Ecotourism project in Thousand Islands takes flight

The Jakarta Post, Maria L. Kegel, Contributor, East Kotok, Thousand Islands | Tue, 11/02/2010

Dockside: Visiting vet nurse Mirjam Bos from the
Netherlands relaxes on the pier at East Kotok Island
after snorkeling the nearby reef, which extends 40 meters
from shore to the drop-off area. Jakarta Animal Aid
Network (JAAN) team members hope visitors to the eco-
bungalows will take advantage of the other activities
that help reconnect urban dwellers with nature, such as
learning about the raptors at the sanctuary and diving.

Repairing reefs with rubble, making furniture out of driftwood and using glass bottles for walls: Femke den Haas and Vera Clapham are good to the environment and they are hoping their brand of ecotourism in Pulau Seribu (Thousand Islands) will encourage others to follow their lead.

The two women, heading the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) ecotourism team, aim to set a good example with their environment friendly bungalows on East Kotok Island, which they hope will generate enough revenue to keep the operation going and fund JAAN’s raptor rehabilitation program.

In return, visitors coming to the island retreat get a chance to reconnect with nature and see a difference being made to the wildlife and ecology of the area, they said.

A raptor sanctuary is set up near the rehabilitation operation on site, providing opportunities to learn about the endangered White Bellied Sea Eagles and Brahminy Kites (Elang Bondol, Jakarta’s national symbol). There is also a coral reef that extends 40 meters from shore to the drop-off area, and several dive sites around the area.

“It’s not just about hanging around on the beach because people can do that anywhere. This is more of an opportunity for people who love to be in nature, and want to learn about nature in the Thousand Islands,” den Haas said.

The team’s plans include renovating the abandoned bungalows of a former dive resort into open-air huts, making furnishings for the dwellings out of the island’s driftwood and becoming energy self-sufficient.

“We don’t want to use air-conditioning when there are sea breezes and why not look into alternative energy options with all the sun here,” den Haas said, adding that the team was saving up for solar panels by setting aside a portion of funds raised from other projects.

A rainwater catchment system providing water for toilets would also be incorporated in the roofing of the renovated bungalows, and there were plans to take the existing organic garden to a higher level, den Haas explained.

Some of the material the team needs for their project, which started in early October, is close at hand.

“The concrete blocks will be reused to make other parts [of the hut] and glass bottles will be used in the walls for letting in light, while adapting it all to a tropical environment,” Clapham said.

Lighting fixtures, furniture, mirrors, picture frames, lampshades, doors, flooring and even tissue boxes will be made from the island’s abundance of raw material, mainly the uniquely formed driftwood, which inspires Clapham to create the furnishings simply by studying its shape and texture.

“It’s about using what you have out here for furniture. Although they were already doing that, we’re bringing the design work and recycling to a new level,” Clapham said, adding that they wanted to use only sustainable materials to create an aesthetic environment.

Drifting away: JAAN ecotourism volunteer Vera
Clapham thinks of the possibilities for an interesting
piece of driftwood found on the beach on East
Kotok Island. Clapham helped make furnishings
from raw material found locally for another
ecotourism project last year on Macan Island.

Nothing on the island will be wasted. The concrete rubble being cleared from the existing bungalows will form artificial reef structures to help coral grow and recover in reef-damaged areas hit by boat anchors.

“Unlike bio-rocks, these [artificial reefs] won’t use electricity, but we’ll construct holes in the center so fish can pass through them and the corals can easily grow on it,” den Haas said, adding that the team had also transplanted some corals, making the addition of these structures a welcome combination.

The team has since put up moorings for dive boats to use and to stop future reef damage.

The bungalows had been part of Coconut Island Resorts, a dive resort which shut down in 2006. Den Haas and the JAAN team, who have been running the raptor rehabilitation program there since 2004 on land lent to them by one of East Kotok’s owners, a nature enthusiast who admires their work, were then allowed to fully manage the entire eastern part of the island.

For the JAAN team, it’s all about getting back to basics, so city comforts, such as air conditioning, are shunned.

But the team is confident that this style of island vacation will catch on with visitors to the area.

“Once people experience relaxing in an open hut, they’ll see the pleasure of it,” Clapham remarked.

Although she is based in Australia, Clapham volunteered for the ecotourism project after meeting den Haas, a co-founder of JAAN, when she offered to walk dogs at the organization’s office in Kemang during a recent visit to see family in Jakarta.

Den Haas, who first brainstormed the idea of running an environment friendly resort, said, “I didn’t know how to fix the bungalows and how to afford it all, and then bang! Vera came along and everything clicked.”

Clapham had spent the previous year on Pulau Macan, also in the Thousand Islands, volunteering to design the furnishings there from the island’s resources for a nine bungalow eco-resort.

“Ecotourism on Macan Island and with what the JAAN team is doing, is an inspiring story, and in these times people need to be aware of positive things happening and not to focus on the doom and gloom. These groups are creating an example to show people we can live differently and harmoniously in a beautiful environment that we can have for a longer time because it’s sustainable.”

— Photos by Maria L. Kegel