Our second site is a set of 3 villages located in still pristine forest along the foot of Mt. Pangrango. There is a group of young individuals who are out to empower the local community and help them maintain the biodiversity in that region. Inclusive in their mission is to teach organic farming techniques, tree cultivation, and environmentally-friendly fish cultivation. In this way, the local residents understand and appreciate the need for biodiversity while providing themselves a sustainable livelihood.
The Low-Down.
It is a completely community-based movement in the Upstream watershed area of the Cisadane River in Sukabumi. That location is where the water source for many communities downstream begins and also the spring source for many water companies. The area and community movement is made up of 3 villages, 2 high schools, and 5 youth groups. It's hard to define where to demarcate the lines of membership. Some members of the youth groups are from the villages, some are only from the high schools, while some members are from both the villages and the high school. In the end, they all want to help and are working together with the villagers. The groups have formed a forum called Shapta Panca Buana.
Each group has its own mission like tree cultivation, environmental education, or organic farming techniques. However, the overall mission is to educate the community about the importance of biodiversity, train the local residents in organic farming, tree cultivation, and fresh water fish cultivation. The purpose of doing so will encourage the residents to protect the local biodiversity and nature while allowing them to create a livelihood for themselves. Before the forum was formed, most residents worked in far off factories and cities and so the likelihood of residents leaving the land and allowing companies to exploit the natural resources would increase if that system remained.
Now, since the forum's inception in August 2009 the community feels like they have an actual future economically and environmentally on their own land.
What We Will Do.
I've requested Sita to write up a more formal description about their forum and communities with a breakdown of supplies and costs. We all agreed that supplies would be much better than straight cash. Some supplies would be seeds, trays for seed germination, polybags for holding tree saplings, and baby fish. Our plan is to have them delivered on the day we get there. Aside from simply giving supplies, I requested that we get a half day to do things like plant trees and teach English. Tillah made a good point that while our work is for only a half day, it will show the community that people from as far as the United States are excited about the forum's work. And... if they're not convinced I'm American, at least they'll think that people from Japan, China, and/or Korea are interested too.
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| Tending the Organic Crops. |
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| Organic Eggplant. |
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| Clearing the Fields for Planting. |
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| Preparation for Tree Sapling Cultivation. |
Supplies Breakdown for Satria Muda Activities:
| No | Items | Quantity | Price (Rp) | Total (Rp) |
| 1 | Polybag 10x12 cm | 20 kg | 20.000 / Kg | 400.000 |
| 2 | Polybag 15x20cm | 5 kg | 20.000/ Kg | 100.000 |
| 3 | Albizia Falcataria seeds | 2 kg | 95.000/ Kg | 190.000 |
| 4 | Mangosteen seeds | 1 kg | 250.000/ Kg | 250.000 |
| 5 | Magnolia Blumei seeds | 1 kg | 150.000 / Kg | 150.000 |
| 6 | Baby catfish | 2000 baby fish | 300 / baby fish | 600.000 |
| 7 | Catfish feed | 50 kg | 8000/Kg | 400.000 |
| 8 | Tiger worms | 2 kg | 90000/kg | 180.000 |
| 9 | Tray | 4 tray | 8000/tray | 32.000 |
| | Total | | | 2.302.000 |
