Lestari Forever: A unique relationship between a small school and the
Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation By Brent Fullerton
“May we hold the baby sun bear, Mr. Fullerton? Please, pretty pleeeease!” pleaded the Grade 5/6 students in unison.
During a recent overnight field trip to volunteer at the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation’s orangutan and sun bear sanctuary-‐-‐Samboja Lestari, I realized how fortunate I was to
now be part of this unique relationship between Pasir Ridge International School (a small school with about 70 students) and the BOS Foundation. It is a compelling story that has spanned nearly two decades of students and teachers who’ve been affiliated with Pasir Ridge International School. The orangutans’ natural habitat is the tropical rainforests found only on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. Thousands of acres of rainforests are being stripped each year; this has a detrimental impact on the endangered orangutans’ future. Samboja Lestari (lestari means “to grow” in Bahasa Indonesia) is located on the eastern coast of Borneo, about 44 km north of Balikpapan. The BOS Foundation, an Indonesian non-‐profit environmental organization, is now the world’s largest and most successful organization dedicated to protecting the orangutan and regenerating the rainforest.
In 1991, Willy Smits first established the BOS Foundation. Back then it was known as the Balikpapan Orangutan Society. For the first three years, the society was financed by the pocket money and fund raising efforts of students and dedicated teachers at the Pasir Ridge International School. The school campus became a
Planting indigenous tree saplings.
Hiking in the new rainforest
rehabilitative center of sorts, housing many native wild animals such as orangutan, gibbons, hornbills and toucans. Students were naturally immersed in an effort to protect these animals and the rainforest. Can you imagine, teaching students with a gibbon’s cacophonous call bellowing outside your classroom? Eventually, the BOS was able to purchase enough land in Samboja, a small district with a population of approximately 10,000 inhabitants. The goal to rehabilitate the orangutan and “create a rainforest” was becoming a reality, however, there was a price to pay.
For those involved these efforts did not come without serious risks. After the introduction of mechanical logging, and many years of illegal logging, the land around Samboja had become a patchwork of barren fields and grasslands that did
not yield any crops, and was overgrown with weeds that caught fire nearly every year. In the beginning as Willy Smits and the BOS started making headway against some corrupt and influential people, he received numerous death threats, his house was burned down (twice), his dogs killed, and his car sabotaged, all while trying to protect the rainforest from illegal loggers. For the past ten years, with the assistance of the local community, the BOS has now rehabilitated the area of Samboja to its former state as a rainforest; 1850 hectares now provide protection to wildlife and the native plant and tree species of Kalimantan. Just as important, this land is also a source of increased empowerment as it provides sustainable jobs to the local community living in Samboja. The same local people are now protecting and policing their forest from any human encroachment.
Samboja Lestari is now the center for many wildlife conservation programs working with the Indonesian authorities: The Samboja Lestari Forest Rehabilitation Program, The Orangutan Reintroduction Project Wanariset in East Kalimantan, The Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project, The Mawas Wildlife Reserve in Central Kalimantan, and The SarVision Satellite Natural Resources Monitoring Center in East Kalimantan. There’s also a wonderful volunteer program offered at the BOS EcoLodge in
Mother and baby orangutan at Samboja.
Samboja that attracts people from all over the world to volunteer their time and energy for this great cause. Now there are BOS offices based in over ten different countries.
And so the tradition continues at our little school seventeen years later. During the recent trip Grade 5/6 students planted indigenous sapling trees, fed the
orangutan and sun bears’ natural food, and completed activities to better gain knowledge and understanding of the overall program. Once back at school, they diligently began preparing a campaign of activities to raise awareness and financial support within our local community for “Orangutan and Sun Bear Week.” All students in grades PreK3-‐6 participated in activities dedicated to learning more about orangutan and the rainforest, and also welcomed guest speaker, Dr. Erik Meijaard, a Forest Ecologist representing the Nature Conservancy Council, who taught us more about the orangutans’ characteristics.
One of the highlights for the Grade 5/6 students was the interview with the founders of BOS Foundation, Dr. Willy Smits and former Pasir Ridge teacher, Peter Karsono. It was captivating listening to these inspirational men share stories of what life was like back in Balikpapan 20 years ago: wooden paneled cars with hand-‐held crank levers to start the engine; the tall thick forests that once stretched from Balikpapan to Samarinda; and the money trail of the illegal orangutan pet trade. Finally, at the Friday assembly a resounding cheer was heard from everyone as our student council president handed Dr. Willy Smits and the BOS Foundation a donation of over $1800.00 that students raised during the week!
This is an important story to be told. A story of how a small group of students, some dedicated teachers, and a supportive community made a difference-‐-‐they decided to grow (lestari) in this world, and that decision planted a seed-‐-‐one that continues to blossom today. They made our world a better place. Now
Grade 5/6 making orangutan faces with Dr. Willy Smits and former PRIS teacher, Peter Karsono.
today we must decide: lestari or extinction? We are the gatekeepers and the gardeners of our planet. Which will you choose?
An acrostic poem written by our student council president after our overnight field trip: Samboja A place where Miracles can happen But without our support the sun bears and Orangutans will Just slip into extinction And never come back [Note: The Pasir Ridge International School faculty is currently working on a historical project archiving the past 33 years beginning with its conception in 1975. If you have worked at the school, or know of anyone who has, we would greatly appreciate any interesting story, anecdote and/or pictures sent to this email address archives@pris-‐school.com]