Into the Forest
Nigel Sizer’s second report on his trip to learn about a Rare Pride campaign in central Java.
Day 3, January 31, 2007
Sukomakmur Village perches precariously half way up Sumber Volcano’s fertile slopes, 1600 meters above sea level, the highest village in our campaign site. Despite the dramatic contours, steep slopes, often driving rain and wind, the Javanese villages have carved out terraces as far up the mountain as we can see, clearing rich primary forest in the process. Forest now remains only on the uppermost reaches of the mountain, out of sight in the clouds.
Harto, head of a local forest management committee
Life is tough up here. A lot of the men and some of the women have become migrant workers, heading off to the cities to get low-paid work. Many of the heads of households are now women. They have to work the fields, take care of the children, and most dramatically, scramble up the mountainside several times a week to gather firewood from the forest. There’s no other source of energy for the poor.
Until now, gathering firewood, or even going into the forest, has been illegal because it has protected status. But that’s all about to change. The Pride campaign that Panji is finalizing will include helping the community complete an agreement to manage the forest together with the state-owned forestry firm Perum Perhutani. On the least productive upper terraces, close to the forest, villagers will plant thousands of trees and the forest area will expend. This will help reduce erosion, protect water supplies, provide firewood, and increase habitat for some of Indonesia’s rarest species, including the Javan hawk-eagle, the national bird, and mascot for Panji’s campaign.
Further down the mountain is the village of Sutopati. Here lush rice paddies abut forest-covered hills, and coconut palms sway in the breeze. There’s an air of calm, hardworking prosperity. Harto, head of the local forest management committee, explains his vision for the forests now controlled by the community, previously also strictly state property. They’re protecting the forest and planting more, converting abandoned patches of farmland back to woodland, and they have strict rules about who can take what from the forest.
Here and later we saw again and again the success of the government’s new program to give forest management authority back to the people who live beside that forest. The Pride campaign will help the community to further enrich their plantation forest with native species, bringing back the birds, primates, deer, and other species that have dwindled to precarious levels across Java.
Day 4, February 1, 2007
Sambak Village has the longest and richest experience managing its own forests in Panji’s campaign area. The head of the village forest management committee couldn’t hide his pride as he walked us through the community forest gardens, and up the steep hillside into the government forest plantations of pine and mahogany. Each household owns its own forest and also has rights to the products from about half an acre of the government plantation.
I asked the villagers to explain the rules governing their forests. They said that only larger trees can be cut, and three saplings must be planted for each mature tree felled. Taxes have to be paid to the village, which help with forest management. Together they guard their forests, and outsiders have no chance of illegal logging or hunting without being quickly caught and harshly dealt with. They also use openings in the forest for cultivation of ferns and long-leaved grasses, which are cut on rotation for feeding goats and cattle kept in pens on the forest edge.
Their next step is to gradually expand the forest area, and, encouraged by Pride, we hope they’ll start to enrich the forest with more native species, gradually replacing the exotics as the forest ages. Their children and grandchildren will inherit a dynamic, resilient ecosystem, once again rich in wildlife. Ecotourism will become a major source of income as thousands of Indonesians hike up and camp in the area from the nearby cities of Jogjakarta and Magalang. This is the vision of the village leaders, and of Panji and his colleagues. Pride will help to make it reality, and Sambak already gets lots of visitors from other villagers looking to copy their success.
Day 5, February 2, 2007
Panji is struggling through the toughest part of a Pride campaign. He has drafted his plan and now needs to finalize it. Lengthy input from the Rare team and our visit to the target site this week have led him to completely rewrite his objectives. They are now much more compelling and ambitious. He’s exhausted, and so are we. After days of uncertainty and a crisis of confidence, we can now all see how the campaign could make a dramatic difference in the lives of thousands of people and thousands of acres of forest.
The USAID ESP team in Jogjakarta met with us to discuss progress and promise to give more mentoring, emotional support, and technical help to Panji as he moves forward from planning to implementation. Campaign activities start tomorrow with a kids art competition. Finally, Panji will be able to get back to what he loves and excels at – inspiring the people of the communities he grew up near to love nature, conserve it, and have fun while they do it!
