GETTING TO KNOW BORNEO'S NATURE THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY MEDIA
By Priska Raharjo
Jakarta (19/04)-As part of the Borneo Festival series "Taking the Heart of Borneo to the City," WWF-Indonesia held a "Photo Clinic with National Geographic and Panda Click!" on Friday (19/04) at Gandaria City, South Jakarta. The event attracted many photography community groups, as evidenced by the audience who came, most of whom brought cameras and were busy documenting the series of activities that took place.
The talk show was opened by the Communications Coordinator of WWF-Indonesia West Kalimantan Program Jimmy Syahirsyah who explained "Panda Click!" He explained that initially the activity was a community empowerment project through photography.
CLICK! (Communication Learning towards Innovative Change and Knowledge) seeks to bridge communication and community aspirations through photography and encourage positive changes that benefit the community and the surrounding nature. The community photography program, which began in February 2010, is run by lending a photo camera and video camera to the community to capture natural conditions as well as social and cultural life in their surroundings. Before starting to hunt for images, the participants received a brief training on the technical use of the camera and the basic science of photography.
""Photography can be one of the means for communities, especially rural communities, to tell the outside world about their lives. From the potential of the area they live in, the problems they face to sharing values within the community. This will then become an attraction for outsiders to visit an area and then support the formation of a new tourist location, "said Jimmy.
In addition to encouraging local communities to create documentation, they are also encouraged to dig up information about the objects they document and tell a little story about what is behind the photos they take.
The last project undertaken took place in Kapuas Hulu. Together with 34 photographers from 7 villages, 50,000 frames were collected in the first 6 months, which were sorted into 200 photos and showcased on Panda Click!
Another speaker was Purwo Subagyo, Creative from National Geographic Indonesia, who supported the Panda Click! project by proposing a concept called geotourism. ""Geotourism is painting, photographing, listening and hearing through the lens of sustainable tourism. The hope is that future generations will still be able to enjoy what we can enjoy today, because of the protection efforts we make in the present. Taking the principles of ecotourism, tourism should prioritize the preservation of nature, then extend to the culture, history, and distinctive assets of the place.""
Purwo added, the main basis or handle for destination services or tourist destinations is not to harm. That is, it must be able to protect the tourist destination and anticipate the local environment and culture while preserving resources. Travelers need to be informed and encouraged to support tourism businesses that reduce carbon emissions, save energy, save water, and others.
Of course, these geotourism sites must benefit local residents, so that there is a symbiotic mutualism between travelers and local residents. Travelers get a pleasant, memorable, deep and intellectual tour. While local residents have a source of income from tourist areas that they will undoubtedly continue to preserve.
""I am glad that I was able to take many pictures during my trip in Kalimantan. Even without using a sophisticated camera, the nature is so beautiful that every picture we take must be good. But we need to preserve this beauty, so that everyone who sees the pictures can continue to come back and take the same pictures in the same conditions," he concluded.
