MEDIA TRIP TO THE HEART OF THE KATINGAN RATTAN CENTER
By: Karina Lestiarsi
On 30 January – 1 February 2019, the WWF-Indonesia team had the opportunity to travel with journalists from national media and region to visit several rattan development sites in the Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan.
Katingan Regency has the potential for biological natural resources in the form of large rattan. Based on data from the Katingan Forestry Service (2006), rattan fields in Katingan cover an area of more than 325,000 hectares and are capable of producing 99.4 tons of wet rattan per year. From Of the 41 types of rattan that were identified, only 2 types of rattan were cultivated by the community, namely Irit/Taman rattan (Calamus trachycoleus) and Sigi/Sega rattan (Calamus caesius) (WWF, 2013).
Using a total of 6 four-wheeled vehicles, the group started their overland journey to the Katingan Regent's office in the Katingan Hilir sub-district. The media team had the opportunity to have a direct discussion with the Katingan Regent, Mr. Sakariyas, S.E. who was accompanied by his staff and Mrs. Daurwati as Chair of the Katingan Regency Regional National Crafts Council. Mr. Sakariyas said, “The local government is very grateful to the WWF Indonesia program which has helped the farmers in Katingan. To be honest, saving rattan essence in Katingan is very difficult. We have cooperated with business actors, the company's CSR and brought in instructors for the farmers, but it is still very difficult to bring this rattan back up. We hope that this program from WWF Indonesia can help the rattan sector in Katingan.”
After lunch, the group headed back to the village of Tumbang Hiran, which took about 5 hours by road and crossed the river several times using the ferry. The land route that was traversed did not mean that there were no obstacles, with rainy weather conditions, several times the car that was being driven had to collapse. in the mud so it needs to be pulled by a special car that faithfully accompanies the group. Around 22.00 local time, the group finally arrived at a small inn in the village of Tumbang Hiran to spend the night.
The next morning, the group prepared to head to Bangan Surai Village in Marikit District to visit the rattan garden owned by members of the Katingan Rattan Farmers Association (P2RK). Katingan Rattan Farmers Association (P2RK) Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan is currently the only association that already has certification Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for sustainable rattan management. The success of P2RK is a milestone as a producer of rattan non-timber forest products. the first in Indonesia to obtain an FSC certificate.
The media group was able to witness the process of rattan harvesting as well as traditional rattan processing from FSC-certified gardens and chat with rattan craftswomen. According to the craftsmen, the problem they are currently facing is that there are no young people who want to continue the work of rattan weaving. Young people in the village prefer to migrate to work or study. That's what WWF with the support IKEA continues its efforts to increase the market value of rattan at the farmer level by collaborating with partners in Central Kalimantan with the hope of increasing the welfare of the community by utilizing rattan.
After seeing the processing of rattan, the group continued their journey to Punggualas, Sebangau National Park by traveling approximately 5 hours by road which was then continued by speedboat. which takes approximately 45 minutes, then continued by klotok boat for approximately 15 minutes. Finally, the group arrived at the Nature Research and Tourism Information Center (PIRPA) camp to unwind and spend the night.
In the morning, the group was invited to explore the forest to see biodiversity, after tracking for about 1 hour and taking the time to stop at Lake Punggualas, the group then continued their journey to the final location, namely towards the rattan demo plot in Karuing village. This location is a rattan cultivation plot with a total area of 93 hectares. The visit to the Karuing village rattan demonstration plot was the group's last visit before the media group finally returned to Jakarta via Palangkaraya.