Oyos Saroso HN,
The Jakarta Post
Bandarlampung
Though modest and quite small, the old Palembang-style house on a plot of 200 square meters retains its beauty. With its wooden walls and floors, it presents a solid and antique appearance.
To its left are hundreds of square meters of land with diverse plants, where myriad species of gorgeous butterfly are to be seen.
A new pyramid-shaped building without walls has been built here so that discussions can be held and guests entertained.
Since 1997, the stilt house located on the fringe of the Wan Abdurrahman People's Forest Park at Mount Betung has been the place where 50-year-old Herawati "Mbak Iing" Soekardi keeps in close touch with butterflies. Around her home, she breeds and studies these flying insects while relishing their radiance.
The land and buildings originally formed part of a three-hectare site lent by the Lampung provincial forestry office to Herawati for the setting up of a butterfly captive breeding center. Owing to conflict with local people over ownership of the site, the land and another four hectares were purchased outright.
With the help of her husband, Anshori Djausal, and friends in their 20s, Herawati converted the site into a butterfly breeding and study center, while the additional four hectares that were purchased were planted with various tropical fruit trees to serve as hosts for the butterfly larvae.
The house, located some 30 kilometers from the provincial capital, Bandarlampung, is a second home for Herawati and Anshori, both lecturers at Lampung University, and they stay there every weekend.
"We only use kerosene lamps as there's no power supply here. There was once a diesel generator but we could not stand the noise. We also put up bamboo torches in front of the house. So we again become at one with nature after a week's work in the city," said Herawati.
Learning by doing
The butterfly enthusiasts enjoy their weekends amid the sounds of the wildlife in the forest. The cool mountain air and respite from hectic urban life make them feel comfortable. Along with activists from the Yayasan Sahabat Alam (nature lovers' foundation), they have been growing different plants that attract butterflies in the area, which is now known as the Gita Persada Butterfly Park.
Herawati and her helpers from Sahabat Alam also provide information to local people living in the forest on the importance of soil conservation and how to grow seedlings. "The butterfly park actually serves as one way in which I can disseminate information on conservation and biological diversity so as to help local people progress."
Her efforts have been fruitful. The people from Mt. Betung are already skilled at growing seedlings, as shown by the nursery beds to be found along the roadsides and in the gardens of their homes. Instead of cutting down trees, they are diversifying plants to collect forest products.
The People's Forest Park has resulted in people being relocated from the forest interior, but they can continue to harvest forest products in the traditional manner.
Herawati acknowledged the deep love felt by both herself and her husband for nature. Anshori can list of the names of a host of different plant species, even though he is a civil engineer by profession. Whenever he tours remote parts of Sumatra, he never fails to bring home seedlings to be grown on Mt. Betung.
"The plants are often taken from ravines that are hard to reach. So, I've got to take good care of his gifts," said Herawati, a mother of four teenagers.
The pair resolved to do something to help conserve the Mt Betung ecosystem after witnessing the havoc being wreaked by squatters.
Situated between Bandarlampung and South Lampung, Mt. Betung began to attract squatters in the 1970s, with most of the damage being caused in the late 1990s. By the end of the 1990s, almost 70 percent of the forest had been felled.
"I could not just lament what was happening. As a responsible member of the college teaching staff, I decided to do something about it. In my view, captive breeding and habitat engineering are two ways in which successful conservation can be brought about," continued Herawati.
She has ensured that Gita Persada is now a model center for butterfly breeding and habitat engineering as a basis for conservation.
Her pioneering park has attracted researchers, children and students at all levels, besides local and foreign tourists. Among the regular visitors are students from Sriwijaya University, the Bandung Institute of Technology and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture.
Pragmatic approach to conservation
"Around 1,500 visitors come here every year on average. But I don't want to turn this place into a mere tourist attraction as its primary purpose is butterfly conservation. I want to show the public that conservation can be a simple and low-cost effort," she explained.
Her hard work has earned her recognition. She received the Kalpataru environment award from the Lampung provincial administration in 2004, and a doctorate from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) for her work on butterflies.
She is perhaps the only butterfly specialist in Indonesia who lives in the same place as the insects being studied.
"Prof. Dr. Soelaksono Sastrodihardjo, my dissertation adviser, asked me to develop my research findings in other regions. My son, who is now studying at the ITB, is also working on a thesis about butterflies under Soelaksono's guidance," she added.
Following her success with the butterfly center, Herawati is now focusing her effort on teaching Lampung's indigenous people, many of whom own considerable areas of land, to practice conservation and crop diversification. Until recently, local villagers had generally tended to ignore their land. If a crop was grown, it would normally be pepper or coffee.
Since her husband happens to be from the Bunga Mayang community, an ethnic group living in 72 villages in North Lampung regency, Herawati has a close relationship with local villagers. She was sad to see that even the landowners, each of whom owns an average of over five hectares, and some more than 10 hectares, were far from being prosperous.
Two years ago, she started teaching the Bunga Mayang people about the importance of soil conservation and crop diversification on communal land.
"Thank God, most of them now understand and no longer leave their land fallow. They are growing a wide variety of crops," she noted.
Together with the Bunga Mayang people, Herawati has so far planted 200,000 seedlings from 50 different kinds of tropical fruit trees, such as rambutan, soursop, avocado, lime, lanson, mango and durian trees. She says that the costs involved in this project are minimal as the young seedlings are readily obtainable.
Herawati admitted that there was not much money in the butterfly park project and communal land conservation efforts. "The butterfly park is my response to the need to save diverse species of insect and conserve the Mt. Betung ecosystem, while the conservation of communal land reflects our desire to help local people improve their circumstances," she explained.
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