Sustainable Forest, Sustainable Water

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Karti

The residents of Joben hamlet in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, have long been spoiled by abundant water sources, so they lack awareness of protecting the environment. Karti was worried that one day, the water source would run dry. Therefore, since 2003, he has driven himself to plant various plants to ensure that water sources remain sustainable.

"I really like to plant everything, from ornamental plants to fruit plants. When playing in the forest, I try to plant one or two plants," Karti said on Wednesday (27/11/2019) afternoon at a berugak (hall) next to his house in Joben hall, Pesanggarahan village, about 46 kilometers east of Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara.

His hobby of planting can be seen from various plants around his house. Pots planted with flowers such as roses, carnations, paper flowers and aglaonema were lined up in several places. In addition, there are mango plants, rambutan, pomelo, guava and others. In his backyard, there is a green house planted with various types of hybrid orchids and local species of orchids, Vanda lombokensis, which are commonly found in the Mount Rinjani region.

Aside from planting on his yard, he has planted a variety of plants in the forest since 2003. Luckily, the village is bordered with the Joben Resort protected forest area, which covers around 3,000 hectares. The forest was included in the tourist area of the Otak Kokoq, which has a water spring.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Karti

Visitors believe that the water can detect the health of a person. The indication is from the color of foam that comes from the water when it is poured on to someone\'s body. If the foam is white, it indicates a healthy physical condition, while if the foam is opaque, it is believed that there is a disease in the person\'s body.

Apart from that belief, Karti paid more attention to the preservation of the upstream area that supplies water to the Otak Kokoq area. He planted the upstream area with banyan, mendong (sedges), kaliasem (lipote), sentul (cotton fruit), rajumas (duabanga) and others. He took plant seeds from several hamlets around the forest.

Now, the diameter of a 16-years-old tree’s trunk is almost the size of circle made by two people holding hands.

Planting in the forest is not easy. He must explore the forest area, observe and determine the location to plant the seeds. He planted the seedlings between trees 10-20 meters apart. Now, the diameter of a 16-years-old tree’s trunk is almost the size of circle made by two people holding hands.

"I secretly reforest the areas, or made this effort, to encourage the awareness of other people protecting the environment nearby the village. Many natural resources outside the forest area can be used for business activities, without having to enter the forest and damage the ecosystem," Karti said.

Worried

He plants trees in the forest because he saw residents were spoiled by the abundant water resources from the forest. As a result, residents are less sensitive to environmental conditions that are degraded. Only when facing problems such as floods and landslides are residents confused, lost and not ready.

On the other hand, Karti also wants to pay for the "mistakes" of his predecessors who cut down trees in the area for their daily needs.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Karti

"Including my father, who in the past, often took wood for his blacksmith activities. Yes, the raw materials were taken from the forest even though there wasn’t much," he chuckled.

Karti also learned important lessons about local wisdom from his ancestors. Once, the village was wild jungles and hills. Past villagers had opened the area by cutting down trees and leveling the hills, making them into settlements and farms. Then, along the rice field dike, they planted a variety of wood plants that functions to bind the soil so that it does not get loose, especially at the beginning of the rice planting season, which requires a lot of water.

He adopted this local wisdom by planting trees along the river banks, whose water is used to supply the dam in southern East Lombok with water for irrigation purposes.

"Therefore, there has never been a history of this village being flooded and affected by a landslide, because we planted the cliff with trees so that the roots bind the soil," he said.

Karti also observes the growth and the nature of the plants that he plants in the forest area.

Karti also observes the growth and the nature of the plants that he plants in the forest area. According to him, the growth of plants interacts, even competes, with each other. For example, a rajumas wood tree with a mendong tree must be arranged because the stems of these two plants race to reach a greater height.

Joint movement

After years of planting plants in the forest alone, Karti later got help from his colleague, Haerudin. He actually had the same thought about the need to preserve the forest. After that, some young people asked to join the movement in 2005. The people involved in the movement then formed the Forest Management Community Group at the instigation of Karti.

At first, the neighbors called Karti a crazy person because he was doing something that was considered useless.

Not stopping there, Karti keeps trying to educate the villagers about the importance of growing plants. If interested, they can take the seeds to be planted from Karti\'s house. At first, the neighbors called Karti a crazy person because he was doing something that was considered useless. After Karti could prove that what he was doing was based on common sense, then other citizens joined in the movement. Now there are 104 village family heads who participated in the crop planting movement.

Karti has a motto “gawah tilah masyarakat molah, aik limpah selapuq cigah” (sustainable forest, the community lives easy, water is abundant all plants grow). He wants to realize the motto with other residents.

Thanks to his concern for the sustainability of the forest, the Mount Rinjani National Park made Karti a working partner to help preserve the forests of Joben Resort. He still routinely goes in and out of the forest once a month to check the plants he has planted.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Karti

Born: East Lombok, July 1, 1981

Wife: Munawati (32)

Education:

- SDN V Montong Gading (graduated in 1994)

- Madrasah Tsanawiyah Mualimin Nahdlatul Wathan, Pancor, East Lombok (1997)

- Madrasah Aliyah Keterampilan Nahdlatul Wathan, Pancor (2000)