Latest Project Gaharu News
LEAP looks forward to facilitating the next harvest which has been set for December 2nd-7th 2008, when Bob and Joel will be returning to Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia on the final phase of the programme to cut and evaluate all the remaining trees at their three sites.
The future hope is to use this innovative yet relatively simple technology to work with indigenous communities to create an alternative means of income generation from their land.
Project Women Empowerment Trees (PWET) update
A LEAP team—Cynthia, Angela, Lea and Sylvia—visited PWET on September 22nd and 23rd to gather with the women, get updates and visit the various village sites. SFD (Sabah Forestry Department) and PACOS (Partners of Community Organizations) were also represented.
SFD brought the satellite images which were purchased for the project. The women will work with PACOS, using GIS, to map out the various areas—watershed reserves, village reserves, SAFODA (Sabah Forestry Development Authority) acacia plantations, etc. to begin the land use process and determine how much of what to be planted where. The target date for completion is the last week of October, after which another visit will be planned to workshop with the women.
We visited five of ten nurseries in the seven villages involved in the project. The women leaders updated us on progress and showed the various seedlings being produced—mostly fruit trees and indigenous species.
Project Gaharu Malaysia
SFD (Sabah Forestry Department) has provided a few hundred gaharu seedlings for the PWET project in Pitas. These have already been planted in the ground in the various villages involved, on the land of the respective women leaders for security purposes as these trees are and will become increasingly valuable. The plan is that these trees will be treated by SFD (using the UMN technology) when they reach the required size of 10 cm dbh (diameter at breast height).
MESCOT Tungog Rainforest Eco Camp update
The infrastructure for Tungog Lake Eco Camp is mostly completed—main reception building, dining hall deck, mid and lower outdoor decks, six camp platforms, wash house, septic system and reed bed, trail network, etc. Work underway now is internal construction e.g. walls, windows, etc. The estimate completion of this current work is end of the year/beginning Jan 2008.
Another component which we are exploring is a bio-gas mechanism for the generation of power for the camp. This will not only make efficient use of effluent (!), but would be a “first” which will help create an edge for the overall image and marketing of the camp.
The LEAP team—Cynthia, Angela, Lea and Sylvia—met with MESCOT on September 29th and 30th to view the project sites and sit with the leadership for updates, discussion of current issues and future plans and funding needs. Click here to view photos.
MESCOT Forest Restoration update
27,000 seedlings have been planted in three one-hectare blocks. Constant maintenance (weeding and grass-cutting) is carried out to ensure the health and sustainability of these seedlings. This will continue until the seedlings are able to exist and grow into saplings on their own. Some replacement planting will also take place, to replace seedlings that have died.
The nursery is in full operation, producing 23,000 more seedlings. 7,000 of this will be planted in October, and the remaining 16,000 will be planted in November and December.
The year ahead will focus on maintenance and replacement planting if/where necessary.
LEAP USA Director Angela Sevin and LEAP Board Vice-President Lea Endres travelled to Borneo and visited MESCOT along with LEAP Director Cynthia Ong. Click here to see the images!
MESCOT Tungog lake restoration update
The Salvinia Molesta infestation maintenance program of 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off per month continues, with a team of four men. The intention now is to reduce human impact on the lake while keeping it clear of infestation.
The lake has also gained the attention of Dr. Richard Chan, a Salvinia weevil expert from CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia, who came to visit and was impressed, and wants to work with MESCOT to develop the biological solution for the problem, including raising the necessary funds. Based on MESCOT’s commitment and success so far, there is potential for them to become the “Salvinia experts”, as the issue is widespread along the Kinabatangan floodplain as well as in other parts of Sabah. The first task here is to obtain the import permit (work visa!) for the
weevil.
LEAP USA Director Angela Sevin and LEAP Board Vice-President Lea Endres travelled to Borneo and visited MESCOT along with LEAP Director Cynthia Ong. Click here to see the images!
PWET update, trip to AIR in Guatemala
Two key women leaders of PWET, Yoggie Lasimbang and Raini Mapura, recently traveled from Borneo to Guatemala and spent eight days with the AIR community (the Alliance for International Reforestation), where they experienced and learned about their community reforestation model. Caroline Gabel of Shared Earth Foundation, first year funder of the PWET project, went as facilitator/translator!
Some observations about the trip from Caroline:
“It’s been a very interesting and productive trip… AIR planned it perfectly, starting with our new office in Atitlan. After a working lunch in the oficina we went to Chuitinamit, a village Anne and I had visited in January. We learned how to, and Yoggie and Raini helped, make fertilizer first from a rotten papaya and brick sugar, then another from tree bark, well pounded, and water. Wait 15 days and voila! Yoggie was somewhat familiar with the basic process (someone in her family makes wine).
Yesterday we visited Coliaj, another site seen in January. We all learned the proper way to fill the little black bags (carefully, and it takes more time than one thinks) and plant a seedling (same). Now they know and can teach. Then we took time from shopping for an afternoon session in the Atitlan oficina to discuss their reaction, thoughts, and expectations so far, before setting out for a brief shop, a glance at the lake, and back to La Villa in Chimaltenango.
This was an excellent debut – the stage where, possibly, PWET will be this time next year…
It has been an interesting cultural exchange. At our first visit to the Chimaltenango oficina, our conversations revealed that Sabah still has its memories of how things were done in the past – before the Green Revolution. Whereas in Guatemala the GR came 50 years ago and people have forgotten the old, conservation-based, ways and now rely on chemicals. AIR is having to reinvent what the ancestors knew!
Yoggie and Raini brought their native costumes for Coliaj, and were a great hit with the women who had no concept, perhaps, of “otro lado del mundo” “other side of the world”, but recognized people who looked different, spoke differently, but wrapped their faldas the same way. And they enjoyed the folders of Sabah tourism handed out, including an orangutan on the cover! This will be the subject of conversation for years to come. And the villagers were honored that people would come from somewhere out there to visit them and THEIR projects.”
MESCOT Tungog Rainforest Eco Camp update
Construction is progressing well at the Eco Camp site at the edge of Tungong lake. The project is into it’s fifth month and well passed the half way mark. Most of the main structures are up, and there is still a lot of work to do on finishing, plumbing and refinements. Click here for more photos
MESCOT Lake Restoration
Restoration of the lake is doing surprisingly well. The crew have finally started their first month of two weeks on, then two weeks off. There is a small area of salvinia trapped in boom net at the end of the lake. The crew is dragging the lake to get this remaining salvinia, which isn’t much considering the size of the lake. The rest of the lake is very much clear.
MESCOT Forest Restoration
The final site preparation has been going on, and planting should commence this coming week. The goal is to have 20,000 seedlings in by the end of the month, which is the whole years target for this project. The longer term goal is to plant more than 60,000 trees by years end. This goal is ambitious, but can be done by sticking with the present schedule and quicker nursery rotation.