Conserving the sweet tree of life in Padasuka village

Conserving the sweet tree of life in Padasuka village

By Aparna Devere

PADASUKA, West Java: The winding weather-beaten tracks lead to
the village. The mini bus comes only once in a while, making the
perilous journey up and down the steep mountains. Life stands
still here except for the occasional prayer calls from the small
mosque and the rooster, shrieking through the dawn. The clouds
lower themselves on the serene hills as the farmers trudge their
way down to start their day.

At the foot of a hill, amidst the rice fields is a spartan
bamboo cottage that belongs to the Effendis, ibu Effendi sits by
the fire in her smoke-filled kitchen, stirring a boiling cauldron
as the liquid thickens into sugar. "I have been making sugar from
aren all my life," says Bapak Effendi, her husband. "That is how
I earn my living." He hands out warm glasses of tea and adds a
little home-made brown sugar.

The children stay close to their mother, watching her stoke
the flame with more firewood. The mountain air makes them
radiant.

Bapak Effendi is a small farmer in Padasuka village, West
Java, 300 kilometers southeast of Jakarta. He is dependent on the
Arenga pinata or aren tree for his livelihood like most others in
his village and the surrounding areas of Cianjur district. He has
little contact with the outside world apart from knowing that the
"city people" buy and eat his goods. Few people go in and out of
Padasuka with muddy lanes and mountains terrain that vehicles
find difficult to access.

Each day, in the early hours of the morning, he climbs and
taps the aren tree, placing a long bamboo pole on the bark of the
tree. In the evening he brings the brown liquid or aren sap,
collected in the bamboo, home to his wife. Ibu Effendi heats and
stirs the liquid in a large pot for several hours until it
thickens. Then they make either blocks of this sugar or powder,
dry it in the sun and hand it over to the local collector.

Bapak Effendi with his family of six make nearly two tons of
sugar a month, earning an average of Rp 200,000. Making aren
sugar is along and arduous process for the family but they are
cheerful and accepts it as a way of life. During Idul Fitri, he
earns more because he sells kolang-kaling or the fruit of the
aren tree, made into sweets. "City people like the fruit and
there is a great demand for it during that time of the year." He
also sells the branches to make ijuk or straw for brooms.

Bapak Effendi, like most other villagers in Padasuka, believes
that the aren tree, always abundant in this region, was a gift of
God. "We always thought there would be plenty for everyone and
nature would take care of it," he says. The villagers left it to
the musang civet to reproduce the tree, by eating the fruit and
leaving their droppings behind. But civets were killed by the
villagers as they ate their poultry, causing a subsequent decline
in the aren population.

A rapid depletion of aren trees created concern amongst the
village community but they remained convinced that only nature
could save the aren. No one questioned age-old beliefs.

A Bandung based Non Governmental Organization (NGO) took up
the challenge. Yayasan Mandiri, who had been actively involved in
Padasuka since the 1980's, decided to assist the villagers in
cultivating aren. The first step was to overcome the villagers
reluctance, by holding discussions with them. Once they were
convinced, the villagers immersed themselves in this task.

Mandiri, with the support of the United Nations Development
Programme, launched an aren cultivation project three years ago,
using a plot of land provided by the villagers. Mandiri staff
worked along side the villagers, experimenting with ways to grow
aren. Thirty thousand aren seedlings were grown in individual
polyethylene bags and turned under bamboo shelters.

Once the seedlings grew into small plants, the bags were taken
by individual farmers to their own plots of land and transferred
into the soil. Along with aren, seedlings of the menii and
albasia tree were also planted to protect the aren, and later, to
be used for firewood required to heat the aren sap.

Some were more enthusiastic that others. Bapak Engkos Kosasih
planted 100 seedlings on his land. "I plan to plant 200 more once
the rainy season comes," he says, standing proudly amidst his
seedlings. Bapak Effendi was more cautious. He planted 20 and
will wait and see whether it is worth planting more.

Bapak Kosasih's plot of land is located on a hill. The climb
is steep and the planting area is difficult to reach. He checks
periodically on the health of his seedlings and is pleased to see
they are doing well, "This will be my gift to my children," he
notes sentimentally.

Most of the seedlings have planted on hill sides under Yayasan
Mandiri's advice. The aren tree, known for it's strong roots, is
very effective in protecting the soil. "Plant an aren tree and
you are preventing soil erosion, conserving water, protecting the
environment and earning a living," says Yudi Satriadi of Mandiri.

This project could be implemented due to the support of the
Global Environment Facility's Small Grants Programme,
administered by UNDP. The GEF-SGP provides monetary support to
NGO's like Mandiri in developing countries. Mandiri's proposal
was one of the first to be approved when the GEF-SGP was launched
in Indonesia in October 1992, "We approved the proposal because
we were confident it would work. It had the village people's
participation in addition to Mandiri's credibility in managing
environmental issues," says Judith Simbara, UNDP's Programme
Assistant.

With a grant of US$41,000 from the GEF-SGP, Mandiri began work
on its two year aren project in mid-1993. The funds enabled
Mandiri to buy seedlings, set up the nursery in the village and
publish 3,000 booklets on aren cultivation, distributed to
neighboring villages.

Mandiri's efforts in Padasuka over the past ten years have
helped them establish a close relationship with the village
community. "When the villagers are angry or disagree with us or
if they need our help. they are very blunt and open. So are we
with them," says Bapak Muharram, Mandiri's project coordinator.

Although the project was officially completed last year,
Mandiri workers return every two months. "We know they are always
around, like family" says Bapak Effendi echoing the sentiments of
many villagers.

"We have a deep relationship with Padasuka. We started out
here and even if we move to other parts of the country, we will
always return to Padasuka," adds Muharram.

The NGO also shares a good rapport with the local government.
According to Bapak Aceng Kurnia, the village head of Padasuka,"
We have always supported Mandiri because of the good work they
have done here."

Mandiri, set up in 1979 by a group of ITB (Institute of
Technology Bandung) students, has been involved in a wide range
of activities in Padasuka from helping set up micro-hydro power
turbines, providing villagers with electricity to aren
cultivation. Part of their work in the villages has been to train
people in making palm sugar.

Take the case of Bapak Mohammad. Earlier he made only block
sugar (used in cooking) which he then sold to a village
collector. But block sugar's market prices fluctuated, sometimes
sharply reducing his income. Now, with Mandiri's help, he also
makes palm sugar (brown powder). He alternates between block and
palm sugar depending on their market value. Exported to European
markets, palm sugar can fetch a better price than block sugar,
used domestically.

Mandiri has appointed a local collector who transports the
palm sugar to Bandung twice a month. There, another NGO, IBEKA,
affiliated to Mandiri, handles the processing, packaging and
marketing. "This has greatly facilitated villagers getting their
products to the markets. Earlier the collector would go house to
house an often he would not come, due to the poor road conditions
and remote location" says Pak Marko, Mandiri's designed
collector. Now, the villagers deposit their weekly stock in a
small collection center manned by Pak Marko.

Uncertain market conditions for palm sugar a cause of concern
for many villagers. They would like to see greater income-
generating opportunities in their village that will improve their
like lives and prevent the young generation from leaving for the
cities. For now, protecting their present income and ensuring the
survival for home-made sugar production is what the aren
cultivation project is all about.

The immediate results of Mandiri's campaign to protect and
nurture the aren tree has been the closure of aci factories in
Padasuka. Aci, a fine powder produced from the bark by chopping
the aren tree was a significant source of revenue for the
villagers. Four aci factories were operating three years ago.
Today they appear desolated and are lying abandoned. "People
began to realize that cutting the aren tree may give quick
benefits but will be harmful in the long term," says Yudi.

The aren project has helped to open the villagers eyes in how
best they can use their natural environment to their benefit and
preserve it for their children. People like Bapak Effendi can
hope for a better future for themselves and their families while
living in the village itself. Padasuka with its naturally rich
and verdant land is an assets to the village community, which
they are now beginning to recognize.

-- UNDP