Villagers regreen barren fields in Kampung Laut

Villagers regreen barren fields in Kampung Laut

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap, Central Java

About three years ago, villagers from Kampung Laut, a remote sub-
district in Cilacap regency, Central Java, still were
experiencing water shortages during the dry seasons, so much so
that they had to buy bottled water for their daily needs.

Thanks to their awareness and initiative to mend the damaged
environment, a number of erstwhile water springs in the region
have now been revived.

The problem of clean water scarcity, which started to hit the
region around 1996 following an unsuccessful banana plantation
project where some 1,000 hectares of forest land was razed, has
now been mostly solved.

"Thank God, for the last two years we haven't experienced
water shortages," Jasimin, the chairman of a farmer's group in
Klaces village, Kampung Laut sub-district, told The Jakarta Post
recently.

Locals recalled that before 1996 they never experienced clean
water shortages, even during the dry season. It was because the
water springs in the Nusakambangan Island never dried up.

The condition drastically changed in 1995 when a Cavendish
banana plantation project covering an area of some 1,000 hectares
of land was established in the region by cutting down the lush,
dense forest.

The daughter of former president Soeharto, Siti Hardijanti
Indra Rukmana, was reportedly behind the banana project.

The worst part was that the project never actually
materialized, even though the 1,000 hectares of forest had been
turned into a barren field. That is what the locals decided was
the main cause of the water shortage that they began to
experience the following year.

"Since the forests were cut and then turned into deserted
fields, all the springs in Nusakambangan, our main source of
water, dried up. We could no longer find water there," Hadi
Sukirno, 41, another villager in Klaces, said.

He recalled that following the failure of the banana
plantation, the local government's agency in charge of it had
tried, but failed in a reforestation plan by planting the newly
opened fields with thousands of plants, including mangoes,
rambutans and other plants.

Yet, he said, as almost no maintenance followed, all the
plants died. Instead, only tall, coarse grass, locally known as
ilalang, was able to grow.

At the time, especially following the monetary crisis that
started to hit the country in 1997, Klaces villagers were
inspired to do something with the deserted fields. They came up
with initiatives to plant the area with productive plants.

After a series of village meetings in 1999, they finally
proposed to the regency government of Cilacap to plant the field,
reforest it and at the same time make a living from it.

"Our main concern was how to restore the water supply so that
we did not have to buy water during the dry season, and earn some
income from it," explained the father of two Hadi Sukirno.

The regency government, however, dismissed the villagers over
the matter. That was mainly because the field in question has
been going through an ownership dispute between the Cilacap
government and the ministry of justice, which oversees the area
adjacent to the infamous Nusakambangan penitentiary.

Unfortunately, the need to fulfill their basic needs could not
wait. So, without the certificate, in 2000, the villagers began
to plant the barren fields with various plants that they thought
could restore it as a water catchment area.

In between the horticultural plants, they also planted banana
and other crops such as corn, peanuts, pepper and chili. They
also made an agreement among themselves not to cut down the big
trees as part of the reforestation.

"Those who violate the agreement will be sanctioned and banned
from farming on Nusakambangan," Jasimin said.

According to Jasimin, initially there were only 25 farmers in
the program. Yet, as the program started to show promising
results, more people joined in. Currently, according to him,
there are some 50 families in the "project". Each cultivate
between a half a hectare and one hectare of land with bananas as
the main product.

Thanks to their efforts, more than 40 hectares of the
previously deserted land now has been regreened. The water
springs are also back.

The 57-year old farmer Atmojo, for example, says that from the
half a hectare of land he has been cultivating, he can harvest
300 to 400 kilograms of bananas. A kilogram of banana is sold for
Rp 300 in neighboring West Java towns or Rp 250 in the field.

"I earn between Rp 50,000 and Rp 90,000 a week from the
field," Atmojo says, adding that it excludes the money he earns
from the other plants and crops.

Jasimin, Hadi Sukirno, Atmojo and other villagers in Klaces
expressed hope that what they initiated would be developed
further in the future, especially since there is over 900
hectares of land still deserted, some 400 hectares of which are
in the Klaces region.

"That land is just waiting for the right people to reforest it
and take advantage of it," he said.

Inspired by the local villagers in mending the damaged
environment in the region, the Yogyakarta-based non-governmental
organization Silvagama became interested in supporting the
farmers.

Susi Abdiyani of Silvagama, said that the support given by her
organization was aimed at strengthening the local's self-
management program over the forest and not to take over the
ownership of the land. Doing so, she says, will
hopefully reforest Nusakambangan.

"We try to convince the community that making use of the
Nusakambangan area for economic reasons can be done without
damaging the environment," she says referring to the rampant
illegal logging activities in the region.

To make its support more meaningful and comprehensive,
Silvagama also has held a series of discussions regarding the
matter with related government institutions, including Cilacap's
forestry office, the regency government and the Segara Anakan
management agency (BPSA).

"So far they are not yet sure that the community has the
capability to preserve the environment, while at the same time
generating income," said Susi, adding that the main target is the
issuance of a kind of license from the authoritative government
institution for the local people to continue their self-
management forest program.