Nisro: A ‘professor’ of the forest

JP/Bambang MuryantoNisro is the village head of Kalimendong in Wonosobo regency, Central Java, and has a host of achievements that have brought his people a sustainable community forest as well as prosperity.

In Nov. 2011 he secured timber legality verifications and certificates (SVLK) for Kalimendong and four other villages — the ticket to the legality-conscious world timber market.

Holding the post of village head since the end of 1998, Nisro, 45, has been committed to environmental conservation the entire time. In the early reform years at the beginning of his term almost the entire forest in the regency owned by state forestry company Perhutani was looted. Nisro managed to preserve 69 hectares by risking his life against any pressure for collusion.

“I moved along with village people to safeguard Perhutani’s forest,” said the father of four. Nisro also had another reason: he didn’t want to see his people morally corrupted out of a sudden income boom from looting, which he feared would cause culture shock. “They would have been boozing as a result,” Nisro said.

Nisro understood that a forest zone functions as a water catchment. Forest looting would drain water sources and damage village roads frequented by log-laden trucks. Consequently, in 2004 he issued a village regulation obligating residents to protect local Perhutani land. “Everybody must protect it in the case of any disturbance,” he told The Jakarta Post in his modest house recently.

The Kalimendong community is also benefitting from the forest. Since 2007, Perhutani has allowed Kalimendong residents to grow salak palms under pine trees covering an area of 15 hectares. Almost 150 tons of salak are shared by local villagers and Perhutani every month.

Meanwhile, Kalimendong’s community forest is now packed with sengon and salak trees, the latter coming later and planted under sengon. Nisro’s father, Supardjo, pioneered salak planting in 1987.

Earning income from monthly salak harvests, locals reserve sengon trees as “savings” to meet only big financial needs. But, these trees still abound due to Nisro’s rule to grow three for any one cut down.

Arupa (an NGO that assists Kalimendong) director Edi Suprapto said Nisro wanted to change community life without focusing too much on physical development.

As people’s forest constitutes their largest asset, Nisro is greatly attentive to it.

Under his leadership, Kalimendong has made headway. He has shown how the management of a sustainable community forest can promote public welfare. Every year Kalimendong comes first in the settlement of taxes on land and buildings.

“It’s a consequence of Kalimendong people’s well-being,” said Nisro, wearing a light-blue Community Forest Counselor (PKSM) uniform. Even amid his busy schedule, he actively informs village people about the importance of forest conservation. In 2011, Kalimendong’s PKSM was third in the national rankings.

The success of Kalimendong has prompted its people working in Jakarta as laborers to return home and work as salak reapers or sengon fellers. The rising demand for workers has increased the wages in the village. “No more people here become laborers in Jakarta except white-collar workers and a number working abroad,” he said proudly.

Nisro’s conservation achievements have earned him several honors. In 2006 he won two titles: national runner-up for the Best Village Head Motivator of Forestry Development and Central Java champion of the same title. In May 2009 he received an award for environmental conservation in Central Java.

In Wonosobo, Nisro is known as a “community forest expert” and various circles have visited Kalimendong to learn about forest management. Central Java Forestry Office head Sri Puryono even calls him a “professor of community forest”.

In fact, Nisro graduated from a technical high school and has no college education. “He’s always serious and well-versed in people’s forest matters. He devotes his knowledge to the community without personal interest,” Sri Puryono said.

With the sustainable forest managed by his community, Kalimendong has unsurprisingly acquired the SVLK certifying that the timber from the village is legal and comes from a sustainable forest.

In 2009 the Indonesian government adopted the policy to reduce illegal logging practices.

“Kalimendong was ready with its data on farmers and forestland for the selection,” said Edi Suprato. Arupa also provided guidance for the certification, which required complete records also covering forest boundaries, ownership and the number of trees.

Under the Community Forest Owners Association (APHR) of Wonosobo, Nisro also encouraged the neighboring villages of Jonggolsari, Manggis, Durensawit and Kepil to apply for the SVLK. Those villages obtained the certificates in November of 2011.

Although timber exports haven’t yet been realized, Nisro described the SVLK possession as beneficial to better community group management, increase institutional capacity, enhance forest sustainability and for the proper understanding of timber measurements.

But APHR-Wonosobo still faces the constraint of tebang butuh or “needy logging”, which is the practice of felling trees less than 24 centimeters in diameter to sell in order to meet urgent needs.

This will harm the forest and people’s own interests because of the lower prices obtained.

To solve this problem, Nisro proposed that a forest bank be set up with about Rp 9 billion (US$990,000) to help people needing loans and to prevent the cutting down of young trees.

In his view, an end to this practice will guarantee forest conservation and the continuity of the timber supply because there will then be a proper mechanism for logging.

Sri Puryono promised to assist in seeking the funds needed from the government, and Nisro also earnestly hopes for more government attention so that the community forest conservation effort in Wonosobo can be better implemented.