Rumah Bakau Jayapura or Jayapura Mangrove House was formed by Gamel Abdel Nasser. He formed the community to encourage others to care and love the environment.
As a journalist, Gamel saw two major issues in Jayapura, West Papua, to tackle: flood and pollution. He then found that by cleaning up the garbage, he could tackle those two problems. He can save the city from waste while making sure there is no waste causing the flood. But, handling them alone seems impossible.
Gamel then found out that he is not the only one. Many youths have the same concerns about the environment, but they don’t know how to react. Gamel took the opportunity to welcome them into the community.
Tackling Environmental Issues Through Habits
Formed in 2018, Jayapura Mangrove House has several activities with a tangible impact on society. Those activities include cleaning up rivers in Jayapura, collecting garbage, and planting mangroves.
When asked about their program, Gamel said that instead of program, they developed habits. They would go to a location to pick some garbage and threw them in the garbage patch every week. Besides making the place waste-free, they carried out the activity to inspire other people to do the same.
As they focused on the mangrove, cleaning up the waste from the forest was a monthly activity. They would drown themselves deep into the mud, breathed the stinky smell, and got hurt by clams. All those efforts were to save the forest from waste. While cleaning up the waste, they collected some mangrove seeds to be planted.
Their activities were appreciated by West Papua people, especially the women who hunted for clams in the forest. Every afternoon, as many as 12 women went into the Tonotwiyat, which means Women Forest, for clam hunting. Those women claimed that their findings were not as much as they used to be. Nowadays, they found a lot of litter and a few clams. By doing the mangrove forest cleaning, Gamel hoped he could help restore the place to its natural condition.
Also read: Tonotwiyat, the West Papuan Forest Only Women Can Visit – West Papua Diary
Those inspiring activities begin with an individual’s willingness to do good. When interviewed, Gamel said that each member should set the trend of care for the environment. Thus, he encourages all members to always put the trash in the garbage patch, use reusable instead of plastic bags, and bring their own water bottles.
Carrying out activities related to environment preservation has become their weekly routine. They seek activities by collaborating with other communities. Their love for the environment was none other than their form of responsibility to preserve nature. They do it in exchange for all natural resources they take for a living.
Inspiring Others
To celebrate Indonesia’s 75th Independence Day, the community initiated Hamadi-Holtekam Beach cleaning. The activity was carried out in collaboration with Pemuda Merah Putih Solo, Surakarta. As long as a one-kilometer line was waste-free. During the activity, they gave thousands of medical masks to people to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. They carried the tagline “Acts of Love to the Motherland and Mangrove Rehabilitation”. Thus, planting 1.000 mangrove seeds was their other agenda. They raised the Indonesian flag to conclude the activity. (Menyemarakkan HUT Kemerdekaan RI ala Rumah Bakau Jayapura – ANTARA News Papua)
Also read: Keeping the Mangrove Forestry in Teluk Bintuni Natural Preservation (westpapuaupdate.com)
That was not the only collaboration the community did with others. On December 5th, 2020, some students from Cenderawasih University took part in planting 50 mangrove seeds. The chosen planting location was Mendug, around Youtefa Bridge. Aside from doing their project, the students wished that the activity could inspire others to do the same thing. (Mahasiswa Uncen Gandeng Komunitas Rumah Bakau Jayapura Tanam 50 Bibit Pohon Bakau | Reportase Papua)
Another inspiring achievement was a documentary movie that was played at the 2019 Indonesian Film Festival. It was produced in collaboration between Imaji Papua and Jayapura Mangrove House. The 92-minutes movie was about women’s activities in the mangrove forest, Engros Hutment.
The movie saw waste problems that slowly degraded the forest. Muhammad Iam Murda, one of the producers, stated that voicing environmental, social, and cultural issues through the movie was necessary. He argued that it could develop public awareness. (Disaksikan di Rumah Bakau : Film Hutan Perempuan (Tonotwiyat) Melihat Satu Isu Kecil Soal Habbit | LINTAS PAPUA)
Street campaigning was also one of their activity. Gamel claimed that the activity was necessary to build people’s awareness of the environment. They educated people by holding posters and boards that read actions that people could for the environment.
The poster did not only said about old notice, like “No Littering”, but also education about waste regulation by producing less waste. They also promoted “turning off the lights for one hour” movement to cool the earth down.
You got what you sow. After months of working on finding support from the government, they got three motorcycles. They used them to transfer garbage to the final disposal site.
Gamel suggested that West Papua government would award the garbage collectors. In his opinion, garbage collectors were environmental heroes who should be awarded. Before somebody else awoke, they got up and collected the garbage to make sure the environment was saved.
