AN AMAZING ENCOUNTER WITH SVENJA
Our PRM team in the Hiran watershed of TNBBBR conducts phenology surveys and unexpectedly encountered Svenja.
Between their busy schedule, the post release monitoring (PRM) team at Kehje Sewen, East Kalimantan took time to visit the Dayak Punan community in Muara Soh. This Dayak tribe is one of the indigenous tribes living inside the Kehje Sewen area and the team was visiting in order to deliver building materials for the community’s settlement.
The Punans warmly welcomed the PRM team, and soon everyone was involved in a friendly conversation and sharing food the team had brought. The Kehje Sewen forest, which is managed by our company PT. RHOI, is actually part of the traditional territory of the Dayak Wehea, and the Dayak Punan is another tribe living in the region.
The Punans make their living by transporting people using “ketinting” boats, at the cost of IDR 500,000 (roughly $50) per trip. Their regular customers are non-timber forest product (NTFP) collectors, such as gaharu wood and swallow nests.
Before sun down, the team bid their farewell and headed back to Camp Lesik.