#Pungky Nanda Pratama

[bumblebeeappletree]

In South Sumatra, conservationist Pungky Nanda Pratama is dedicating his life to conserving what is left of Sumatra’s rainforest.

He is thrilled to hear the call of the rare white-handed gibbon, a species that mates for life, which he describes as “super romantic”.

To show how many endangered species live in this rainforest, Pungky and some friends set up a camera trap project to photograph passing animals. Their footage includes the Sumatran Clouded Leopard, Sun Bears, and Asian Golden Cats.

Indonesia’s iconic wildlife relies on the health of these tropical rainforests.

The area where he is walking is supposed to be protected but already there are signs of open canopy due to illegal clearing, probably for coffee plantations. Palm oil and rubber is also grown in this region.

Pungky is working with local government agencies to collect protected flora from cleared land. Head of conservation for Region I, Martialis Puspito Khristy Maharsi of the Natural Resources Conservation Centre (BKSDA), says extinction is a real threat for some species.

Another threat is poaching for the flora and fauna itself.

Rescued plants are transferred to a large, purpose-built greenhouse. Here it is rehabilitated and propagated. There are about 5,000 specimens here, including hoyas, orchids, aroids, nepenthes and ferns. There are also ant plants (Myrmecodia tuberosa), which have a symbiotic relationship with ants: they provide habitat for ants to nest in their bulbous roots and receive protection from the ants who attack predatory insects.

Orchids such as the critically endangered primrose-yellow slipper orchid are often poached by orchid hunters, despite being protected by law internationally. By propagating through tissue culture, the team hopes to reduce pressure on the plant and return them to the wild.

The urge to collect exotic plants has fed this illegal trade in rare plants.

To help empower local communities on the front line of habitat loss, he works in schools to teach children about the plants and animals living in nearby rainforests. He teaches in 9 schools, some a six-hour walk from the nearest road. He says conservation is not a one- or two-year plan, but a lifetime plan to get communities involved and help find other ways to support their families.

He hopes that people will come to understand that humans depend on nature more than nature depends on us.

Featured Species:

White-handed gibbon (Hybolates lar)

Mitered leaf monkey (Presbytis melalophos)

Featured Plants:

Bulbophyllum sp.

Ant plant (Myrmecodia tuberosa)

Swain’s Coelogyne (Coelogyne swaniana)

Primrose-yellow slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum primulinum)

[onmyowntwohands]

Jungle Library Project

Hello! My name is Pungky Nanda Pratama from Sumatra, Indonesia. I am an environmental educator and conservationist, teaching in rural schools within human-wildlife conflict areas, as well as working on data acquisition and Biodiversity Protection Plan in South Sumatra. I live on a very unique island, home to very special flora and fauna. We have some of the most impressive areas of rainforest in the world. The rainforest is one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. We are part of that ecosystem and we depend on it. Fresh air, water, food and medicine is provided by the rainforest. Also, the rainforest is vital for combatting global climate issues.

However, our land is under threat. Huge areas of rainforest have already been lost, alongside the wildlife within it. It saddens me deeply to see this land ripped apart, wildlife poached and sold, taken from their mother land to live a life in chains and cages. So much rarity, so much beauty, so much ancient and pure land, all at risk. But I won't let it be destroyed. I may be just one man, but I am nothing but determined, determined to see nature thrive and for humans to live alongside these wild places in harmony. I do a lot of things to protect this island, I work endlessly, with everything I do being for nature. I don't get paid for it, but that's okay. I don't do conservation work for money, nothing is more important to me than the protection of the environment and support and educate those who rely on it. Therefore I am completely reliant on the generous donations from people across the world. I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me in my conservation projects, but my work is far from over, and I need your help more than ever! Even a small donation will help me survive and carry on working to protect the land I love. I may only be one person, but I truly believe the work I am doing has benefits which reach far across Sumatra, Indonesia, and the world.

You can dontate to the cause via  GoFundMe Conservation Funding - Pungky Nanda Pratama at  https://gf.me/u/ydrukj

[howtofindthemoney]

Deep in South Sumatra, a young environmental educator named Pungky Nanda Pratama is inspiring indigenous youth to protect and celebrate biodiversity.

[djgblogger-blog]

Saving Sumatran orchids from deforestation, one plant at a time

http://bit.ly/2BaZ1qT When tropical forests are felled and converted into land for oil palm or rubber plantations, it’s easy to think of the orangutans or the tigers that may lose their lives or their habitat. But when trees begin to fall, hundreds of plant species can perish alongside them. Some conservationists on the Indonesian island of Sumatra are fighting to save endangered plants from peril. One of them is Pungky Nanda Pratama. He started off working to save the animals of Sumatra in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park, the island’s largest protected area. But over time he began to notice the harmful effects local practices were having on the flora, as well as the fauna. Kerinci Seblat National Park is known as the last refuge of the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). It’s a huge 14,000-square kilometer (5,400-square mile) park that stretches for 350 kilometers from the middle of the island into its south. But Kerinci Seblat faces a difficult situation. Palm oil, acacia, rubber and other plantation crops pressure it from the outside, while poaching endangers the fauna within. While the area still maintains good tracts of connected forest outside of the protected area, large swathes of previously forested areas have been converted to agriculture. Meanwhile, portions of the park’s buffer zone are being turned over for agriculture, according to Pratama. “There is no significant encroachment into the national park buffer zone (or park) by plantations with one big exception,” Fauna & Flora International’s team in Kerinci told Mongabay by…