4th report - January 2015 - New land and the start

4th report - January 2015 - New land and the start of construction!
The Kukang Project has entered the new year actively. Here is a summary of the most important moments
of January.
New land
In the first week of January we definitely agreed on conditions of the lease of our new land, on January
5th a contract was signed and so we can introduce you the land where our rescue and rehabilitation centre
will soon be standing. The land is 0.5 ha large and is located in Bandar Bar in Sibolangit (approximately
40 km from Medan). It is covered with tall pines and is situated in quiet place under mountains, from
where one can hear siamang voices almost every day. To become a nice rescue centre, the land needs a lot
of work to be done on it. Fortunately, our first volunteers help us a lot. There were several of them
coming this month. As the first of them Dan and Lenka came for a short time and a few days later Adela
and Alena arrived. All of them help us a lot with the land preparation and we truly appreciate it. Thank
you, our volunteers!
New Kukang land – upper part
Lucka and Lenka preparing place for a fence
New Kukang land- lower part
Dan and František preparing a hibiscus that will once
constitute a hedge
Start of construction
Right after the contract of lease was signed, there was nothing to be waiting for and so we started our
planned centre construction. The next day, i.e. January 6th, we payed deposit for the construction of
clinic, which was then started on January 7th and supervised by Mr Jedno. The construction goes quickly
and during the first two weeks of January the clinic for slow lorises should already be finished. Here are
some photos from the work.
Surveying of the clinic foundations
Clinic construction
Laying the first tile in the clinic
Office construction
To not waste time, we arranged a concurrent construction of a traditional Indonesian pondok. Its
construction started on January 10th and is being under supervision of Mr Komar. The pondok will serve
as a place for team members. Here are some more photos.
Construction of concrete foundations
Mr Komar in action
Pondok walls made of topas
Pondok terrace
At the time when the clinic was getting its final appearance, we created a draft of a quarantine
construction of which is planned to begin at the beginning of February. In the meantime, we will disclose
just that the quarantine will be a single building containing 6 cages. You will find more detailed
information in the next report.
Cooperation with COP and BKSDA from Aceh province
In the last report we told you about the animal market investigations in the city of Banda Aceh in Aceh
province. At the beginning of January we also met a colleague from COP organization (Centre for
Orangutan Protection), who gave us a lot of valuable information on local trade in wild animals. He also
mentioned that in this province it is quite usual that slow lorises are confiscated but after that there is
nowhere to place them. So far, we are in a phase of discussions but right after we finish our centre
construction and gain all the required permissions, we will begin to deal with BKSDA Aceh about a
possible cooperation. If all goes well, our activities will cover not only the North Sumatra province, but
also the Aceh province, and that is really a huge part of Sumatra. It is for example covered by the Gunung
Leuser National Park – one of the largest tropical ecosystems in the world.
Meeting with a colleague from COP
Green Desert screening, presentation of the Kukang Project and new T-shirts
On January 31st a screening of the Green Desert (a documentary about palm oil issues) took place in
Hlavice near Liberec (the movie is free to watch on http://www.greendesertmovie.com/). After that we
gave lecture about the Kukang Project and for the first time the participants had an opportunity to
purchase new original batik T-shirts with our project motifs. The event was initiated by photographer
Denisa Mikešová who is also the author of the shirts. Many thanks belong to Denisa!
Green Desert screening and a lecture on the Kukang Project
New batik T-shirts
In case you are interested,
Denisa.Mikesova@statek.org.
the
you
can
order
T-shirts
Motif of our project
on
their
author´s
e-mail
T-shirts are 100% cotton, made in the Czech Republic in S, M and L sizes and one universal (unisex)
comfortable cut. Their price is 380 Kč for each and one half of this amount (190 Kč) goes to the Kukang
Project (postage not included). The shirts are available till the stocks are sold out.
Original batik T-shirts with motifs of our project
In conclusion
January was the month when our project found its home. We started the construction of rehabilitation and
rescue centre on the new land and so far everything goes according to the plan. If it goes on like this,
within several months there might be grand opening of the centre and we might begin to accept first slow
lorises, to which we will try to return their freedom or at least dignified life conditions (in case of lorises
with teeth plucked). The Kukang Project will become the first rescue centre for confiscated slow lorises in
Sumatra. The absence of such centres is one of the major reasons why in Indonesia the laws on wildlife
conservation are not being enforced and why the protected animal species are not being confiscated from
black markets. We believe that by enabling an acceptance of confiscated slow lorises we will help reduce
illegal trade in endangered and protected species of slow lorises and other animals, which will benefit
from protected species conservation law enforcement as well. By this we want to minimalize physical and
mental suffering of individuals in absolutely inadequate conditions of animal markets.
František Příbrský
The Kukang Project coordinator
Field worker in Zoo Ostrava
www.kukang.org
Kukang account balance
Account balance 31/12/2014
Incomes 31/12/2014 – 31/1/2015
Costs 31/12/2014 – 31/1/2015
Total sum 31/1/2015
251 137,8 169,150,1 000,20 000,3 000,35 330,35,62 469,64,31 534,28,10 086,97,5 791,91,16 856,50,-
Zoo Ostrava
Dalibor Válek
Richard Viduna
WELL PACK s.r.o.
Szep Věroslav
Lease of the land
Clinic construction
Pondok construction
Quarantine - deposit
Travel costs - Aceh
Project costs
121 386,35,-