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Lake Toba Community Turns Water Hyacinth Into Fertilizer, Jobs, and Hope
By Kai Ingot Damai Siallagan Edited by Hariara Institute SAMOSIR, Lake Toba– At first glance, water hyacinth looks harmless. Its green leaves float quietly on the surface of Lake Toba. Purple flowers sometimes make the plant look beautiful. But beneath the green carpet, the lake may be losing sunlight, oxygen, and space for native life. […]
Tipang Village: A Model of Sustainable Agriculture and Community-Based Tourism on the Shores of Lake Toba
Nestled on the edge of Lake Toba, Tipang Village tells an inspiring story of balance between sustainable agriculture and eco-tourism. Covering an area of 512 hectares in Bakti Raja District, Humbang Hasundutan, North Sumatra, this village serves as a model of agroforestry practices that support both the environment and the local economy. Agroforestry in […]
Conserving North Sumatra’s Rare and Endemic Tien Orchid, Cymbidium hartinahianum
The Ibu Tien orchid (Cymbidium hartinahianum) is a rare and beautiful endemic orchid species of North Sumatra, Indonesia, named in honor of Raden Ayu Siti Hartinah, the wife of the country’s second president. Conservation efforts have become increasingly critical as the orchid’s population declines; during a 2010 expedition, only one seedling was found in the […]
Swarno Lumbangaol’s Mission to Protect Lake Toba’s Endemic Mahseer Fish
Swarno Lumbangaol, a tourism master’s graduate, returned to his hometown of Bakkara Village after 20 years of teaching in Aceh, North Sumatra, to continue his family’s fish farming tradition. He now focuses on cultivating a rare species of mahseer fish, called Ihan (Neolissochilus thienemann), which is endemic to Lake Toba and has a declining population. […]