Ecoteer

Ecoteer House Herb Garden

The local village children helping out at the Ecoteer House Herby Garden

Currently our Ecoteer House, Community and Conservation project in Perhentian Island, we are trying to make the herb garden as alive and as productive as possible. The main goal would be for it to produce western herbs and local herbs, maybe some fruits for the community.

Putting soil into a plastic bottle to make a plant nursery

We even feel that the herb gardern located in front of the Ecoteer House is not large enough for this mini project, that we rented a small piece of land near the forest to be another of our herb garden but we called it the ‘Community Herb Garden.’

Placing some seed into the newly made nursery

Making the herb garden productive is not an easy task especially when most of us do not really know much about gardening. As it is a coastal area, the soil is not suitable for much farming. We are hoping that the compost made from the Bio-mate machine can help increase the fertility of the soil.

Nice shot taken by one of the kids!

Read more about the Bio- mate arrival on the island here.

Curry leaves good for a pot of hot spicy steamy curry

Even though we have a less fertile soil, we have any little man power to help us to water the plants, plant the seeds, make mini plant nurseries, and they are none other than the children of the village! They are very cute and helpful.

The spiral herb garden

Natalie, one of our volunteers trying to dig up a young papaya tree

Papaya tree planted on our herb garden!

If you wish to join our project and help out with our community garden, you can contact explore@ecoteer.com

To know more about the Ecoteer House project, go to Perhentian Island Community and Conservation Project.

Tree Planting @ Teach in Borneo

Last month, our volunteers from the Teach in Borneo project organized a tree planting field trip for the children of the schools involved in our project.

It was an exciting event for the children because they get very little chance to venture our of their village.

Our volunteers worked with the HUTAN organization also known as the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation project in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. HUTAN help organized this trip with the participation 15 of the students limited by the amount of funds.

For most of the students, tree planting is very uncommon as their community is not exposed much to environmental awareness. Which is why this field trip plays an important role to raise their environmental awareness.

However due to insufficient fundings, field trips as such cannot not carried out frequently and only selected student get to participate in it. If you would like to fundraise or donate to the Teach in borneo project, you can email explore@ecoteer.com for more information.

To many, tree planting is an ordinary field trip, but it is more than a field trip to them because they get to go out from the palm oil plantation and explore new things. That is why field trips such as these are very important to broaden up their minds.

We would like to thank HUTAN and our volunteers for putting up alot of effort to make the field trip a success.

For more information on the Teach in Borneo project, go to Teach English in Borneo.

Installing composting machine @ Ecoteer House

Transporting the Bio-mate machine from the mainland to the island

Our Ecoteer House project on Perhentian Island recently has installed a composting machine which increases the rate of decomposition of the organic waste.

Had to use a fishing boat instead of the speedboat. A very heavy machine.

The decompostion rate is higher in the machine is due to the presence of a higher concentration of decomposing enzymes and the machine provides an optimum temperature and humidity for the decomposition to work best.

Villagers helping out to transfer the composting machine to the local school

The compost will then be used as fertilizer for the community garden. The organic waste are currently collected from several restaurants and houses. Ecoteer House is hoping that after introducing this machine to the villagers, it will encourage villagers to reduce their organic waste by composting.

Nearly there!

For now the composting program is at its trial stages. Some times the machine will breakdown, but lets hope all is well.

The first few people to fill the machine up with organic waste

This composting campaign/ project will be a significant part of the Ecoteer House community work. So collecting organic waste for this machine will be a daily routine of volunteers in the evening. It will be quite fun to do it with the children helping out.

More organic waste!

All filled up and ready to degrade!

To know more about the Ecoteer House, go to Perhentian Island Community & Conservation Projects.

Events: Clean The Beach, Port Dickson, Malaysia

Would you like to be apart in this beach clean at one of Malaysia’s top tourist spots?

Come and join this event and meet other people who are as passionate as you about the environment!

Event Description:
An event to clean a 2.5km stretch of Pantai Cahaya negeri in Port Dickson to instill awareness of environmental protection among the local community. Organized in conjunction with the Water Festival 2012, this event will be participated by volunteers from uniformed bodies, NGOs, private sectors and local community fols.

What volunteers will be doing:

Collecting litter along the beach and engage with the local community to instill awareness of environmental protection and its benefits to the local community.

Event: Clean the Beach
Organizers: UKAS & JPM in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism
Location: Pantai Cahaya Negeri, Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, Malaysia
Date: 6th May 2012
Time: 8AM, registration at Main Stage, Pesta Air Port Dickson

Contact person for registration:

Norhayatul Asma
norhayatul@ukas.gov.my
+603-8880 5848

Ida Fariza
fariza@ukas.gov.my
+603-8880 5973

Ecoteer April SNAP-etition Winner!

We would like to congratulate Jessica Baker for winning GBP30 for getting the highest number of Likes on our Ecoteer Facebook Page

Play fighting with Samson the baby wooly monkey
Merazonia Animal Refuge in Mera, Ecuador

We would also like to thank all participants who has submitted their photos as well.

Thank you for your support!

Cheers,

Ecoteer Team

Village clean up at Perhentian

Ecoteer’s main goal in our projects is to inspire people who had been involved as well as indirectly involved with our projects to give back something to the community or do something good for the environment. Two of our projects which are directly under Ecoteer Responsible Travel, we try to have similar activities such as organizing village clean ups.

Most of the times, the villagers do not have the awareness to keep their village clean feeling that it does not bring any difference to their life. But we want to change that especially with the children first. On Perhentian Island, our Ecoteer House project, the rubbish mostly came from the children. They are mostly food wrappers or disposable plastic cups.

The rubbish are places where Aedes mosquitos breed as it collects rainwater and it is not surprising that the village has some cases of Dengue fever. Thus is it our responsibility to educate the villagers.

So far, the children has been involved in many of the village clean ups. Of course the village still has rubbish here and there but at least the children start to learn about the importance of having a clean environment and it makes them think twice before throwing their sweet wrappers on to the floor.

We try to make it enjoyable by having small rubbish collecting competition. We split the kids up into groups and the group with them most rubbish wins! The winning team wins the bragging rights =D

Within 2 hours, the area around the jetty was cleared from rubbish with bags of rubbish here and there. Some of the rubbish bags were even bigger then the little boys who tried to carry the rubbish bin around.

Collecting rubbish has never been this competitive before!

Besides this, Ecoteer organizes weekly village clean ups on Saturday evening which involves the older generation of villagers. The best part is, some of the villagers start to appreciate the cleanliness of the village. Yay we are moving forward!

New project! Rainforest Awakening

This year Ecoteer Responsible Travel has collaborated with FUZE Outdoor Event Management to create a new conservation program called the Rainforest Awakening. This is one of our hard core volunteering projects involving 14 days of jungle trekking in the thick forest of Malaysia.

The purpose of this trip would be to set up camera traps in the forest of Mount Korbu, located in the state of Perak, Malaysia. The forests are thought to be home to wild populations of Asian Elephants, Malayan Tiger, Leopards, Golden cats, Sun bears and all sorts. In order to find out what is living in these forests camera traps will need to be set in order to capture photos of any animals walking near the cameras. Each camera trap unit costs RM1500 (GBP300) and we want at least 20 units. All supporters will receive a bi-annual report on the progress of the camera traps. If you sponsor 1 unit then you will be given all the original photos captured by your camera. If you are interested, you can donate here.

Along the way, volunteers will get to see the limestone caves and go cave exploring, bath in the cooling river water, get the chance to see endangered animals species and many more.

As this program is towards animal conservation, the last few days will be used to educate the local tribes about environmental awareness and share with them what we need to do to protect our forest.

View the itinerary.

This project is very suitable for volunteers who love to jungle trek, does not mind being in the forest for 2 weeks, has good stamina, a team player and listen to instructions well as the team will be lead by a facilitator.

Every month, a group will be lead for this expedition. However this expedition can only be continued if the group consist of a minimum of 4 participants. So come with your friends and join us for this expedition of a lifetime!

For more information on the project (ie cost, schedule & itinerary), visit Rainforest Awakening or send your inquiries to explore@ecoteer.com.

Interview with Bayu

Bayu is a key staff in one of the Indonesian NGO which focuses on conservation of natural ecosystems, wildlife and its habitat in several parts of Indonesia and Borneo.

1. Briefly give us a summary about what your organization is all about?

We are an Indonesian NGO working in Bali, Nusa Penida and Borneo for the preservation of Indonesia’s wildlife and its habitats. We take a holistic approach which recognises the intrinsic inter-relation between humans, our fellow creatures and the environment. As a small Non Government Organisation we focus on grassroots issues and frontline conservation. Founded in September 1997, initially to support the orangutan rehabilitation program in Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo, we have since expanded our focus to include reforestation, community development, conservation education, rehabilitation and release of other wildlife such as the critically endangered Bali Starling, sea turtles and others.

Our organization is heavily involved in habitat restoration alongside the local communities in Borneo and Nusa Penida; supporting the conservation of rainforest. We work with communities to provide alternative livelihoods in an ecologically responsible manner.

We run a Mutual Learning field school and a demonstration plot to help farmers build skills in agroforestry and animal husbandry. We also introduced a Cow Bank, and are helping train nominated villagers as “livestock paramedics”. Villagers contribute actively, giving ideas, labour, materials and managing many aspects of the programs themselves. We support the villagers to participate in ecotourism, organising skills training, promoting traditional crafts and services, and gaining certification for local forest guides and village homestays. Many of the ecotourism participants are also members of our Community Patrol program, helping Forest Police fight fires, clear waterways and taking part in anti-illegal logging patrols. Together with the local authorities, schools and womens groups, our team runs health checks and seminars for women, children and the elderly; cultivate school and family gardens; and provide teachers assistance and scholarships.

In 2011, our organization acquired a Wildlife Rescue Centre in Tabanan, central Bali.

2.What aspect of the job do you enjoy most while working for your organization?

To be able to bring about positive change in communities, the preservation of endangered wildlife and the environment through learning together and  coming up with solutions that are ecologically viable.  It has been, and hopefully will continue to be, a journey of amazing discovery and wonderment.

3. What is the level of support from the community towards your project?

The entire island of Nusa Penida has been declared, and is operating as, a bird sanctuary by unanimous vote of the villagers.  This is further reinforced by the inclusion of bird protection in the awig-awig or traditional village law.  The protection of birds on the island is also embraced by the local temples, where all of the villagers worship

In Borneo, as in Nusa Penida, villagers contribute to our community development projects by giving ideas, providing labour and materials, as well as managing some of the projects themselves

4. What are the interesting aspects of your projects?

Here is some feedback from our volunteers:

“Phone wouldn’t work! Great programme. Lots of different things to do. Felt useful. Will return!”  – Anonymous

“Enjoyed planting in the garden and social time at night around the table (music and food)” – Lisa Chominiec

“Built garden greenhouse. Tilled soil for planting. Enjoyed socialising at night, cremation ceremony, visiting Tembeling Cave. Everyone very welcoming and entertaining” -  Tilman Schaeffer

“Greenhouse work. Teaching and attended bird release” – Anonymous

5. What do volunteers learn when they volunteer in your projects?

Volunteering with our organization, either on Nusa Penida, in Borneo or with our Wildlife Rescue Centre in central Bali, is a fun way to learn about the environment, conservation and community development, and a great way to meet traditional communities and work alongside them

6.What is the most touching/ inspiring thing have you seen before from your projects?

The growing number of Bali Starlings in the wild through the combined efforts of conservation methods and community endeavours.

The willingness of communities to embrace new ideas and actively taking part in the implementation.

7.What kind of volunteers are suitable for your project?

Volunteers are not required to have field experience or any specific qualification, just a willingness to help and a passion for the kind of work that we do … growing & planting trees, community development, and protection of endangered wildlife and the environment.

Volunteering with our organization is suitable for anyone age 18 and above.  Volunteers below the age of 18 must be accompanied by parents or supervising adult.  Because volunteers work closely with local staff and villagers, we ask that they are mindful of cultural habits and practices.

Last but not least, bring your enthusiasm, keep an open mind and immerse yourselves in the tasks at hand.  Above all, enjoy the opportunity to mingle with and learn from the various fascinating cultures

Bayu

This organization has several projects which are Wildlife Protection, Hibitat Restoration & Community Development in Bali and Teach English in Bali.

Visit Conservation for more of Ecoteer’s volunteering conservations projects.

Peter’s Reforestation Volunteering Experience

Peter was a volunteer for a reforestation project in India. The experience had changed his view and inspired him to make a difference to the world.

Auroville, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India.

I visited this community in the summer of 2010. I wanted to work on an inspiring project and learn about reforestation. The experience has changed my life forever. Everything I do now is because I was there, at Sadhana Forest.

It has been almost two years and the inspiration I was given is still burning strong; and I still describe my two months there as two of the happiest in my life. It is hard to imagine a place more abounding in Love, understanding and dedication to our Earth and all its inhabitants.

There I learned about water management, reforestation, ecological remediation, permaculture, community living… this list could go on for quite a while. I also had a heck of a time and shared many laughs (and some tears) with a quality of people seldom found in such numbers.

Auroville, the township of which Sadhana Forest is part, is also an astounding place. So much to learn, do and see.

If you want to learn more about how to reverse the damage we’ve done to our home, or want to renew your faith in and love for humanity, or just want to have a life-changing inspiring experience whilst learning about sustainability, Sadhana Forest is for you. And if the Caribbean is more your style, then check out Sadhana Forest Haiti.

Jah Bless,

Peter

This is one of Ecoteer’s projects which is free of charge. To know more about this forest rehabilitation project, go to Reforest South India.

Rubbish collecting in MOP

In the month of March 2012, our volunteers from Teach in Borneo, Barbara and Katharina took the children for a walk around the village to clean up their surroundings!

Even though it was a sunny day, it was a fun day to clean up the village with kids holding big bags and filling them up with trash.

We hope that we could do this more often to instill the habit in the children and the community there to keep their village clean and nice.

Doing village clean up alone is never fun but when doing it with a group of friends, it is one of the best activities to do in the evening!

Katharina, one of our volunteers standing in the back row, third from the left.

Barbara, another of our long term volunteer taking photos of the kids!

Sunny Day! A good day for a village clean up!

The kids love to do something new everyday!

How cool is that when you see young children helping out as well =D

Ecoteer would like to thank our volunteers for organizing many of the trips and activities for the children and made this project a succesful project! Keep up the good work Barbara and Katharina!

Thank you Barbara and Toby for helping out in the HUTAN visit the to Melanking Oil Palm Plantation as well!

To know more about this project, go to Teach in Borneo Malaysia.