Juara means Champion...

More about the little beach I currently call home.

Faced with a barage of challenges, the beach they call Champion gets its namesake from the very people who braved the jungle and the formidable climates to live upon the sandy stretch of retired sand. Traditionally customed in Kampong style fashion, Juara would hold its head high at the pristine coral reefs, abundance of returning turtle, vast number of fish and unending supply of fresh water outflows, allowing those who braved the jungle a well to do, but primitive lifestyle.

Today not much has changed in Juara. It is still a Kampong style village, with rudimentary services, the key elements being the Mosque, the school, a few rubber plantations and the occasional fruit plantation. The only change that Juara has seen is the increased number of Tourism on it's sister side of the island in Tekek and the resulting increase in accomodation in Juara to follow suite. At this point however Juara is at a critical point. Not quit bogged down with the boat loads of Tourist, it still takes a hardier soul to make the trek to Juara or cough up the 150Rm for the Taxi ride. Nevertheless, you can feel eve of development lurking somewhere in the shadows. Juara is at the eve of make or break.

What does this mean for the people of Juara and the species that live and depend on these environments for their survival? When I first showed up in Juara in January, we were experiencing the first hand effects of being cut off from the rest of the world. Everyone was running out of Petrol, vegetables, fish and even chicken was scarce. Yet somehow it worked, how? Simple, eat less, eat what's available, and look out for one another. That's how it was done, but as soon as the seas calmed and supplies could reach Juara, every one was fat and happy again. What sort of point am I trying to make?

When you increase the number of people in this area you also increase the demand for resource. Clean water, septic, food, gas and electricity. At this point, during monsoon, Juara is reduced to mostly the local people, afew outsiders like myself and that is it. At this level when supplies are cut, people can ride out the storm sort of speak, but if you stress that threshold to any major level of increase you run the risk of not being able to provide. Or simply putting people and lives at risk just to increase the short term dollar amount knocking at the front door of prosperity, if you like. Not to mention the increased level of stress on the beach and the providing environments.

At this moment in time the East side of Tioman still sees a small number of return Green and Hawksbill turtles. The census of population is virtually impossible to gauge, since the only real count we can obtain is that of returned females, which in a given year is only a percentage of the total mature female population and gives you no idea of the males populations. Therefor, if we take into account the number one threat turtle face, HUMANS, and we equate that with the previous mentioned, increase in tourism, we get a net result of no turtles potentially to this side of the island. Trying to get that message across to the local community is key. As it is essential for them to know the adverse effects of development and understand the importance of balance.

One avenue aside from the Turlte project that I am going to try and work on is attempting to get my surfer friends involved in being the stewards of this beach. Sort of like the guardians. They are the ones who everyday go and brave the surf to find that rare point of satisfaction that I see lacking in the muslim communities as a whole. They are the ones that have found an outlet to get away from drugs and other negative things that could easily steer them into a dead end of poverty and depression. And they are the ones that can make a difference, they are young and imprresionable with even the next batch of youth. It is these kids which hold the key. Empower them with being the protectors of the beach and perhaps, perhaps at the dawn of make or break, we are able to paddle through the break and do the make!

Ciao for now,
Andy

Jasmine takes a break from the miday sun. Some lovely stairs built by yours truely. Clouds rolling into Juara...we've seen alot of rain in March. Most of it appreciated.

Well...I head back to the states in a few weeks. I will be very excited to see everyone again and share my stories and adventures in a much more intimate and thorough way than I have been able to convey on this bloody blog. However, I will be very sad to leave Tioman and my new family in Juara.

We just dropped of some students at the ferry this morning. They were an international bunch who study in Hong Kong. They came to us to help with the turtle project and learn a bit abou the conservation efforts on Tioman. We managed to get them out snorkelling and hiking in the jungle as well as get them involved in the project building site.

Talking with them their last night, we were able to get an idea of their impression of the Turtle project. Alot of them were touched by the work we have been doing, and seem to now understand the difficulties such conservation efforts have, working with governments and local communities. They all seemed understand the need for involving the local community as a major player in the efforts and also saw the value in reaching out to groups from distant places. However the one take home message that we tried to impress upon them is that, this isn't a turtle issue. Just as I often said in dealing with the salmon restoration efforts in the US. We aren't managing salmon, we have no need to manage salmon. We manage ourselves and our interactions with these creatures and environments. That seems to be the hardest pill for people to swallow is that we need to be more aggressive managing our ac tions and impacts on these areas. It won't be long before these issues are knocking at our door and we are faced with very immediate measures for solving these problems. Why do we not get the picture and learn to take these steps now, before it is too late. The turtles are a nice feature for which we can learn not just about the turtles, but also about the sea and the beaches and the ecosystems they rely on. Leaving us with no other choice than to protect these areas and our own well being.

Ciao for now.

Andy

Some more pics...Couple of volunteers from the UK on their way to Adelaide, Aussiland. They were very helpful and good fun to have around. We also discovered that Turtle eggs are perfect for beer pong, just kidding. This is a green turtle egg harvested by Kasim the local man in the village who has been collecting eggs for alot of years.

Also you will see that my guitar shrank in the airpot and I have been forced to deal with all the local kids making fun of my small guitar...aka ukele.

Looks like scuba steve is on the loose again...this time he's found some very rare Swedish girls!

Just a few pics from thailand. These guys in the boat were some pirates that came along side our boat to steal tourist. Lucky for us they were happy pirates who would steal you and take you to magical paradise, with sandy beaches and lots ot Tiger Beer.

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Well...what can I say it has been very nice to get a bit of a break from grinding floor boards and lifting bricks everyday, but even paradise comes with a cost and impact. I don't seem to understand how everyone somehow thinks that if they get the Eco-lodge, or travel light that they are somehow less degrading to the tourism scene. Or the best one yet is the one where everyone comes to an island on a boat and everyone is looking to stay at a non-touristy beach. What?

Pictures of Koh Phi Phi from the late 1990's show an island filled with lush palm ladden forest. Coral reefs lined the white pristine sands like armed guards at an entrance gate. Tourism had very little steam in these parts as most of the western crowds where still busy tearing apart Koh Samui and Ko Panang. But like all beautiful places everyone wants to spend a bit of time away from there cares, shedding their burden perhaps onto the very beaches they lay upon. The case with Koh Phi Phi is no different, a blockbuster called the beach was filmed on Koh Phi Phi Lei, the smaller of the two islands and overnight everyone was packing their bags to find this once in a life time place. In no time at all Koh Phi Phi population grew the western travellers and soon, the climbing mecca of Krabi became a launch point for the herds.

In 2004, a tsunami kicked off, in I believe, Sumatra Indonesia. Sending a 40m surge of water toward every piece of land and coastline that it could reach. In literally minutes the small village of local fisherman and tourist, where gone. Claiming the lives of nearly 3000, people. Video footage from a birds eye view shows the small isthmus consumed by the serge, carrying with it buildings boats and people.

The aftermath played itself out in typical fashion. Look toward the government for some help, but the coordination and resources required to post such an effort made the Thai governmental support minimal and uneffective. The result, a completly rebuilt mini pedestrian only city packed onto the isthmus over the remains of the old site. As I understand it a few venture capitalist types swooped in on land and development, aiming to build a name for Koh Phi Phi and another destination for the LP's(lonely planet people) to circle in their itinerary.

Am I glad to be here...of course I am . It is a wonderful place and aside from the jam packed little town on the isthmus, things are lightly developed and left to their own. The snorkelling is wonderful and there are more Swede's in bikini's than you can shake a stick at, but I still have to wonder...are we loving these places to death? And should there be a point at which we stop the rampage on our landscapes?

Left, Lily and Adriana(Fast Eddie's little girl). Lily, is our cook and all around motherly figure. She is an amazing cook and I'm hoping to take a few new recipes home with me for those of you who don't mind the spice. Right, are some tracks from a very early return, Hawksbill turtle. SAhe came back and laid over 100 eggs two days later. Of which we are in possesion. They should hatch by the time I leave. This turtle is about 2 months early, so even though it is exciting it is also a bit concerning as to what is going on in the sea.

Stay tuned, love you all enjoy the pics.

Andy

Left, is Gaffer...local surfer, he also owns a boat which he fishes from and uses to Taxi people around the island in the summer. Center, the beach I look at daily this is just outside my chalet looking down the beach. Mostly jungle right up to the water. Right, Botok...most likely the best surfer on the beach, aside form Gaffer. He apparently won a comp on the mainland early this year and has a bit of an ego, but not much. Wave for wave...he' pretty darn good.