By: Nancy Ariaini

To once again connecting Heart of Borneo with global interest especially in Finland, four journalists from Finnish media visited Muller area. Four days travelling since Earth Day on 22 April allowed them to meet government, local people, discover the real situations and to experience themselves the Heart of Borneo.

Camilla Ahlbom of Hufvudstadsbladet Newspaper, Sanna Wallenius & Petri Mulari of Apu Magazine, and Laura Satimus of Y1eX Radio and WebTV along with Sampsa Kiianmaa and Suvi Huttunen of WWF-Finland, mostly for the first time travelled through the forests of Borneo in Central Kalimantan, started the journey to Tumbang Olong Village. The capital of Uut Murung Subdistrict, under Murung Raya District administration, where big companies' camps are located such as PT Sarang Sapta Putra (logging company) and PT BHP Billiton (mining company). The destination is Tumbang Jojang Village that can be reached by three hours car travel to Takun Villlage first and continue by small boat for about a half hour along Busang River.

Tumbang Jojang is situated right at the foot of Muller mountain range. We spent two days in the village, forest trekking, river cruise, interviewing local people like prominent elders, people who embrace Kaharingan religion, and some other villagers old and young, teachers, swiftled bird nest collector, fisherman, traditional goldminer and visited some Dayak sacred places. In the trip we were accompanied by local partners from Yayasan Bina Sumber Daya and Yayasan Flora Fauna, which both based their office in Murung Raya and also government staff from Environment Office.

WWF- Finland and WWF-Indonesia are working together to support the protection efforts of Muller-Schwaner area. This 2 million hectares area links three national parks of Heart of Borneo, such as Betung Kerihun NP, Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park and Kayan Mentarang NP, however the current status of the area is mainly protected forest and under the governance of local government. Other trips were made possible as to demonstrate the situations in mining area, ecotourism potential site and oilpalm plantation (in another district area, Barito Utara District). 

The aim of the trip is to re-create as well as strengthen global awareness on Borneo's current situations especially for people in Finland, promoting the concerted actions between three Bornean countries in Heart of Borneo program and the support of conservation organization like WWF and that working with locals can really be significant parts in making this ambitious program works well with impact.