Hopes from State Forest

KOMPAS/VINA OKTAVIA

A farmer tends to her coffee plants on a plot of land in the North Agung City Protected Forest Area, Tanggamus regency, Lampung, on Saturday (13/4/2019).

From a pathway, what makes up a protected forest of the North Agung city starts to be uncovered. On either side of the pathway are Robusta coffee plants that are lined up among the trees. Its fruits are red and ready for harvest.

In a state forest are people who hope to prosper. In a wooden-walled hut belonging to a resident named Jastra, a number of farmers who are members of the Association of Hutan Lestari Farmers\' Groups (Gapoktan) gathered. On Saturday (13/4/2019), they were waiting for 1,000 avocado seedlings from the government.

When a truck carrying the avocado seedlings arrived, residents immediately approached the truck and unloaded the seedlings. According to a plan, the seedlings will be distributed to 171 Gapoktan members who manage 382 hectares of land.

A resident, Toni Hidayat, 36, rested under a rambutan tree after transporting the avocado seedlings. "In the past, we couldn\'t relax like this. Although we are tired of working on the land, we must remain vigilant," said Toni.

Previously, Toni was one of hundreds of encroachers in Protected Forest 39, North Agung City, Tanggamus regency, Lampung. Since 1998, he has continued with the efforts of his parents to grow coffee in the forest. Many years ago, Toni\'s father and other squatters entered the forest to clear the land. They often had to run and hide in the bushes to avoid forest patrol officers. If caught, residents were interrogated for days.

This has not happened since the formation of the Community Forestry Program (Hkm), which was initiated by the Environment and Forestry Ministry. Toni and other villagers no longer encroach the forest. He has become a manager after getting permission in 2014.

Hkm is a program for people who live around protected forests. Residents who get permission to manage the protected forests use 4 hectares of forest land to farm.

Toni doesn\'t just plant coffee trees. He also plants dog-fruits, bitter beans, durian and banana. "Hopefully the dog-fruit plants will bear fruits in two years so that they can be used to cover the tuition fees for the children," said Toni.

He has a dream for his only child, Yogi A. Pratama, 8, to graduate from college. Therefore, there is a need for his child to make a living in the forest. If he keeps farming, Toni’s child could have his own farm land.

Driving elephants away

The choice to make a living in the forest is not without risk. Apart from living far from their families, forest farmers must also be prepared to deal with wildlife.

At present, farmers are in conflict with herds of wild elephants. A total of 12 elephants frequently damage the residents\' banana plants. This conflict has taken place for more than two years and killed three residents.

According to Jastra, the chairman of Gapoktan Hutan Lestari, residents help each other if there are wild elephant groups. With makeshift equipment, they try to drive the elephants away into the nearby national park.

"Efforts to drive wild elephants away can happen for days. It is really tiring. The obstacle is that it is difficult to communicate because of poor communication signals," he said.

Residents lose money because the banana plants are damaged before the harvest. More than 100 hectares of banana plants have been damaged.

They are aware of the consequences; moreover, the protected forests they manage are the living space and roaming areas for wild elephants. So, living side by side with elephants is a choice.

"We realize that we must live side by side with animals in the forest. We have formed a task force to deal with conflicts with elephants," he said.

Based on observations of the WWF Indonesia team, the roaming space of 12 wild elephants reached 14,000 hectares in the past year. Most of the roaming space is in the North Agung City Protected Forest area.

"Changing habitat conditions have changed the patterns and behaviors of the elephants in looking for food. Wild elephants become dependent on bananas, maize and jackfruits, which are planted in the protected forest," said WWF Indonesia’s southern Sumatra region project leader Yob Charles.

Of the total forest area of 56,020 hectares, there are 14,269 hectares managed by 16 Gapoktan groups through the Hkm scheme in the North Agung Protected Forest. At present, two Gapoktan groups are currently managing forest utilization permits at the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

The head of the North Agung City Protected Forest Management Unit, Zulhaidir, said, Hkm came up with the concept of society becoming prosperous through a sustainable forest. "The government wants sustainable forests with a lot of timber planted by residents. The community is prosperous because it can work on the land calmly," he said.

The government, said Zulhaidir, strove to help citizens deal with conflicts with wild elephants. One of the efforts it to build five posts to monitor the movement of the elephants. The government also works with institutions like WWF Indonesia to improve the skills of the citizens.

The effort being initiated is to make sure that habitat engineering helps to reduce conflicts, namely by cultivating feed crops, such as gajah grass and bananas, in areas near the border between protected forests and the national park. Residents also plant fragrant lemongrass, which the elephants do not like.

Meanwhile, the government will revitalize an area of 3,000 hectares in the core zone of the protected forest, which is also home to the elephants.