Dance Wouw A Hunter Who Makes Friends with Cenderawasih
Dance Wouw has been a guide for the last 28 years. As a guide, Dance not only accompanies guests to see birds, but also protects the cenderawasih from hunting and protects the forest from encroachment.
Dance Wouw
Although when he was young he often hunted cenderawasih, Dance Wouw then changed the course of his life. Dance is now a guide for tourists and scientists who want to see the bird of paradise in the Grime Valley, Jayapura, Papua.
He has been a guide for the last 28 years. As a guide, Dance not only accompanies guests to see birds, but also protects the cenderawasih from hunting and protects the forest from encroachment.
Even though the sky was still dark, Dance was already waiting at the Rhepang Muaif birdwatching tourist lodge. This 61-year-old man arrived at 2 a.m. He prepared early because he did not want to disappoint guests who wanted to see the bird of paradise.
Dance is a birdwatching tour guide at Rhepang Muaif, Nimbokrang district, Jayapura regency, Papua. On Wednesday morning (11/24/2021), he guided the Kompas team to see a bird of paradise perched on a tree canopy in the dense forest of the Grime Valley.
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The hands of the clock showed 4:30 a.m. Walking for about 15 minutes, we arrived at observation tower 1. Approaching the observation tower made of 8-meter-high wooden pillars, Dance asked us to turn off the flashlights. Whispering, he pointed to the tree canopy, where there was a straight piece of wood about 10 meters long. There, several cenderawasih mati-kawat perched.
As if Dance already had an appointment with this bird. From a distance, there was a woohoo... woaak... woahk.... He explained that this sound was a sign that the cenderawasih mati-kawat would soon land on the perch. Sure enough. Before long, the awaited bird appeared.
After taking pictures, Dance then took us to two other locations to see cenderawasih kuning-kecil and cenderawasih raja. At that moment, the sun slowly began to emerge through the trees. Dance was not tired at all even though his face looked pale because he was still recovering after suffering from malaria. In fact, he was enthusiastic about telling us about the behavior of the birds or some types of birds of paradise while enjoying breakfast with the team at the inn.
Dance Wouw
Originally hunting
The forest in the Nimbokrang area, which is included in the Grime Valley area, has been Dance’s playground since childhood. He did not get any education at school during his life. Since he was a teenager he has worked to help his family. Apart from working odd jobs, he also put traps in the forest to get deer and pigs, did farming and hunted birds of paradise to sell.
In a day Dance could get 30 birds of paradise. At that time, Dance still saw hundreds of cenderawasih birds every day. He said the condition of the forest at that time was still natural, there had not been massive logging.
“At that time, there were many offers from officials and security personnel who wanted to have a bird of paradise. I sold one bird of paradise for Rp 15,000. I did this solely to meet the needs of daily life,” he said.
Dance's life changed drastically when he met a transmigrant named Jamel from Central Java, who was in Nimbokrang district in the late 1980s. Jamel is like a father and teacher who taught Dance many things, such as cultivating crops that have economic value, such as coconuts and oranges. From Jamel, Dance also got to know a bird research academic from California, United States, named David Spencer.
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Jamel and Dance took David to document various types of birds in the forest of Nembukrang Sari village, Nimbokrang district. “Father Jamel served as a translator after teaching himself English through a dictionary. My role is to show the location of the forest where the birds play,” said Dance.
Thanks to David's documentary, the bird of paradise from the Grime Valley is well-known abroad. Since then, many foreign tourists have come to Nemburang Sari. This village became the forerunner of birdwatching ecotourism in Jayapura regency.
Dance really enjoys his job as a tour guide because it matches his experience and ability to control the forest. Usually, after taking a group of five to six tourists, Dance gets paid Rp 300,000 from Jamel.
Dance Wouw
Ecotourism
Until 2014, Dance was still helping Jamel as a tour guide, monitoring the birds of paradise in Nembukrang Sari village. Then, in the same year, Alex Waisimon came to meet Jamel with a mission to build ecotourism in his village, Rhepang Muaif.
From Jamel and Dance, Alex recognized the ecotourism potential of monitoring the birds of paradise, which is of great interest to researchers, photographers and foreign tourists. Alex invited Dance, Jamel's protege, to open a location for monitoring the birds of paradise in Bukit Isyo, Rhepang Muaif, with a forest area of 200 square hectares.
Rhepang Muaif, with a forest area of 19,000 hectares, is a habitat for 58 bird species. Of that number, there are seven species of birds of paradise that are rare in the Rhepang Muaif forest area. Especially in Bukit Isyo, there are five of the seven types of birds of paradise, including cenderawasih mati-kawat and cenderawasih raja.
The two of them then worked hand in hand to raise awareness about the great potential of ecotourism and birdwatching activities, rather than cutting down trees and hunting endemic animals in the forest.
This forest must be protected so that the beauty of the cenderawasih can be seen by the younger generation for decades to come.
In just a few months, the local community managed to prevent around 50 illegal logging actions by unscrupulous workers from several companies. "We also strictly prohibit the public from hunting birds of paradise in the ecotourism areas. If we find that someone has shot a bird dead, they will be arrested and handed over to the police for legal processing,” said Dance.
The local community as the owner of customary rights also feels the economic impact of ecotourism in Bukit Isyo. Since its opening in 2015, this place has continued to be visited by foreign tourists from a number of countries, such as the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, South Korea and Japan. There are also local tourists.
“I was determined to be a tour guide in this place until I could no longer walk. This forest must be protected so that the beauty of the cenderawasih can be seen by the younger generation for decades to come,” said Dance.
Now, Dance and the people around the forest are no longer hunters, but are friends with the cenderawasih.
Dance Wouw
Born:Nimbokrang, Jayapura, 13 March 1960
Wife:Yuliana Yanteo
Children:6
Profession: Bird Watching Tour Guide at Isyo Hills Rhepang Muaif
This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo.
