Since March 2016, in conjunction with the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Programme, our team in Indonesia has been running an education programme via radio broadcasts. These broadcasts, based on a range of themes and topics which change every month, reach the entire Ketapang region. So it’s another great way for us to reach our target audiences, such as forest edge communities and human-orangutan conflict hotspots.
To date topics covered are Human-Orangutan Conflict focusing on oil palm and mining concessions, biodiversity, environmental living and orangutan conservation.
Desi Kurniawati from the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Programme Foundation said: “We are very pleased with the collaboration on this radio programme. It provides a lot of additional material to broadcast to the loyal listeners in Ketapang.”
IAR and our ‘Conservation Kids’ (from our conservation camp programme) recently broadcast information about the role that the youth of Ketapang can play in conservation efforts to safeguard orangutans. Dina, one of the Kids, says: “Being a broadcaster on the radio was a first for me. Radio is a great way of getting information out to the public, particularly to Ketapang’s youth.” It’s hoped that this programme will continue to broadcast various discussions on environmental issues, because they are generally considered to be interesting, informative and educational for the general public.
Integrating Conservation with Religions and Ethnicity
During the month of fasting for Muslim communities across Indonesia, IAR’s Education team launched their new programme – ‘Integrating Conservation, Religion and Ethnicity.’ This programme addresses how to integrate orangutan conservation within the Islamic and Christian faiths and with traditional Dayak Customs. During the month, together with Islamic Teachers, the team broadcast discussions on how to integrate conservation within the Islamic faith.
As part of our work on the integration of conservation and traditional Dayak Customs, IAR recently joined a one week Gawai - an annual festival celebrated by the Dayak people from all over Kalimantan. We held a variety of events providing information related to the conservation of orangutans and their habitat, orangutan protection campaigns and film screenings as well as colouring, painting and one word association contests (in which contestants are asked to write one word that they associate with orangutans) and Instagram. This was our first Gawai event and it was deemed a great success. We are preparing for another Gawai in a few weeks’ time.