A Filming Expedition to the Wetlands

Our filming expedition last month to Linomoyo was quite successful, with the guys managing to capture all their planned images before the rainy season started. Our main objective was to film and interview remote fishing-dependent communities, so in a group of eight we hired two dugout canoes, and went on a long journey upriver with all our luggage and film equipment.

 We saw an impressive amount of wildlife along the way, from many bird species and reptiles, a beautiful range of butterflies and dragonflies, and also including a large family of the native booted macaque (Macaca Ochreata) sitting on the riverbank (listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN; http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/12557/0). We followed increasingly smaller streams, the last one being so low that we were too heavy to get through normally! Our lead film maker, Suprin, had to get out of the prow of the boat every time we hit a submerged log or a shallow section, and managed to pull us through safely.

Two hours later we arrived in a very small and dispersed community. The local dependence on fishing and waterways was immediately apparent, as the only vehicles were boats; the rivers are the people’s roads. We climbed up the bank and saw a group of women cleaning small fish, and men mending nets under the house.  This would be our home for the night, while interviewing locals and going fishing with them.

But first, we had to visit the local ‘tourist’ site; a spectacular bright blue lake in the middle of the island. A half hour walk through the bush, doing our best to avoid monster mosquitoes and getting our feet caught in spiky rattan, resulted in the beautiful sight of a deep, bright blue and clear lake surrounded by rainforest green and more butterflies. I couldn’t resist, I just had to dive in! Some were concerned about the story of a crocodile living in the middle of the lake, but it sounded a bit like a fairy tale to me. Although two locals swam too, my friends were still terrified that the crocodile would come out. Once I got out we saw an enormous fish swimming in the middle, so I’m glad it didn’t get to nibble me.

In the afternoon some of the guys designed a microphone boom, village style. After a lot of trial and error, a long pole was attached to the top of a tripod, with a standard microphone dangling from the far end, attached to one of the cameras by an even longer cable. We undertook a number of interviews that afternoon and evening, including one of myself. After that we went with the local fishermen on a night fishing trip; one man in the back paddled quietly, while his partner stood in the prow, delicately balanced and holding a long speared fork.

We travelled quietly through the black streams, with the man behind shining a torch into the water, where the fisherman might see his prey. We continued like this towards another community, catching only one fish in the process. On the way back we got another four fish (only one over 30cm), however the fishermen were quite vocal about how five years ago the fish population was much more abundant, with larger individuals more common.

The following day we returned to our base village on the edge of the wetlands, where we were lucky enough to hear a farmer play a bamboo flute in the middle of the construction of new fields. We also did some audio recordings of him and his friend, who plays a traditional guitar. We plan to overlay the images of the film with this local music.

This trip is all thanks to the support of Glenn Warland, our philanthropic trooper who has donated enough funds for us to finish the movie... which will be made much easier to complete once we get an editing computer! We’re waiting for news on this exciting development, so stay tuned J

A donation for our film making!

First of all, a huge Thank You to my friend Glenn for giving us our largest donation so far, of over $700! This is going to seriously help us to produce our documentaries in the Linomoyo area.

A group of us are heading up there on Wednesday the 28^th of September to film the tradition of hundreds of local fishermen camping in the wetlands, making the most of low water levels before the wet season starts (said to be in October).

We also hope to test the flow of some creeks to see if they can support a small hydro project during the dry season.

The mining company has not yet set a date for the meeting, which is good for us because we can do more local research in Linomoyo and the district capital before the meeting takes place (such as get detailed information which the government likes to hold on to, re: mining plans, forest classifications and plans to get Linomoyo on the electricity grid). Yet, this delay does mean that we will have to make at least one more filming trip before we can complete the documentaries. Whilst the meeting is delayed, a team of surveyors are currently determining the choicest parts of the mountains and cliffs to mine.

If you would like to support us (like Glenn and our other benefactors) to help and represent the community whose livelihoods are liable to be threatened by the planned mining activities, please make a donation. With our activities increasing in the area, we are looking for:

Transport funding per return trip of 5 days: $200

Providing a monthly wage at the base NGO rate to our amazing people who do so much work. This will give us more security with dedicated, reliable employees: $220 per person per month

(We currently have one hard-working vollie, Yasril, along with other people who provide assistance at different times. As our activities increase we would like to involve them and others on a full time basis too.)

You can contact me on linda.mcrae7@gmail.com.

Thank you for your on-going support.

Let's Make a Movie!

Based on recent donations from friends and family in Australia, last week we were able to support an exploratory filming and fact-finding expedition by a local film crew to the Linomoyo region. We hope to be able to produce at least two documentaries; one directed towards giving the local community a new perspective on their environment and dependence on the wetlands, and the second to promote the area to the wider Indonesian and international community. The film crew, consisting of my friends Suprin and Ibe, have already filmed over 50% of interviews and some of the scenery.

Next month is going to be busy for us, as the mining company plans to hold its first meeting in the community (we’re not sure of the date yet), and in a few weeks the year’s most hectic fishing season will commence. As we are entering the dry season in South East Sulawesi, the water level in the wetlands will begin to decrease. Coupled with a recently intense breeding season, the water will be swarming with fish for about four weeks. For this time, around 100 villagers will move to the water’s edge to live in temporary huts and tents, where they will be able to make in excess of four times their standard fishermen’s wage.

Hence, we are planning a large trip soon for filming, further research, attending the company’s meeting and possibly holding our own meeting with villagers.

We anticipate that the amount of funding required to complete the films, from filming on-site to high quality production in Kendari can be broken down as follows:

·         Video camera hire: $112

·         Tapes: $13

·         Generator hire (to be able to charge equipment
because there is no regular power supply): $89

·         Rechargeable batteries: $5

·         Four days car hire: $179

·         Increasing laptop RAM for better production capabilities: $78

·         External 500 GB hard disk: $56

·         Production time and labour: $335

Total costs: $865

·         We are also seeking the donation of a used but recent Apple computer, as this would provide the best production quality and be an invaluable resource to the local film-making community.

(Please note that these costs are estimates, and are based on the exchange rate of AUD1 = IDR8,956, as at 25/08/2011) 

Thanks for your support,

Linda

Small but positive progress

I just got back to Kendari from Jakarta, where I made some contacts at WWF, the Australian Embassy and got lots of inspiration for how to spread the word about what is happening in Tabunggaya and Linomoyo.

Excitingly, we received our first donation from Alice Graham; thanks Alice!!

We have also found out that the mining company will be meeting with the community on the 18th of August, so a group of us will be heading up to Linomoyo soon to observe how the community receives the plans, find out more about when and where the company intends to mine, and to further develop the scope of our project.

Thanks for your support,

Linda

Beautiful Linomoyo facing an Ecological Disaster

Linomoyo village is located in South East Sulawesi on a plain, surrounded on three sides by culturally significant mountains rising to over 1000m and covered in rainforest, and on the fourth side by a very large and beautiful wetland system. The rivers are fished by locals to support their livelihood, and are essential as a source of fresh, clean water to many communities in the area. The plain is home to the Cervus Timorensis deer, and dry rice fields combined with the fish provide most of the local diet. Within the wetland system snake kilometres of sheer white limestone cliffs, topped with rainforest.

Plans are about to be approved, with land already allocated by the provincial government, for 800ha of those mountains to be mined for limestone by a Chinese cement company.  This will cause major impacts on:

• the local ecosystem on which the Sulawesi Serpent eagle and many other as yet unrecorded species rely for their survival
• a local cave, not yet fully investigated, containing humanoid fossils rumoured to be of pre-historical origin
• the local community’s health and prosperity. This is a serious and immediate threat, with the company wanting to introduce the plans to the community in early August. 

At an obligatory meeting with Linomoyo villagers the mining company will show the area they wish to mine, and make promises of the benefits villagers can expect to receive: a regular wage, an end to traditional reliance on seasonal fishing, and money for the village to prosper. As is known from past experience, the water supply and food sources become contaminated, the wage of a mine labourer will not equal that of a sustainable fisherman and corporate social responsibility payments usually bypass local communities, going straight to the provincial government. These companies take advantage of the uneducated villagers by presenting them with a rosy picture that will not eventuate, and the project will dispossess them of their rights to a healthy and sustainable way of life.

We can see the impacts that a similar project has had on a small community in nearby Tabunggaya village where the fertile red soil, once community gardens interspersed with forest that supported the people in their traditional way of life, contains nickel. Javanese and Chinese companies have been buying out the traditional owners, dispossessing them of their culture and way of life as well as their land. After nearly 10 years of mining, it is now a disaster region where the companies have no respect for the rights of those who still live there. The local primary school is located at the top of what is now a red dirt hill, with mining extending right up to the building’s foundations. Children have to go to school via the truck depot, past the men on their smoke break, all in a world of red dust. Once a traditional coastal fishing village, the sea is now red with pollution and fish stocks are toxic. The prime means of support for locals is now as low-paid mining labourers, very different from their previous healthy and sustainable way of traditional community life.

Not much can be done now for Tabunggaya, as the companies have the right to dig the peninsula into the sea. However, there is enormous potential to assist the people in Linomoyo in opposing a similar destruction of their world but we must begin now, before the mining has an impact. The NGO which I am working with in S.E Sulawesi, LePMIL, is committed to doing this work, by showing the community options by which they can maintain and improve their way of life and not be dependent on the mine. We hope to work with them to improve the sustainability of their fish stocks, improve their skills as woodworkers, and introduce safer earthquake housing. This will be a process of gradual education, resulting in what we hope will be the common opposition to the mine, due to being incompatible with the villagers’ way of life.

But we need your help! We can’t undertake a massive project like this without funding, and because the threat is imminent it will take too long to go through normal donor channels like AusAID.


If this story has resonated with you, if you feel that you would like to help protect the Linomoyo environment and community, please consider making a donation to Commonwealth Bank Account 'Linda Elizabeth McRae' 06 7102 10169361 (Hobart, Australia).  I will keep you updated on our work, and promise to use all funds responsibly and with integrity. 

If you do choose to make a donation, please send me an email at linda.mcrae7@gmail.com with the amount and your name.


Please pass this link on to your friends and family.


Thank you, on behalf of the Linomoyo people and ecosystem.