Jakarta, June 20, 2013. The result of a year-long photographic journey through their local environment by members of the Bunut Hilir community in the Heart of Borneo, has been launched in a stunning new photographic collection called the Crystal Eye, at Kinokuniya Book Store, Plaza Senayan, Jakarta. The launch took the form of an entertaining talk show presented by one of local photographers and a WWF’s photo expert, followed by the official book launch by Switzerland’s Ambassador to The Republic of Indonesia and Timor Leste, Mr. Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn.
 
The project is called Panda CLICK!  ‘Panda’, because it is initiated by WWF with its famous panda logo and CLICK!, as an abbreviation of the project title: ‘Communication Learning towards Innovative Change and Knowledge’.
 
A camera lens has become the “eye” of Bunut community, in the Kapuas Hulu District of West Kalimantan, while the photos produced have become their “voice”. The program trains members of local communities in the use of a digital camera and then lets them loose for a year in their local environment to capture anything they wish related to the world about them, their daily activities, cultures and traditions.
 
 “The action of taking a picture is not merely about 'capturing a moment’; it is also a statement about an existence,” says a line in the Crystal Eye. It was this belief that fueled WWF-Indonesia’s years long project.
The book features around 346 images chosen from a staggering 229,181 original images taken by villagers during the project. With photos of important things in the life of local people, the project has shown that protecting the earth and the culture can be done in many ways. 
 
“The photography book becomes an important tool for the community to voice their heartfelt feelings about the forests surrounding them,” said Anwar Purwoto, Director of Forest, Terrestrial Species and Freshwater for WWF-Indonesia. “It is our hope that the decision makers can easily understand the forest values from the community perspective, therefore their policy will be able to accommodate community’s aspirations.”
 
Images from the project have already been used to support development proposals to local government. For example, for the improvement of rural electric utilities and to secure funding assistance from the Department of Agriculture to further develop rice fields tilled by local residents. The images are described from discussions with the photographer and other community members. The story is recorded in photographs and enhanced with a narrative written by a variety of sources from a variety of fields. The goal is to give a wide perspective as a form of community development program through participatory communication, as well as photographs by local communities.
 
Narrative sources also contributed to the book by experts such as Professor of Anthropology. Dr. (Emeritus) Syamsuni Arman, Mario Anthony Birowo, communications expert from the University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, West Kalimantan, senior journalists, Muchlis, and Andi Suhaeri Fachrizal, as well as Yusra Ahmad Abroorza, a young poet from West Kalimantan.
 
 
 
For more information, please kindly contact:

Mr. Jimmy Syahirsyah, Communication Coordinator, WWF-Indonesia West Kalimantan Project
Email: syahirsyah@wwf.or.id, Mobile: +62 811 566 832

Ms. Anastasia Joanita, Communication Officer, Indonesia’s National Heart of Borneo (HoB) Program
Email: ajoanita@wwf.or.id, Mobile: +62 819 0848 1008

Note for Editor:

Hires version of Crystal Eye book cover and launching event PHOTOS: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g4p8x6ngr93kj2p/svwatfpjDX
Q & A: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jilbwtygytqwtrb/6uPgxgTEHt
Crystal Eye (in brief): http://issuu.com/hobgi/docs/crystal_eye_in_brief__english_ 
Panda CLICK!:
- Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pandaclick/sets/
- Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrm8xu2XEBo

About WWF-Indonesia
 
WWF-Indonesia is the largest and the oldest environmental NGO in Indonesia. WWF-Indonesia started working in Indonesia since 1962. Currently, this organization delivers conservation in 28 field offices from Aceh to Papua and has more than 400 staff. Since 2006, WWF-Indonesia is supported by more than 54,000 supporters. More info, please visit www.wwf.or.id. 

About Heart of Borneo

The Heart of Borneo covers more than 22 million hectares (220,000 km2) of equatorial rain forest across the countries of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia. In February 2007, the governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia signed the Heart of Borneo Declaration to protect an area of more than 220,000 km2 in the center of the island and bordering all three countries. Together they emphasized the fact that these tropical rainforests have strategic, global, national and local functions, not only for citizens of these three countries but for the global human race. More info, please visit www.panda.org/heartofborneo.