Posted by: Admin | May 28, 2021

Happy World Otter Day!!

Today we join in the global celebrations to raise awareness about the 13 different otter species around the world.

While there actually 3 species of otters native to China (Asian small-clawed otter, Smooth-coated otter, and Eurasian otter), only Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is present in Hong Kong.

Eurasian otter recorded at ~11pm

Eurasian otter recorded at ~6am

Recently the HK Otters Group was lucky to receive generous support from Masarang HK in the form of 3 gorgeous, new infra-red camera kits. These cameras are specially designed to automatically take photos of an animal when it passes in front of the camera (day or night).
The cameras have been out in the field for almost 3 months now and have been set up in areas where we’ve recorded otters before so that we can monitor their visits. In these locations we often record other wildlife as well! In the last few months we’ve recorded a number of different mammal species including Mongoose, Small Indian Civet (see photo), Leopard Cat (see photo), various native rodent species, and a range of bird species (see photo)

Small Indian Civet recorded at ~3am

Leopard Cat recorded at ~4am

As the otter population in Hong Kong is now rare, it can be a challenge to capture otter images, but this time we have been lucky!
World Otter Day and the lovely images we’ve captured on the Masarang HK cameras provides a great reminder of how important the wetland area is for supporting our amazing otters and other wildlife. These wetland areas need our protection from development, disturbance, and pollution to ensure our otter population can survive into the future.

Pond heron recorded at ~3pm

At the risk of having too many special days to highlight, I would still like to take this opportunity to highlight three days with special attention for matters that really need our consideration and are part of everything we do through the Masarang Foundation.

The third Friday of March was designated as Endangered Species Day, which was yesterday, May 21st. Today has been labeled as World Biodiversity Day and tomorrow will be World Turtle Day. For many years already, through our work at Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue and Education Centre we have been involved with thousands of confiscated animals rescued from illegal trade as well as from people that kept them as ‘pets’. Sadly, right now even with the Covid crisis and despite the apparent decrease in deforestation, the trade in protected wildlife continues unabated. Masarang’s efforts to help endangered species is needed more than ever.

Speaking about biodiversity, Masarang has not only been protecting some remaining original forests in North Sulawesi, but also our new Temboan project is especially focused on restoring a huge amount of biodiversity in severely degraded terrain in a project of 450 hectares. The aims are amongst others to restore a biodiverse and valuable new forest, reintroduce rescued wildlife and protect sea turtles on the beach and their eggs as well as to protect and restore coral reefs along some three kilometers of beaches.

Regarding World Turtle Day, for many years we have been and still are running nightly patrols and operate a big turtle hatchery with Masarang at the Tulap Beach which was funded by students and staff at the Victoria Shanghai Academy in Hong Kong. We are pleased that two donors from Hong Kong, who have already supported us in the past, have now kindly donated funds to build an additional sea turtle egg hatchery at Temboan. Our beach hosts five of the world’s sea turtle species!

Perhaps that is the real message that Masarang stands for: Integration, not just focusing on one species or one project area but developing solutions that help long-term sustainability in a unified approach that benefits both nature and people. Masarang’s vision is to save nature through the empowerment of local people. We believe that every day of the year should be for endangered species, biodiversity and turtles. Not just these three days in May. In nature everything is connected and so should we be connected, with an integrated sustainable future for nature and people.

Willie Smits
May 22nd, 2021

This picture of part of Masarang’s Temboan project tells a thousand stories. Diversity: mangroves, nipah palms, lakes and sea, degraded lands, patches of good forest and burned areas, coral reefs in various condition, a leatherback turtle nesting beach and so much more. In the near future this area will support much more wildlife, protect nesting sea turtles, have richer corals, will support a more diverse plant community and provide more and better sustainable jobs for local people while sequestering vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Temboan, a place for people to visit and volunteer, so they can believe and learn, a new home for many rescued animals. In short a place that gives hope that we can do better.

Posted by: Admin | May 10, 2021

Visiting Our Forest Friends

Victoria Enjoying her Forest Excursion

Victoria Foraging for her Favourites in Forest School

Victoria Playing with Manfred

Victoria and Manfred Exploring the Wildlife (Caterpillar!)

Manfred ‘reinventing’ Fire

Victoria and Manfred update for April 2021

Manfred is male orangutan who was rescued when he was only a few months old. He’s now 2 years old and an active little soul (aka naughty!). All the orangutans are very fond on him and his antics, but to Victoria (7 years old), he seems simply irresistible. She is constantly at his side , tempting him to play with her and trying to take care of him. She is so obsessed with him that even she forgets to drink.

Manfred, however is more independent than Victoria will admit. He has a mind of his own and he does what he feels like. Manfred is very close to Tom (3 years old). Very often, when Manfred distracted by Victoria, he loses sight of Tom and starts to cry. Victoria with her developing motherly instincts, then tries to comfort Manfred, which distracts him again. Poor Manfred seems to be trapped in a vicious circle of Victoria’s suffocating love for him…

Fortunately, Manfred does find time to play with Tom and recently they have invented a remarkable game. they found out that when you hit together to rocks really hard, a certain smoky smell comes off. And if you can smell it, you can taste it as well, so Manfred and Tom can now sometimes be seen hitting rocks together and putting them into their mouths. They very close from inventing fire and we will be watching them closely…

Posted by: Admin | April 22, 2021

At Tasikoki every day is Earth Day

To understand what we mean with this title, just have a look at what has been going on for the last few weeks at Masarang’s Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue and Education Center in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Despite great financial worries due to the Covid-19 crisis, our team has continued working hard to rescue more animals from the illegal wildlife trade and to continue to take the best possible care of the hundreds of animals already at our center, even after releasing so many animals back to the wild over the last months. We hope we can count on your continued support to keep our important work going also after today’s April 22nd, 2021, official Earth Day.

This sulphur crested cockatoo was found by the man in the picture wandering around on the fourth floor of a hotel in Manado and he decided to hand it over to our Tasikoki rescue team. These kinds of actions make us feel hopeful. Awareness is rising but much more is needed.

This black crested macaque (Macaca nigra) named “Blacky” was handed over by an army officer who had kept him as an illegal pet. But one day it attacked another member of the armed forces so they tried to bring it to the Tangkoko National Park to be released. There the park staff made it clear to the group that this kind of release would almost surely result in Blacky’s death by the wild macaques and there would also be the risk of Blacky bringing some human disease into the wild population. So after that explanation the officer brought the macaque to Masarang Foundation’s Tasikoki Center where he will be joining a group to learn natural behaviour again and to have his health thoroughly checked before we will try to release Blacky to the wild again.


Caring for the hundreds of protected animals at our center is a daily challenge. Not just how to finance the operations but also how to deal with the many different diets of the various animal species and their specific medical care. On the left, one of the slow lorises is being weighed. On the right, the medical team is making their best effort to get the animals that need it to take the medication they need voluntarily by mixing it into various good tasting pastes and make the packaging more interesting. Our staff has become very creative indeed!


As seen above, our vets must multi-task. Operating to remove tumours from a huge Bornean River Turtle, the next moment stitching up the wounds of a macaque that got hurt in a fight while building a socialized group to be released. Our staff is there around the clock, seven days a week to help the animals that are entrusted to Tasikoki Center.


The deer and the rare Babirusa eating together during feeding time. They share a very large enclosure where they can roam between the trees and in high grass and hide from staring eyes when they want. But at feeding time they know where they want to be!


Here our staff is working on the repair and improvement for the sunbear facility in Tasikoki. They were smuggled from Sumatra on the way to the Philippines when they were intercepted. Unfortunately there is very little chance of them being released to the wild so we try to give them the best possible life while with us at Tasikoki.

Here is part of the supply for two days of feeding the animals at Tasikoki. On the right some bananas that we grow with our own compost at the Tasikoki compound to reduce the cost of buying food from outside to help not just the animals but also our center to survive the crisis. Masarang Hong Kong is proud to have supported the cost of feeding the animals at Tasikoki for many months during the Covid-19 crisis.

Here a picture of Billy Lolowang, the Tasikoki Wildlife Manager, accepting a reward on behalf of Tasikoki given by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The award was given for the support that our Masarang Foundation provides to the Ministry helping to deal with the illegal wildlife trade.

Posted by: Admin | April 8, 2021

Zoo lovers day

Dear Friends,

April 8thhas for years been classified as Zoo Lovers Day, a day to visit and enjoy zoos. This year the story is quite different due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the zoos around the world are closed now and facing serious problems taking care of their animals without the financial support of paying visitors. This also has a direct impact on the impact of conservation projects for the Masarang Foundation and the Sintang Orangutan Center in Indonesia. Karlsruhe Zoo has been one of the most important supporters in 2020 and to our surprise and great relief the zoo was able to send another donation in April this year, just before Zoo Lovers Day.

We sincerely appreciate the wonderful support from our friends and Nature Lovers at the zoo. The Zoo Director Dr. Matthias Reinschmidt and the orangutan EEP coordinator Dr. Clemens Becker are both ardent carers for nature and they both know our projects, having visited previously. Without the help and support from Karlsruhe Zoo this would be an even more difficult time as we still must feed and care for the animals in our care and pay our hard-working staff. Together with my dear friend and kind supporter, Frank Elstner, they put out a call that helped us survive 2020. In addition to their direct support through the Karlsruhe Artenschutz Stiftung, the call also resulted in some much-needed funds from other caring individual supporters in Germany.

Since this pandemic has also everything to do with our environmental degradation and animals, it might also be good to look at the role zoos now can play in educating the public about the risks of keeping exotic pets and sometimes illegal wildlife. Corona viruses come from bats that can transfer a huge array of Corona viruses to other mammals in which they mutate and if those mammals are then poached and smuggled, they can bring the diseases from nature to human populations. The destruction of the natural environment brings people ever more frequently in closer contact with animals that have more problems finding food and places to live and roam.


This pandemic could become a valuable lesson to spur politicians and the larger public into action to preserve nature and protect wildlife and forests. And through contributions like our friends from Karlsruhe we can make a big difference in the field, not just for animals but also for the people living close to the remaining forests through providing them with alternative and improved sustainable incomes. This information can then be distributed to the zoos so that they can continue to further educate and inform the public and show that there are positive solutions if we are willing to learn from nature.

So to all zoo lovers, enjoy the zoos when you can but also please promote their role in safeguarding the animals in their original areas. This is one small world and if we are going to last we will have to do things together in an integrated way.

Willie Smits
8-4-2011

Posted by: Willie Smits | March 21, 2021

International Day of Forests

The International Day of Forests is celebrated every year on March 21st all over the World. The day was established in 2012 by the United Nations General Assembly and is intended to celebrate and raise awareness about forest conservation, the climate and action for earth’s future. The theme specifically for 2021 is “Forest Restoration: A Path to Recovery and Well-being”. This is a theme not just for today but has been an important theme for years. And with Masarang we have taken this theme very serious for over 20 years now, and our efforts with the restoration of forests have proven to be a true path to well-being. Allow me to highlight a few of our past efforts and end with a short update on our newest forest restoration project, the exciting and very advanced Temboan Forest Restoration Project.

Our Masarang Foundation is named after the Masarang Mountain, where we first started tackling the restoration of the steep denuded slopes of this old volcano mountain chain. This is where we planted our first 100.000 Cempaka and Wasian trees, besides testing numerous other tree species in smaller quantities. These two species were almost gone from the landscape in Tomohon, where this mountain chain is located. We invested much in research on germination, vegetative propagation and planting of these two tree species that are the most important timbers for the traditional wooden houses in this region of North Sulawesi that have also become an important export product.

Example of the wooden house industry in the city of Tomohon, built mostly with very durable timber from the Cempaka and Wasian trees. Masarang’s reforestation with these tree species helps reduce the rampant illegal timber trade from protected areas.

Masarang also set up many different tree seedling nurseries in the region from where millions of trees were planted by other groups and individual land owners. Masarang made agreements that were co-signed by the local authorities on the obligation of the recipients of the seedlings to maintain them. They were allowed to harvest them when the trees were fully grown but had then the obligation to do that in a staged way to reduce erosion and to replace the harvested trees with newly planted trees. Now the results of that program can be seen all over North Sulawesi like in the picture beneath:

One of a huge number of plots of land that were planted with the valuable Cempaka trees from Masarang in cooperation with the local people on their private plots of land.

But Masarang also produced already a quarter of a million sugar palm seedlings that are now planted all over Indonesia. The sugar palms only grow well in mixed forests and provide more than 60 useful products amongst which the most valuable are palm sugar, palm fibers, palm fruits and palm timber. Sugar palms are not to be confused with oil palms that are responsible for the loss of huge areas of forest. Beneath a picture of one of the many nurseries where we grow our specially selected best quality sugar palms.

Water for the local people

Five years after we started buying land on the slopes of the Masarang Mountain and planting the new forests there, the annual floods in parts of the city of Tomohon completely stopped and local people were able to grow a third crop of rice in the rice fields that were fed with water from the springs that originate from aquifers coming from the Masarang Mountain. Not only that, the new forest also increased rainfall and acted as a fog capturing forest and that, in combination with the reduced run off and improved water infiltration in the soil, increased the flow of water from the springs significantly. Masarang also acquired the springs from private owners and is now providing thousands of people in Tomohon with free and secure water.

On the other side of the Masarang Mountain some seven new springs appeared after our reforestation efforts and the women of the nearby village of Rurukan came to the foundation and asked for a loan and for permission to install a pipe from these springs to their houses down the slope. Now hundreds of families there enjoy clean water where before the women had to go down the slope to a small and polluted stream. Now they have more time, the health of the families has improved and the women are helping Masarang to plant more trees as their sign of gratitude. Yes, forest restoration truly can bring well-being!

The Temboan Forest Restoration Project


This is the latest big project that the Masarang Foundation has embarked upon. It concerns the restoration of a severely degraded coastal landscape where fire prone grasslands with extremely poor biodiversity and many landslides and erosion impact the condition of the coastal coral reefs. Here we create sustainable jobs for the local people, bring back biodiversity, restore coral reefs and sequester vast amounts of carbon dioxide in the form of the new forests and biochar. Additionally we are in the process of setting up a very advanced online monitoring system that promises to become a new standard for transparency in what forest restoration can mean for our people, planet and the climate. Here is a picture of the Temboan landscape that we are now reforesting:
Willie Smits
Tomohon, 20/3/2021

Posted by: Admin | March 19, 2021

World Recycling Day 2021

As it is World Recycling Day on the 18th of March, it is worth taking a look, once again, at the issue of plastic pollution and some of the things that need to happen to address it.

It’s no secret that the world is in the midst of a plastic crisis. We’ve all seen the images of sea turtles dying from ingesting plastics that they have mistaken for food –a point that was brought heartbreakingly close to home in Hong Kong when two green turtles here were found to have died from eating plastics (1)– and every year or so there seems to be some new report about how much more plastic is due to wind up in our oceans without drastic global action (2).

Recycling is often touted as a means of solving this crisis and in many respects, it can help. Processing and manufacturing waste products into new ones reduces the need to produce new plastic as well as the accumulation of waste in landfills. It also helps to reduce carbon emissions from manufacturing and as well as fossil fuel extraction for plastic production.

However, simply throwing our plastics into the nearest recycling bin is not enough, particularly when, as is the case in Sulawesi and Hong Kong, facilities for adequately processing recyclable waste are either too few in number or non-existent. In this scenario, little plastic waste is likely to actually be recycled. In fact, according to a recent study, much of the plastics put in recycling bins in Hong Kong actually ends up in landfills (3).

It’s clear that more innovative approaches to recycling are needed, ones which actually put recycled plastics to use. One recent innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) involves converting discarded plastics (e.g. bags) into polythene fabrics which can be used to make clothing with (4).

Recycling for Orangutans at SOC

At Masarang Foundation, we may not be able to take such a hi-tech approach. But we nevertheless do our part to give plastics a new purpose and keep them out of the environment. For instance, we use old tyres as swings, hammocks and beds for the orang-utans in our care at the Sintang Orang-utan Centre and for construction. Plastic bottles are also used to store the seedlings we grow for our reforestation projects.

Below a combination of rubber strips from old tyres was used to make hammocks for the orangutans, in combination with recycled fire hoses and old towels. Beneath that, old motorcycle tyres are used to make enrichment ‘tools’ for the orangutans.

Some of the furniture in our projects is made from recycled tyres. This furniture is very long-lasting. We also frequently collect plastic waste from beaches and recycle it as much as possible. The collection is an activity that is regularly carried out by long-term volunteers as well as the school/University groups from Hong Kong and other countries that join our conservation programs. We plan to use the collected finer waste material that cannot be put to other uses to fill plastic bottles. These bottles will then be used in construction projects as building material. Additionally, at one of the projects, Salimburung island, we use the washed up ‘waste’ and wood to build (as much as possible) facilities in an environmentally- friendly way. Beneath shows images of waste collection from Salimburung island beach involving Masarang staff working together with residents from the local community.

Recycling at Masarang Foundation

Some of the furniture in our projects is made from recycled tyres. This furniture is then very long-lasting. We also frequently collect plastic waste from beaches and recycle it as much as possible. The collection is an activity that is regularly carried out by long-term volunteers as well as the School/University groups from Hong Kong etc. We plan to use the collected material that cannot be used elsewhere to fill plastic bottles. These bottles will then be used in the construction projects. Additionally, at one of the projects, Salimburung island, we use the washed up ‘waste’ and wood to build (as much as possible) facilities in an environmentally- friendly way. Beneath shows images of waste collection from Salimburung island beach involving Masarang staff and residents from the local community.

As for Hong Kong, in 2020 the government adopted two new subsidy schemes to cover the rent and operational costs for recycling facilities in Hong Kong, which could help to mitigate the limitations imposed by the low value of recyclable waste. The Environmental Protection Department also released a new community recycling network called Green@Community, which includes over 30 recycling stations and stores providing bins for 8 types of recyclable waste, information on what can and cannot be recycled and even means to make waste more eligible for recycling, such as stations to wash dirty bottles.
References:

  1. Knott, K., ‘Sea turtles that died from eating plastic marine debris highlight pollution problem in Hong Kong’. South China Morning Post, 20 November 2020, https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3110658/sea-turtles-died-eating-plastic-marine-debris-highlight-pollution-problem
  2. Gill, V., ‘Plastic pollution to weight 1.3 billion tonnes by 2040’. BBC News, 23 July 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53521001
  3. Earth.org., ‘Investigation reveals plastic in Hong Kong recycling bins sent to landfills’. Earth.org, 26 June 2020, https://earth.org/plastic-in-hong-kong-recycling-bins-sent-to-landfills/
  4. Briggs, H., ‘Plastic bags recycled into fabric to fight pollution’. BBC News, 16 March 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56404803
Posted by: Admin | March 11, 2021

Tasikoki Update and Support

We recently uploaded an article about the Sintang Orangutan Centre (SOC) and included the latest update.
Today we would like to provide an update on Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue and Education Centre.
The Tasikoki Team has sent information in the update about: recent rescues ( including Duma shown above); animal care, the latest macaques release as well as recent departures and Covid-19.

With the help of kind and generous supporters, we are proud that we were recently able to donate sufficient funds to support the following:-

Food for all the animals at Tasikoki for two months;
Salary for a vet for four months;
Salary for the keepers for 1-2 months; and,
a safe for the Foundation.

Thank you for helping us, help them.

Masarang HK Team

Posted by: Admin | February 26, 2021

Sintang Orangutan Centre (Update)

With light at the end of the tunnel after a very difficult 2020 for all, we would like to offer some good news about how by working together we can make a real difference to the orangutans at the Sintang Orangutan Centre (SOC).

Masarang HK donated funds in December 2020 to the Sintang Orangutan Centre to help to support the care of all the orangutans, especially those particularly special to us: Victoria and Manfred. We have been able to help Victoria and many other orangutans at SOC for many years using the generous and long-term support from schools in HK, especially the Victoria Shanghai Academy. Victoria is therefore named after this school. Manfred’s stay at SOC has been sponsored by a kind and generous donor. He is therefore named Manfred in honour of that donor.

Please find some lovely images and the latest information about Victoria and Manfred below. Critically endangered orangutans really need as much help as they can get and we remain grateful for any support possible.

We would also like shout (!) a special thank you to a recent Euro 2,000 donation by Germany-based Lebensraum Regenwald. Roland, Sonja and Christoph from Lebensraum Regenwald are volunteers and they have been supporting projects founded by Willie Smits for many years, especially reforestation and orangutan protection. They are extremely dedicated and also work with Benni Over to raise much-needed funds.

Thank you to Lebensraum Regenwald for this generous donation.

Team Lebensraum Regenwald: L-R Christoph, Roland and Sonja

An Update of Manfred and Victoria (January-February 2021)

We have moved some orangutans from Sintang to Jerora. We also plan to move the Quarantine Center from Sintang to Jerora. The construction of a clinic, isolation cage and socialization cage in Jerora has also begun. We look forward to the time that Jerora will function as an orangutan quarantine centre, as well as a forest school.
At the moment, Jerora Forest School only has one big forest enclosure, the facility was used alternately by orangutans there. There are 3 groups of orangutans in Jerora Forest School and each group will live in the forest enclosure for a week, the other groups stays in the big cage that is connected to the forest enclosure, until it is their turn to go back to the forest enclosure. This is rather like students going to the playground and/or sports field in rotation and not all day every day, though we hope that more facilites will allow more orangutan groups to enjoy the forest enclosure for a longer time.

Manfred

Since joining the forest school program in October 2020, we are delighted that on January 20, 2021, Manfred finally began attending forest school in the big forest enclosure. He and Tom joined Victoria’s group. When he first entered the forest school, Manfred seemed curious about all the orangutans there, such as Beno (male, 13 years). Manfred pulled Beno’s hair and beard, but Beno merely ignored him. He was also curious about Boss Benni. When Boss Benni was climbing a tree, Manfred came over and tried to pull Boss Benni while he was climbing. He needs to learn quite a few manners soon! Manfred looks really excited when in the forest enclosure because he made some new friends like Boss Benni and Victoria. Additionally, because it was fruit season, Manfred really enjoyed eating the leaves and fruits in the Jerora forest. While in the forest enclosure, Manfred didn’t like to drink milk too much. He preferred to find his own food such as leaves, rattan and roots.
He and Tom are also hard to find in the forest because they like to play to the middle and to the edge of the forest. Manfred is also often carried by Tom making it even harder for the keepers to find them. Even though he made many new friends, Manfred still cries when Tom is far from him. He would look for Tom and ask to be carried.
Manfred needs to learn to be a bit more independent, but with time we hope he will learn this necessity.

Manfred and Tom

Manfred in Forest School

Manfred and Boss Benni

Victoria

Victoria loves meeting Manfred, her new friend at the forest enclosure. Victoria loves playing with Manfred so much, she forgets to eat food and drink milk! They climb trees and explore the forest together. Victoria likes to grab Manfred’s hand or leg while climbing trees. Victoria doesn’t want to leave Manfred or Tom when she plays and she regularly follows them. Victoria also likes to play in puddles. She plays in the puddles like she is taking a bath, the cloudier the water is, the happier she is. It is best not to get too close when this is happening!

Victoria

Posted by: Admin | February 11, 2021

Gong Hei Fat Choy


Dear Friends and Supporters,

We sincerely hope that the Year of the Ox will bring better times and hope that with your help we can continue to support Nature. Oxen, (somewhat similar to the endangered Anoa shown in the image) are considered to be strong, patient and reliable and the Masarang HK Team aims to remain steadfast, reliable and as strong as possible this year.

Thank you for your help and support. 

Wishing you and your family good luck, good health, prosperity and happiness.

Masarang HK Team

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