Agustina Tandi Bunna, known as Ebe, is a Pride Campaign manager living in Borneo, Indonesia. Ebe works with her collegues of TNC Berau, Indonsia to support the development of land use  for four villages in the area. Her campaign, now in the initial implementation stages, plans to address habitat loss. In her region of the world forests are converted into oil palm plantations by both local communities and companies for profit. Read how Ebe is engaging local community members to join her campaign, and  how she  is getting the message out through popular music.

Mastaniah is a teacher who lives in the small village of Muara Lesan on the island of Borneo, Indonesia. Born and raised in this village, Mastaniah chose to be a teacher so she could help educate the community. One of her talents is playing musical instruments and singing. When she was a child Mastaniah was a popular singer in Kelay sub-district on Borneo. When she heard the Pride campaign needed a song she jumped at the chance to compose one for the Sungai Lesan Protected Forest.

While composing the song, Mastaniah worked collaboratively with Eddy Sudianto, a guitar player for over 20 years. They composed a dangdut song. Dangdut is a common genre in music in Indonesia and is influenced by India and Malay folk music. According to the pre-survey, dangdut music is one of the top favorite music genres of the local community. The song is entitled “Uttan Lindung Sungai Lesan untuk Anak Cucunta’ which means protect the Lesan River Forest for future generations. It is planned that the song will be translated into the local languages of the villages surrounding the Lesan River protected area.

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Mastaniah and Eddy sing the song they wrote about the Lesan River protected area.

If you listen you can hear Mastaniah and Eddy Sudianto sing:
“Let’s embrace the protected area for our future
For our own children and grandchildren
Take care of the Lesan’s forest
So it will stand forever … “