Two men link arms around an Afo 2 type clove tree to show the breadth of its trunk on Mount Gamalama, Ternate, North Maluku, Wednesday (3/5). At the age of 2.5 centuries, this is the oldest clove tree in Ternate.
Growing between the hills of Mt. Gamalama in Ternate, North Maluku, old clove trees have stood for centuries. As survivors of the Dutch force’s deforestation efforts, the trees serve as a source of seeds for local seeders and a favorite destination in spice-themed tours.
Two adults stretching out their arms would not be able to encircle an old clove tree, the trunk of which is around 320 centimeters in circumference. The trees are higher than the average trees that surround them. They are old but they are still standing tall, supported by their sturdy roots and trunks. Their lush leaves shade the roots and trunks. These are the “treasures” hidden in the foothills of Gamalama.
“These are second-generation Afo cloves, a native plant of Ternate,” said local clove seeder Hamadal Minggo, 65, while pointing at one of the trees in early May. Hamadal heads the Ake Guraci Farmers Group in Marikurubu, Ternate, North Maluku.
Around one hour of hiking is needed to reach the location of the trees in Hange from the hiking trail’s starting point in Marikurubu. Throughout the journey, one needs to traverse a pathway with an inclination of 30 degrees. This is the main route used by clove farmers and plantation owners in the Gamalama foothills.
Hamadal is convinced that the clove tree he was pointing at was a second generation Afo tree. Some of them are among the oldest clove trees in the foothills of the 1,715-meter mountain. Old clove trees usually exist at heights of between 500 meters and 550 meters above sea level.
“The story that was passed through generations here was that these trees survived the Dutch force’s deforestation and clove planting ban in the 17th century. My great grandfather and other locals kept the trees’ locations a secret from the Dutch army,” Hamadal said.
In the book Kepulauan Rempah-Rempah (Islands of Spices), Adnan Amal wrote that, in 1652, the Dutch forces were instructed to chop down the clove trees in the area that is now known as North Maluku province. The eradication efforts, referred to as hongitochten, were carried out to increase the plummeting clove price as a result of the abundance of cloves in the international market.
However, due to the altitude of the lush trees on Mt. Gamalama, the Dutch were not able to find them. Furthermore, locals deliberately kept the trees’ location a secret. The trees that are still standing today are believed to have survived the eradication efforts.
The family of Yusman, 49, and Muhtar, 50, Hamadal’s brother-in-law, are among the inheritors of the old clove trees. Both belong to fourth generation descendants of the late Ahadi. It is believed that he had starting managing a clove plantation before the 1800s. Arif inherited the trees from Ahadi and took care of them until he died in 1977 at 122 years old. Afterward, Abahi inherited them. “If we calculate it, the age of these clove trees are more than 200 years old,” said Muhtar, who lives in Marikurubu.
If the accounts are true, the clove tree being referred tois at least 217 years old, younger than a clove tree called Afo I that died in 1989 at more than 300 years old. However, of existing clove trees labeled Afo II, all are supposedly younger than the tree inherited by Yusman and Muhtar’s family.
Today, Hamadal said, few people know of the existence of the old clove trees in Hange. The Afo II clove trees that are popular among researchers and tourists are located in Air Tege-Tege, Marikurubu. They are in terrible condition. Only the trunks remain, with leaves on some of their branches. The government erected walls around the trees, which is believed to have hindered the growth of the roots.
Afo and Zanzibar
Unlike the trees in Air Tege-Tege, the ones in Hange still produce cloves. In the clove harvesting season, usually between June and October, the extended family of Yusman and Muhtar harvest up to 100 kilograms of cloves per tree.
The old clove trees also yield clove seeds. Hamadal and members of the Ake Guraci group are Afo clove seeders. They collect their seeds from old clove trees designated as parent trees. In 2010, the Agriculture Ministry distributed a superior variant of Afo clove and named eight clove trees located in several spots in the foothills of Mt. Gamalama as parent trees.
From these parent trees, superior clove seeds are produced and distributed to several clove-producing regions in Indonesia, including South Sulawesi, Maluku, North Sulawesi and East Java. The Ake Guraci group alone produces and distributes around 20,000 clove seeds every year.
The Afo clove competes with the Tuni Bursel variant in terms of productivity. However, other than Afo, clove farmers in North Maluku often also cultivate the Zanzibar variant, especially Zanzibar Gorontalo. Both have strengths and weaknesses in terms of production and resilience against bugs and diseases.
The Zanzibar variant originates from Zanzibar in Tanzania, Africa. However, before spreading to Africa, the seeds actually came from North Maluku. The seeds were brought to Africa by Pierre Poivre, a Frenchman who worked for the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) in 1818. He smuggled the plant to Zanzibar, a French colony at the time, amid strict control by the VOC.
Azmi Dhalimi in Monograf Cengkeh (A Monograph on Clove) wrote than, in 1932, the Dutch Indies government brought the Zanzibar clove back to Indonesia to be planted in Java, Sumatra and Maluku. From these trees, Zanzibar clove seeds were distributed to other regions in Indonesia, including its original home in North Maluku.
