Deep in Indonesia’s West Javan rainforest, plants like ferns, marigolds and flowering pink cosmos, while beautiful, have rarely been seen as having economic value.
But a group of women working in a quiet conservation park in Citalahab Sentral, a small community inside Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, aims to prove that protecting nature can go hand in hand with earning a living.
Calling themselves Ambu Halimun, which means “Mothers of Halimun” in Sundanese, they gather foliage that is rich in natural colours and tannins.
The flowers and leaves are used for ecoprinting, in which they are pressed onto fabric and steamed or boiled so the pigments transfer to the cloth.
Ambu Halimun stitches the intricately printed fabric into skirts, scarves and tote bags and sells them in global markets.
The women are carving out a sustainable livelihood from the rainforest that does not require cutting down trees, hunting wildlife or degrading the fragile ecosystem.
But the effort is small-scale, with returns nowhere as big as those from more destructive ventures like mining and logging, and the group’s challenge is to grow into a large-enough force to have an impact in defending Indonesia’s nature.
Indonesia is a biodiversity powerhouse – home to a significant share of global flora and fauna, including about 17 per cent of the world’s bird species and 10 per cent of flowering plant species, according to United Nations figures.
Its rainforests shelter critically endangered species found nowhere else like orangutans, Sumatran tigers and Javan gibbons.
The rich biodiversity is under serious threat from deforestation driven by agriculture, mining and infrastructure.
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The human population keeps growing, but land remains limited. These women will be on the frontlines of conservation because they now have the competence to protect nature.
Rahayu Oktaviani, co-founder, Konservasi Ekosistem Alam Nusantara (KIARA)
The country lost 10.7 million hectares (26.4 million acres) of humid primary forest between 2002 and 2024, according to Global Forest Watch.
“The human population keeps growing, but land remains limited. These women will be on the frontlines of conservation because they now have the competence to protect nature,” said Rahayu Oktaviani, co-founder and director of the Javan gibbon conservation group Konservasi Ekosistem Alam Nusantara (KIARA).
Javan gibbons
With fewer than 300 residents, Citalahab Sentral relies on tea farming and small-scale agriculture. There is tourism through homestays and forest treks as well but that provides inconsistent income.
After the pandemic battered local tourism, the KIARA group began offering residents training in ecoprinting, sewing and natural fertiliser production as well as English and public speaking.
Although guests have slowly returned since 2022, tourism earnings remain far below pre-pandemic levels.
One member of Ambu Halimun, a mother of four named Yuliana, said income from running a homestay with her husband was not enough to meet daily needs.
Now she prints fabrics with motifs from the flora and fauna.
“I never imagined that leaves could produce natural colours for making ecoprint,” said Yuliana, who goes by a single name.
KIARA and the women have identified at least 24 rainforest plant species containing tannins, natural compounds that bind colour to fabric and make ecoprint dyes last longer.
Ambu Halimun members sell their products online through social media and to visiting tourists. With an Instagram account, they take orders from overseas, with prices ranging from 250,000 (US$15) to 700,000 (US$43) Rupiah.
The group uses a Javan gibbon motif as its ecoprint signature, and sharing stories about the gibbon’s habitat and the threats it faces from deforestation and hunting helps raise local conservation awareness.
The small ape with silver-grey fur and a black face is endangered, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates about 4,000 to 4,500 gibbons remain in the wild in Indonesia.
