Making Papua independent of rice

Making Papua independent of rice

P.J. Leo, The Jakarta Post, Serui, Papua

Once a staple food, sago and pandanus are no longer an important
part of the diet for Papuans who have made the shift to rice. The
change began in the 1970s due to a government policy that
practically made rice a national staple.

The policy was dubious as not all regions like Papua were
suitable for cultivating rice nor did locals have the farming
know-how.

This trend has concerned Nicolaas Maniagasi, especially
nowadays as rice has become expensive and this has posed a threat
to the Papuans' diet.

Maniagasi has launched a campaign to encourage the residents
of Jayapura, Biak, Serui, Naire, Manokwari, Sorong, Arso and
Waropen to grow sago and pandanus for derivative products.
Maniagasi has since been considered a pioneer in the effort to
preserve sago and pandanus, which are in fast decline.

His efforts have paid off. On April 12, Maniagasi won the
Kehati Award for the Kehati Preservation Initiative category for
his work in preserving the sago plant (Metroxylon rumphii,
Metroxylon sago) and pandanus (Pandanus coinedeus), also called
buah merah (red fruit).

Maniagasi was modest about the award.

"This award should have gone to a younger person with more
potential to better motivate youths. I'm past my prime. I would
be proud and happy if young people had the courage to take the
lead and make the challenge a success," Maniagasi said as he
accepted the award and Rp 50 million from Emil Salim, the
chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kehati Foundation
(Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation). He then handed the trophy
to his youngest son, Almendo, who is five years old.

The Kehati Foundation presents the award to outstanding
conservationists to encourage people to help preserve Indonesia's
biodiversity. The award was established in 2000. Now in its third
year, two people, Nicolaas Maniagasi and Wahyu Suprapto, have
received the award. Wahyu won the award for Kehati Preservation
Motivator category.

Maniagasi began his conservation activities in 1993 when he
introduced sago processing techniques and marketing after he
discovered how to produce flour from sago for cakes.

Through a series of experiments, Maniagasi succeeded in
developing a technique, which was later introduced to various
women's organizations through training that he financed.

"People have started to plant sago for various products.
Through the effort, sago remains a staple food and people can get
additional income," said Maniagasi.

Similar efforts have been made to conserve pandanus for which
Maniagasi focuses his work on Serui, Yapen Waropen and Sorong.
Unfortunately, efforts to popularize pandanus have not been as
successful as sago. This is because people seem to feel ashamed
of promoting their traditional food despite the fact that a large
fruit from the pandanus can fetch between Rp 10,000 and Rp
15,000.

In 1999 Maniagasi founded the Sagu Suaka Alam Foundation and
uses his house as the office.

He is assisted by his wife, Jubel Abrawi, an environmental
activist who is the secretary of the foundation. Jubel helps by
finding new products made from sago and keeping an inventory of
medicinal plants and Papuan traditional healing methods. A number
of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been
supporting Maniagasi's efforts through the Sago Movement
campaign.

Jubel also collects various medicinal plants and makes them
into herbal medicines with traditional methods.

There are plants that can be used to treat cataracts, while
others cleanse wounds of dirt and old blood, he said. Considering
their economic value, regional administrations should not destroy
the plants for the sake of development projects, said Maniagasi.

He also tries to convince local administrations to protect the
province's rich biodiversity from the activities of development
projects and to support efforts that nurture the sago and
pandanus.

He said that his efforts had not brought about the desired
results because regional administrations continued to destroy the
sago's ecosystem to make way for various development projects
without replanting efforts.

Maniagasi has drawn a map of the places where the sago's
ecosystem has been destroyed or converted into other purposes.

Born in Sorong 53 years ago, Maniagasi is the only son in a
family of four. He has shown interest in planting sago since he
was a teenager. He remembered his parents telling him that during
the Dutch colonial times, sago was conserved because the Dutch
knew that Papuans relied on the plant for their staple food.

A high school graduate, Maniagasi is aware of his limited
technical know-how in developing sago and pandanus-based food
products, so he cooperates with Cendrawasih University and the
Ottow and Geisler Institute of the Economy. The two institutions
help conduct scientific research on the plants and provide
technical aid.

"Papua is a big island, therefore the challenges I face in
preserving Papua's biodiversity, including sago and pandanus, are
daunting and complex. There is no financial support nor
facilities, no educated people dedicating their lives to
conservation or a sustainable management of the rich
biodiversity. Limited infrastructure and a lack of transportation
and communications mean there are serious constraints. That is
why I did not bring the Rp 50 million fund from the foundation to
Papua but spent it on a fax machine, a computer and a camera,"
said Maniagasi, a father of seven.

"Proper communication equipment and transportation means that
it will help our work. Government support, particularly from
Telkom, is very much needed, because telephone service from Serui
is often disrupted. If it continues, communications with
government officials, academicians, bureaucrats and NGO
colleagues will be cumbersome," he said.

The Kehati Award has evoked another dream in Maniagasi, and
that is to witness, understand and uncover nature's mysteries.

"The Kehati Award is big but it is a sacred responsibility, a
reminder for humans to balance today's life with the hereafter.
That is the meaning of God's message."

Maniagasi is experimenting to make nonalcoholic wine from
various fruit.

He encourages people to also protect the faibon plant, which
is much treasured by locals for its small, sweet fruit. Faibon
has become scarce with the advent of illegal logging.

The same fate has befallen the matoa one of Papua's native
fruits. Maniagasi is also experimenting with using the seed of
the matoa for food.