Hidayat, the head of Jatimekar village in Jatiluhur district, Purwakarta regency, West Java, proudly stands next to the monkey statue that is seen as a tourism icon for kera (monkey) village in Jatiluhur. Kera village was built by the Purwakarta regency administration as part of an effort to protect the habitat of wild animals around the Jatiluhur reservoir.
Groups of wild monkeys often descend from the forests around Mount Sanggabuana (1,201 meters above sea level) to the hills near Jatiluhur Reservoir in Purwakarta regency, West Java.
The local government has hired a group of people as guards, locally called bandega,to protect the creatures. For some residents in Jatimekar village, in the regency’s Jatiluhur subdistrict, the “gangs” of wild monkeys have caused a disturbance since the drought of 2011. The residents’ gardens were often destroyed, their chicken eggs were stolen.
"Once, the monkeys stole two chicken’s nests. Twenty-four of the eggs [in the nests] were ready to hatch," a Jatimeka villager said recently.
War\'at, who claims he was 11 years old at the time of the 1928 Youth Pledge, lives in the village near an 18-hectare forest owned by Perum Jasa Tirta II, which operates Jatiluhur Reservoir.
Together with 1,200 other Jatimekar villagers, War\'at cultivates land in the green belt not far from Jatiluhur Reservoir, which was built in 1957. Many residents are annoyed by the animal invasion.
Some of them throw rocks and hit the groups of monkeys to scare them away. Some of the animals, whose habitat has been destroyed, are often injured and eventually died from an infected wound. Many monkeys are also killed by hunters.
Jatimekar village head Irwan Hidayat, 40, said the wild monkeys “migrated“ to the village due to the depletion of food reserves in the forest around Mount Cakrabuana. In September 2017, when the drought arrived, the monkey population was estimated to be between 150 and 160.
The "disputes" between the Jatimekar villagers and the monkeys were reported to the Purwakarta regency administration.
Purwakarta Regent Dedi Mulyadi responded to the residents’ complaints by turning Jatimekar into the “Monkey Kampong”, or Kampung Monyet.
Conserving nature
“The functions of most areas around here have changed. A ready solution is needed. One of them is to turn this area into a tourist destination. Hopefully, villagers and monkeys can live side by side," said Dedi.
The idea to turn Jatimekar Village into a Purwakarta tourist destination is indeed reasonable. Jatimekar is located within the vicinity of Jatiluhur Reservoir, which has become an important tourist destination in the regency. The reservoir is not far from downtown Purwakarta, only about 10 kilometers away.
In the mornings and late afternoons, the scenery around the waters of Jatiluhur Reservoir is beautiful and fascinating. The hills, shade trees and the quiet can calm and relax the mind. The Purwakarta government has prepared a plan to restructuralize the 18-hectare forest that has been converted into a community plantation. Their goal is to conserve nature as well as preserve the monkeys’ habitat.
Since Jan. 1, Purwakarta regency has hired 16 farmers to manage cultivation activities in Jatimekar’s forest area. They have been trained in environmental management as part of the Kampung Monyet ecotourism program.
The 16 farmers have also been officially appointed as “monkey guardians”, or badegas, as part of their jobs with the Purwakarta regency. “They will take care of the Jatimekar forest environment and control the monkey population there," Dedi said.
Monkey charmer
Dedi asked the badegas togive food to the monkeys to control their migratory behavior, since the monkeys descend from the mountain because they cannot find food supplies in their natural habitat.
"Every day, we provide bananas so that the monkeys do not wander into the village," said Pepen Effendi, 65, the badega coordinator in Jatimekar village. The monkey guardians set aside about Rp 150,000 of their Rp 1.5 million monthly salaries to buy the food.
The food for the animals is also provided from the crops grown on the villagers’ plantations. The 18-hectare ecotourism site has given new hope to the Jatimekar villagers. In addition to preventing further “monkey invasions”, the ecotourism area is expected to boost the local economy. The villagers have welcomed the ecotourism program enthusiastically because it could potentially create new sources of income for them.
"Now, the monkeys are beginning to mingle with humans. Hopefully, they can bring in a lot of tourists," said Pepen. The monkeys often arrive in groups of 20 to 30. After eating, they usually bathe in a gully in the forest. The monkey population is protected through the ecotourism program, because it keeps them safe from hunters and annoyed villagers.
The success in improving the relationship between humans and wildlife does not stop at Jatimekar village. Dedi plans to send several Jatimekar villagers to areas with similar tourist icons, such as Bali’s Monkey Forest.
There, the Jatimekar villagers will be trained to become monkey handlers. They will learn not only how to feed the animals properly, but also how to summon the monkeys when tourists arrive. "We will be funding the training," Dedi said.
