Citarik Rafting and the Irony of Java Forest

Saturday morning is the day that maybe all the asiasource II participants have waited for the last one week. It was the outing day, we went out for fun. There were 3 destinations; Citarik river rafting, Mangga 2 Plaza, and the Tangkuban Perahu volcano. Most chose the Tangkuban Perahu volcano, only 11 went for rafting.

Although still located in Sukabumi district, the trip to Citarik River took more than an hour long because it went through the mountainous part of Sukabumi with steep and narrow road. Along the way there are plantations of rice, banana, corn, vegetables, etc. But the one that amazed me is the oil palm plantation. It’s quite rare to find oil palm in this narrow island with extremely high population number. Who has established such plantations in the island where most farmers are landless?

The landless phenomenon was rooted in the colonial age when farmers in Java lost most of their lands during implementation of land rent policy. They couldn’t afford the rent and therefore must give up the lands to Dutch colonist. After Indonesia proclaimed independence in 1945, those lands are never given back to the owners but were claimed by state-forestry enterprise for establishing timber plantations. That happened before the agrarian reform can be implemented because the 1965 coup kicked out the ruling government from power to do that.

The replacement regime was far from having effort to implement the land redistribution program. Around 3 million hectares of productive lands in Java were exploited by enterprise to produce logs and leave thousands of original owners along the island being landless and impoverished. That constitutes the major root of tenurial conflict between peasants and the enterprise (state) that last until today.

Back to oil palm drama, emergence of plantations has something to do with the newly launched government policy to promote the use of biofuel. The policy has been translated into massive conversion of productive food plantations and tropical forest to build oil palm and jatropha (the source of biofuel) plantations around the archipelago. Does this mean the Indonesians will enjoy clean and cheap energy? Not at all, it launched after the liberalization of energy sector which marked by the opening of downstream energy business for foreign enterprises. The locally extracted fuel has then been priced ‘internationally’ and fuels price raised up to over 90 percent by average in 2005.

That’s exactly what the English scholar George Monbiot feared when he criticized some european countries’ policy to replace the use of fossil fuel with biofuel back in 2003. The opening of biofuel market in the west means massive conversion of rainforest and agricultural lands in Southeast Asia countries. Indonesia captured this ‘opportunity’ by signing MoU with Malaysia to grab 20 percent of biofuel market of the European Union.

At around ten, we arrived at Arus Liar Rafting Resort. There are also other groups of visitors who wanted to raft Citarik river. After had a short break we were transferred to the starting point uphill by vehicle where our guides prepared the boats. Only 4 people allowed for each boat because the water is low. I was with Dirk and Yolynne, guided by Rochmad, local youth working as rafting guide with Arus Liar.

Soon after our boat left the starting point, Rochmad begun yelling general commands for this water sport; forward…backward…overleft…..overright…. This young man had to work very hard not just to keep the boat stable, but also to pull it out every time it stuck on rocks.

Boom….oh it’s too late, one already fell out of boat after it jumped over big stream. Don’t worry, no injuries…it’s totally safe, man.

Later on, we had a quiet stream. That means the water is deep. Rochmad told us to jump into the water and swim. Unfortunately, the water is not clear, its dark brown, meaning that the runoff is so high.

It used to be didn’t like this when River Citarik was opened for the first time in Indonesia for rafting in 1995. It used to be deep and clear. That was the time when most of the forests in Java are still well maintained. The quality and quantity of river water depends so much on the state of the forest.

It was the 1998 massive protest that forced the 32 year long dictator General Suharto stepped down brought significant change in the forestry sector. Many uses term reform as “ taking back what has long been stolen “. Peasants cut and sold timbers from production forest as they believe that the power had been regained.

Unfortunately, this euphoria has shifted to rampant illegal logging since timber barons took part to grab the big cash. Almost all of forest area in Java suffered this rampant logging, including Halimun National Park, the water catchment area for Citarik River. A national newspaper reported in 2002 that the water of Citarik has been reduced while the turbidity is increasing due to deforestation at Halimun National Park.

The threat to the park is increasing as Indonesia-Australia controlled Austindo Resources plans to construct open-pit gold mine inside the park late this year with credit facility from ANZ Banking Group. Million tons of landmass will be removed from earth to create tens hectare wide mine pit. That means tens hectares of forest will also be cleared and will subsequently affect the river systems sourced from the park.

As many rafters had confirmed, the future of ecotourism business such as rafting which relies entirely upon the nature services will be badly affected by deforestation. The income source of locals working as rafting guide is being put in danger by forest exploitation. The long hard way effort to build a community-based ecotourism will be useless when the nature no longer functions as it was. No tourists willing to do rafting and the tourism business will just end for the community.

The other young guide desperately commented, “ It used to be the government who support the opening of tourism here, but why can’t they take any measure to save the future of this business upon which we rely our lives. Why didn’t they protect the forest from those massive destructions?

(this article was written during the Asiasource 2 Training Camp at Yawitra Resort, Sukabumi, West Java, 22-30 January 2006)

About Mount Slamet

Lies on western part of Central Java province, Mount Slamet (3428 meter a.s.l.) is the second highest on Java island and is therefore holds wide area spread over five regencies. The mount’s vast area serves important role as huge water catchments to many municipalities below. Eleven big rivers flow down from the mount and supplies water for eight dams used for both irrigation and power plant. In the coming years when water fulfillment is our next problem, Mt Slamet function as water tower will be more critical.

Mount Slamet is also important for the conservation of biodiversity since it holds approximately 10,000 hectares of recently-rare tropical Javan forest. The altitude range between 500 and 3000 meter makes possible for the forest to perform three vegetation patterns i.e; lower mountain forest, mountain forest, and alpine forest. Vegetation patterns and local climate also differ among each side of the mount due to different position to sunrise, wind direction, and rainfall. In general, Fagaceae, Lauraceae, Theaceae, Magnoliaceae, Podocarpaceae, Junglandaceae, Ericaceae, and Balanophoraceae are the main families of plant composing Mt. Slamet forest.

The forest of Mt Slamet is home to many species of wildlife, some of them are endemic and threatened, e.g. the Javan Hawk Eagle (Spizaetus bartelsi) and the Javan Gibbon (Hylobates moloch). Primates are easily encountered by early and end of day swinging through the trees with attractive movement. Here, we can find four endemic primates, the Javan Gibbon, Javan Langur (Trachypithecus auratus) Rekrekan (Presbytis fredericae) and the shy-Javan Loris (Nycticebus coucang). Other wildlide like predators such as leopard and cats can be recognized by their footprints, wood-scratches, hairs, and feces.

The People. Most communities living in the foothill areas of Mt Slamet live by utilizing forest resources. Thus, forest sustainability is very important for the continuance of their life. Honey, herbal medicines, mushroom, and other food sources are the forest products that usually harvested by locals in order to sustain life in a manner that keeps the sustainability of forest function. Local rule on the utilization of forest product has been set by their ancestors hundreds years ago and is still obeyed until today. For example, they’re forbidden to sell timber, it’s allowed for building house only. The role of local communities in protecting the sustainability of the forest is therefore undisputed.

Agriculture. In some villages, farmers retain the use of traditional (non-conventional) agriculture systems to prevent the food and the environment from hazardous chemicals contamination. Indigenous knowledge has been combined with organic farming to support the resurgence of sustainable farming once demolished by green revolution.

Packages

Village Tourism

During several days of living in the village and interacting with the people you’ll find that this package is more than just a tourism visit. Moreover you’ll learn how people manage local resources to sustain their life. You’ll be guided by local community to learn about sustainable agriculture practices, non-timber forest products harvesting, and herbal medicine processing. In the end, the whole time spent will be a joint-learning process about the natural resources utilization.

Sustainable Agriculture. During around thirty years practicing the ‘chemical agriculture’ of green revolution, the Indonesian farmers suffer great loss such as local crops variety decrease, soil damage, and high dependence on external components. Since 2001 most farmers in Kalipagu committed to return to traditional farming to save agriculture in order to save their agriculture production. The ‘black rice’ is one of local variety that is saved through this program. To support the application of sustainable farming, husbandry has been integrated into it. Livestock provide manure used as organic fertilizer for the crops. On the other way, parts of harvested crops are processed to become animal’s nutrition.

Agroforestry. The agroforestry is well-maintained in the steep terrain to prevent it from landslides. Agroforestry product consists of timber, bamboo, coconut, palm sugar, Gnetum, and fruits like durian, rambutan, jackfruit, avocado, etc. Moreover, the agroforestry system also provides energy source (firewood) and cattle nutrition.

Palm Sugar Processing. Along the villages trekking route you’ll find many coconut trees. Villagers process coconut water collected in a bamboo tube to become palm sugar. The product is classified into two shapes i.e; the bar sugar and powder sugar.

Herbal Medicine. One of non-timber forest products regularly utilized by local people is medicinal plants. You can learn traditional pharmacology that uses plants’ components such as root, leaves, and fruits as the raw materials.

Sustainable Energy. Mt. Slamet provides huge source of water. The People of Windusari village uses the river water as energy source for electricity. The electricity is generated by a waterwheel and a power supply. This sort of alternative energy is solution amidst the soaring fuel and electricity price and the fossil fuel problem (climate change), while supporting the productivity and the welfare of local communities.

Traditional Art. The people of Mt. Slamet developed many traditional arts like dancing, singing, even praying that mostly originated from Javan culture. The famous mystical dance namely ‘EBEG’ call for supernatural power to run. Lengger and Calung are the other traditional dancing, while Kentong, Hadroh, and Gendingan, are traditional music. Some of those arts are affected by Hindu and Moslem culture.

Trekking and River Crossing. When trekking across the trail at the forest edge, you’ll enjoy the beauty of nature landscapes such as hills, valleys, rice fields, rivers and waterfall. In the morning and late afternoon, the singing of birds and primates will give more excitement to your adventure experience. You’ll also feel the freshness of mountain spring when crossing the Logawa river and enjoy the beauty of Gomblang waterfall.

Sulphur Massage and Hotspring Bath. A hotspring named the Seven Spout lies in the middle of the forest. After journey crossing the jungle and rivers your body will be refreshed by hotspring bath and massage with sulphur powder. The seven spout water and sulphur massage considered good for health and skin care and is becoming famous in the regional level.

Routes to choose:

Kalipagu—Baturraden—Windusari (short route, excluding palm sugar making and Gomblang Waterfall)

Sunyalangu—Windusari—Kalipagu (long route, excluding Seven Spout and Sulphur Massage)

Food and Beverages

On the arrival, you’ll enjoy welcome drink consists of fresh coconut water and local foods (cassava, palm sugar, peanut, banana, corn served in various ways). Some menu are highly recommended to taste for their originality e.g. Javan salad called ‘pecel’ with soya sauce, grilled fish, and the special local menu the ‘Black Rice’ cone, usually made for ‘thanksgiving’ ceremony purpose.

Handicrafts. Banyumas, the closest city from Mt Slamet is known for its unique culture. There are traditional clothe painting (bathik) in Banyumas, ceramics outlet and workshop in Klampok district, Bamboo furniture, Sokaraja Painting, and Wayang Museum.

SPECIAL PACKAGES - WILDLIFE RESEARCH

If you are a researcher, adventurous, or fond of wildlife observation Mt. Slamet provides challenging adventure. In a trip across the jungle you can find out the biodiversity potential of Mt Slamet that will satisfy the purpose of your trip. You can just begin with species inventory, behavior observation, or even population counting (census).

In this special purpose trip we provide several packages as follow.

A. Tiger Tracing

A real challenging trip to seek for traces left by Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) activities. Scientists believed that this top predator of rain forest has extinct, but local people still believing they remain survive based on some encounter recently. Together with NGO’s, local people have been collecting footprints, wood-scratch, and feces of carnivores considered typical to Javan Tiger. The latest hair analysis conducted by Javan Tiger Focus Group (JTFG) proves that this top-predator still exists.

B. Primates Identification and Census

Primates are the agent of forest regeneration. They feed on some fruits and spread the seeds to entire part of the forest. Many species of primates including monkeys and ape inhabit Mt Slamet forest.

The detection of primates can be done by sighting and their calling. The only ape species found in Java, the Javan Gibbon (Hylobates moloch), dwells in the natural forest and is easily recognized by its calling. Periodic census is conducted to help monitoring the status of their population.

C. Birdwatching

Of all the wildlife, birds are the easiest to find. There are many kinds of bird over like raptors, flycatchers, pigeon, woodpecker, etc. There are several interesting behaviors to observe like feeding, nursery, territory protection, and nest activities. Some birds are specific to certain habitats, so that their presence becomes indicator of change on local ecosystem. Observation of birds can be both identification and census.

D. Mammals Identification and Census

Mammals can be identified by their footprint, hair, and feces. The footprints of deer and pigs are the most commonly found among others. But sometimes, we’ll find a rare species like chevrot (Tragulus javanicus). Mammals are very adapted animal in the forest, as long as they can get their food for browsing or grazing, especially herbivore. But, in the mountain forest they cannot found easily. Become an unique experience can observe their behavior.

Special Site

There is special site to observe mammal, carnivore, primate, and birds that lies deep in the forest. This spot, namely Taman Wlingi, is a temporary swampy valley surrounded by hills at elevation 2100 meter a.s.l.

E. Butterfly Identification

To observe butterflies, one can only take a walk at forest edge so that this can be considered as the easiest trip in biodiversity observation. They can be found at the edge of forest, riverside, and under-storey vegetation. 24 butterfly species have been reported exist in Mt. Slamet (research until 2004).

F. Orchid inventory

This journey will challenge your team to visit the dark, cloudy at the outlying part of the forest. At very humid forest part, with small portion of sunlight, the most beautiful orchids of Java will be found, including terrestrial and epiphyte.

Equipment

All visitors wishing to observe the wildlife suggested carrying the following equipments:

Binocular

Camera

Raincoat

Handbooks about Java wildlife identification

Personal medication

Trekking shoes

Backpack

Philosophy

our planet is more than enough to live in, but it never be enough for our greediness


What we offer



To bring the spirit of living harmoniously with the nature, we take tourists and travelers on a visit to places where beautiful nature sightings and cultural richness occur. At the mountain region, travelers will learn and experience the way that host community utilize natural resources wisely.

Experience living harmoniously with the nature

Our Mission

Saving the earth through sustainable use of natural resources. We promote responsible tourism at places where anyone can taste the experience of living harmoniously with the nature and bring home the spirit into their daily life.

ABOUT US

We’re a group of persons whose experience in traveling and environmental campaign since 1995. After graduating from university we began to promote the ecotourism program combining both traveling activity and campaign/education on sustainable natural resources management.

History

Since year 2000, together with Caring Community of Mt. Slamet (KOMPLEET) we organized local people to develop their capacity in managing the forest and other local resources with indigenous knowledge. Still Collaborating with KOMPLEET, this community based eco-tourism project is designed to improve their management skill and income beside other activities, like farming and forestry. Someday, we hope they can run this project by themselves with own management.

Management team :

1. Coordinator : Fitri

2. Research and Development Manager : Adi

3. Financial Manager : Heni

4. Community Empowerment Manager : Jalu

Comment from our previous customers

Jan Glisenaar (wederzijds@hetnet.nl) : We’d like to visit here again, at least another group of wederzijds (2004).

Wim de Bock (teacher) ; Good to see all the things done to solve the problems in this village. The project is pleasant, good mix, free, study and fun (2005)

Joke Koehler (Book Editor, woman activist) : Very good hosts and guide in the forest, who were very helpful. I appreciate the discussion with the women! (2005)

Ferdinand Brul (handicraft volunteer) : Impressive, Educated, lovely people (2005)

Willem Groenewegen (Documenter film maker; dh.debock@tiscali.nl) : The days were good and I learned a lot about the people here and their possibilities and impossibilities with the nature. Goes on in this way (2005).

How to get there

From Jakarta, you can use a train Purwojaya, Argo Lawu, Argo Dwipangga, Fajar Utama Yogyakarta, Sawunggalih, or you can use a bus for about 7-8 hours.

From Yogyakarta, you can use train and bus for about 3-4 hours. We’ll pick you up when you arrived and take you straight to the start point.

Travel services are also available both from Jakarta and Yogyakarta to Purwokerto.