Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 9 Jun 11;
The 11 winners of the prestigious Kalpataru environmental award have managed and preserved 50,000 hectares of land, planted millions of trees and improved the local economy.
The government said since the start of the Kalpataru awards in 1980, the government has given the award to 275 people. The awardees have helped preserve a total of 475,000 hectares of forest.
This year, awardees were mainly those who contributed to forest preservation, coinciding with this year’s World Environmental Day theme, “Forest: Nature at your service”.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the Kalpataru winners were the “real environmental heroes”.
Sugiarto, a resident of Cowek village in Pasuruan, East Java, planted 474,390 trees in an upstream area of the Welang River covering 475 hectares. The area is the source of 23 springs and 14 small rivers that supply water to 7,251 residents in the village. The rivers irrigate 246 hectares of paddy fields. The restored area is also used for aquaculture and feeds 312 cattle.
Marmis Asid, a farmer from Jorong Harapan village in West Pasaman, West Sumatra, has been creating a community forest in a watershed area covering 1,500 hectares for 11 years. He has revived a sort of local wisdom called rimbo ban to protect the 300-hectare area. He also initiated the cultivation of 1,000 palmyra trees to help the economy of the local people while preserving the forest.
Lulut Sri Yuliani from Kedung Baruk subdistrict in Surabaya planted 900 trees in the Wonorejo mangrove forest. She developed a business using mangrove-based crafts to encourage women to protect the mangrove area. She produces mangrove-based products like liquid soap, tempe, crackers and batik. She has also designed 44 batik patterns inspired by mangroves.
Soleman Ngongo, a field officer from Tema Tana village in West Sumba has devoted 40 years of his life to guarding 540 sluice gates. He also planted 2 million trees together with local farmers that improved the production of 2,347 hectares of paddy fields.
Surjadi from Bebalang village in Bali promoted an eco-friendly agricultural system. He developed a pilot project on 10 hectares in the area. He also works to protect the Langkahan Forest and another 300 hectares of community forest. To supply water for agricultural needs, he and other villagers built a 10-kilometer tunnel connecting Ulian village to Langgahan village in order to irrigate 25 hectares.
Sudarli, a resident of Purwodadi village in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, planted trees in the arid and rocky land of Gunung Kidul for 19 years. With his efforts, he rehabilitated 241 hectares and five springs by planting 6.8 million trees.
A group of fishermen called Karya Segara Serangan, headed by I Wayan Patut from Serangan village in Bali, rehabilitated 6.5 hectares of coral reef. The program was linked to the improvement of the local economy, including selling decorative fish and sea horses.
The Nurul Hakim Islamic boarding school in Kediri village, West Lombok, headed by Shafwan Hakim, promoted 611 boarding schools as eco-friendly. They build 50 nurseries and distributed 5 million seeds. The group also planted 605,942 seeds in a 300-hectare area. About 2,000 boarding school students were involved in a Friday program to clean up the area.
The Pelopor Sehati Foundation, chaired by Masriadi from Padang Mutung village in Kampar, Riau, strengthened the capacity of the indigenous people of Kenegerian Rumbio to protect 570 hectares of forest. They also planted 36,000 trees, 100,000 rattan groves and 80,000 meranti trees on 150 hectares of land.
Aang Hamid Suganda, the regent of Kuningan in West Java, has made Kuningan a “conservation regency”. He launched a number of programs to green his regency and declared 175,312 hectares of land a botanical garden. He also developed a green open space of 25,720 hectares and rehabilitated 801,187 hectares of small lakes.
Krido Suprayitno, a district head from Berbah in Yogyakarta, set up 43 community groups to plant 112,550 trees on degraded land. He restored a former mining area of 339 hectares and set up a community forest. He also restored river basins in Kuningan, Opak and Mrue.
