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October 2009

Harapan Rainforest shaken by earthquake

Earthquake epicentre

 At 9 o'clock yesterday morning, Harapan Rainforest was struck by a strong earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale. It followed just hours after another strong quake caused devastation in the city of Padang, about 400km to the northwest, where more than 1,000 lives have already been lost.Fortunately, there has only been minor damage at Harapan Rainforest, and project activities are continuing as normal. However, some Harapan Rainforest staff do have families in Padang and have been given the opportunity to contact their relatives, and travel to Padang if necessary. Hopefully, they will all be safe and well.

Gibbons calling

Agile gibbon

In an earlier post, we mentioned the visit to Harapan Rainforest by Tony Whitten - senior biodiversity specialist at the World Bank. As well as his brief clip of a passing sun bear, Tony caught on film the evocative 'great call' of the Agile Gibbon, which is a duet, with the female accompanied by the male. He also got shots of the family of four swinging their way through the tree canopy with ease. So sit back, turn the volume up, and immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the rainforest.