To support orangutan monitoring activities, our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) teams at both Camp Lesik and Camp Nles Mamse, in the Kehje Sewen Forest, East Kalimantan, have to transport supplies and equipment from our small office in Muara Wahau District. 

Due to the distance - about a day’s trip away - and the difficulties involved in the journey, supplies are only able to be delivered at the end of every month.

It usually takes a 4-hour drive from Muara Wahau to reach Nles Mamse Camp, via a sloping riverbank at the 67-kilometre mark that we call Dermaga (Pier) 67. This is where the team from the camp pick up their logistics by boat. The travel time between Pier 67 and Nles Mamse Camp itself is around five minutes; a relatively easy journey. On the other hand, if they need to go to Camp Lesik in the north, that is a completely different story, with a much longer journey.

But things don't always go smoothly. At the end of last month, the truck we use to transport supplies from Muara Wahau broke down before arriving at the pier, and the driver was unable to inform those at the camp due to poor telephone signal coverage in the forest. The overwhelming load, the age of the vehicle, and the extremely challenging dirt road all contributed to serious damage to the suspension. It came to a stop just a few hundred meters from Pier 67.

Team members from the camp that were assigned to pick up the supplies at the jetty waited for some time before realising there must be a problem. They decided to walk from the pier in the direction the truck usually comes from, and soon found the broken-down vehicle.

Repairing vehicles in the forest is by no means an easy or quick task, no matter how experienced field personnel are. By then, it was late in the afternoon, and a decision had to be made. The supplies, which were light enough to be carried by hand, like regular groceries, were taken to the camp first. Items that were too heavy to be carried to the pier were left in the small, empty hut nearby that is sometimes use as a transit point.

That night, the team made plans for the following day; to collect the remaining supplies and help repair the truck.

There is never a dull day when working in the forest! 

Text by: PRM team in Nles Mamse Camp, Kehje Sewen Forest, East Kalimantan