My Second Trip to Eastern Kalimantan (a.k.a. Borneo)

This trip is my second trip to Kalimantan. I have been once there back in 1996 or 1995 (already forgot). My first was to Sangatta where Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) operates. Sangatta is slightly different from other “normal” small East Kalimantan town because of KPC. By the way Kalimantan is how Indonesian calls Borneo.

WWF organized this second trip. WWF in East Kalimantan has two projects: Coastal Zoning project in Berau and Kayan Mentarang National Park (KMNP). The KMNP project is supported by GTZ. My project was invited to KMNP to find potential sites for micro hydro especially for settlements in the park area and in the buffer area. It is believed that providing people with adequate energy source can improve their well-being and reduce the pressure to the park.

We started from Tarakan. By boat we reached Malinau where WWF office situated. From Malinau we have to go to Mansalong to take the boat to Lumbis. It took one full day to reach Tau Lumbis village. The village is close to Malaysian border. In fact, their relatives are living in Malaysian side of Kalimantan. Tau Lumbis is situated in the buffer zone of the park. Tau Lumbis is the first to visit.

Second leg of the visit was in the direction of Long Berang. This time the villages are closer to National Park. Our main objective is to reach Long Pala. We took the boat to Mentarang river and this time it took 2.5 days to reach Long Pala (actually we can do 2 days to reach Long Pala). We have to stop in Long Berang and looked at their damaged micro hydro. Second stop was in Long Mekatip whose micro hydro potential is just a bit far from the small village (although it is very nice).

The similar thing of Tau Lumbis and Long Pala is that they have the airstrip. Christian Mission constructed a simple airstrip in those 2 villages. Flight to Tau Lumbis is in average once per month while to Long Pala is twice per month. Long Pala is harder to reach due to smaller stream. Long Boat (+- 10 meter boat) can reach Tau Lumbis at normal water, while to Long Pala one needs to use Ketingting (smaller boat +- 5 meter long) in normal water depth. More about Kalimantan Trip will come.