Umi keeps alive dreams of the forest

Umi keeps alive dreams of the forest

Ridlo Aryanto, Contributor, Yogyakarta

There is nothing that Umi Haniin is more proud of than
collecting two prestigious national awards at age 71 -- an age
when people in general would rather retire and enjoy what they
have gained in life.

Umi, forestry science professor at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada
University, has twice, in 1989 and 1999, received the Kalpataru,
the highest award from the government, for her outstanding role
in environmental conservation.

Not only that, her pioneering role in the development of
Wanagama, a 600-hectare reforested zone in Gunungkidul, 35
kilometers southeast of Yogyakarta, had also won her the Karya
Satya medal of merit from the government.

"Winning awards has never been my end goal. What counts is
that I can maintain my working spirit despite my age," said Umi
who remains as active as ever.

She had the idea of regreening the barren land in Gunungkidul
regency in 1964 with the aim to create a forest that would be
useful for the locals and for scientific studies.

Thanks to the support of surrounding communities, the
originally barren 10-hectare land has expanded 60 times thanks to
the awareness of local people that Wanagama is important to the
conservation of their own environment.

"I have been trying to make them realize that the presence of
a forest provides clean water throughout the year besides fodder
materials and firewood. To be honest, the two Kalpataru awards
were thanks to the local people's hard work, too," she said.

To Umi Haniin, forests serve not only as the lungs of nature
that supply oxygen vital to living beings, but also as a means to
assist diplomacy and a medium to strengthen international
friendship. In the latter, she has a proven track record.

Wanagama has drawn the admiration of various statesmen from
Prince Charles of Britain and Dutch Prince Bernhard to former
presidents Soeharto and Abdurrahman Wahid -- not to mention
foreign ambassadors and dignitaries.

Umi recalled the visiting Singapore minister of education in
1994 complaining about the huge sum of money spent on sending
hundreds of students from his country to Africa every year for
forestry study.

"I promptly offered him Wanagama, where they can save a
significant amount of money to study 200 plant species, with
adequate accommodation facilities and the most complete museum of
wood in Indonesia, possibly in Asia," she said.

Since then, lots of Singapore students have come to do
research in the tropical forest, she said.

"Some of them saw ground nuts for the first time in their
lives and they are excited to know that the plant blossoms on top
but bears fruit in its roots," she said gleefully.

"Others were scared away by the sound of geckos," recalled
Umi.

Wanagama and its surrounding communities have come into
harmony thanks to the hard work of Umi and her colleagues at
Gadjah Mada University's school of forestry, which started the
pilot project in 1964.

As a young researcher she was concerned with the absence of
natural forests around Yogyakarta, apart from those in Kaliurang
on the slopes of Mt. Merapi, which were also shrinking.

As a sign of the local government's support, Sujarwo, the then
head of the Yogyakarta provincial forestry office who went on to
become Indonesia's first forestry minister, contributed 10
hectares of land near the Oya river in Playen district to the
university's project.

"We began to grow trees on the barren lime soil such as
mahogany, acacia, teak and sandalwood. After they thrived, lots
of birds were attracted to the mini forest to eat fruit and
spread seeds over different places, thus naturally expanding the
area," said Umi, who was widowed in 1980. She has no children.

While seeking funds to maintain Wanagama and support its 35
rangers, the professor admitted she had two more big ambitions to
realize.

First, helping reforestation of the millions of hectares of
tropical forests already denuded. "All regents with forest areas
should send field officers to attend forest management workshops
and practical training in Wanagama."

Second, the necessity for Indonesian students to be assigned
to Wanagama from now on for the same tropical forest study.

"I'm convinced that if both aspirations are fulfilled, the
concept of 'no forest, no future' will materialize. We should
rely on ourselves, right?" she said.