By Sumihadi, Assistant Research Manager
I recall the saying, “Experience is the best teacher.” I quite agree with that statement, because I have learned that my own experiences have shaped the flow of my life.
For four years I have been part of the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Project-Yayasan Palung (GPOCP-YP) family as a member of the research team. It was a long journey to become part of this team, and I am reflecting now on all of the experiences that led me to where I am today. I have loved my job, but am giving it up for another love that is no less valuable for my life.
I first became involved with YP in 2013 when I applied for a West Bornean Orangutan Caring Scholarship to attend university. I was honored to become one of the scholarship recipients in the 2014 academic year. As part of this YP sponsored scholarship program, in 2017 myself and five other students did a college internship for 1 month at the Cabang Panti Research Station (SRCP). We took part in all the orangutan research project activities managed by YP, and from this internship, the best experiences of my life would emerge. I learned quite a lot about the research project in a very short time.
Then, in 2018, I returned to SRCP to collect data for my thesis on Ficus spp. (figs). I continued to learn how to be a researcher in the wilderness here, preparing a study, collecting data for the orangutan project, and managing my own project data. In December 2019, I graduated from college and was offered a one-month internship at SRCP, which was followed by an official offer to join the research team in 2020 as a laboratory assistant. At first, I doubted whether I could live and work in the forest but decided to push all doubts aside and go for it.
Before I finished the training period in my new role, the world was shocked by the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Several project research staff from abroad were forced to return to their respective countries due to the policies of world governments in response to the pandemic. The orangutan project continued to try to survive with the altered pandemic conditions and I also persevered in learning all the research protocols despite the limitations the pandemic imposed on us.
My job as a laboratory assistant involved working with orangutan biological samples and field data and then helping to manage data from orangutan behavioral follows. I processed fecal and urine samples and orangutan food samples. I also helped to conduct an inventory of all the foods eaten by orangutans in Gunung Palung and contributed to a digital herbarium to document the foods of the Bornean orangutan. This botanical work really grew as a main interest of mine, and I loved creating this digital herbarium to help identify orangutan foods in Kalimantan. Time seemed to fly by as I was enjoying my role so much, and in 2023 I accepted new responsibilities as Assistant Research Manager. Much of my work was the same as before, but my responsibilities for the botanical data and documenting orangutan foods grew. Orangutans are frugivorous animals that prefer to eat fruit, but they also eat tree bark, young leaves, old leaves, flowers, grass and insects. Learning about the diet of orangutans helped me to learn so much about the forest as a whole.
Now, in April 2024, my time with YP is coming to an end, and I am leaving the Cabang Panti Research Station. I feel very sad to say goodbye to this beautiful experience in the most beautiful place. I hope that Yayasan Palung and all my incredible friends will continue to be successful. I leave it behind now to spend precious time with my first baby – due to arrive very soon. I hope that the forest will be preserved and the animals will be protected for my own little future conservationist.
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Management of Cabang Panti Research Station is conducted by the Gunung Palung National Park Office (BTN-GP) in collaboration with GPOCP/YP. Scientific research is carried out in conjunction with the Faculty of Biology at Universitas Nasional (UNAS) and Boston University.
