All islands have several
common characteristics especially in the geological formations, structure
and vegetation. Most islands in the "Ring of Fire" are exposed
to volcanic activity above and below sea level and there is still
plenty of evidence of former devastating volcanic eruptions which
has left a trail of destruction behind on several islands we visited.
Most of the volcanic islands are covered with dense tropical jungles
fringed with palm trees and beautiful beaches. The nearly submerged
islands are covered with mangroves and palm trees and usually have
large flat reefs extending far out into the sea.One of the islands
hit most severely by eruptions in the past is the island of Siau.
Siau - Karangetang Volcano
It was here in 1974 when
the volcano Karangetang (1800m) last erupted causing severe casualties
among the population and significant damage to the surrounding environment.
When we arrived in Ulu, the islands main town and harbour, we spoke
to several islanders and asked why they hadn't followed the regional
governments advice to leave the area due to unpredictable possible
earthquakes and eruptions. Most of them replied that their families
have been living on the island for generations and that they have
sufficient income and are happy with their lives as they are. They
would take the risk into account without compromise.For centuries,
the Sangihe-Talaud Islands have been renowned for spice trading achieving
it's highlight during the Portuguese and Dutch colonial occupation.
The main spices that were shipped to Europe were nutmeg, mace and
cloves. Today, spice trading continues to be a vital lucrative income
source enabling a high standard of living and prosperity for the Ulu
community. The fact that the island is covered with extremely fertile
volcanic soil in an ideal climate for growing basically anything,
hasn't encouraged or motivated the islanders to extend their land
cultivation practices to become self-sufficient. To our surprise the
opposite is the case. All essential food supplies such as rice, vegetables,
fruits, chicken and meat are brought in daily by ferryboats from Manado,
which can be an 8 hour boat trip away. The profit gained from nutmeg,
mace and cloves has made many of these people obstinate. The only
farmers we found on the enchanting island of Siau with very few exceptions
only, were nutmeg farmers. On Siau no one is inclined to give up nutmeg
farming or leave the island, even if they became the last endangered
species on the verge of the Ring of Fire.
Ulu today has very few
remnants of the past that give evident conclusions of how the Dutch
or Portuguese may have lived or functioned here in former times. However,
with the help of the local town mayor, we were fortunate to find a
sea navigation mark of the Dutch East India Trading Company called
V.O.C. The site in the vicinity of the harbour area could be easily
seen off shore. The sea navigation mark was a stone obelisque; approximately
2 meters tall carved with the Dutch trademark insignia V.O.C. Other
scripts carved into the obelisk hadn't survived the over 400 years
of nature's obliterating weather and had become illegible.
