Sipirok, South Tapanuli
31 members of the local community who live near Batang Toru Ecosystem (which is also called as Harangan Tapanuli or Batang Toru forest) had a gathering at the office of Sipirok subdistrict government, South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra on Sunday (26/06/2022). They discussed the current situation of the tapanuli orangutan.
One of the main results of the gathering was that they agreed to form two community groups to support protection of tapanuli orangutan.
The first group was named DONGAN NI MAWAS-BLOK BARAT (Friends of The Tapanuli Orangutans in West Block/FOTTO-WB), while the second group is called DONGAN NI MAWAS-BLOK TIMUR (Friends of The Tapanuli Orangutans in East Block / FOTTO-EB).
Meanwhile, members of FOTTO-EB consist of 17 villagers from subdistricts of Sipirok and Arse. This group is chaired by Fajri Ihlas; Secretary Yahya Habibi Nasution, and Treasurer Nur Bayyina Harianja.
During the gathering, two resource persons gave Power Point presentations: Ali Bangun Gea, the Executive Director of Scorpion Foundation, talked about the current issues pertaining to tapanuli orngutans. Meanwhile, Mr. Refdi Azmin from Section V Sipirok of the North Sumatra Wildlife Authority (BBKSDA-SU) talked about general introduction of tapanuli orangutan and guidance for mitigation of human-tapanuli orangutan conflicts. The chairman of the Kalpataru-winning community, HATABOSI, Mr. Erwin Pasaribu, also appeared as a speaker in this event to talk about the urgency of protecting Batang Toru ecosystem.
This gathering was facilitated by the Scorpion Foundation Indonesia in cooperation with a South Tapanuli NGO, Kelompok Muda Mandiri dan Kreatif (KMMK).
Director of KMMK, Irham Pasaribu, and Executive Director of Scorpion Foundation, Ali Bangun Gea.
Some pictues from the gathering.
