Ari Hidayat, Protector of Wildlife

KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Ari Hidayat

Living on the forest edge and his background as a poacher once misled Ari Hidayat, 29, into trading in protected wildlife. Meeting a number of environment activists has since transformed Ari from being a poacher to a protector of wildlife.

The rumbling Curug Ceheng waterfall on the slopes of Mount Slamet in Banyumas regency, Central Java, could be vaguely heard amidst the chirps of birds. With a pair of binoculars hung around his neck as he observed his surroundings, Ari accompanied several students and lecturers from the Biology Faculty of Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerto as they conducted field research.

“It’s a sepah (minivet). The Latin name is Pericrocotus species,” said Ari as he pointed out a small green bird perched on the branch of a tree on Saturday morning (18/7/2020).

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Ari, along with the research team, also carried a sound recorder and a bridge camera. They were conducting a month of observations from morning to afternoon on the weekends. After watching the birds and their activities in the parking lot of Curug Ceheng, the team moved on, walking alongside a small irrigation channel. As they walked, the sound of flapping wings came from a tree.

“They’re black eagles, two of them!” Ari shouted happily. In response, members of the research team readily aimed their cameras to photograph the top predators as they took flight. Ari seemed familiar with the various species of birds.

In 2012, Ari frequently explored the forest around his house in Kalisari village, Cilongok, Banyumas. Ari often trekked with his neighbor, a bird poacher, and learned to identify wildlife that had a high sales value, including pleci hijau (Javan white-eye, Zosterops flavus) and wedusan or kacer (magpie-robins). He also hunted civets and sloths. “At the time, I knew nothing about protected animal species,” he said.

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Ari Hidayat

A year later, Ari received messages on his social media account that his activities violated the law and threatened biological diversity. “I got messages at the time [that] I would be arrested if I kept poaching. I felt apprehensive, as if I was on the wanted list,” he added.

From then on, Ari didn’t poach protected wildlife species. However, he continued to sell some bird species until 2014 to meet his daily needs. In 2015, he found himself often in the company of bird and wildlife enthusiasts involved in nature conservation programs. It was at such forums that he met environmental activists of the Biodiversity Society. “I was curious about their activities, which seemed strange. I wondered why they watched birds, recorded them, and gathered data,” he recalled.

Ari was much impressed by Hariyawan Agung Wahyudi, his senior in Biodiversity Society and also a contributor to the Mongabay conservation e-journal. After his involvement with a number of conservation programs, Ari was entrusted with the task of explaining about the various bird species and how they contributed to the environment. Ari was lent several cameras to learn photography and take pictures.

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“I was lent cameras twice until they got damaged. Later, at a photo exhibition, I was asked to explain about various birds to visitors. There, I became aware that I should not just provide explanations without [making an effort to] protect the animals,” said Ari, who joined Biodiversity Society at the end of 2015.

His growing love for birds and wildlife prompted him to learn more through books. Ari, who had only completed junior high school, took home books on wildlife and memorized the Latin names of diverse animal species.He applied his experience in exploring the forest and his knowledge gained from literature in 2016, when he was observing wildlife in the coastal area of Cilacap, the Telaga Warna in the Dieng Highlands, Ujung Kulon National Park, the Sirau Hills in Purbalingga, and on the slopes of Mt. Slamet. He recorded many wildlife species like Javan gibbons, wreathed hornbills, Javan hawk-eagles, black eagles, crested serpent eagles, crested jays and squirrels.

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“We also found Javan trogons (Apalharpactes reinwardtii), which were originally noted to exist only in West Java,” he said.

KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Ari Hidayat

In 2017, he discovered sandpipers, which usually live in coastal areas, in Telaga Warna. His finding was published in 2017 in The Journal for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

“Generally, coastal sandpipers live in lowland areas, marshes or beaches. They may have stopped by [here] while migrating, because sandpipers aren’t endemic to Indonesia, but come from the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.

Campaigning

Ari, who has been the observation coordinator of the Biodiversity Society since 2017, said that the challenge to environmental conservation was eradicating poaching. Most poachers engaged in the illicit activity because of financial needs and pressures. An amicable approach was needed to raise environmental awareness.

Ari usually explained to them the importance of conserving wildlife to protect the food chain. Without protection, the food chain would be broken to then threaten human life. “For instance, if owls or eagles are poached, rats will spread and damage farmers’ paddies,” said Ari.

I’ve been inspired by him.

Some poachers started to gain understanding through his explanations. Now, before they poach birds or other wild animals, they first ask whether or not the species were protected. “I can’t totally forbid them yet. If there are two eggs in a bird’s nest, for example, they will take one to hatch at home and leave the other in the nest,” he said.

For his contributions sto wildlife conservation, Ari was awarded the Nature Conservation Cadre of Central Java Province in 2018 and the Kalpataru Grade II award for Environmental Pioneer of Central Java in 2019. Ari also earned the praise of Aswi Andriasari Rofiqoh, a lecturer of animal systems at the Biology Faculty of Jenderal Soedirman University, for being an inspirational figure.

KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Ari Hidayat

“I’ve been inspired by him,” Aswi said of Ari. “He started out as a poacher, that is, the enemy of conservation. Then he was inspired to safeguard and develop conservation.”

Ari Hidayat

Born: Banyumas, 30 June 1991

Wife: Iin Hidayati, 24

Child: M. Fariz Hidayat (17 months)

Education:

- Package C senior high school equivalency (2007-2008; 2018-2019)

- Maarif II Cilongok Islamic junior high school (2006)

- Maarif I Kalisari Islamic elementary school, (2003)