Nyinte dedicates life to wild orchids
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A wise man says that loving what you do matters because it means caring deeply about the place you live in and always striving to make it better for others.
The work of Nyinte, a 55-year-old forest ranger, to preserve wild orchids at Kersik Luway Nature Reserve in East Kalimantan, reflects every word of the saying.
An orchid specialist by experience, Nyinte has spent over 30 years preserving wild orchids at the reserve. His hard work and dedication earned him recognition and in 1997 he was honored with the Kalpataru environmental award.
"Wild orchids in Kersik Luway, especially the Black Orchid, are a rare species ... you won't find them anywhere else. It would be a shame if we were to lose them," Nyinte told The Jakarta Post.
Although he is only an elementary school graduate, Nyinte's knowledge of wild orchids is no less superior than that of trained botanists. When talking about orchids, Nyinte is like a parent who loves talking about his children. He can identify different species of wild orchids in Kersik Luway. He cares deeply for the orchids and guards them like a mother would her baby, reminding visitors not to pick or disturb them.
Born in Sekolaq Darat village on Sept. 10, 1947, forests and nature have always been part of Nyinte's life.
"Ever since I was young, I would always go to the forest to find fruit or hunt for animals for my family," said Nyinte, who is of Dayak Tunjung descent.
In 1972, he started to work as a contract forest ranger at the local forestry service to oversee Kersik Luway Nature Reserve, which is only a half-hour ride from his village.
Every day, he patrols the reserve, covering some two square kilometers of area to watch for disturbances, including signs of forest fire. His particular destination is the 400 hectares of area in the reserve where the Black Orchid grows.
Sometimes, Nyinte and his colleagues take a day tour and camp overnight in the forest. In the dry season, when the forests are prone to fire, he builds a buffer line around the Black Orchid area and clears it of any inflammable substances.
"If we didn't clear it and build the buffer line, it would be easy for fire to spread from one area to another," Nyinte explained.
Nyinte is greatly concerned about forest fires, which he considers the main threat to the orchids. Kersik Luway has been damaged by forest fires four times. The first occurred in 1982, with the other three in 1994, 1997 and 2000.
The 1997 forest fire was the worst, damaging most of the nature reserve. At least 10 of 80 types of orchid in the reserve were destroyed.
While experts point their fingers at different culprits behind the fires, the incidents were simply beyond his comprehension.
"When I was young, there was no such thing as a forest fire. I don't know why it happened or what caused it. It is impossible that a forest could catch fire by itself," Nyinte said.
Despite his hard work and dedication, Nyinte had to wait for 20 years before he became a full-time forest ranger. That happened in 1992, when Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono visited Kersik Luway and promoted Nyinte to a permanent employee at the conservation service office.
Nyinte hardly ever complains about his meager salary. When he first joined the conservation service, he received only Rp 5,000 per month. It went up to Rp 200,000 in 1984. After winning the Kalpataru award in 1997, his salary was increased to Rp 800,000. He often receives his pay late, after a delay of a few months.
Before there were any banks in Melak, the town closest to his village, he often had to travel to Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan province, to collect his salary. The trip to Samarinda from Melak, which is located upstream on the Mahakam river, takes one day by riverboat.
"It is easier now since BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia) has a branch in Melak. I don't have to travel too far," he smiled.
With his meager salary, he has to support his wife and five children. Many times Nyinte has had to dip into his salary to offset the lack of funds for preserving his precious wild orchids.
Winning the award did not make him big-headed. His loyalty to preserve the orchids remains unquestionable. While his colleagues prefer to rush back from the remote parts of the forest to the comfort of the big city in Samarinda, Nyinte prefers to remain in Kersik Luway.
He is now training his fourth son, Didimus, to be a forest ranger. Didimus is the only one of his five children who has followed in his footsteps.
"Many people cannot stand working in the forest. I love working there ... I don't mind it at all," Nyinte said with a smile.