By: Masayu Yulien Vinanda

Green & Fair Poducts, as a brilliant outcome of WWF-Indonesia collaboration with local community in conservation areas, in the form of environmentally-friendly products, takes part in Indonesia Environment Week Expo organized by The State Ministry of Environment. Republic of Indonesia.

The exhibition held for 4 days, started from Thursday (28/05/2009) to Sunday (31/05/2009) in Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Hall B, Senayan, Jakarta. Green & fair booth exhibits numerous products produced by local communities living near conservation areas, for instance Sialang honey from Tesso Nilo (Riau) and Mutis-Timau (NTT), cajuput oil from Wasur NP (Merauke, Papua), organic rice from Kayan Mentarang NP (East Kalimantan), coffee produced by local communities of Bukit Barisan Selatan NP (Lampung), fish chips and fish floss from Wakatobi NP (South East Sulawesi and Solor Alor), ethnic handicrafts from Putussibau (West Kalimantan) and Ujung Kulon NP, and products made of aloe vera such as dodol (a delicacy, cake of glutinuous rice) and tea from Central Kalimantan.

Those products come from conservation areas managed together with local communities. They are products collected or cultivated in sustainable ways and processed by community-based businesses. For example “Belekam”, a Putissibau local community group, conducted by WWF Putissibau in West Kalimantan. According to Vivin, Field Officer of WWF-West Kalimantan, the local community group has focused its work in two substances: organic agriculture and plantation. “We cultivate agricultural products to become market commodities. For instance beads made of plantation products such as “anggali” and “arere” fruits and seed from local plant named “talope,” Vivin added. Moreover, West Kalimantan also features other handicrafts called “tikar bemban” (floormat made of rattan pleat and weave). It’s a masterpiece of Dayak Iban people (sub clan of Dayak).

Other conservation area, Wakatobi, cashes in on fish chips and fish floss made of parrot fish and sweet potato flour. Those products produced by local community group named “Harapan Jaya Kaledupa”, a group of women in Kaledupa, Wakatobi. According to Hesti, representative of the group, the idea of making those products came from some local people who had huge concern regarding “Abalon” catch (marine species, belonging to phylum Mollusca) done by women in Kaledupa. “Catching Abalon is their livelihood. It costs 300 thousands rupiahs perkilogram. Nevertheless, it destroys marine corals,” Hesti said. So, Kaledupa community group then created an opportunity for envrionmentall-friendly employment by cultivating parrot fish to become chips and floss.
Not only its “green” raw material, Green & Fair Products have also been packaged in a sustainable way (using recycled papers). You can buy their products as well as get interesting stories behind those local community businesses from booth keeper who will gladly share their experiences.