Thursday morning, 22 January 2026, marked the beginning of our research team’s field orientation trip. Seven researchers took part in the journey: two from YPI (Paul and Bang Rodi), one from Universitas Tanjungpura (Bu Kartikawati), and four social researchers (Desintha, Dewi, Fara, Fahmi). Our research focuses on the everyday governance of community-led conservation. The visit aimed to train researchers in participant observation and writing fieldnotes.
For some of us, this experience opened our eyes to the fact that research is not always about recording and evaluating through numbers or rows of data, such as tables, graphs, and reports that feel distant from everyday life. Instead, in the field we encountered research up close, by being fully present within the community. Through participant observation, we faced a range of experiences: a warm welcome, a bitter tension, and a surprising episode involving salt and tamarind.
Coast and Canal
The boat journey began at Rasau Jaya. We boarded a small speedboat carrying eight people, travelling along the Kapuas River towards Desa Sungai Nibung for a brief stop, before continuing on to our destination. The river stretched wide like a road without end, carrying us away from the bustle of the city. The air felt humid, with the faint distinctive smell of brackish water. The roughly four-hour journey gave us space to imagine what life would be like in our destination, the coastal area of Kubu Raya, Desa Mengkalang Jambu.
Mengkalang Jambu greeted us with a distinct landscape. Along the riverbank before entering the village, dense mangrove, nipah, and bakau vegetation grew thick, a clear marker that this is a transitional ecosystem between land and sea. The settlement follows the course of the river and limited road access, as if adapting itself to the surrounding natural conditions.
A large canal cuts through the village and appears to be the artery of daily life. Speedboats and residents’ canoes occasionally pass over it, carrying seafood or transporting passengers. Along the canal’s edge, water pump equipment with hoses connected to homes could be seen, a sign that this water is still used for everyday needs. In between, children bathed cheerfully, adding life to the flow along the canal.
Upon arriving at the Mengkalang Jambu Village Office, the scorching heat hit us immediately. Yet the harshness of the weather was softened by the warmth of the Village Head’s welcome. A local idiom, “Kecik telapak tangan nyaruk pun ditadahkan”, was offered as a sign of sincere welcome to anyone who comes to the village with good intentions.
Drawn into Suspicion
Yet we also felt some real tensions during our visit. One evening, as we walking back from a PUMK meeting, we encountered a man at the edge of the canal who was harvesting coconuts with a small boat. Noticing our presence, he left his boat and walked towards us. After hearing that we were from YPI and conducting a research orientation, he questioned the purpose of YPI’s programmes in his village. His tone rose, his hands trembled slightly. He expressed concern that the programmes might only benefit a small number of people. He repeated the question several times without resolution.
This prompted us to ask community members about the man. We heard that he had once had a bad experience with a palm oil company. It seems that wound never healed, and he is now known as someone with a distinctive character. Village residents were no longer surprised when he suddenly caused a commotion that made others feel uncomfortable. His anger, though directed at us, may have been rooted in a far deeper disappointment and distrust towards outsiders who bring change to his village. This episode reminded us that researchers in the field are not merely outside observers. In many moments, we are drawn into relationships, suspicions, and hopes that are not always spoken plainly.
Salt and Tamarind
On the same day, we witnessed another side of village life through a traditional healing treatment undergone by Kak Desintha. Before departing for Mengkalang Jambu, Kak Desintha had sprained her foot. This caused her ankle to swell after extensive activity, particularly walking. Her swollen ankle was treated by a traditional healer. She applied a herbal mixture of spices, then wrapped it with mengkudu leaves tied gently around the injured foot.
The process did not end there. There was another stage, which residents called “killing the medicine.” We were asked to bring salt and tamarind as a condition of the treatment, which according to the healer was the most important part for healing. She likened it to cooking: without salt and sour, something is missing. After a prayer was recited, she applied the salt and tamarind to Kak Desintha’s mouth. Kak Desintha and I were rather surprised. We had assumed the salt and tamarind would be used to massage the foot, but it turned out they were applied to the mouth instead. You could say we got our first real taste of fieldwork in Mengkalang Jambu.
Going Away to Come Back
What we have seen in Mengkalang Jambu so far feels like only the surface. There is still much we have not yet understood, not yet heard, and that may not yet be ready to be fully revealed. And this is what makes this trip so meaningful: as a process that is not rushed, that makes room to keep learning while acknowledging how little we actually understand.
This orientation aligned our understanding of how we will carry out research in different locations. We will spread out across four study sites to begin intensive and simultaneous participant observation. Kak Desintha will go to Dusun Dawar (Desa Pisak, Kabupaten Bengkayang); Fahmi to Dusun Ladak (Desa Meragun, Kabupaten Sekadau); Fara to Desa Kenyabur (Kabupaten Ketapang); and I, Dewi, will return to Desa Mengkalang Jambu.
Returning to Mengkalang Jambu is both an advantage and a challenge. I am fortunate to have already gathered initial information from the orientation visit. But the intensive research I must now undertake alone demands sharper focus. My research focus will shift from simply recording initial impressions and challenges in building community-led conservation, and attempt to understand the roots of the various dynamics that unfold.
I hope this research can become a bridge to a complete narrative that is able to present the complexity of this village without simplifying the real stories within it.