Herawati, butterfly specialist from Lampung

Herawati, butterfly specialist from Lampung

Oyos Saroso HN, The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Though modest and quite small, the old Palembang-style house on a
plot of 200 square meters retains its beauty. With its wooden
walls and floors, it presents a solid and antique appearance.

To its left are hundreds of square meters of land with diverse
plants, where myriad species of gorgeous butterfly are to be
seen.

A new pyramid-shaped building without walls has been built
here so that discussions can be held and guests entertained.

Since 1997, the stilt house located on the fringe of the Wan
Abdurrahman People's Forest Park at Mount Betung has been the
place where 50-year-old Herawati "Mbak Iing" Soekardi keeps in
close touch with butterflies. Around her home, she breeds and
studies these flying insects while relishing their radiance.

The land and buildings originally formed part of a three-
hectare site lent by the Lampung provincial forestry office to
Herawati for the setting up of a butterfly captive breeding
center. Owing to conflict with local people over ownership of the
site, the land and another four hectares were purchased outright.

With the help of her husband, Anshori Djausal, and friends in
their 20s, Herawati converted the site into a butterfly breeding
and study center, while the additional four hectares that were
purchased were planted with various tropical fruit trees to serve
as hosts for the butterfly larvae.

The house, located some 30 kilometers from the provincial
capital, Bandarlampung, is a second home for Herawati and
Anshori, both lecturers at Lampung University, and they stay
there every weekend.

"We only use kerosene lamps as there's no power supply here.
There was once a diesel generator but we could not stand the
noise. We also put up bamboo torches in front of the house. So we
again become at one with nature after a week's work in the city,"
said Herawati.

Learning by doing

The butterfly enthusiasts enjoy their weekends amid the sounds
of the wildlife in the forest. The cool mountain air and respite
from hectic urban life make them feel comfortable. Along with
activists from the Yayasan Sahabat Alam (nature lovers'
foundation), they have been growing different plants that attract
butterflies in the area, which is now known as the Gita Persada
Butterfly Park.

Herawati and her helpers from Sahabat Alam also provide
information to local people living in the forest on the
importance of soil conservation and how to grow seedlings. "The
butterfly park actually serves as one way in which I can
disseminate information on conservation and biological diversity
so as to help local people progress."

Her efforts have been fruitful. The people from Mt. Betung are
already skilled at growing seedlings, as shown by the nursery
beds to be found along the roadsides and in the gardens of their
homes. Instead of cutting down trees, they are diversifying
plants to collect forest products.

The People's Forest Park has resulted in people being
relocated from the forest interior, but they can continue to
harvest forest products in the traditional manner.

Herawati acknowledged the deep love felt by both herself and
her husband for nature. Anshori can list of the names of a host
of different plant species, even though he is a civil engineer by
profession. Whenever he tours remote parts of Sumatra, he never
fails to bring home seedlings to be grown on Mt. Betung.

"The plants are often taken from ravines that are hard to
reach. So, I've got to take good care of his gifts," said
Herawati, a mother of four teenagers.

The pair resolved to do something to help conserve the Mt
Betung ecosystem after witnessing the havoc being wreaked by
squatters.

Situated between Bandarlampung and South Lampung, Mt. Betung
began to attract squatters in the 1970s, with most of the damage
being caused in the late 1990s. By the end of the 1990s, almost
70 percent of the forest had been felled.

"I could not just lament what was happening. As a responsible
member of the college teaching staff, I decided to do something about
it. In my view, captive breeding and habitat engineering are two
ways in which successful conservation can be brought about,"
continued Herawati.

She has ensured that Gita Persada is now a model center for
butterfly breeding and habitat engineering as a basis for
conservation.

Her pioneering park has attracted researchers, children and
students at all levels, besides local and foreign tourists. Among
the regular visitors are students from Sriwijaya University, the
Bandung Institute of Technology and the Bogor Institute of
Agriculture.

Pragmatic approach to conservation

"Around 1,500 visitors come here every year on average. But I
don't want to turn this place into a mere tourist attraction as
its primary purpose is butterfly conservation. I want to show the
public that conservation can be a simple and low-cost effort,"
she explained.

Her hard work has earned her recognition. She received the
Kalpataru environment award from the Lampung provincial
administration in 2004, and a doctorate from the Bandung
Institute of Technology (ITB) for her work on butterflies.

She is perhaps the only butterfly specialist in Indonesia who
lives in the same place as the insects being studied.

"Prof. Dr. Soelaksono Sastrodihardjo, my dissertation adviser,
asked me to develop my research findings in other regions. My
son, who is now studying at the ITB, is also working on a thesis
about butterflies under Soelaksono's guidance," she added.

Following her success with the butterfly center, Herawati is
now focusing her effort on teaching Lampung's indigenous people,
many of whom own considerable areas of land, to practice
conservation and crop diversification. Until recently, local
villagers had generally tended to ignore their land. If a crop
was grown, it would normally be pepper or coffee.

Since her husband happens to be from the Bunga Mayang
community, an ethnic group living in 72 villages in North Lampung
regency, Herawati has a close relationship with local villagers.
She was sad to see that even the landowners, each of whom owns an
average of over five hectares, and some more than 10 hectares,
were far from being prosperous.

Two years ago, she started teaching the Bunga Mayang people
about the importance of soil conservation and crop
diversification on communal land.

"Thank God, most of them now understand and no longer leave
their land fallow. They are growing a wide variety of crops," she
noted.

Together with the Bunga Mayang people, Herawati has so far
planted 200,000 seedlings from 50 different kinds of tropical
fruit trees, such as rambutan, soursop, avocado, lime, lanson,
mango and durian trees. She says that the costs involved in this
project are minimal as the young seedlings are readily
obtainable.

Herawati admitted that there was not much money in the
butterfly park project and communal land conservation efforts.
"The butterfly park is my response to the need to save diverse
species of insect and conserve the Mt. Betung ecosystem, while
the conservation of communal land reflects our desire to help
local people improve their circumstances," she explained.