Blood Dragon Jungle Sumatra

On quiet nights, the women sitting near the window, remove the view into the distance. In a fire they burn the dragon's blood; persuader magic lover who goes wandering home. This story is derived from a free translation of a note as to capture Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.
Dragon's blood, o darahnaga! William Marsden call Sanguis Draconis in the book History of Sumatra (The History of Sumatra). Popular also with the name of dragon's blood. Marsden only heard briefly that darahnaga is drug ingredients from Sumatra are sold to mainland China.
Since around the 5th century, the ancient Chinese medicine already listed darahnaga (Xue Jie) in Gong Pao Zhi Lun (Master Lei's Treatise on Drug Processing). Also recorded in Ben Cao Xiu Xiu-an illustrated volume of more than 884 drug-government publications Tang Dynasty ((618-907 AD).
Darah naga just a name for non-timber forest products (NTFPs) or by the NGO activists called
non-timber forest products (NTFP). He reformulated the sap of the fruit of the rattan species.Rattan many kinds, there are several genera. Darahnaga is producing rattan bergenus Daemonorops. Rattan jernang type.
Besides used in something magical and religious ceremonies ... darahnaga indeed ancient medicinal ingredients nan was famous in distant lands. Believed efficacious stop the bleeding in the wound as well as dampening the pain due to injury. Cure diarrhea, shed endometriosis, menstrual disorder overcome, eradicate the fungus on the skin, even touted as a cosmetic ingredient. He is also a natural dye materials are also widely used as a varnish and paint, coloring ceramics, marble, etc.. He rouge!
Named darahnaga probably because the color red as blood. Perhaps because the nature of the rattan plant, thin body snaking barbed grow long crawl another tree, melambas dedahan. Could be because darahnaga skinned fruit extract obtained from the dragon in a fairy tale kind of scales.
I suddenly remembered the darahnaga after reading trip reports one friend, Een Irawan Putra, to indigenous peoples in the interior Bathin Jambi. There are written, the takeover of land which in turn continues pengalihfungsian natural forest into large-scale oil palm plantations made cane fruit jernang so it was hard to come by.
But let the fruit jernang. Not just in there anyway. Let alone the fruit, plant cane on the ground was melangka Sumatra. Craftsmen wicker basket either bounce, kinjar, fish basket, and a typical basket of other Sumatra was missing one on one. Rattan exhausted, cart perish. The causes are many. Clearing of forests for timber or large scale plantations and mining, illegal logging plays an important role. Even el-nino, the wind that never carry any lighters can cause dikambing scapegoating devastating forest fires caused a decade ago.
Other types of fruit such as rattan cane manau (genus Calamus) was difficult tertemui. The fruit is familiar to the kids kind of our rural Sumatra. Of a marble. Rounded conical tapering sharply at the end. Diselubung similar skin leather bow. Ivory.
My last chance to see fruit when mblusuk inland manau Lakitan River, Musi Rawas. Years ago.
The fruit is actually not-really delicious to eat. There is a sweetness, also chelate. Many eat fruit gums seemed to thicken manau make veiled something abrasive. Sepat-Sepat left the impression on the tongue sort of crude sense barking. But I think the wild fruit in tropical soils have a taste of his own that is not difficult diangkakan with the organoleptic test conducted by researchers kinds of nutritional science or food industry. There is a sense of romance in each fruit. Sort of. But no need to discuss long. For just a delicious flavor when tasted, is not a good thing to read.
Talk fruit fruit of various kinds of rattan, especially jernang, I remembered a story a friend to learn the mapping. The friend worked for indigenous communities and forest edge communities in the Mentawai islands, West Sumatra. Although already flown a number of points in the realm of Minang, I've never crossed until the Mentawai. But the story of his friend still be listed.
When the rate of deforestation threatens Siberut Island, Mentawai, the fellow with the community by building economic strength against the edge of the forest by utilizing non-timber forest products. One of the jobs they are strengthening the economy by extracting fruit sap jernang, became darahnaga.
Traditionally jernang fruit sap obtained from the fruit stalk is shaken loose and crushed in a wicker basket. The sap of the blood-red liquid will drip from the basket. This is the dragon's blood. Can be sold wet, can be dried and used as powder.
As a non-timber forest products, can be darahnaga is the world's most expensive sap. In the Singapore market is said to be worth 1500 dollars there for every 1 kg, after further processing. At the level of local farmers the price had reached Rp 1.2 million / kg. Away the difference is due to the level of purity, because there are local farmers mix the mashed darahnaga with brick or amber.
But the main base of the price difference comes from the so-called marketing chain length darahnaga taken from the peasant producers to end users. From producers, to small collectors, the collecting sizable scale, slightly larger collector, the collector of a little bit larger than the collecting, please forward their own ... until arriving at the hands of exporters, and prior to the end user to go through an importer and marketer of ilir. Each picked up profits. Not to mention the left-right-deposit ration of thugs who may be at the curb or at the port during the delivery process.
Friends in the Mentawai, so long ago successfully pioneered procedures that do not trade on the traditional kind. But a fair trade procedures which they called fair-trade. An ordinance that emerged from social movements to become a matchmaker between producers and consumers directly. In addition to the sale of a clear chain terpangkasnya take profits at all levels, product prices boosted because of the penyepakatan product prices also incorporate aspects of nature conservation, education, or other social aspects as a component that needs to be calculated.Buyers agree on product prices as well as appreciate the added value.
I no longer receive news updates from his friends. To be sure rattan jernang rely increasingly scarce due to supply availability in nature. In Sumatra, this plant is found mostly in the deep South Sumatra, Jambi and Riau. Some are still found in forest national park status, such as Bukit Tigapuluh National Park (TNBT). There is still a source of income Jernang stronghold community (tribe Child).
From there, the official record industry and trade (Disperindag) Jambi (2005), for two years (since 2004) has been exported as much as 33,230 kg of dragon's blood. Export value was just USD 22 839, may be wrong note. That is, the figure is the price per kilogram of resin jernang less than 1 dollar. Even so, the export volume is still far below the demand outside the country. Multiplied by ten, you still can not meet pintaan China. Not to mention other countries.

Ada Rotan Jernang Jadi
Outside the sap jernang, rattan itself is a non-timber forest products are fantastic for Indonesia. Data refer to the Directorate of Forestry Production 13 million hectares of Indonesia's forests overgrown with cane. Of forest land in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and other islands are forested nature has produced about 80% of the world rattan.
Plants native to Indonesia has the potential to be conserved as well as cultivated. The result can be picked without having to defoliate forest concessions sorts performed. Rattan jernang can be cultivated without the need for particular kinds of landscapes in oil, acacia, eucalyptus, or other uniform bertanaman garden which consume a lot of natural forests of Sumatra. Because rattan need other plants as well as spreading its place stands a shade. Suitable ditumpangsarikan with forest plantations or production people. Would make a pattern of ecological plantations.
Talk to profit in agriculture means talking assumption. Merely rubber gardens, such as   those run by a sister in Prabumulih can provide results about 2 quintals of latex per hectare per month, assuming the price of rubber now reach more than Rp 20,000, -. Latex rubber began to be tapped in years seven to a mean age of 25 years.
When combined jernang rattan species, from 500 clumps per hectare is assumed 60% to fruition, is expected to enter the 12th year an estimated one clump will consist of 9 rattan sticks which each bear five bunches. Average every 5 bunches can be extracted into 1 kg darahnaga. Harvested twice a year. Da crop harvest interval. When the count continued, can be obtained that the existence of an integrated rattan jernang in the garden gives results far above the profit oil and rubber per hectare per year.
Ecological interests of many lost when an opponent of economic interests. Though rescue ecology can provide economic benefits. Quite simply, put the word if the rescue is done by darahnaga Sumatran jungle. Rather than hurt the Sumatran forest by a source of biofuel crops (bio-diesel sources) that the results are exported to the green movement northern hemisphere just to save the lungs of Europeans and Americans ... why the forests of Sumatra can not be home for darahnaga. Darahnaga red over green light for the lungs of the world that exist in the archipelago!
Without that support conservation efforts, may darahnaga will only be a story in the book of the recorder range of the Marsden. Lest, perhaps, just maybe, perhaps darahnaga is magic potion that can "call back" the natural forests of Sumatra which has been widely terpergikan?