Apologies to all for this longer-than-expected gap between blog posts! I actually wrote this one three days ago, but we’ve been so busy here that it’s been tough to find a spare moment. Still, better late than never:
After a full 48 hours of travel, we’re finally here in East Kalimantan, Indonesia on the island of Borneo. The reality of the next two months didn’t hit me until after we landed yesterday. Brent and Sheryl (our leaders, and the founders of Ethical Expeditions) met us at the airport and we all piled into a van and drove through the streets of Balikpapan; it’s a city unlike any I’ve ever experienced before. Brilliantly colored shanty houses and shops flew past the windows and our van was surrounded by motor scooters carrying whole families, children sandwiched between parents. Between the houses grow trees with huge fronds – bananas maybe? – and winding allies with narrow staircases and street cats everywhere.
Not an hour after we arrived at the hotel, we met with Budi and Danielle Kreb, founders of the non-profit RASI which works to protect marine mammals like river dolphins and dugongs in Balikpapan bay. They’re big proponents of a “bottom up” conservation strategy whereby the local people act as stewards by enforcing laws, particularly against “electrical fishing,” which can injure or kill all sea life in a huge radius. They’ve found this strategy to be most effective because it’s based on understanding; the local people experience the negative effects of destructive natural resource management and therefore welcome the opportunity to change things for the better. When the government or other “authorities” impose laws and law enforcement strategies (a “top down” strategy), that connection is lost and with it the peoples’ motivation. This approach towards conservations seems to suggest a social green philosophy, with a lot of focus on the people who are most immediately affected by environmental degradation.
As literally the only white people around, we’ve attracted a lot of (friendly) attention; high fives and giggles from children, smiles and cries of “Hello, how are you?” from adults. We’ve spent most of our time since our arrival wandering the streets, sampling the many delicious street foods (my favorite so far has been an avocado smoothie with sweetened condensed milk and chocolate syrup), and trying to pick up a few words of Indonesian. This morning we went over the next two months in some detail – it was daunting, but exciting. Selamat tidur!
Jill Carlile grew up in Juneau, Alaska. She enjoys the ocean, the mountains, rain, and winter, and is interested in minimizing our negative impacts on each of these, as well as all other natural places and systems. Jill attends Quest University in British Columbia and is currently in East Kalimantan, Indonesia on the island of Borneo with an educational NGO called Ethical Expeditions. Along with seventeen other Quest students, she hopes to learn more about the various forces that threaten to completely deforest this island over the course of the two-month program.
Want to contribute posts and media to RYSE? We're always welcoming applicants to be a part of this project: please click the icon
RYSE is the youth branch of RAN, Rainforest Action Network, which works to protect the Earth and support human rights through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct action.
Powered by Wordpress | Now let's get off the internet and get busy!
Selamat datang, welcome to Balikpapan. Enjoy your stay in this little nice city
[...] of meetings and presentations from incredible people doing important work and research in Borneo. As Jill mentioned, we met with Budi and Danielle Kreb who have been conducting research on the river dolphins in the [...]