Advancement of Local People
The advancement of local people is a critical issue in many communities where finding employment, learning new skills, and other languages, and furthering education is challenging. At our organization, we aim to support the local economy by providing job opportunities, developing skills, and teaching languages to the local people.
What is Our Action Plan for the Advancement of Local People?
Our action plan for the advancement of local people includes various initiatives. Firstly, we plan to continue offering education opportunities like the Jungle School, including encouraging volunteer teaching. Additionally, we teach our employees English, which will help them communicate more effectively with guests and work colleagues. We also employ locals in our projects, such as maintenance, building, and improvements, and as staff.
Furthermore, we teach alternative income methods to the locals, such as permaculture, which will help them to generate income while protecting the environment. We also encourage ecotourism and provide drivers, guides, and hospitality staff employment opportunities.
We work with local farmers to encourage them to adopt more efficient farming practices that generate similar income to palm oil while offering tourism opportunities. By doing so, we hope to create sustainable jobs and a better standard of living for the local community. We aim to empower the local people by providing them with the necessary tools and knowledge to improve their lives, which will, in turn, help to improve the local economy.
Volunteer Local People Advancement Tasks
- Teaching our staff new skills, such as English and gardening
- Helping us increase our visitors to allow to hire more staff and pay better rates.
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is presented by the Indonesian government as an ideal activity for the border area, and we agree that it has the potential to reduce some negative environmental impacts if done correctly. Our focus at Batu Kapal and Hutan Subur is on employing and educating locals to fully benefit from well-managed tourism.
What Is Our Action Plan for Ecotourism?
Better project management:
- Improving customer service and communication through email and WhatsApp
- Developing a more user-friendly website and Air B’n’B pages
- Enhancing visitor comfort
- Improving our social media presence and using it to attract more visitors.
Implementing our marketing plan
- Establishing a successful forest-friendly eco-lodge business:
- Training, employing, and retaining great staff.
- Building a reputation as a place where volunteers can make a difference and enjoy themselves.
Creating an enjoyable venue for visitors:
- Maintaining forested land with forest-friendly species
- Keeping our land animal-friendly for jungle species
- Offering engaging projects for volunteers, such as a permaculture garden, forestry garden and nursery, and caring for sponsored land
- Providing educational opportunities for volunteers at our Jungle School and local market school
- Offering local activities for guests, such as walking paths, river walks, cave tours, animal spotting, and tours in Bukit Lawang and beyond
Partnering with other tour operators to offer exciting getaways for tourists, volunteers, and enthusiasts around Sumatra, including nature tours, jungle camping tours, animal spotting activities, elephant washing, hot springs, waterfall day trips, tubing, and cultural activities like village tours and cooking classes.
By following this action plan, we aim to create a thriving and sustainable ecotourism industry that benefits the local economy and environment.
Volunteer Ecolodge Tasks
- Helping keep the shed, stores, and equipment room in order.
- Tuning and fixing the motorbike
- Using special skills, such as building, carpentry, organizing, and repairs, to improve our service and lodge.
- Contacting tree sponsors about their plants’ progress
- Posting about us on social media to help us get more great volunteers like you.
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