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.