R.I.P Lonesome George, The Last Pinta Giant Tortoise Dies, World Loses The Species

Lonesome George

Quito, Ecuador. Lonesome George has died, leaving the world one species poorer.

The only remaining Pinta Island tortoise and celebrated conservation icon passed away on Sunday, the Galapagos National Park Service said in a statement.

Estimated to be more than 100 years old, the creature’s cause of death remains unclear and a necropsy is planned.

Lonesome George’s longtime caretaker, Fausto Llerena, found the tortoise’s remains stretched out in the “direction of his watering hole” on Santa Cruz Island, the statement said.

Lonesome George was discovered on Pinta Island in 1972 at a time when tortoises of his type were already believed to be extinct. Since then, the animal had been part of the park service’s tortoise program.

REUTERS/Directorate of the Galapagos National Park/Handout

Repeated efforts to breed Lonesome George failed.

“Later two females from the Espanola tortoise population (the species most closely related to Pinta tortoises genetically) were with George until the end,” the park service said.

In honor of Lonesome George, the park service said it was convening an international workshop in July on management strategies for restoring tortoise populations over the next decade.

The Galapagos Islands, situated about 1,000 kilometers off Ecuador’s coast, is considered a haven for tortoises.

Agence France-Presse

Oh No...Jakarta Being The Most Hates City For Tourism

Jakarta Night by R. Aditya

The Jakarta administration is on the defensive over a ranking published recently by CNNGo that lands the Indonesian capital among the world’s “10 most hated cities.”

Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency head Arie Budhiman said in Jakarta on Monday that the ranking was just an opinion piece written by trip adviser Jordan Rane, and lacked any scientific basis.

“I actually don’t want to comment on this matter. But I want to reaffirm that it was merely an opinion article made by the author. CNNGo never conducted an official study or survey,” Arie said.

“He [Rane] is a CNN contributor, and only lived in Jakarta for six months, and then he commented about Jakarta. Surely his judgment is not equal with the way the world sees Jakarta,” he added.

Arie further said the increasing number of international visitors to Jakarta over the years was proof of Rane’s flawed assessment.

Citing his office’s data, he said the number of foreign tourists visiting Jakarta had risen by 15.8 percent every year for the past five years, although that figure was smaller than the average 34.1 percent annual growth from 2002 to 2007.

Arie also criticized local media that had quoted the CNNGo article without making it clear that the ranking was only a product of the author’s opinion.

“Just because one person commented, it doesn’t mean he represents hundreds of millions of tourists around the world. Read the article carefully; don’t manipulate information.”

According to Rane’s piece, published at cnngo.com on June 11, Jakarta ranks 7th on the list of the world’s most hated cities, after Tijuana (Mexico), Sydney and Melbourne (Australia), Paris, Timbuktu (Mali), Los Angeles and Lima.

Deemed slightly less detestable than the Indonesian capital, New Delhi, Cairo and Belize City rounded out the list.

“Jakarta: great, if frustration is your favorite emotion,” says a caption accompanying the article.

Rane describes Jakarta as a “sprawling city choked with traffic, pollution, poverty and tourist ‘draws’ largely revolving around random street adventures and an epidemic of malls.”

BeritaSatu/JG

Wearable Robot called 'Ekso' Helps Disabled People Walk

Eksoskeleton

Potsdam, Germany. “It’s a nice feeling to be upright, to walk and to have people at eye level,” said a beaming Peter Kossmehl at the Potsdam Rehabilitation Center in Germany. The 40-year-old from the German state of Brandenburg had just taken a spin in a bionic exoskeleton — a wearable, battery-powered robot — that enables paraplegics to take a few steps again.

The rehab center is one of the first facilities in Europe to test the robot, called Ekso and made by Ekso Bionics. The California-based company introduced Ekso in the fall of 2011.

Now it is to be tested worldwide on paraplegics, stroke and multiple sclerosis patients and other people with lower-extremity paralysis or weakness. Further development for home use is planned as well.

“In Germany, only patients in Aachen have tested the robot Ekso so far a few weeks ago,” said company spokesman Bastian Schink. After them, eight people in Potsdam strapped on and tried out the approximately 23-kilogram exoskeleton. With the help of sensors in its foot units, weight shifts are converted into steps.

“I’d like to give my patients the opportunity to stand erect again as soon as possible,” said Bettina Quentin, director of physiotherapy at the rehab center south of Berlin. “I’m mainly interested in whether the technology can help affected people in their everyday lives.” But Quentin, like many experts, warns against excessive expectations.

“People who function well with their wheelchair will always be faster in them than with the exoskeleton,” said Jan Schwab, head of spinal cord injury research at the Charite University Hospital’s Department of Experimental Neurology in Berlin. “The psychological benefits of a patient standing upright shouldn’t be underestimated, though.” The reactions of the Potsdam patients appeared to confirm this.

“It’s a nice feeling to stand,” said Andreas Klitzsch, 54, the joy of walking again written all over his face. At the same time, he expressed the desire for a substantial improvement in the technology.

“I’m not walking by myself,” he remarked. “It’s only passive walking.” Kossmehl, too, thinks more development work is needed. “But it’s just the right aid for the rehab center,” he said.

A bionic exoskeleton called 'Ekso' made by California's Ekso Bionics enables paraplegics to take a few steps again. While the 23 kilogram robot is only in the test phases, early users have said the experience of standing at eye level and taking a few steps again has been invaluable.

In the view of Ruediger Rupp, director of the Department of Experimental Neurorehabilitation in the Paraplegiology Clinic at Heidelberg University Hospital, the robot is not suitable for all patients.

There are about 60,000 paraplegics in Germany, “of whom fewer than 10 percent are candidates [for the robot],” he said. “That’s a very select group.” Someone who can hardly move his or her torso, for example, would have great difficulties with the robot.

Various technologies are meant to make disabled people more mobile. Electrostimulation is one of them, but stimulated walking is unstable. This is why experts have a high opinion of bionic exoskeletons, which were first developed for military use. A soldier wearing one could theoretically carry a 100-kilogram load with no health risk.

Companies around the world are working on models for walking aids, such as Israel, Japan and New Zealand and the United States, where Ekso has been in use at 10 rehabilitation centers since late 2011; clinics in Denmark, Spain and Switzerland are also testing it.

One of the unknowns being examined is whether the device has positive health effects. It could potentially prevent pressure sores, boost blood flow, protect against osteoporosis and keep joints flexible. It could also make disabled people more independent.

“Patients could rehab at home and wouldn’t be bound to the center,” Schwab said. But the device would have to become affordable. It currently costs about 120,000 euros ($150,000).

“It’s going to get less expensive,” remarked Schink, who said Ekso Bionics was aiming for a price between 50,000 and 60,000 euros. “In the coming 12 to 18 months, it will be shipped only to clinics in order to conduct studies,” he said, explaining the company wanted to be sure that the device has doctors’ support.

This, Rupp said, is the proper procedure. “After all,” he noted, “it’s still unclear if there’s possible long-term harm.”

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

F1 - Schumacher earns 1st podium since comeback

Michael Schumacher stepped onto a Formula One podium at the European Grand Prix on Sunday for the first time since coming out of retirement.

The 43-year-old German great took advantage of a collision between Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado on the penultimate lap to steer his Mercedes into a long coveted top-three finish in Valencia.

Schumacher said of his third-place finish that "it's these moments that you enjoy deeply. It's wonderful to be back after so much time.

"I didn't think about a podium, not even at the end of the race. At the end I asked the guys where we finished and the boys told me that's third. I can't believe that, I didn't expect it."

Schumacher had endured a wretched season, failing to finish five of the previous seven races and only collecting two points.

Mercedes Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, from Germany

The last time the seven-time champion had made it onto a podium was in 2006.

Schumacher returned to the sport he had dominated for more than a decade in 2010 after a three-year hiatus, but the former Ferrari driver had so far lacked his old brilliance.

"Finally it happened! After such a long time waiting and jumping on the podium so unexpectedly, I feel extra happy," he said. "I think that was the best answer to give to everybody who started doubting our work."

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won the thrilling race that saw both pole sitter Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull and challenger Romain Grosjean's Lotus stall on the track. Schumacher said that to reach the podium in such dramatic style only added to his joy.

"It happened in a pretty spectacular way on a track where it is difficult to pass, but due to various strategies and differences on the track (I was able to) and that's obviously the best way," he said. "If you manage the way I did today to jump the podium it makes you extra happy."

Euro 2012 : Spain looks at options ahead of Portugal match

Coach Vicente del Bosque

Playing against defending champion Spain at Euro 2012 has got even harder. Portugal, at least, has had an extra 48 hours to try and figure out a way of countering Spain's different systems of play.

Spain has alternated between a traditional attack led by striker Fernando Torres and a six-man midfield fronted by playmaker Cesc Fabregas, with the latter picked to start Saturday's 2-0 quarterfinal victory over France.

Spain returns to the Donbass Arena to play its Iberian neighbors in Wednesday's European Championship semifinal, where the six-man midfield could well return. Coach Vicente del Bosque has tended to use the system against tougher opponents, deploying it against 2006 world champion Italy in a 1-1 draw in their Group C opener.

Spain beat Portugal 1-0 en route to its World Cup win two years ago, and the Portuguese will already have been seeking ways to disrupt Spain's game. Though lacking sparkle, Spain's tactics have effectively stifled its opponents and helped maintain the team's remarkable defensive record.

Since coming through the group stage of Euro 2008, Spain has not conceded a goal in the knockout rounds of a major tournament, a run of eight games.

For the Portuguese, having an extra two days to recover from their quarterfinals win over the Czech Republic on Thursday could be a real bonus.

"We were very tired by the end of the game and that's normal," Del Bosque said. "We need to recover well and this 48 hours extra they have is a little bit of a handicap (for us)."

Del Bosque said the change in weather had also fatigued his team, which will be training in the cooler climates of Gdansk in northern Poland before again returning to the heat and humidity of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday.

Physical trainer Javier Minano said Portugal's extra time off will give them "a bit of an advantage, but looking at the quarterfinal we had against France, we had an extra day of rest compared to them. So we can't use it as an excuse."

Spain's victory kept alive the possibility of a Spain-Germany final, something France coach Laurent Blanc sees as the most probable ending to the tournament. The Germans will face either Italy or England in Thursday's semifinal.

"To this point of the Euro there are two teams that have showed they are strongest, that they are the real favorites and that's Germany and Spain. That's not so surprising," Blanc said.

"Spain is very difficult to beat. You have to be so efficient against Spain, with so little of the ball. It's very difficult for all teams, but Germany is showing it can maybe do better."

Spain beat the Germans 1-0 in the World Cup semifinals, having also beaten them by the same scoreline in the final of Euro 2008, thanks to a goal from Torres. The Chelsea striker has failed to find his best form for the national team since then and, although he has scored two goals in the tournament, a third start seems unlikely.

With all opponents changing tactics for Spain, Portugal should be no different. But that doesn't worry the favorites.

"We know Portugal perfectly, it's going to be a tough game since it's one step from the final where we want to be," said Xabi Alonso, who plays with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Fabio Coentrao at Real Madrid.

"Most of the times we know the opponents may try a few adjustments, so it's not news to us," Alonso said. "We just keep passing until we find the best option."

Liu Yang First Woman Into Space From China

Bye: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang waves during a sending off ceremony as she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (AP/Ng Han Guan)

China has launched its first female space traveller aboard a rocket that blasted off from the Gobi Desert on one of the country's most ambitious space missions yet.

Liu Yang, a 34-year-old air force pilot, and two male taikonauts, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, were aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft as it left the Earth on Saturday on a voyage that will see it dock with an orbiting space module.

Two of the crew will live and work inside the bus-sized Tiangong 1 space module for a week to test its life-support systems while the third will remain in the capsule to deal with unexpected emergencies as China bids to become only the third nation with a permanent base orbiting Earth.

State media have said the mission will last about 10 days before the taikonauts travel back to Earth in the capsule that will land in the grasslands of western China with the help of parachutes.

Success in docking, and in living and working aboard the Tiangong 1, would smooth the way for more ambitious projects, such as sending a taikonaut to the moon, and add to China's international prestige in line with its growing economic prowess.

If completed, the mission will put China alongside the United States and Russia as the only countries to have independently maintained space stations, a huge boost to Beijing's ambitions of becoming a space power.

The mission demonstrated China's "commitment to its long-term human spaceflight plan", said Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on the Chinese space programme at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island.

She said its success would "demonstrate the technological capabilities requisite for a future permanent space station".

Excluded from space station

Still, that is some years away. The Tiangong 1 is only a prototype, and the plan is to eventually replace it with a permanent, and bigger, space station due for completion around 2020.

Analysts say China's exclusion from the International Space Station, largely on objections from the United States, was one of the key spurs for it to pursue an independent programme 20 years ago, which reaches a high point with Saturday's launch.

China first launched a man into space in 2003 followed by a two-man mission in 2005 and a three-man trip in 2008 that featured China's first space walk.

While operating with limited resources, China's space programme is a source of huge national pride and enjoys top-level political and military backing.

The first female taikonaut is giving the programme an additional publicity boost. State media have gushed this week about Liu, pointing out that she once successfully landed her plane after a bird strike disabled one of its engines.

As with China's other female taikonaut candidates, Liu is married and has a child, a requirement because the space programme worries that exposure to space radiation may affect fertility. Aljazeera

Indonesia: Three Fantastic Encounters On Bali Island

Lisa's Travel Notes : In my everyday life I’m a big-time planner. I like to research decisions, read reviews, and weigh my options before committing.

You’d think I’d be traveling with a binder full of post-it notes, maps and itineraries. But…I didn’t actually open a guidebook in preparation for this grand adventure. I just found the idea of researching six countries and making plans for over a hundred days on the road far too overwhelming. So, I’ve been taking it a couple of days at time. Looking up options on the internet, asking friends for suggestions and sometimes just stumbling upon great opportunities.

In Bali, I made three delightful discoveries that I just had to share with all of you in case one day your find yourself on the tarmac in Denpasar.

The first is Big Tree Farms Bamboo Chocolate Factory. Many of you have enjoyed the incredible ingredients created by Big Tree Farms without even knowing it. They supply most of the raw food companies in North America with cacao products, cashews and palm sugar.

Recently, they constructed the world’s largest functioning bamboo factory. Here they will process the chocolate products they receive from the 9000 farms in their network. When I arrived they were a week away from actual production but I was able to get a quick tour and purchase some fantastic raw food.  I was greeted with such enthusiasm by their staff that it felt like such a treat to just walk around the building listening to them describe the future.

They plan to have regular tours open to the public so I suggest adding a visit to your Bali agenda. Buy some cashew clusters to snack on for an afternoon rice field hike.

I picked up some raw cacao (not quite this much – since I have a luggage limit).

Having raw cacao in my bag means that creations like this are in my future. What sweet potential!

The second special spot I visited on Bali was the Green School. I have been interested in this initiative for a number of months after hearing about it through Tedtalks. Since I was there just before Christmas, classes were on holiday hiatus but it was amazing to wander through the bamboo structures and hear all about the philosophy that instigated the birth of this phenomenal venture.

Can you imagine being sent to the principal’s bamboo hut? or sipping on coconut water during recess at your own juice bar?

The school welcomes students from all over the world. The curriculum is designed to focus on eco-education and allows for hands-on learning about sustainability. Currently, the school has enrolment from pre-kindergarten to grade 11. Most children live off-campus with their parents but on-site accommodations are starting to fill up with students who have travelled to study at the Green School.

It is a pretty magical place. I can only imagine the energy when it is full of students engaged in learning and enthusiastic play.

The school was designed by architects from all over the world. The public is welcome to tour on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:00 pm. Wandering the grounds and admiring the amazing bamboo structures is quite an experience.

My final discovery was much more of a surprise. On my last day in Seminyak, I went out in search of lunch with a handy list of options from HappyCow. Tasty Vegan was situated on the street I planned to wander so I focused on finding it. I didn’t read the fact that it was a delivery service so I landed on the doorstep instead. What I walked into was a family birthday party and a New Years celebration. Wishnu, the restaurant owner welcomed me with open arms. The restaurant wasn’t officially open but that didn’t seem to matter. I was presented with a beautiful platter of vegan nasi campur, an overflowing plate of vegan cookies and fresh papaya juice.

The huge gathering of Wishnu’s family celebrated my arrival. I was delighted to see them all parade in wearing different vegan message t-shirts! It was such a special moment for me to be sitting at the restaurant’s single table, in a back alley in Seminyak, surrounded by an exhuberant group of Balinese vegans. If you’re looking to experience the local cuisine as a vegan I strongly suggest you give Wishnu a call. He’ll deliver it to your doorstep.

After two months of traveling, I would advocate spending a little time researching your destinations so you don’t leave full of regret that you missed out on a really special experience. But, make sure you leave space in your agenda to discover and explore options that present themselves once you arrive.

Many of my best moments on this trip have been sensational surprises.

xo Lisa

Bamboo Best Choice to Green Construction in Indonesia’s Bali

BIG TREE FARMS

Strong, light and cheaper than steel poles, bamboo is ubiquitous across Asia as scaffolding.

So much so that in recognition of the material’s versatility, the Indonesian island of Bali has made it an emblem of sustainable construction, replacing buildings of concrete and steel with far greener alternatives.

An entire school, luxury villas and even a chocolate factory are the latest structures to rise from bamboo skeletons as the plant’s green credentials and strength are hailed.

The factory, which opened last year and produces organic drinking chocolate and cocoa butter, is the latest in a string of buildings on the island, including homes and businesses, to be built of bamboo.

Erected in the village of Sibang Kaja between the resort island’s smoggy capital Denpasar and the forests of Ubud, the factory is the initiative of specialty food firm Big Tree Farms, which claims the 2,550-square-meter (27,500-square-foot) facility is the biggest commercial bamboo building in the world.

“Bamboo is unmatched as a sustainable building material. What it can do is remarkable,” Big Tree Farms co-founder Ben Ripple, 37, told AFP.

“It grows far more quickly than timber and doesn’t destroy the land it’s grown on,” said Ripple, an American from Connecticut. “Our factory can be packed up and moved in days, so if we decided to shut it down one day, we’re not going to damage the rice paddies we sit on.”

The 100 hectares (247 acres) of paddies sit inside a so-called “bamboo triangle,” with the factory, school and villas standing at each of the three points.

Such ambitious bamboo projects in Bali are mostly driven by eco-conscious foreigners.

bamboo-buildings-green-school

With studies showing construction to be one of the world’s least sustainable industries — eating up around half of the globe’s non-renewable resources — sustainable construction is slowly taking root around the world.

It is among the key topics for discussion at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which opens June 20 in Rio de Janeiro.

In Sibang, the tawny brown bamboo buildings with their grass thatched roofs appear to be rising from the earth.

The three-story chocolate factory is pieced together using a complex system of scissor trusses and bolts, thanks to clever architecture.

It resembles the traditional longhouses found on Borneo island and was made with more than 18,000 meters (59,000 feet) of bamboo from Bali and Java.

At Sibang’s nearby Green School, the 240 students — most of them children of expatriates — learn in semi-outdoor classrooms decked with bamboo furniture.

The school, which opened in 2008 and was the magnet for the other two projects, has 25 bamboo buildings, the main one being a stilt-structure constructed with 2,500 bamboo poles, or culms.

“In Hong Kong and China, they make new skyscrapers of concrete and glass using bamboo scaffolding. But here, the workmen stood on steel scaffolding to build this bamboo building. That’s always seemed funny to me,” said Green School admissions head Ben Macrory, from New York.

“In most parts of Asia, bamboo is seen as the poor man’s timber.”

Not, however, in Sibang, where the bamboo villas that nestle between the palm trees are worth $350,000 to $700,000 each.

Like decadent treehouses for adults, they have semi-outdoor areas and include innovative bamboo flooring that resembles smooth timber and jellybean-shaped coffee tables made from thin bamboo slats.

Bamboo — technically a grass — has been used in building for centuries because of its impressive strength-to-weight ratio.

Jules Janssen, an authority on bamboo in the Netherlands, says that the weight of a 5,000-kilogram (11,000-pound) elephant can be supported by a short bamboo stub with a surface area of just 10 square centimeters (1.5 square inches).

One reason bamboo is so environmentally-friendly is the speed at which it grows, according to Terry Sunderland, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research in Indonesia.

“In China, eucalyptus can grow at three to four meters (10-13 feet) a year, which is very impressive for timber. But building-quality bamboo will grow between six and 10 meters (20-33 feet) in that time,” he said.

And unlike trees that rarely grow back once felled, bamboo will continue to produce new shoots even after cutting.

But even bamboo has its drawbacks.

Without intensive treatment, it is prone to rotting after exposure to water. It also catches fire relatively easily, which is why many countries limit bamboo structures to just a few stories.

Ripple acknowledged that building with bamboo was not foolproof, but expressed optimism that the technology to protect it from the elements will improve.

“A friend we work with here always says bamboo needs a hat, rain jacket and boots,” he said. “We’re lacking on the rain jacket a bit, but we’re looking at non-toxic materials to give it some protection.”

Agence France-Presse

Umar Patek Asks Muslims "If you want to do jihad, do it in another country where Islamic people need help" Not to Commit Acts of Terrorism in Indonesia

Indonesian terror suspect Umar Patek, center, speaks to journalists after his trial at the West Jakarta court in Jakarta on Thursday. Umar Patek's verdict will be held on June 21 over his role in the 2002 Bali bombings. (AFP Photo/Oscar Siagian)

Jakarta: Indonesian terror suspect Umar Patek on Thursday called on all Muslim activists not to commit acts of terrorism in Indonesia.

“I want to advise all Muslim activists not to commit acts of terrorism in Indonesia,” Umar said on Thursday at the West Jakarta court. “I know a lot about jihad based on my own experience. As [publicly] known, I never agreed to the Bali bombing from the beginning [of the plan] until now.”

Umar said he made the statement of his own volition and was not forced by anyone.

“I beg [you], don’t commit terrorism in this country,” he said. “I said this not upon the request of Densus 88 (the police’s counterterrorism unit) or the judges, this is purely from me.”

While advising people not to commit acts of terror in Indonesia, Umar said people should go to Palestine to commit jihad.

“If you want to do jihad, do it in another country such as Palestine, where Islamic people need help,” he said.

“I hope we can learn from what has happened to me. I was on the police search list with my photo spread everywhere, [police] offering a bounty on me. But I dared to go out of this nation, because I had the good intention to commit jihad abroad.”

He said for those who do not know how to commit jihad, they should understand that there are several ways of committing jihad.

“This is not the Stone Age,” he said. “This is the Internet era, there is Facebook, Twitter and others.”

In New Places, Victim Of Merapi Will Have A Better Life

 

Yogyakarta, Faisal Maliki Baskoro: After almost two years of living in temporary shelters, where water and electricity are scarce, Tiwul is happy because his new permanent home will be completed in two months, just in time for Idul Fitri, the Muslim holy day after Ramadan.

Tiwul, 47, was among 3,000 families displaced from their homes when Mount Merapi volcano in Central Java erupted in 2010. He and 194 other families have found a new place to live, two kilometers away from their original homes in Jambu village, which was buried under the volcano’s ashes and lava.

“We’ll try to make this village similar to our old village,” Tiwul said, standing in front of his new home. “We designed the spatial planning ourselves so that old neighbors can still live side by side.”

After the volcano erupted, some of the victims started to rebuild their lives with grants of Rp 30 million ($3,180) per family from the government and donor countries. They built medium-sized houses from bricks and steel on plots of land measuring up to 150 square meters. The houses were designed to withstand earthquakes, which regularly shake the region.

Tiwul said he was grateful for the assistance but had to seek extra loans to finish his house. He was also worried about returning to his old livelihood as a farmer.

“Some of us now work as carpenters or construction workers. But we’re farmers,” he said. “The government had said it would help us become farmers again.”

Yohan Rahmat Santosa, a supervisor for disaster risk reduction at the International Organization for Migration, said those affected by the Mount Merapi eruption had to leave their land because it was too dangerous to stay. And because most of them were farmers, he said, many have lost their livelihoods.

“Agencies and the government were training the victims to run microbusinesses by giving them technical assistance and market access,” he said.

Now, he said, some of the villagers sell traditional snacks in Yogyakarta while others make money by mining sand from the volcano.

To help them rebuild their lives, the government, donor countries and aid agencies have allocated about $94 million for the Java Reconstruction Fund, which also helps victims of the Central Java earthquake in 2006.

The JRF was created by the World Bank, the European Union, the Asian Development Bank, the Netherlands, Britain, Canada, Denmark and Finland.

At this point, about 500 families have been relocated to permanent shelters, but 1,100 families are still living in temporary shelters. When the JRF’s mandate ends in December, the responsibility for relocation will fall on the government.

Heri Supriyadi, the head of Kepuharjo village, said the entire relocation process could be completed by 2013, while the construction of infrastructure and public facilities could be completed by 2015.

“The relocation process has been lengthy,” he said. “They did not give us the housing grant all at once. But that’s a good thing.

“The grant was given to us in parts, and we had to meet specific targets. We had to build the houses properly ourselves. We learned a lot about construction, managing money and accountability. We felt empowered.”

George Soraya, a senior operations officer at the World Bank, said relief workers have used a community-based approach known as rekompak , from the Indonesian word kompak which means “solid” or “harmonious.”

Rekompak aims to empower villagers and help them get back on their own feet, he said, often allowing them to improve their livelihoods.

“The community-based reconstruction program is extremely transparent when it comes to spending, because the villagers are the ones who are responsible for the spending,” Soraya said.

Under the rekompak scheme, victims were divided into groups. Each person received Rp 30 million for reconstruction, and their group members were tasked with monitoring how they spent it.

“So if one member fails to spend the money accordingly, we’ll stop the funding,” Soraya said. “This way everyone shares the same responsibility.”

He said the rekompak program was first implemented for tsunami recovery efforts in Aceh before being replicated in Yogyakarta after an earthquake in 2006 and the Mount Merapi eruption. It is also being replicated in other countries.

“I’m proud to say that through the rekompak approach, in Bantul, Yogyakarta, we have successfully been able to build 300,000 houses in 18 months with a very high level of accountability,” Soraya said. “In terms of post-disaster housing reconstruction, it is the fastest [method] in the world.”

Max Pohan, the deputy minister of national development planning, said the government would ensure the recovery process around Mount Merapi continued even after the donor mandate ended.

“Disaster risk management and recovery is among the president’s top 11 priorities” he said.

He added that the government had allocated about Rp 400 billion for recovery programs around Mount Merapi since 2010 and would disburse another Rp 500 billion this year and next year.