Turning a parched land green

Going green: Sutaji prepares seedlings for regreening program in his Mentaraman village in Malang regency, East Java (photo above). His hard work won him the Kalpataru Award from the government (photo left). JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana

Green trees and cool air should not be taken for granted. In Mentaraman village in Malang regency, East Java, they are the result of long, hard work.

The land around the village, on the south coast of Java, about 70 kilometers south of Malang city, used to be in a critical condition: It was rocky and there was only one spring for everyone.

But in 1981, the villagers decided it did not have to stay that way. They launched a regreening program covering 476 hectares of land in the area.

“It took hard work to make the villagers aware and willing to plant trees and transform the land into the green it is today,” said Sutaji, who pioneered the program.

Before 1981, the villagers were living below poverty line, mostly eking out a living as farm workers. Most farmed cassava only, reluctant to plant rice because of the lack of water for irrigation.

At that time, the staple food of the 857 families in the village was gamplong, a kind of flour made from dried, ground cassava, which back then cost about Rp 10 per kilogram.

For drinking and cooking water, the villagers had to walk about 8 kilometers through rocky hills to the only clean water source in Gondang Rejo hamlet.

“The critical state of the land caused poverty. With no forest in our village, the soil could not absorb water,” Sutaji said.

With the knowledge he gained when he took part in a Malang Regency Forestry Office scout program after graduating from junior high school in 1977, Sutaji set about effecting a change in his village.

In the scout program, he and 36 of his friends were taught how to cultivate seedlings, plant trees, make fertilizer and care for plants.

When he told the village head of his idea to regreen the village, his suggestion was greeted with skepticism.

“At first, the idea was considered impossible. Many residents accused me of trying to be a hero or being out for cash,” he said.

But he did not give up.

Despite these accusations, he and his friends from the scout program set up a discussion forum with village officials. By 1981, it had 378 members.

The forum also encouraged residents to set up a cooperative, learn how to make fertilizer and look for tree seedlings to plant.

Some teak seedlings were received from the forestry office and their operational costs were financed by money the members raised each month.

At first, seedlings of the hardwood trees were planted in two hectares in Gondang Rejo hamlet, the poorest area with the most critical land around, which belonged to Sumarto Giran, the head of the local farmers’ group.

When the work had shown promising results, they continued, eventually replanting 476 hectares of critical land in other hamlets in the village. Residents began to follow suit, planting trees on their land themselves.

And as an incentive to make sure the residents took responsibility for the survival of the trees, they were given the right to harvest them later.

The policy soon encouraged more residents who owned arid land to branch out into other plants, such as fruit trees and cacao.

Ten years later, they were starting to enjoy the benefits of the hard work, as the trees helped capture water for the soil and new water sources emerged. Whereas before there had been only one spring, there were now 12 water sources in three hamlets, with water even piped to the houses. Ponds were always filled with water, which could be used to irrigate farmland. Many residents started planting paddy.

In the same year, 1991, many residents also benefited from selling timber from their trees, using the money to send their children to school and to open businesses.

One business that is flourishing is the production of melinjo crackers, a business run by 36 groups of five people each. The crackers, which sell for Rp 20,000 a kilogram, are sold to Surabaya, Jakarta and cities in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Sutaji certainly can feel proud. The hard work that he and his friends did helped improve the local residents’ standard of living.

Those who had mocked him have apologized, now fully supporting the program.

One resident, 40-year-old Sarnan, said he was grateful his village was no longer poor like before.

Another resident Muriono, 52, said the program had made life easier for him and other residents. “I don’t have to walk far to look for water. I only need to use tap water at home, like that,” he said.

For his efforts, Sutaji, now 49 and with two children, was named an environmental hero by the government, which presented him with the Kalpataru Award in 1998.

“The changes happened not only because of me, but the villagers’ awareness,” he said. “They played the biggest role, making the change into a better life possible.”

And so it is, that on an afternoon near the end of 2008, in an area that 30 years ago was dry and barren, children played in their gardens in the shade of trees, while their parents chatted on porches, enjoying the cool breeze –knowing they could not take it for granted.