February 24, 2026 | 03:09 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A red speedboat cut across the Java Sea toward Way Kambas National Park (TNWK) in East Lampung, Lampung Province, on Thursday afternoon, January 28, 2026. Departing from a small pier in Kuala Penet, the boat headed to Wako, the park's core zone.
Karen Brooks, the former White House Director for Asian Affairs, had traveled to the heart of the conservation area several times. When she arrived with her team in the first half of 2025, Brooks rented three speedboats. They carried equipment including bags, tents, and Starlink wireless Internet devices. The journey took about four hours through sea, river, and swamp before reaching the Wako estuary. From there, they trekked on foot across savanna thick with tall grass.
Romi, the owner of the red speedboat, was among those who took Brooks' group to survey Wako last year. "Just once," said the Kuala Penet resident when contacted again by Tempo via WhatsApp on Tuesday, February 3, 2026.
Brooks has made at least eight long trips to the remote eastern tip of Sumatra. She is pursuing an exclusive tourism venture in Way Kambas along with a carbon-trading scheme. Two companies affiliated with her—Wilderness Holdings Limited and CarbonArk—are set to carry out the plan.
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