The calendar was marked on March 21st 2020 for the 3rd Heartland Project, where we wanted to commemorate International Day of Forests by planting trees. Through our YOUTH ACT campaign, we gathered youth organizations and individuals from all over Indonesia to join in forces for this movement, as we targeted 10,000 trees to be planted this year (We planted 7,500 trees last year!). Youth from Central Kalimantan, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, NTB, East Java, Bali, South Sumatra, Maluku, West Kalimantan and Mentawai signed up to take climate action together. We have 41 organizations, 734 individuals, and 1922 trees registered!
International Indigenous Film Festival is coming to Kuching, Sarawak on July 5-7, 2020. The theme for this RWMF Fringe: KIIFF2020 is “Indigenous Arising” — Show Yourself; Every indigenous person is to be brave, proud and confident to show him/herself to the world through films. Submission opens March 5th - April 20th. Submit your films now!
Looking back to the previous forest fires, during those times we saw many trees fell to the ground terribly although its green leaves were still attached and the trunk looked firm.
It looked fine on the surface, but as peat fires burn underground, the roots were attacked first. The strong roots turned into ashes and the tree lose its foundation.
2019 has been a very challenging year for us. Everything seemed impossible at first, but in the end, it all worked. From showcasing indigenous films at big cinemas to campaigning at international forums. From coping 5 long months of toxic haze inhalation to debating with the governor on climate justice & haze regulations. But although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
“My focus now is really to empower the communities, rather than going around to seek for help. Because nothing will happen unless you help yourself. We have to stand on our own feet. And that’s happening.”
— Emmanuela Shinta (WWF 3:Breaking The Game Preview)
06 January 2020
This article was written under smoke-stained tannin-yellow skies in Canberra and under dark blood-red skies in Merimbula. Despite not being under direct bushfire threat, these places experienced toxic haze for weeks. I had irritated eyes, headaches and nausea.
The story of the Heartland Project is about ‘investment’ for the earth and how youths are the driving force behind it. People usually invest by using money to get long-term material benefits. In this case, the Heartland Project youths invested in something in the long-term as well, but on a much greater matter than personal material benefits. They invested in the earth.
Dayak wisdom says humans are equal to nature. Putting ourselves in this position of not being superior to the environment creates harmony, where we won’t take and exploit resources with greed. Instead, take what you need, and always give back. Honor nature with respect and protect it by living sustainably. Nature is way bigger than us but we tend to feel we are more powerful.
Palangka Raya, October 19th, 2019 - For more than three months, all we saw in Kalimantan was the grey sky and no sunlight, More than 78,000 hotspots (according to LAPAN) blaze all over Kalimantan since June. The haze can even make the surroundings look blank-white, giving us very low visibility and extremely high concentration of dangerous fine particles PM 2.5 to breathe in.
Kalimantan Climate Strike 20-27 September 2019. EIGHT days of strike for climate to voice the emergency crisis of smoke haze and forest fires in Kalimantan. All provinces of Kalimantan is being burned, giving a total of 30,000 hotspots for the whole island as of September 2019. All experienced the same hardship due to the haze. Within 8 days of the Kalimantan Climate Strike, 319 young people in Palangkaraya, Ketapang, and Pontianak united to voice Climate Justice for Kalimantan: End the 22 years of Borneo Forest Fire now!
Kalimantan Climate Strike 20-27 September 2019. EIGHT days of strike for climate to voice the emergency crisis of smoke haze and forest fires in Kalimantan. All provinces of Kalimantan is being burned, giving a total of 30,000 hotspots for the whole island as of September 2019. All experienced the same hardship due to the haze. Within 8 days of the Kalimantan Climate Strike, 319 young people in Palangkaraya, Ketapang, and Pontianak united to voice Climate Justice for Kalimantan: End the 22 years of Borneo Forest Fire now!
SIGN THE PETITION TO DEMAND CLIMATE JUSTICE FOR KALIMANTAN!
We, the youth of Kalimantan are in collective solidarity for KALIMANTAN CLIMATE STRIKE 20 - 27 SEPT to demand that the government: all Kalimantan Governors, President Jokowi, The Ministry of Environment and Forestry Mrs. Siti Nurbaya Bakar to give CLIMATE JUSTICE to Kalimantan IMMEDIATELY.
More than 162,000 hectares of forest has been burned in Kalimantan and Sumatera. In Central Kalimantan itself, there are 1971 hotspots. Everyday in Palangkaraya the PM 2.5 number reaches more than 1000 μg/m³ (PAQ), resulting to 9000 people being affected by URI (ISPA).
As YOUTH ACT continues fighting the fires and haze for the past three months, your action is urgently needed now!
In commemoration of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (World Indigenous Day - Aug 9), Ranu Welum Foundation & Indigenous Film Festival presented “Kalimantan Indigenous Film Festival 2” or #KIFF2019 to the city that Ranu Welum calls home - Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan).
A story by Nanda, 23 years old Dayaknese that spent almost her whole life outside her home island. — Just moved back in to Kalimantan, there’s nothing more that I wanted to do other than go to the villages. I was stoked when I first heard the plan that we are going to stay in a village area for five days, as the city is immensely stressful.
“Two of my children experienced severe cough for a month because they have been breathing this polluted air. We don’t have any other place to hide from this haze” said Sudarto, a father that came to our haze shelter to get fresh air and mask for his children.
‘Until I was in high school, I didn’t refer to myself as ‘Indigenous’. I didn’t speak in my mother tongue. My father is Javanese and my mother is Dayak Ngaju, therefore I faced a dilemma. I always asked myself ‘who am I, am I Dayaknese? Am I Javanese?’, but the voice inside my heart keeps saying that I’m Dayak. So, I learn how to speak Dayak Ngaju. After I’m able to speak in Dayak Ngaju, I feel a sense of belonging to Dayak Ngaju Community. Now I really am proud to say I’m Dayak.’
- Yun Pratiwi Founder of Central Borneo Guide
The younger generation is often considered to represent the future; they bring new ideas that can engender change, they bring enthusiasm and vitality; leading to new discoveries and developments that can benefit society. Unfortunately, young people’s voices are still not well represented in various countries - especially Indonesia. We believe that youth forums are the best platform for young people to connect and speak for themselves.
Indonesia’s rainforests are one of earth’s most biologically and culturally rich landscapes. Unfortunately, in line with the increasing pace of Indonesia’s economic growth, forest loss continues every year. The scale of destruction of our rainforest is so large that it now has a significant impact on global climate. For this reason, Youth Act Kalimantan initiated a youth movement, 'The Heartland Project', which aims to mobilize young people from all over Indonesia to participate in planting trees and restoring remaining forests in their area.
![[KALIMANTAN HAZE RELIEF EFFORT] The fight is not over. We will never give up to protect what is left.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ebb0ca59827e684a13e78c/1571503320799-7BYZYDOY8O0TZ8CYXSBR/20e755c6-699e-4e74-8f28-f4fff024b582.jpg)
![[PRESS RELEASE] Kalimantan Climate Strike September 20-27 2019](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ebb0ca59827e684a13e78c/1570615616448-3V4HBCRJ4NQIP574YQTQ/Screen+Shot+2019-10-09+at+14.55.10.png)
![[PETITION] #ClimateJustice4Kalimantan: End the 22 years of Borneo Forest Fire now!](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ebb0ca59827e684a13e78c/1568931865037-WWXP7O8BUX4FW7KNXFL6/1.png)
![[URGENT] ACTION IS NEEDED NOW: Help us to fight over 1,000 hot spots in Central Kalimantan!](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ebb0ca59827e684a13e78c/1568349722512-3D5QU1LEPBOPIIK3R8N8/aIMG_9062.JPG)
![[HIGHLIGHT] Kalimantan Indigenous Film Festival 2 #KIFF2019](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ebb0ca59827e684a13e78c/1567185128281-9R5HQED103I9CWL8AP11/2019-08-18%2B02.11.07%2B1.jpg)
