This is an invitation to join Friends of Danau Sentarum. Initially we anticipate this to be a small group of those who have had personal contact with the area through work, research or a holiday. If this is successful we may extend the group and seek support from a wider audience.
The purpose of the group is to:
1. Raise awareness of Danau Sentarum National Park within Indonesia and globally
2. Support activities that assist the conservation of Danau Sentarum through income generation and increased environmental awareness.
3. Assist with funding proposals to bilateral and multi-lateral organisations.
4. The first target is to pay the salary of the administrator / book-keeper for Riak Bumi and to fund four issues of Suara Bakakak a year.
Riak Bumi
Set up in 1998 after the UK-ITFMP ended Riak Bumi is an NGO run by staff who were on the UK-ITFMP. It is the only active group in the Park and current activities include development of the honey industry, strategic planning and strengthening of local institutions. They have had funding from Dfid (British), CORDAID (Dutch), NC IUCN Nederlands, Whitely Foundation (British).
It is important that any money is accounted for but we are also keen to minimise bureaucracy and bank charges in transferring money. While the Friends group consists of individuals it is proposed to have an informal structure that can be formalised as time progresses and needs arise. In the meantime Riak Bumi will keep separate income and expenditure accounts for the donations from the Friends of Danau Sentarum.
Budget
Administrator Salary (1 person) 1.000.000 13 13.000.000
Suara Bekakak (Quarterly) 500.000 4 2.000.000
Grand Total 15.000.000
US$ 1,582
Links with The Living Rainforest
The Living Rainforest is an educational charity based in the UK near Newbury that consists of an undercover “rainforest”. It is geared at linking the impact of rainforests on the lives of those in developed countries and the impacts of our purchasing on rainforests. Julia has given some talks there in May and had a good response. While we cannot expect cash as such from the Living Rainforest the important thing is that it will process donations to Danau Sentarum for gift aid hence increasing their value by 28%.
Interested?
Please contact Julia Aglionby: julia.aglionby@btinternet.com
Wallacefield, Armathwaite, Carlisle CA4 9SR Tel: +44 16974 72720.
