YOUTH LEADERSHIP TRAINING IN SETULANG TOURISM VILLAGE, MALINAU
The Setulang Tourism Village became the venue for the Youth Leadership Training activities in 2016. The activity, which was held from March 06 - 09, 2016, began with a welcoming dance entitled "Kacet Sai" which means joy for the arrival of guests and with the welcoming dance the guest is considered to be integrated into the community. Then the activity was opened by Mr. Saleh Wang as the Head of Setulang Village, Mr. Saleh very welcomed the arrival of the participants who came from 3 districts in North Kalimantan namely Malinau, Nunukan and Bulungan and hoped that the participants would get a lot of lessons from the life of the Setulang village community. "I welcome the presence of the students and WWF colleagues, and hope that all those present here can provide input for tourism management in Setulang Village," said Mr. Saleh Wang.
All 23 participants stayed at Setulang Village residents' houses in order to learn about people's lives directly. Setulang Village is one of the villages in Malinau that has a customary forest that is still maintained until now, commonly called 'Tana Ulen', the villagers are also very accustomed to living side by side with nature because the forest is also one of their food sources. Therefore, the participants are expected to learn how the village can maintain their 'Tana Ulen', and why the people of Setulang village are very protective of their nature.
Meanwhile, Dede Hendra Setiawan, Project Leader of Kayan Mentarang Landscape Project, in his speech explained that the purpose of this training is to increase the capacity and participation of the public, especially young leaders, in campaigning for conservation and sustainable development in North Kalimantan Province. He also added that the concept of this training is learning from the life of the community and learning in the classroom which is carried out at the Setulang Village Customary Hall.
In addition to learning together with the community, the participants were also equipped with several materials related to the potentials in North Kalimantan, namely the Heart of Borneo, Kayan Mentarang National Park, Borneo Elephant Conservation. As well as some supporting materials such as photography, writing, communication strategies and of course also about leadership with the hope that after returning from this training the participants can become young leaders who care about the environment. Although the schedule was very busy, the participants were still enthusiastic in participating in the activities and were also very active in asking questions about the material presented because according to them the material presented was new knowledge for them, and they were also very amazed because the forests in North Kalimantan are also very important not only for the people of North Kalimantan but also important for the world.
On the last day the participants performed their creations in the form of dramas, dances, songs and poems in an art show. Some of them performed typical arts from their respective regions such as Marjechsen and Christian, a participant from Krayan, who performed a folk song called ame' tonge using the traditional musical instrument 'keng'. The Youth Leadership Training activity was closed by Dede Hendra Setiawan who hopes that the participants can participate together with WWF Indonesia in carrying out nature conservation campaign activities and can promote Setulang Tourism Village in their respective areas.