Villagers create forests, improve environment<\/p>\n
Bambang M, Contributor, Wonogiri, Central Java<\/p>\n
Wonogiri has long been known for its dry, barren areas that
\nrecurrently experience clean water shortages during the dry
\nseason.<\/p>\n
That was also the case with the two neighboring villages of
\nSumberejo and Seloputro in Batuwarno subdistrict, Wonogiri, whose
\nlandscapes are dominated by rocky land.<\/p>\n
Yet, like magic, both the villages are now among the greenest
\nareas in the regency with thousands of teak (Tectona grandis) and
\nmahogany (Swietenia mahogani) trees emerging from the villager's
\ncornfields and herbal medicine plantations, and in other village
\nfields.<\/p>\n
The same huge trees can also be easily found in the housing
\ncompounds, in the yards of locals' houses, providing good habitat
\nfor various kinds of birds living in the region. It seems that no
\nspare space in the villages is left unplanted, creating an
\nimpression that the villages were established in the middle of a
\nforest.<\/p>\n
It is difficult to believe that both villages were once barren
\nlike the surrounding environment that is located on the southern
\nkarst mountain range. But local villagers have created and
\nmaintained a true community forest on their own land.<\/p>\n
Indeed, among environment activists, Seloputro and Sumberejo
\nare not new names. Numerous researchers from both Indonesia and
\nabroad have carried out studies in the villages, which are
\nlocated some 50 kilometers east of the regental capital,
\nWonogiri.<\/p>\n
Dozens of scientific writings and theses describing the
\nsuccess of the villages have also been produced.<\/p>\n
Many, too, have expressed astonishment and appreciation over
\nthe success and asked about the key to the success.<\/p>\n
\"I always answer such a question jokingly -- that it is
\nbecause we have no mantri hutan (forest rangers) here that we are
\nsuccessful in managing the forest on our own,\" Head of Sumberejo
\nvillage Hadi Subroto, 44, said.<\/p>\n
He was referring to government officials assigned by the
\nMinistry of Forestry to control state forests. It has been public
\nknowledge that forest rangers have often been the parties behind
\nrampant illegal logging in many Indonesian forests that has led
\nto massive damage to the nation's forests.<\/p>\n
The success of Sumberejo and Seloputro is a good example that
\npeople truly have the ability to manage community forests.
\nUnfortunately, this has been a marginal issue in the country
\nregardless of its benefit, both economic and environmental.<\/p>\n
\"A community forest can have greater biodiversity. Besides,
\neconomically, they are also of greater benefit compared with
\nstate monoculture forests,\" Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity Center for Community Forest Studies chairman San Afri
\nAwang said.<\/p>\n
The reforestation movement in Sumberejo was started in 1976-
\n1977 following a presidential instruction to plant Acacia trees
\nin the village.<\/p>\n
People, however, have different opinions on when exactly they
\nbegan planting their fields with teak and mahogany.<\/p>\n
Sutanto, chairman of Gondangrejo Farmers Club of Sumberejo,
\nfor example, said that people started to plant the trees in 1981,
\nafter realizing that acacia was not marketable, so they
\neventually substituted other trees.<\/p>\n
Hadi Subroto, however, said that people began to seriously
\nmanage the community forest by planting teak and mahogany in 1985
\nwhen members of the farmers club of Wates hamlet, Sumberejo,
\nplanted teak and mahogany in their respective fields.<\/p>\n
\"At that time people did so merely because they wanted to earn
\nmore from planting the trees because they could not rely solely
\non agricultural products to make a living at that time. It was
\nonly later on that we realized that what they did had a positive
\nimpact on the environment,\" Hadi Subroto explained.<\/p>\n
Speaking separately, Siman, chairman of Seloputro's Certified
\nFarmers Community Forum, said that reforestation in his village
\nhas been taking place since 1975, with Karsomo and his son Misman
\npioneering the movement. They started so by planting teak and
\nmahogany in their fields.<\/p>\n
Other farmers, however, were reluctant to follow their move,
\nworrying that they would deplete their food supply if they
\nsubstituted food crops with trees.<\/p>\n
A few years later, however, it turned out that Misman made a
\nlot of money from the wood, so they began to plant the same trees
\nin their respective fields. As more and more people did the same
\nin the years that followed, both Sumberejo and Seloputro
\neventually become greener than ever. And that was the way
\ncommunity forests in both the villages were established.<\/p>\n
Currently, some 70 percent of Sumberejo's 547 hectares is
\ncovered with big trees. In Seloputro, similarly, the community
\nforest totals 263 hectares. This success, of course, cannot be
\nseparated from the people's discipline in sticking to what they
\nhad jointly agreed.<\/p>\n
They have made a kind of \"rule\" which stipulates that whoever
\nfells a tree has to plant 10 to 25 new trees. They abide by the
\nrule. As a result, no spare space remains for them to plant more
\ntrees. All the space is already planted with either teakwood or
\nmahogany, such that the rule is only effective for those who
\nstill have spare land on which to plant.<\/p>\n
The community's stance in maintaining and nurturing the trees
\nis also no less important. Although both the villages are located
\nin Java, which has long been known for its consumerism, people of
\nboth villages do not sell their wood easily.<\/p>\n
Sutanto, of Sumberejo, said that people's earnings from wood
\namounted to only about 20 percent. The rest was mostly from
\nanimal husbandry, agriculture and quarrying.<\/p>\n
\"We only sell wood if we are forced to do so, when things are
\ntoo difficult to handle, financially,\" Sutanto explained.<\/p>\n
Another factor that contributes significantly to the success
\nof the villages in managing the community forest is the fact that
\nmany of the villages' youth work in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
As a consequence, the economic burden on each family is
\nsmaller, so pressure to fell trees for money is also reduced.
\nMoreover, many of those working outside the villages also help
\nsupport their families back home by sending them money, thereby
\nimproving their financial situation.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the forest, the people of both villages now no
\nlonger experience flooding. Many water springs are also found
\nalong the village's Nekuk River, while existing water springs
\nhave improved water flows. A large spring in Seloputro has even
\nbeen providing water to people in neighboring villages.<\/p>\n
\"In short, we no longer experience shortages of clean water
\nduring dry seasons as before,\" Sutanto said, adding that both
\nSeloputro and Sumberejo were also major suppliers of teak and
\nmahogany seedlings to neighboring villages.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the success, Seloputro and Sumberejo have become the
\ncountry's first villages to win certificates from the Indonesian
\nEco-labeling Institution (LEI). The certificates were officially
\ngranted on October 22, 2004. Former Minister of Environment Emil
\nSalim handed over the certificates in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
With the certificates, both villages have the right to enjoy a
\npremium price facility for their wood products, both on the
\ndomestic market and abroad.<\/p>\n
The higher prices are paid by environmentally sensitive
\nconsumers who take into account sustainable approaches to forest
\nmanagement.<\/p>\n
\"With the premium price facility, they can sell their wood
\nproducts for 15 percent to 30 percent more than the usual price,\"
\nsaid Taryanto Wijaya of Persepsi (Perhimpunan Untuk Studi
\nPengembangan Ekonomi dan Sosial, Society for Social and Economic
\nDevelopment Studies), a non-government organization that has been
\nsupporting farmer communities in Selopuro and Sumberejo.<\/p>\n
Currently, there are reportedly four potential buyers from
\nBali, Surabaya, France and the Netherlands, that have been
\nconsidering buying wood from Seloputro and Sumberejo at a premium
\nprice.<\/p>\n
Whatever the advantages that both the villages have enjoyed,
\nSeloputro and Sumberejo have shown that communities are also
\ncapable of managing and preserving their forests.<\/p>\n
This is in contrast to Forest Authority Rights (HPH), which
\nhave frequently caused damage rather than contributed to
\nsustainability in the country's tropical forests.<\/p>\n
It is also more beneficial for the community compared with the
\nforests managed by state-owned Perhutani.<\/p>\n
\"I think it's time for the government to encourage the
\nimplementation of community forest systems,\" Awang said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/villagers-create-forests-improve-environment-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}