Many farmers in this region face the problem of insect damage to their crops, which can sometimes result in the loss of 75% of the crop. Apart from the loss of income, the farmers have often already borrowed money to purchase fertilisers and pesticides to establish the crop, therefore resulting in further financial consequences for them.
Inoculating the larvae with bacteria
Tartius Timpal’s research investigated bacteria naturally occurring in the soil of the forest which had the potential to kill various insects. His research has resulted in the identification of strains of bacteria that can be used to kill up to 100% of the insect larvae causing the crop damage. While further research into the most efficient bacterial mixture for application is required; preliminary analyses have shown the production of the bacterial mixture is much cheaper than the existing chemical, fossil fuel-based artificial pesticides and achieves the same effectiveness.
Various field tests show dramatic differences in the effect of the various strains of bacteria that Tartius isolated. The best ones have a 100% success rate!
The next step is to set up a small, commercial production system for the bacterial mixture so that that thousands of farmers can be helped to adopt more environmentally friendly farming methods while making a better living from the land. Masarang Foundation is proud to support research which preserves the natural environment by empowering local people. Please see the link below for further information regarding Tartius Timpal’s research.
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Our logo looks rather unusual and may need some explaining about what philosophy it represents and what I intended to present when I first designed the logo.
First of all about the writing Yayasan Masarang. the word “Yayasan” simply means foundation in Bahasa Indonesia. “Masarang” is a word from the prevalent Tombulu language in North Sulawesi and literally means “like the head of a chicken”. Masarang is the name of a range of extinct volcanoes between the cities of Tomohon and Tondano and, as can be seen with some imagination, in the logo the series of rounded mountain tops resemble the comb on the head of a chicken, hence the name that was given to this range of mountains.
The Masarang mountains have very steep slopes and a hundred years ago all the forest had been converted to coffee plantations, except for a small “hat” on the most left mountain top. The mountain later was used for short term agricultural crops which led to the depletion of the organic matter on the steep slopes and much erosion and surface water run off. The mountain became infamous for its “Masarang water”, named after the 4-5 times a year floods after heavy rain that came down the slopes and gullies towards Tomohon and caused lots of damage and personal losses. Now the mountain has its forest back and with that the floods have gone, the springs are running year round while at the same times more people benefit economically.
The shape of our logo is round with a green ring. This represents the holistic approach of Masarang based upon environmental sustainability, recycling and zero waste systems. The name Yayasan Masarang is circled above all that is in the green ring. Inside the green ring we see depictions of nature on the level of landscape, forest and tree, the latter in the form of the sugar palm. The non natural component representing people is in the form of the traditional house, downhill from the environment supporting nature and along the life bringing water.
The forests produce clouds and rain while harboring biodiversity, represented by birds and the indigenous Babirusa. So what we attempt to show here is the triple P approach of people, planet, profit, and their interdependence. Nature is our home, from which we get food, water, energy and materials for our livelihood. So we need to take care of our home in order to take care of the needs of the next generation. All programs of Masarang are based upon this basic philosophy “Saving nature (and thus people) by empowering local people”.
Willie Smits
Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
]]>This is a Project of The Masarang Foundation (www.masarang.org) at Tulap beach in North Sulawesi, a place which is amazingly visited by five species of sea turtle.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfgfi5N_24w?rel=0]
The students from Island School in Hong Kong can be proud of their superb efforts in raising funds for the hatchery enclosure which has kept many turtle eggs safe and enabled scenes likes this to happen on many nights.
Though there is still so much more work that could be done at the site to further protect the turtles. If you would like to donate funds towards this project please contact us.
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