In April of
2010 I flew from Jakarta to Palankaraya in Indonesia. My goals for this trip were to visit the rain
forest and friends in Kalimantan, to learn more about the Indonesian people,
and to make photos, color notes and alla prima oil paintings near Palankaraya. I had also hoped to visit BOS (Borneo
Orangutan Survival) in Nyaro Mentang, as pastel orangutan portraits and
etchings are one of my areas of specialization.
From the plane looking down I got my first
glimpse of Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).
What a disappointment. The first
few minutes we flew over a national park where small patches of forest were
broken up by palm oil patches. We then
flew about 50 minutes over a palm oil desert.
Then I saw the first oasis: Sebangau
National Park. A last stand managed and
protected by WWF, where about 6000 Orangutans live in the wild. Then followed the second oasis. The secondary forest around Palankaraya. Except for the small corridor of primary
forest near to the Malaysian border, these few intact stretches of forest, and
a few other areas in Kalimantan, there is not much forest left in Indonesian
Borneo.
In many areas where the primary
forest had been replaced with secondary forest, palm oil plantations and mining
operations are closing in. When the
forest is cleared for mining a forest area approximately twice the size of the
mine is destroyed. The forest cleared is
dumped on lovely forest lands next to the mine.
After the strip mining operations are completed re-forestation is
supposed to occur. Unfortunately there
is intent by many to reforest with palm oil plantations. They
want CO2 certificates for planting palm oil desert instead of forest. This is very lucrative for the few, and
provides no livelihood for the many. And
it is an ecological disaster.
There is such wealth in these forests, and in
the smiles and ways of the Indonesian people. My hope is that this wealth will be protected
and even expanded in the future.
My dream is that the little remaining primary
and secondary forest will be protected, and that more secondary forest will be
created for the orangutan, but also and
especially for the benefit of the people of Kalimantan, Indonesia, and the
world.
My initial
hope had been to go on from Palankaraya and visit primary rain forest a bit
further inland to paint the forest in oil, alla prima. I did not realize that I would have had to
travel very far to do this. This is
because there is so much forest that is gone.
If I had wanted to paint oil palm plants alla prima this would have been
no problem.
I found the secondary
forest around Palankaraya very lovely.
There is something special about the place and the people living around
Palankaraya. The first day I travelled
around with my friend Nordin from Save our Borneo to Nyaro Mentang, and to the
surrounding area.
We climbed
Tangkiling Hill nature preserve. From
the top of Tangkiling we viewed a beautiful panorama of the rivers and
secondary forest in the area. Nordin
voiced the question, if this panorama would still exist in 10 years. Or will this secondary forest become a palm
oil desert? My first alla prima oil
painting made in Indonesia is entitled Kalalawa Hill. It shows one of the lovely hills visible from
Tangkiling Hill. I will be completing a
studio panorama of the area using this alla prima painting, and color notes and
photos made at Tangkiling Hill.
KALALAWA
HILL
During that
first day in Palankaraya we visited a small Dayak village on stilts at
the
river`s edge. There were beautiful small children jumping
and swimming in the river. Their
laughter was wonderful. These Dayaks had
a school, televisions in their homes, and mopeds. Yet they were living
very naturally. I don`t normally paint scenes like this, but
the beauty of the place and people made me quickly change my mind. The
second day in Palankaraya I completed
this alla prima oil painting entitled “In Harmony with Nature”. 10-20
school children looked over my
shoulder as I painted for about three hours.
I think that they painted with me in spirit! It is my hope that their
laughter, questions,
and energy can be felt apon viewing the painting. For me this is a
very important
painting. Protecting the primary and
secondary forest of Kalimantan is important for the survival of the
orangutan
and for the lives of the people of Kalimantan.
When we preserve the natural world we also preserve the social integrity
of mankind. When we destroy it we
destroy a very precious part of ourselves.
IN HARMONY
WITH NATURE
Tell me
again about the ecological importance of Bio-Diesel? The political
argument is that even though
the ecological CO2 balance for Bio-Diesel from Palm oil is terrible, we
need to
start doing something. This is
ridiculous. And if the balance was
positive, which it is not, none of the palm oil plantations operate
sustainably. Why does the EU still
subsidize and support Bio-Diesel?
June 2008
In March of 2008 I was
called to help translate a presentation from Human Rights and
environmental activists from Indonesia. First hand I learned of the
extent of the suffering of the native people and the Orang-Utan in
Borneo. The last lowland rainforests there are being destroyed. The
average native of Borneo does not profit from this destruction. They do
not choose this destruction. They are forced to help destroy their
country to survive in the short term. The driving force for this
destruction is the increase in the price of palm oil, due to the EU`s
bio-diesel energy policy. This makes rainforest destruction very
profitable for large companies. This results in no economic benefit for
the average Indonesian. The cost of food here in Europe, and in
Indonesia is dramatically increasing. Trace-able non-destructive
certification of palm oil plantations in Indonesian is not possible.
And the European politicians have made no binding effort to stop this
even though we know that it makes no ecological sense. Neuer AbsatzNeuer Absatz
Nordin and Feri Irawan came to Landau to present their story. They ask us to stop using palm oil to make fuel. They appeal to us to use our technology to solve our energy problems. Otherwise their existance, and the existance of the Orangutan (the man of the forest) is threatened. And everyone knows that global warming is made worse by burning and destroying these rainforests.
Over 800 Orangutans have been rescued in Borneo and should be released in rain forest areas. But these rainforests, present in National Parks, are being destroyed. If this is allowed there will be no place for them to go.
Landau Zoo. März 2008. "Indonesien: Der Kampf um den letzten Regenwälder. "Herr Direktor Dr. Heckel (Landauer Zoo), (Rettet den Regenwald), Jacklyn Gratzfeld, und den Ehrengästen, Feri Irawan (Director of WAHLI, Friends of the Earth Indonesia)Nordin (General Manager Save our Borneo (SOB)
Orangutan facts:
We share 97% of the same genetic make-up as the Orangutan.
Orangutans are the most intelligent apes. They see and realize what is happening to them. The director of the Washington Zoo once said " give a gorilla a screwdriver, and he will run away afraid. Give a chimp a screwdriver, and he will try to eat it. Give an Orangutan a screwdriver and he will ignore it. Then at night he will take it, disassemble his cage, and escape.
Orangutans are peaceful vegetarians. The mother`s breast feed the babies for 5-6 years. They teach them to climb and live in the jungle in that time.
"A Mother`s Love"
"Die Liebe Einer Mutter"
After the rain forest has been burned the mother orangutan climbs up one of the few trees left with her baby clutching her to try to escape. She has nowhere to go. She is shot 8-10 times by the loggers. They make sure they do not shoot the babies because they can sell them. The mother climbs down the tree to make sure she doesn`t fall on her child and hurt it. Then she dies and the baby is put into a small cage to be sold as a pet. The mother`s body is often left in the field because the loggers find the orangutan to human-like to eat their meat. The young orangutans are totally traumatized. This is barbaric.
" A Mother`s Undieing Love"
" Die Unsterbliche Liebe Einer Mutter"
If you want to help:
Falls sie mithelfen möchten, den letzten Regenwäldern Indonesien zu retten, bitte ich Sie zwei Minuten zu nehmen, und ein Flugblatt dazu online zu unterschreiben. Lassen wir die EU Politiker dieser Unsinn nicht einfach so weitermachen.
