A VISIT TO THE SUMATRA
RAIN FOREST
One of our long-term deliverers of raw materials
and AURO’s Head of Production, Helmut Nieder,
decided to travel to Indonesia in order to find the
light yellow pieces of resin called dammar that are
won from the Meranti tree. The
dammar pieces are used as bind-
ing agent in the production of
ecological paints and lacquers.
After arrival in their jungle camp,
they visited several areas in the
thick rain forest where Meranti
trees were to be found. Here is the
account of Mr. Nieder’s journey.
What did you like best on the journey?
It was very beautiful to see the differently shaded pieces
of dammar resin. The colouration went from dark brown
to light brown to light yellow and even white. Both varie-
ties reminded me of rock sugar. We also saw a huge Mer-
anti tree that delivered resin until a year ago. From the
trunk, the tree „exudes“ the fresh dammar resin. The
pieces can be seen on the stock of the tree. It was very
moving to see the young trees and also the very old ones
in their immense size.
What impressed you most deeply?
The air humidity and the temperature in the rain forest.
The weather conditions are so extreme that the sweat just
runs and runs. Sometimes it rained so hard that the streets,
mostly built of sand, were completely sodden. In order to
move forward with the pickup truck, there always had to
Meranti tree, notched for resin extraction.
46
