an impression of how afforestation has progressed on "their" square meters.

Rearing and Rehabilitation

In addition to the Nyaru Menteng station in central Kalimantan , there is also a BOS Foundation rehabilitation station for orangutans on the Samboja Lestari site. Orphaned or illegally confiscated young orangutans are reared here and prepared for their subsequent release. In addition to other facilities such as a “baby house” and a veterinary clinic, Samboja Lestari houses a “forest school”, a 75-hectare forest area where the young orangutans can learn and train the basic skills for a life in freedom.

Orangutans, which can no longer be released into the wild due to age or illness, live on six artificially created islands with a total of 7 hectares. There is also an enclosure for a good 50 sun bears, which also live in the care of BOS. These animals also come from illegal private ownership, but are only capable of being released into the wild in exceptional cases because they are too used to humans.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Final report BOS Germany ( Memento from December 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )