Rangers: Choosing isolation to help protect endangered species

The Jakarta Post ,  Thousand Islands ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 07/22/2009 3:28 PM  |  City

Ever imagine washing up on a remote island with no access to electricity, supermarkets or Internet to update your Facebook status? If you think most people, including the only plane-crash survivor in the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away, would never sacrifice their lives for such an experience, the forest rangers of the Thousand Islands Marine Park may probably be your first exceptions.

For Suharto, 44, a forest ranger on Penjaliran Timur islet, located 100 kilometers off Jakarta's north coast, spending weeks on the isolated islet has become part of his monthly routine for the past 20 years.

Having been posted to the 14-hectare islet in 1986, Suharto, along with three colleagues, are responsible for watching over and maintaining the park's northern protected zone, where several endangered species live, including the hawksbill turtle and the giant clam.

Suharto's job consists of spending three weeks of the month living on the islet; he spends the fourth week with his wife and two children in Bekasi, West Java.

"I can't go home immediately, even if I really wanted to," he says.

"It takes five hours just to get to Jakarta, and the government's speedboat doesn't come every day."

As a consequence of working far from home, Suharto says he has had to miss several important moments in his life.

"I was never there at the births of my children," he says.

For Zakaria, another ranger, there is an element of excitement about the job. Born in Thousand Islands regency, he says his current job is a natural call of duty.

"These are my islands," says the 40-something Zakaria, who has worked at the park since 1988.

"If no local people want to protect their own islands, who else will?"

Thousand Islands regency, 45 kilometers off the Jakarta coast, boasts a unique marine ecosystem, offering visitors a wide range of marine tourism activities such as diving, snorkeling or staying at beach resorts.

Of the 110 islets in the area, 78 fall under the protected Thousand Islands Marine Park, which is responsible for conserving the coral reefs and endangered species living there.

Of the park's 108,000-hectare span, 4,400 hectares are protected or nucleus zones, where public activities, such as fishing and visiting, are restricted.

Only visitors with official permits from the park management can visit islets located in these zones.

There are currently three restricted zones, including a zone in the 2,400 hectares of water around Penjaliran Timur islet. Other islets in these waters are Penjaliran Barat, Peteloran Timur and Peteloran Barat - all of them uninhabited.

The restricted zone in Penjaliran is home to hawksbill turtles and several clam species, which are under threat from massive human consumption.

Every day, in the morning or just before sundown, the rangers paddle their wooden boat a few kilometers to Peteloran Timur and Peteloran Barat beaches - the turtles' favorite nesting grounds.

The rangers bring the newly laid eggs to Penjaliran Timur and bury them in sand near their guard post.

"It takes about two months until the eggs hatch," Suharto says.

However, with a limited number of rangers and inadequate operating facilities, both Suharto and Zakaria say it remains very difficult for them to tackle the theft of turtle eggs on the two islets.

"We can see the thieves in Peteloran Barat or Peteloran Timur through a binocular," Suharto says.

"But since we only have a sampan *a wooden boat* on standby, we're always too late getting there and catching the thieves, who always ride in speedboats."

Despite the forest rangers' presence in Penjaliran Timur, the islet has no dock. A mid-sized speedboat must anchor 150 meters off the beach, with a four-person wooden boat serving to complete the journey or transport supplies to the beach.

As a way to bring more tourists to the Thousand Islands Marine Park, the park operator plans to build a research facility and a new dock in Penjaliran Timur, and open it to the public by next year.

"Some main islands, like Pramuka and Pulau Panggang, are overpopulated and difficult to develop further," park head Joko Prihatno tells The Jakarta Post.

"So we have to offer visitors a new place." (hwa)

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