PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

Fundraising photo exhibition seeks to distill the beauty of nature while inspiring love for the environment.

Art and nature are deeply interconnected. There are many artists who collaborate with nature as their muse in creating their artworks. On the other hand, beauty can also emerge naturally from the environment itself. Centuries ago, because of technological limitations, the beauty of nature could be captured only through painters’ brushes. Now, however, the world of photography, which has advanced impressively, can also be the main medium to document nature.

In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of conservation partnership collaborations in Indonesia, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Indonesia is currently conducting a photo exhibition called ‘We are the Nature Heroes’ at the Pacific Place shopping center in Central Jakarta, showcasing 200 photographs taken by Indonesian amateur photographers curated by TNC Heritage Club member Ario Wibisono as well as other TNC officers, namely Danny Lumanto and Andiyan Lutfi. The photographs are being showcased in turn at an exhibition that runs from Oct. 17 to 30.

The exhibition also seeks to inform people about the biodiversity of Indonesia’s ecosystem, particularly pertaining to coral reefs and rainforests.

“There aren’t many people out there who are aware that around 75 percent of the world’s coral reef species are found in Indonesia, or that our tropical rainforests rank third on the list of the world’s biggest. This rich biodiversity is something that we also want to convey to the public [through the exhibition],” TNC Indonesia country director Rizal Algamar said.

Meanwhile, Pacific Place marketing communication manager Iin Surjiono said the shopping center was happy to participate in the event in an effort to conserve the environment.

“This is the time to get more Indonesians aware of the country’s biodiversity and hopefully this awareness can prompt them to take actions to conserve the environment,” she said.

FUNDRAISING FOR MERABU

According to Ario, the exhibition could be an opportunity for the public to become environmental heroes, hence the theme of the exhibition.

This is true because the photo exhibition is also a charity event seeking to raise funds to develop Merabu village in Berau, East Kalimantan, as a model environmentally friendly village through TNC Indonesia’s local partner, the Nusantara Natural Conservation foundation.

Merabu village’s environment is extraordinarily rich. With an administrative region covering 22,000 hectares of land, or approximately one-third of Jakarta’s total size, it is populated by only 62 families. The village has a tropical rainforest ecosystem, which is preserved meticulously.

In 2014, the village became the first in the province to obtain a permit from the Forestry Ministry (now renamed the Environment and Forestry Ministry) to cultivate a village forest covering 8,245 hectares of land. After being accompanied by TNC for a few years, the village has finally been successful in implementing ecologically friendly village development.

Due to the achievement, in 2016 Merabu village won the first runner-up prize in a village forest-management competition conducted by the ministry.

“All proceeds collected from the exhibition will be used to develop rubber seedlings, cow pasture, forest-honey cultivation as well as ecotourism,” Rizal concluded.

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The exhibition will run at Pacific Place until Oct. 30. All photos displayed are on sale on limited stock. Those who are interested in buying the photographs should contact Ingrid on 9878-8832 9022 or send an email to ingrid.leonlike@tnc.org to get information about the showcased photographs.

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