Bardi, committed regreening activist

Bambang Muryanto, Contributor, Yogyakarta

People just call him Bardi. As a field forestry counselor, he has an impressive record of achievement as an environmentalist under his belt.

Since he was first assigned to Sedayu district, Bantul, Yogyakarta, in 1988, he has successfully regreened 382 hectares of barren, hilly land in four villages: Argodadi, Argorejo, Argomulyo and Argosari.

This has now become a forest that produces economic benefit for local people. He has done much else to improve the environment. That is why he received the Kalpataru, the highest award for environmentalists in Indonesia.

"I really appreciate this," he said about the award he received personally from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at Cipanas Palace, West Java, on June 6. For Bardi, 48, the award was encouragement to do more to improve the environment. "In future, I must try to regreen areas outside Sedayu district," he added.

As Bardi's home village, Dingkikan, Sedayu district, is an arid place, his father, then the head of a farmers' group, was assigned to regreen the hilly parts of the barren village. Bardi, then a teenager, helped his father in the regreening drive. He took seedlings and planted them there.

Regreening seems to have become a challenge that Bardi has taken on in life. After completing his studies at a technical senior high school in 1981, he enrolled as a regreening field officer and was accepted.

After the completion of training, he began to work, moving from one district to another in Bantul regency. In 1988 he was transferred to Sedayu district, his home village, and has since been assigned there.

Bardi's enthusiasm to regreen his home village grew because of the many critical plots of land there. "What my dad did in the past always inspired me in my regreening activities," he said.

As a field officer, Bardi goes round the village. He meets farmers working in their paddy fields or attends meetings organized by groups of farmers, each time providing them with information about the importance of terracing and the benefits of regreening.

He never talks down to them; instead, he simply encourages them to undertake regreening. He employs a counseling method that encourages participation of the groups of farmers, who eventually draw up their own work plans.

Of course, Bardi has had to work extra-hard to bring the farmers round to his regreening ideas. The meetings are usually held at night because during the day villagers work either as farmers or on construction sites.

Dedication bears fruit

Very often, therefore, Bardi has to work overtime.

Unfortunately, there is no overtime pay. "As this is part of my job, I have to set aside time in the evening to attend these meetings," he said.

Bardi also needs to use his own money to do his job properly. He travels around the village on an office motorcycle. As this has a two-stroke engine, it consumes a lot of gasoline.

Unfortunately for him as he is a low-ranking civil servant, he has to buy his own gasoline and pay the vehicle tax. Bardi is the only field forestry officer in Sedayu, a district of more than 3,000 hectares.

Thanks to his great enthusiasm and dedication, the arid areas in Sedayu have gradually turned green, as mahogany, sengon, teak, coconut, Gnetum gnemon trees, acacias and many other tree species have grown well there.

Locals can sell the wood from some of these trees. "Pak Bardi has done much for the locals," said Abdul Fatah Maksum, chairman of the Ginanjar group of farmers from Kepuhan village, Argorejo, Sedayu. Maksum also said that it was Bardi who had brought the Kepuhan villagers mahogany seedlings.

Apart from his success in regreening critical plots of land, Bardi has also successfully encouraged locals to preserve a kind of edible tuber. Back in 1985, the New Order government urged that locals replace this plant with other more useful plants, causing it almost to disappear.

To ensure that the plots of land would again be effective, Bardi encouraged locals to replant garut (a kind of tuber). This plant is suitable for regreening purposes as it can grow well under other trees planted in the reforestation program.

Sedayu now boasts 75 hectares where garut grows. The plant has turned out to be economically beneficial to locals. Atmo Suyud, a farmer in Kadibeso village, Argodadi, Sedayu, said in a year he could harvest 150 kilograms of garut. When processed into emping (deep-fried chips), every five kg of garut could produce one kg of emping.

This means that Atmo can produce 30 kg per year from his garut harvest. One kg can be sold for Rp 16,000. Each harvest, Atmo can earn about Rp 480,000.

Garut is also a prime product for the Mekar Sari group in Songapan village, Argodadi, Sedayu. The group produces food made from garut, which is then sold in big shops.

A[art from regreening barren, hilly areas, Bardi has also encouraged villagers to preserve water resources in the district where he works.

He successfully mobilized villagers to regreen the area around a cave where there is a water resource in Argorejo village. Bardi and the villagers have also sunk five absorption wells and built a water control dam.

Despite his many achievements, Bardi has never said they are the result of his own hard work. "I have not done all this by myself. I have achieved these things in cooperation with my farmer group colleagues," he said, modestly.

Bardi can be seen as a role model for civil servants across Indonesia. Low pay does not necessarily mean working as little as possible: Bardi's achievements in the community for which he works are living proof of that.