Cave clubs push thrill of the unknown

By R. Kristiawan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Outdoor activities are popular among students in Yogyakarta, and almost all the universities in the city have nature lovers' clubs.

But Palawa at Atma Jaya University is different from the usual clubs as it also conducts mountaineering, wall climbing and rafting activities.

It's major activity is spelunking -- cave exploring.

"Approximately 70 percent of our training program is on spelunking," said Agung S., a communications student and a senior member of Palawa.

Spelunking was first introduced in Indonesia in the early 1980s and was quickly embraced by many outdoorsmen. "We have just inherited this from our seniors," said Agung.

Now, among student outdoor clubs in Indonesia, Palawa leads in spelunking activity.

Palawa was founded in 1976 as a university-funded student activity unit. Compared to outdoor clubs of other universities, Palawa is much better off, receiving Rp 60 million from the university per year.

Equipment for the activities is expensive, about Rp 10 million per person. Palawa has acquired 312 members since its inception.

"Although we are a student-based club, those who have graduated are still our members as we have a lifelong membership system," said Andris, one of the board members.

There are 20 students who are active in the club. Every year, they recruit new members who undergo basic training, 70 percent of which is spelunking. They then undergo a tryout, which usually consists of mountain hiking or spelunking in Gunung Kidul.

The club has a room in the back of the university building where members gather almost every day. Twice a year, the members are required to go to the caves. The program consists of mapping activities and expeditions to new areas.

It's not just a fun day out, because they have to write a report -- with data and maps -- of their expedition.

"The report is very important for us. Sometimes we just finish reporting after a year even though it's about a weeklong expedition," said Andris.

They have also conducted expeditions in Kalimantan and Kinabalu. Besides the obligatory trips, members often go out on their own to explore caves.

Subjects

Speleology is important to Atma Jaya University; the School of Biology of the private university offers biospeleology as one of its subjects. Biospeleology explores many aspects of caves, including its social and economic functions.

Lecturer and designer of the course Pramanayudha said biospeleology was important to the country due to the existence of many caves in Indonesia.

"There are now 14 students majoring in biospeleology," said Pramanayudha, who was active in another nature lovers' group, Mapagama, at Gadjah Mada University. He offers advice to Palawa's members.

There is also the Agintyagunyata Speleological Club (ASC), a nonprofit club in the country devoted to speleology, and one which has made many important discoveries.

"There were many (clubs), but they could not be maintained due to financial constrains," said Didi Hadi Wisnu Hartanto, chairman of Agintyagunyata Foundation, the club's patron.

ASC was established on Jan. 1, 1984, and launched in Luweng Seropan, Gunung Kidul. The founders were six people with outdoor activities and geology backgrounds.

Later the same year, the group, in collaboration with teams from England and Australia, discovered the beautiful Luweng Jaran in Pacitan, probably the country's longest cave.

In 1986, together with a French team, ASC discovered the deepest vertical cave in the country, the 255-meter-deep Leang Pute in Maros, Sulawesi.

ASC also works with other institutions to find new uses of caves. For example, it collaborated with state-owned forestry company Perhutani to seek the potentials of caves. Together with an expert from England, ASC found groundwater in the caves in Gunung Kidul, which could be used by residents there as they often suffer droughts.

ASC has also helped on the tourism front. It has worked with Puri Tour travel bureau to explore new tourist destinations, and assisted local and overseas experts in exploring caves in Indonesian. It has a good documentation system, with complete photographic data of many caves in Java.

Since its establishment, it has had 39 members. There are two kinds of membership: full, who receive registration numbers as priority for activities, and junior.

"The number of full members is smaller as they must be committed to caving," said Agus Suharyoto, chairman of ASC.

As it is nonprofit oriented, funds are raised through members contributing Rp 1,000 each per week and by working for other groups. ASC hopes that, in future, a funding agency will help it go deeper in its cave explorations.