Although from different parts of the island, both Shera and Anim grew up with lots of opportunities to play in and explore Sulawesi’s natural environment. “I grew up in Palu,” says Shera, “and spent a lot of time in Lore Lindu National Park, giggling and having a lot of fun with our wildlife, especially hornbills and macaques. While Anim grew up in another side of central Sulawesi, specifically in Luwuk, and she spent her time in various villages. Every holiday she would be out hiking, savouring the solitude of being in the beautiful mountains of Sulawesi. So, these rich experiences growing up instilled our senses of wonder and our understanding of the closeness between nature and community.”
Sulawesi is a remarkable island full of wildlife which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. But it is not only distinctive for its natural diversity, as it also holds significant cultural diversity with at least 30 different ethnic groups, including more than ~600 Indigenous communities. The relationship between the island’s Indigenous Peoples and the other communities living within and around the forests with the wildlife and habitats has been a crucial focus for PROGRES Sulawesi, as often nature and culture have intertwined, and where local people’s wishes have been overlooked and their needs ignored, so have their wild counterparts.
As Anim and Shera both developed their love of nature early on in life, they know how important it is for PROGRES Sulawesi to hold education programmes. © PROGRES Sulawesi
From a flying fox…
When PROGRES Sulawesi began, it was operating on $150 a month from a single donor in 2018, focusing on the Sulawesi flying fox. Sulawesi’s locals call their bats ‘poniki’ and the flying foxes are the dawn visitors. Every sunset, they will fly from Sulawesi and the surrounding islands to forage on the mainland, but they return for daybreak to rest in their island homes.
This inaugural project began the first systematic and long-term monitoring of flying fox populations in Indonesia, providing research which then guides the efforts for the rest of the programme. On Mantawalu Daka Island, the first count of flying foxes was originally 300. But now, not only are the counts being conducted by young people on the island, but they have their work cut out for them- it has now reached almost 30,000 thanks to PROGRES Sulawesi’s work.
Sulawesi flying fox sleep in the trees of Sulawesi during the day. © PROGRES Sulawesi
To an island-wide effort focused on Sulawesi’s unique species
Following the growing success of their flying fox programme, the team have broadened their attention to other important species that can only be found in Sulawesi (endemic species).
This includes the ‘Bantiluku’, two slow-moving tortoises which are particularly limited to the centre of the island, whose population sizes are critical due to the commercial pet trade: Forsten’s tortoise and Sulawesi forest turtle. This programme was designed through extensive consultation with local communities to figure out the threat level and the best way to move forward. Like the flying fox programme, this has included monitoring and mentoring young people to become champions for the species who help carry out the conservation work.
Talaud cuscus or locally named ‘use’. © PROGRES Sulawesi
The next species is an iconic character from Sulawesi folklore: the Talaud cuscus or locally named ‘use’. It is a tree-dwelling marsupial with a koala’s teddy-bear nose, a bushbaby’s wide eyes, and a large rat-like tail which helps it balance and grip tree trunks. Use is Critically Endangered due to hunting for bushmeat, so it has been important to nurture sense of pride of having the species on the island, and share the responsibility for their future with them by training young people to survey the cuscus and conduct community outreach.
This community-centred approach has also been vital for their project on Lake Poso, where they have partnered with SHOAL to conserve three endemic fishes: Duck-billed buntingi, Rosen’s buntingi, and the Poso bungu.
PROGRES Sulawesi has partnered with SHOAL to conserve three of Sulawesi’s unique fish species. © PROGRES Sulawesi
The secret to success: listening
Looking back on their achievements, Shera says “It’s really not that Anim knew and I knew exactly what we were doing. It’s been a learning process a trial and error. And mostly by reflecting and deliberating how we could conserve biodiversity that do justice to both wildlife and the people.
“The main thing we do is to listen, listen, and listen.”
“Listen with compassion and create safe spaces for people to share their version of the story. Their voices might so far have been unheard. By listening, we can build trust and connection with the communities even before doing anything that relates to animals. By listening, I think we connect with the humanity in each other and understand what is it that is valued by these communities. What are their aspirations? It might be even as simple as producing a book or a poster. It took us years to really value what’s important for the community instead of prioritising what we think they need to know.
“This approach also applies to capacity building to conservation programs with nuances that can respect and incorporate not only based on scientific findings, but also to respect and resonate with community knowledge, their culture and wisdom.”
Supporting partners’ work engaging local communities and prioritising Southeast Asia’s unique and highly threatened species are core pillars of our Asian Species Programme.
To find out how you can become a supporter of the programme, please get in touch.
