"In the past few days, it seems like we've had some people with bad intentions coming around."
"Who, Ni?"
"I don't know. Maybe they're the ones you're thinking of."
Marna shook her head. She sat hugging her knees. The night wind felt very cold, piercing through her skin.
"Could it be them, the ones who poisoned our river two months ago?"
"More than that, they might belong to a group even more wicked."
The sound of the motorcycle that had been faintly heard in the distance was getting closer. Then, it suddenly stopped. Feeling a bit uneasy, Marna looked around. Sitting on the roof, she could see the surroundings clearly, from the yard to the roadside.
Marna's high position on the roof helped her monitor the night, illuminated by the September moonlight.
"Our forest that should be preserved, the river that should be protected with all its purity as a source of life, they are destroying. All for the sake of money, which isn't even that much."
TWO MONTHS AGO
One morning, when the tropical forest of Kalimantan was still wrapped in the cool embrace of the dawn mist, two gibbons were found dead, floating in the river. Not only that, but thousands of fish were also found dead, floating around them.
Marna's 11-year-old nephew, Adai, was shocked to see the river, which provided life for them, filled with dead fish.
Seeing so many dead fish, Adai jumped into the river. He tried to catch a floating toman fish. Adai swam towards it. The fish, as big as his thigh, was completely motionless.
Next to the toman fish were two large arowana fish, struggling between life and death. After catching the toman fish, Adai brought it to the shore. Then, he swam back to the middle of the river to get the two arowana fish.
After catching the three large fish, Adai pulled on some vine roots. He braided the roots into a 50-centimeter length, then threaded the end through the gills of the fish, stringing them together.
Adai walked home, his pace a bit quicker. Over his shoulder were six large fish, strung together and carried on his back.
If weighed, the fish he carried might have been around 7 kilograms. Adai ran towards the house, shouting excitedly.
"Tambi! Bue!" he yelled, calling for his aunt and mother.
His mother, who was cooking rice at the time, came out of the kitchen when she heard her youngest son shouting.
"What is it?"
"Food!" Adai said, lifting the fish he had caught in the river.
"So many! How did you catch them?"
"There were lots of fish in the river. I only took the big ones."
"Lots of fish in the river?"
"Yes, lots and lots."
"Dead fish?"
"Yes, dead fish."
"A lot?"
"Yes! So many." The mother and son were speaking loudly because the mother was standing on the raised house while the son was at the bottom of the stairs.
"Come up here, son!"
Adai climbed the stairs and dropped the fish on the floor.
The large arowana fish, one red and the other yellow, were tied together by their gills along with the snakehead and toman fish.
"Tangkalasa!" Adai's mother exclaimed. She was shocked to see such valuable fish. Tangkalasa is another name for arowana. This fish is highly sought after by ornamental fish enthusiasts and is incredibly expensive, with prices reaching tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of rupiah.
"How did you catch these fish? These are rare and valuable fish."
"There were so many in the river, Ma!" the boy said with complete innocence.
"So many?!"
"Yes, Ma, lots. But they were all dead!"
"Could someone have poisoned the river again?" his mother lamented. Then she went into the house to inform her brother and other relatives, who were sitting and enjoying a cup of coffee and a plate of biscuits dipped in their coffee.
"Check the river, Adai says there are a lot of dead fish."
"Did someone poison the river again?" They all spoke in Dayak.
Potas, or cyanide, is the easiest way to catch river fish. What they do is simply mix the poisonous powder into a bucket of water, stir it until it dissolves, and then pour it into the river. They stir the water, and soon the river turns a milky white color.
Catching fish by spreading cyanide poison in the flowing river is the most terrifying threat for the inland Dayak community. Besides killing humans, it also wipes out all river life, from fish and turtles to monitor lizards. It even endangers land animals that rely on the river for drinking water.
If they fished properly, it would be very easy to catch fish in the forest's interior. Simple methods like casting nets, fishing, or setting traps are effective. At night, river prawns, known for their sweet and delicious meat, can be caught with bare hands. The river fish population in this forest is abundant, but human greed has severely disrupted the ecosystem. Specifically, with potas poison, all the fish in the river float to the surface quickly, making them easy to catch. Even reptiles are not spared from human greed.
Poisoning rivers, catching, and electrofishing are common occurrences. Irresponsible people only think about financial gain. They seek fish in an instant way, without considering the aftermath. The rivers in the interior of Kalimantan are renowned for their abundant natural resources.
This method is vastly different from the habits of the indigenous people. Their way of catching fish is very traditional. They do not use fishing rods or nets. Instead, they rely on a stick with a pointed metal tip. They target fish in the middle of the night, using a flashlight and quickly spearing the fish swimming by.
The Dayak people in the interior possess natural skills for catching fish that do not harm the environment. They only catch enough fish for their daily sustenance.
Disaster, habit, greed, and indifference have birthed a new catastrophe. The environment is destroyed, forests are cut down, land is excavated, and rivers are damaged. This has led the inland Dayak people to seek more distant places. Uncomfortable with the destruction, they move to quieter areas.
Behavior starts from turning hunting into an uncontrolled hobby to capturing animals as illegal trade commodities.
When a river is poisoned, it doesn't take long to harvest the fish—no more than 30 minutes. The river's inhabitants surface and float because the poisonous liquid has contaminated the water. People flock to harvest the fish that nature has nurtured, but human greed has destroyed. When the poison spreads, all the fish in the river will die and float to the surface. Not all the dead fish can be collected, and the impact will last for days, leading to extinction.
Some male family members prepare to go down to the river. They carry Mandau (traditional swords) on their left hips.
They run down to the river. It is the duty of the Dayak youth to always protect their land and territory.
Life in the interior of Kalimantan Island is very tolerant. They always respect anyone who comes to their land. The Dayak people are not like the primitive tribes often portrayed on television attacking strangers; instead, they treat anyone who comes with great respect. So, it is no surprise that if you get lost in the forest and meet the inland Dayak people, you will be safe. Not only will you be safe, but you will also be treated royally.
To the Dayak people, a guest is a king. They will offer anything they have to honor a visiting stranger. From the past until now, whenever a stranger enters the interior, you will never hear of anyone being killed by the locals. However, the kindness of the Dayak people is often exploited by others.