The Megamas Area in Manado, North Sulawesi was crowded by groups of families wearing white shirts on Saturday morning, November 2nd, 2019. They were ready to follow a running competition held by the Union of Woman Sports Indonesia (Perwosi) led by Ir.Ny Tri Suswati Tito Karnavian, while North Sulawesi is led by Mrs. Amelia Tungka. It was called the Saturday Family Run!

Opened by the governor of North Sulawesi, Mr Olly Dondokambey, the route was running around the Megamas area which was around xx km. Not only from Manado, there were also participants from the youth runners from other areas such as Likupang and South Minahasa. The purpose of this event was to increase the interest of exercising together as a family.
The organizers made this event packed with exhibitions from different organizations and stalls. We were one of the exhibitors, where we displayed our education tent, and feeling a privilege to take part. This event gave such an extraordinary impression, as both children and adults were enthusiastic to come closer to us and of course to take photographs with our mascot Molay while the youth yaki ambassador used this chance to spread yaki conservation messages, especially the important role of the Yaki in human’s lives.

After an early morning run and Zumba, we were given the opportunity to be present on the main stage to receive donations from the Megamas management in supporting nature preservation in North Sulawesi through Yaki conservation activities. Thank you Megamas! There were also other foundations who got these special funds such as Estella Foundation (Children of Cancer) and orphanages in Tondano, Minahasa. The event was made more festive because there were many door prizes that make visitors feel attracted to stay longer in the location.

At the end of the morning activity, in front of the invitees such as Mrs. Kapolda (Police Chief) of North Sulawesi, and another important invitation, we were given the opportunity to deliver a presentation about the importance of yaki conservation as well as our activities. The loudspeakers were amazingly loud, where we think the entire area could actually listen to this talk and so the coverage was definitely widespread.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

At the end, we had to stay a bit longer as the event was held till early afternoon. Our education team together with the youth ambassadors were doing a remarkable job. There were Karmel, Iin and Agum from South Minahasa, and Damian from Bitung. Well done everyone!

This time, me Riri Lawe the Education Officer for Selamatkan Yaki would like to share about our participation at the Lembeh Strait Festival 2019 (FPSL). This Festival is an annual activity of the city government of Bitung to promote tourism of Bitung and usually lasts for one week in the month of October. This time it was on 5th – 10th October 2019.

We set up our education tent in the community area, where there were many different communities from the city of Bitung; not only in the field of conservation but also in arts and culture. As usual, we were doing outreach activities during the festival, in addition to providing information on the stand, we also handed out stickers and of course our beloved mascot “Molay” was there to entertain! Being in between many other community tents in such a large exhibition area, it is quite difficult to attract visitors especially as this is not the first time we were involved in this festival. However, our educational tent is different from others; very eye catching with the Yaki logo design and dominated by green color, makes us easy to be found. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Thousands of people came to visit the festival from morning to night, and hundreds stopped by at our stand. Our team was sometimes overwhelmed to talk to everyone. Fortunately, we were assisted by our Yaki ambassadors, as well as some students from UNSRAT who joined the Relung Konservasi Wallacea – a student network initiated by us. Although it was not the first time for us to brought our educational tent at this festival, we still met people who first heard about the yaki that is endemic, Critically Endangered and protected by Indonesian law. The team did a great job on the outreach this time!

On the last day of the festival, a little relieved it was slightly cloudy weather as the humidity during the day can suck up lots of energy. As we were on the way to the location, suddenly we got a voice call from the organizers. Our tent collapsed because of the wind! A little worried and panicked as this is the second time our educational tent was broken in the same event, right at the same location as well. Apparently, not only our tent but some other big tents were flew by a sudden wind because the location of the exhibition is right on the seafront. A great lesson for the team not to let the tent stay plugged all night. Not going to be upset too long with what has already happened, we immediately thought of another alternative so that we could still do the outreach to visitors at the peak of the closing of FPSL 2019. We turn the tent provided by the committee to become our educational tent complete with all information from bits and pieces from our original tent. Thanks to the committee, for the great cooperation!

• 

• 

• 

• 

As we had to move, the next location is a bit far from the visitor’s entrance so we had to figure out how to make our outreach activities maximum. An idea to walk toward visitors by handing out the sticker crossed my mind. Waited a bit for the sun to set, I finally decided to wear our beloved mascot “Molay”! Molay really helped us to catch the eyes of visitors. I was excited to spread the message of conservation by seeing the enthusiastic people who wanted to get close, take selfies and received a message about the yaki. Something funny, while inside the mascot I keep smiling, even laughed every time people asked me for photos. I often forgot if my face turns out to be covered with Molay face.

All the effort we did that day was not wasted although it started with collapsed tents that made the atmosphere a bit down. There were so many visitors who come to our tent as well as smiling children who took photographs with Molay then received information about this special monkey and other wildlife. I want to thank all the parties who have helped us, the Government of Bitung for the amazing collaboration and support as well as all the visitors to the festival!

• 

• 

• 

Borås Djurpark is a new sponsor of Selamatkan Yaki through efforts of Borås Djurpark Wildlife Conservation Fund.

Borås Djurpark AB, in the southwest of Sweden, keep a wide range of species from all over the world. Many of them are highly endangered in the wild and together with hundreds of European zoos we are participating in numerous well-coordinated, long-term breeding programs alongside working with public education and wildlife research.

The general aim of the zoo is to contribute to a more sustainable human society and to long-term conservation of biodiversity both locally and globally. To further develop these efforts Borås Djurpark Wildlife Conservation Fund was established in 2017 which more efficiently enables us to support in-situ conservation projects around the world. Through it we collect donations from visitors, local companies and other stakeholders, and raise awareness of the species and the conservational work of the organizations that we support and collaborate with.

One of our focus species has been the Crested Black Macaque (Macaca nigra). We have kept this species in the zoo for many years and we are an active part of the EAZA-coordinated breeding program. In 2018 we were also very glad to start a collaboration with Selamatkan Yaki thorugh Borås Djurpark Wildlife Conservation Fund, enabling more direct support to the conservation of this charismatic species. The first approved funds were allocated to the new Education Centre adjoining the nature reserve Tangkoko-Batuangus!

We always seek to collaborate with organizations that have a holistic approach to conservation. Projects that benefit the local fauna and flora as well as local communities are most likely to experience long-term success. We look forward to developing our collaboration with Selamatkan Yaki and our support for the Macaca nigra as well as the general biodiversity and local communities of the region.

Johan Jönsson
Curator
Borås Djurpark AB

Commemoration of Indonesian Natural Conservation Day 2019 was held on 5-8 August 2019 at TWA Muka Kuning in Batam in the province of Riau Islands. The celebrations included talk shows, group workshops, mountaineering tours, and book review. The peak of the event was held on 7th August 2019 which was filled with various activities such as eagle releases, conservation awards, declarations, and the show of millennial cultural arts from the region. Director of Environmental Services Utilization of Conservation Forest (PJLHK) Asep Sugiharta, as the chairman of the Committee reported that this activity was attended by 400 participants from all over Indonesia, derived from the Scout of the work force (Saka) Wanabakti, conservation activists, and UPT Ditjen KSDAE. I, Junita Siwi, Representing Selamatkan Yaki as Community Conservation Officer and Chair of the Foundation flew to Batam in support for our beloved Yaki Ambassador Ibu Khouni Lomban Rawung with Sekolah Lingkungan Bitung City and BKSDA North Sulawesi.

The sun was shining bright as the event was opened by the Director General of KSDAE KLHK, Ir. Wiratno, M.Sc accompanied by the Ms. Indra Exploitasia the Director of Biodiversity Conservation. After that, the guests were invited to visit the booths exhibit by all the BKSDA across Indonesia as well as the partners, and the pro-environment communities. Each exhibition stand showcases the biodiversity potentials of each region and the conservation activities with partners. To attract more visitors, different types of traditional foods were served at some booths. Trying to compete, BKSDA North Sulawesi was overwhelmed visitors as they brought over the famous fried Goroho banana which became the hot item on the list. In addition, the Selamatkan Yaki mascot wandered around the booths posing for selfies with the visitors.

The peak of the event fell on August 7, 2019. The event was attended by Indonesian First Lady Mrs. Irina Jokowi, who arrived a bit late but did not affect the enthusiasm of the participant. This event is very memorable to me personally because me and Gwenny Kojoh – the representative of North Sulawesi Conservation Cadre, we had the opportunity to perform a dance in front of the participants. It was extraordinary and such a mixed feeling that I agreed to perform in front of a large audience where the minister and the First Lady were there. It was seriously the first time in my life to perform in the national level event. Such a relief that I lost a bit of nervous feeling that we didn’t have to wait until the First Lady to arrive as she was a bit late and the event had to keep going… phew! We were performing traditional dance from the city of Bitung called Cakalang Dance. It went smoothly and after we were asked about the story of the dance. Cakalang is a type of Tuna that has become one prior commodity of Bitung, so the story is about a fisherman and the Cakalang fish. We were also asked to introduce ourselves, and the audience were surprised to find out that dancer is not our professions. I took that as a compliment!

The First Lady and the wife of former vice President Yusuf Kalla finally arrived just at the perfect timing to witness the three eagles release, accompanied by the Minister of Environment and Forestry in Indonesian Mrs. Sitti Nurbaya. Another main event of where I was really excited about was awards to the organizations, local governments and conservation activists received by 10 people including Khouni Lomban Rawung represented as Yaki Ambassador Indonesia. She deserves it and we are so proud of her! Not only by showing a genuine support to join the effort to save nature through yaki conservation, but also her passion and kindness. Since our yaki pride campaign took place in Bitung in 2014, Khouni has been going extra miles with the team to spread awareness about the yaki and has become a great role model for the community. Well done and congratulations my dear! Since the first day of this event, yaki has been mentioned by the staff of the ministry several times, indicating how they have become increasingly popular, largely due to the efforts of inspirations such as our Yaki Ambassador Indonesia.

We also decided to visit one of our main donors Wildlife Reserve Singapore. It was quite a sudden plan and short notice but luckily our former Education Officer – Prisi arranged it, joining also in Batam to support the city of Bitung on their booth about the forest school programme. As soon as we arrived in Singapore Zoo where WRS is based, we were welcomed by the staff and had the privilege to explore the zoo as well as visit the yaki enclosure. The yaki enclosure in is very interesting because it looks pretty natural and similar to the original nature in Sulawesi both from plants and designs. The Singapore Zoo is one of the best zoos in the world with a total of 5 million visitors per year. The strict management of the zoo in accordance with the welfare of animals is very visible in every corner of the zoo. Thank you staff WRS and everyone who made the Singapore and Batam visit a great and enjoyable success!

• 

• 

• 

Our Programmes Coordinator Corinne Bailey visited Singapore Zoo/Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) in July as an invited speaker to present about Selamatkan Yaki. Since 2016, Wildlife Reserves Singapore has supported Selamatkan Yaki and helped us achieve our ambitious goals to save the Critically Endangered Yaki through education, community conservation and research.

Since 2016, WRS have contributed hugely to projects including our Yaki Youth Camp, collaborative governance forums and our region wide camera trap survey for to find out more about yaki range and populations. Thanks to sponsors like WRS, we have been able to reach thousands of people with our conservation messages, and we continue to find out more about the precious yaki population and how to protect it.

 

During her visit, Corinne got to see the popular new Yaki exhibit in Singapore Zoo, as well as meeting the dedicated Conservation and Research team to discuss exciting new collaborations between WRS and Selamatkan Yaki. Starting this year, we will be joining forces on an ambitious new project funded by WAZA and Disney to connect local families with nature and encourage sustainable living practices in communities bordering protected areas. We are also working together on an exciting 3 year-long campaign to stop the illegal bushmeat trade in North Sulawesi.

Thanks to the whole team at WRS for the warm welcome and attention during Corinne’s all staff lunchtime presentation, we are so thankful that we can share this journey together towards our shared mission to protect yaki and protect the wildlife of North Sulawesi.

 

When working towards pro-environmental behavioural change, it is important to target efforts to key audiences we want to reach. This effort includes tailoring our approach to deliver conservation messages which meet the cultural and religious background and needs of our audiences in North Sulawesi. This approach makes it easier for people to relate with our messages, to understand and feel empowered to take action for wildlife.

One of the major threats for North Sulawesi wildlife is hunting for bushmeat consumption. Previous research and direct experience in the region have shown that bushmeat consumption within North Sulawesi is mostly observed within Christian communities. North Sulawesi is a majority Christian province, with 80% of the populace practicing Christianity. Therefore, the church provides a big opportunity to deliver conservation messages from a religious and moral perspective. GMIM (Gereja Masehi Injili di Minahasa) is one of the largest denominations in North Sulawesi, with nearly 1000 churches and over 800,000 members across the region. Therefore, the GMIM denomination plays a major role and platform for messaging to reduce bushmeat consumption and end illegal wildlife trade of protected species in bushmeat markets.

Last week (13^th June 2019), the Selamatkan Yaki team, supported by our Yaki Ambassador Indonesia, Khouni Lombang Rawung signed a 5 year collaboration agreement with GMIM. This agreement was signed by Dr. Hein Arina, the Synod Executive Board of the Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa (Ketua Badan Pekerja Sinode GMIM). The SY team are thankful for this opportunity to spread our conservation message to such a wide audience. We have already worked with GMIM on a letter that urges the congregation to reduce single use plastics and to stop bushmeat consumption.  This will be distributed to all of the churches and socialized to the whole GMIM congregation.

 

We will also continue to implement our Green Gospel program within the church.  Our Green Gospel program focuses on developing conservation messages of environmental protection and sustainability through engagement with religious leaders and providing a wildlife and environmental focused Sunday school syllabus (co-created by priest and church representatives). We expect this pivotal collaboration will enhance and encourage pro-environmental principles within church community, help foster a sense of pride in North Sulawesi biodiversity, and reduce threats to its valuable wildlife like the Yaki.

“Marijo ka Tangkoko!” (“come to Tangkoko!”) was the theme for photo exhibition by local community group known as T-FOB (Tukang Foto Orang Batuputih) the Indonesian for photographers from Batuputih, facilitated by Selamatkan Yaki and Bitung City government. T-FOB is a local photo community of whose all members are from Batuputih village of Bitung and mostly work as local guide in Tangkoko. Located at the Atrium Manado Town Square 3 on 22 – 23 March 2019, in celebrating the 100 year anniversary of Tangkoko’s status as a protected area and the International Day of Forests. This photo exhibition also aims to promote the work of local photographers in Batuputih village as well as to increase the interest of local tourists to visit Batuputih Nature Recreation Park by showing the beauty of the forest. Strong images can be remembered more easily than words alone, and so visual media is widely used by different types of organizations to tell stories to people globally. Photos are therefore very important for wildlife conservation. Trying to spread three important messages about the Yaki, namely that they are endemic, endangered and protected, Selamatkan Yaki has used photos across several platforms to reach as many people as possible. As part of our social media strategy, images and video are powerful and easy to use to send conservation messages.

Previously, photos of biodiversity in TWA Batuputih Tangkoko are mostly from tourists and foreign researchers. Realizing the development in the photography skills of local people the idea of the exhibition emerged to increase their capacity. We are really proud to see that beautiful images from Tangkoko can reach more people. According to one of the members of T-FOB, Alfrets Masala expressed that they felt excited to be involved in this exhibition. Enthusiastic visitors also surprised them, many people were engaged and asked lots of questions. Around 57 photos from T-FOB were displayed including some from Selamatkan Yaki and Bitung City government as well as our partners from Tasikoki and Macaca Nigra Project.

• 

• 

• 

The exhibition was officially opened by the regional secretary of the City of Bitung, Audy Pangemanan and attended by the first lady of Bitung and Yaki Ambassador Indonesia Khouni Lomban Rawung and the head of Environmental service of Bitung Sadat Minabari. And in addition to photo exhibitions, we also invited senior photographers such as Denny Taroreh, Ronny Buol and Arthur Salibana to share their experiences and skill transfer through photography techniques as well as motivation in how to use photos as a tool in conservation.

The work of T-FOB received a high appreciation from Ibu Khouni. According to her, photos are only one way to convey and promote the beauty of biodiversity in TWA Batuputih Tangkoko Bitung and can also become a tool to promote tourism. For this, she would love to highlight those photos from the exhibition to be expanded into a book. The book will become used as merchandise of the city of Bitung that can be use as tourism promotion. Exciting plan!

• 

• 

• 

• 

 

Three years in the making, we are glowing with pride with the unveiling of the wonderful Tangkoko Education Centre! It has taken a huge amount of work – conceptualising, planning, designing, writing & editing text panels, painting murals among many other tasks – this really has been a monumental team effort!

The Ministry of Environment & Forestry’s BKSDA North Sulawesi collaborated with SAMA Nature Protection Alliance to bring this creation to Tangkoko. Careful coordination was required to brainstorm with local partners, communities, guides & other stakeholders about what would make the centre effective, then put those ideas into practice! After constructing the building in 2016, the challenge was to find the funds to create an engaging & meaningful visitor experience.

“TEC” as she is called, has 3 main objectives…to educate, excite & empower! TEC aims to provide engaging, clear information about Tangkoko’s unique wildlife, threats & conservation efforts, to foreign visitors & local school & community groups. The hope is that while supporting the guides’ tours, visitors will take away a new appreciation for how special this park is, be inspired by the unique wildlife & discover new ideas about actions to help preserve nature both here & at home.

This project was generously sponsored by EPASS with funds from GEF coordinated by UNDP, along with Boras Zoo, & additional support from other sponsors. There are so many people who have put in time & effort to make this a reality all of whom deserve huge thanks, from creative ideas, building preparations & printing materials, to cooperation of guides, park staff, local communities & partners. Special appreciation goes to Simon Purser from Wallacea Nature for his creativity, knowledge & determination to fulfil this project. Next, a special plug for the skilful designwork from our Education Coordinator Prisi Loijens (a wizard at working under pressure!) & all the great input from the SY team! Finally, a deep & sincere thank you & big applause to the incredibly talented wildlife artist Dao Van Hoang. With his stunning mastery of the paintbrushes, Hoang truly breathed life, colour and feeling into this beautiful education centre.

While TEC is already an appealing educational resource ready for visitors, the official opening at the National Nature Conservation Festival last week represented just the first phase and there remains still much to be done! We are already well on the way with the second round of information panels, fun facts and special sections for the kids, and will be working towards more interactive elements and features as the centre progresses. Any suggestions and ideas always welcome! 😊

A beautiful, informative and educational hub for all ages to enjoy, TEC is a major step towards ecotourism principles in KPHK Tangkoko.

One of the activities of Selamatkan Yaki (SY) conservation programme is the Yaki Youth Camp (YYC), a capacity building activity to train and develop select local youths to become Yaki Ambassadors in North Sulawesi. Through SY’s Education & Awareness Raising Strategy (EARS) unit, we conduct this conservation training camp to facilitate the ambassadors with a deeper understanding about yaki and the various threats that they face, to expand their knowledge in conservation as well as develop their skills, leadership and confidence to better equip them in educating and raising public awareness. YYC was first conducted in 2014 at the Yayasan Institut Seni Budaya Sulawesi Utara in Tompaso, Minahasa with participants from our first campaign areas Tomohon-Langowan, followed by YYC 2015 with participants from our second campaign areas Bitung-Airmadidi, then YYC 2016 with participants from our third campaign area South Minahasa. Following these camps, the youth Yaki Ambassadors have helped us reach over 30.000 local students, teachers and other members of communities throughout all three campaign areas, through school talks, information stands and giving independent talks in their neighborhoods, extracurricular clubs and church gatherings, embodying their environmental identities by acting as an ambassador for M. nigra conservation in their own community.

On June 25-28, 2018, we held the Yaki Youth Camp: Refresher Training 2018 at TWA Batuputih Camping Ground in Tangkoko for the most active and dedicated youth Yaki Ambassadors from all three campaign areas. This 4 day/3 night refresher training camp gave us the chance to re-engage with a total of 23 ambassadors, to continue to motivate and inspire them, revive their confidence as well as encourage creative thinking to develop youth-empowered conservation initiatives. The purpose of this refresher camp is to further mold these youth Yaki Ambassadors to become more confident in educating their peers and raising public awareness about yaki conservation, to help them further understand how to become a “role model” for environment-friendly behaviour, to brainstorm together about various conservation actions that are both creative and effective as well as to encourage them to continue actively support SY activities, considering the intensity of illegal hunting that still threatens yaki population and other protected wildlife in North Sulawesi.

During this action-packed camp, participants were provided with various activities, games as well as inspirational and educational talks by speakers whom are experts in the field, such as Dr. John Tasirin from Sam Ratulangi University who talked about biodiversity in North Sulawesi and Dwiyandhi Febriyanti from Macaca Nigra Project (MNP) who took the participants to see yaki in their natural habitat while providing in-depth explanation about the species and the conservation efforts that MNP is doing. Billy Lolowang from Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue & Education Center helped the participants understand more about wildlife rescue and explained about Tasikoki’s role in it and Grace Nelwan, a long-time mentor for North Sulawesi’s network of tourism pageants, got on board to provide the Yaki Ambassadors with public speaking training and helped them find solutions for the various obstacles that they may encounter in the field. We also had the absolute pleasure of having Indonesian Yaki Ambassador Khouni Lomban Rawung share her experiences as Yaki Ambassador whom has gone above and beyond to support conservation efforts in North Sulawesi, further motivating her fellow ambassadors while also discussing conservation issues and how we can work together to mitigate them.

Camp participants proved to be highly enthusiastic and involved all throughout camp, as can be seen through how they really got into the discussion and brainstorm sessions which would often become exciting. They also provided personal reflection and evaluation of their experiences, providing indicators of the impact of their involvement as representatives of conservation efforts on both their personal development and their involvement with local communities. They shared aspirations and hopes for the future of wildlife conservation and reached a consensus to keep supporting the conservation of protected wildlife, especially yaki.

Following this refresher camp, we are confident to see more real conservation actions by the Yaki Ambassadors to help mitigate conservation issues in North Sulawesi, through community engagement and raising public awareness as well as promoting positive behaviour towards the environment. Together we will save the yaki!