I'm sad about leaving the Station so early in the campaign. Over the last weeks I was in the bush, staying and living with locals, working on their land. We demarcated the borders of the land of various clans, we surveyed “Forest Management Areas” (FMA) and set up areas for the initial harvesting. We even went hunting, every now and then – you might have read about that :-)

This project is different to so many others I've seen before. If you think about it, it's kind of strange. I, a semi-professional tree-hugger stumble through some of the most beautiful forests I've seen and mark trees for felling. In fact, this week the first saw-milling training was held in the village of Ogia.

That got me thinking a lot about protecting some of the last remaining large intact forest landscapes. Greenpeace was working on this for the last few years. We can't just stop the large-scale logging – there has to be an alternative for the people.

These people we lived with, survive because of the forest. Some of them call it their “supermarket”.

But even though many clans at lake Murray and in the forests live semi-nomadic, even though they get their construction materials from the forests, get their fibres for making bags from the bark of a certain tree, get fruit from another special tree, use the bark of other trees to heal wounds or protect themselves from spirits –their life has changed.

You can't ignore the fact that modern life has an impact. At a local store you can buy “liklik wopa” crackers, wrapped in plastic, China-made torches with batteries, and “tinpis” (tuna in tins). Some clans own an old gun for hunting

There is a small hospital at one of the stations (you have to pay for treatment). The numbers of people living at the lake is increasing, and the life expectancy has risen, but still medical supplies are very limited.

Education is available, but the school fees are the main reason many kids only have 5-8 years of school education. Their parents can’t afford to pay for any further lessons.

All these are new challenges to may people out there. How do we treat our rubbish? How much can we hunt (the gun increases the effectiveness of the old bow-and-arrow-style)? How much money do we need? What for? How can we keep up our own lifestyle as everything changes? What about the role of women?

These are some of the issues I learnt about during my short time at the lake. There are more; I'd loved to have stay longer. I feel there is so much change, there are so many challenges to everybody involved in this project.

It will be a long time before the eco-forestry projects are running independently and sustainable. It will take a lot of dedication from the local clans; it's a lot of work.

After seeing the first few weeks, the initial work in the forests, the joys and difficulties of working with various tribes and clans, I'm excited about what will happen next.

In the meantime, the Rainbow Warrior is patrolling the waters of Indonesia and promoting eco-forestry solutions over here. Only 28% of Indonesia’s intact forest remains; there has to be a way to protect it and still provide people with a means of survival.

My first two days on the ship are over, and my head is still dizzy from being at sea again. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks onboard and in the meantime, I’d like to salute the GFRS, the other “White Papuan” and everybody out there, who has helped make this project possible.

Flo