Meet Grandpa Tameja : The Oldest Farmer Who Joined Our Program And This Is His Story.

Meet Grandpa Tameja : The Oldest Farmer Who Joined Our Program And This Is His Story.

Tameja is one of our farmers since 2019, and he has shared his life story as a farmer with us. Let’s read his story!

Tameja (72 years old) was born in Karangreja Village in Central Java, Indonesia and still lives there with his wife and 5 children. He became a farmer at a young age and helped his father work in the fields. 

“Being a farmer has been my way of life”, he said. 

“My father was a farmer too, I am proud to be able to continue his way until now”.

He told us about his concern, none of his children want to be a farmer like him. It means Tameja must take care of the field alone with his wife. He has many questions that keep popping up in his mind, like; Who’s going to continue my spirit to keep my field growing and green after me? What will happen to the trees I planted? He recalls that he planned to stop farming and empty his field because he’s too old to continue, but then someone from Trees4Trees offered seedlings and asked him to join their program.

“I remember when they reached out to me and said; “Congratulations, Grandpa Tameja, you are chosen to get seedlings from our donor”. 

“I think I will plant trees for the rest of my life”, he smiles.

Tameja has his own farming method. He grows coffee trees with an agroforestry system, where he combines other trees and spice plants in one field. He believes by implementing this method, farmers will benefit both environmentally and economically. He also likes it when his land is full of plants.

“In my experience it’s better to optimize the field, the denser the better”. 

We asked him which trees benefit him more, and he took us to his coffee tree field – showing off the coffee beans.

“I like to plant coffee trees because they do not require intensive care and do not take too long time to harvest so it’s profitable for an old farmer like me”, he said.

Thank you Grandpa Tameja for sharing your story! We are relieved that we are able to help and motivate you to make your field greener. We wish you the best of health and happiness!

Karyadi’s Biggest Dream Is….

Karyadi’s Biggest Dream Is….

Meet Karyadi, one of our farmers since 2019. He’s very cheerful and likes to talk a lot, but the most interesting story is when he talks about his dreams.

Karyadi is a father of 2 children, a daughter (20 years old) and a son (9 years old ). He lives in a small house on a hill near his field with his wife and his son. His daughter is now working and living in Jakarta. When he starts talking about his children, you can see his eyes sparkling with pride.

“My daughter is now working in a big city, Jakarta”, he says proudly. “I pray for her every day… I wish her success”.

He told us that his only concern now is to raise his children. He wants them to have a better life and he’s always working hard for that.

“My wife and I have hopes for our children. We wish our children success in the future and to help build their village”.

“Kalibening village is our home, we were born and raised here. Somebody has to develop this village and protect it, that’s my dream”, he continues.

He works as a farmer as his main source of daily income but that’s not enough to cover his economy, so he decided to participate in our planting program sponsored by ‘Plant for the Planet’ in 2019 and received various trees – especially fruit trees.

“Thank you for the seedlings! Trees4Trees has helped me through tree planting and it has surely benefitted me economically. Before that, I only worked as a cassava farmer which only harvests annually”, he laughs.

He has a request for us in the future. He hopes there will be more planting programs and help more farmers like him. His dream is our dream as well, and we wish Pak Karyadi for the best. Thank you for sharing your dream. You are doing a great job!

CURIOUS KIDS: TREES THROUGH KID’S EYES

Curious Kids : Trees Through Kid’s Eyes

We had the opportunity to visit a private kindergarten, Yayasan Annisa in the Mijen area, Central Java, Indonesia. We’ve heard and learned what kids have to say and what they want to know about trees from their perspectives.

“Our activities are not always to be in the classroom, but a closer introduction to the natural environment will help the process of achieving educational targets. Children have the ability to easily absorb and understand information, in a more fun and engaging way.”, Said Nuning – The Headmaster

Of course, outdoor activity brought up many interesting questions from the kids and they shared some questions that we thought were worth sharing and addressing.

“Why trees are so important?” – Cinta, 6-year-old

A great question! Trees are to earth – and our survival – as lungs are to the human body. They produce oxygen for us to breathe, as well as improve air quality. Many wildlife species also depend on forests for their habitat, since trees provide shelter, food, and protection. Another important quality is that they reduce erosion, which helps keep waterways clean and prevents flooding. In addition, trees remove large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a key component to tackling climate change. 

“Who lives in the trees?” –Aisyah, -5-year-old

I think we should find out who lives in the trees, we can take a walk to look at the trees around our school and we collect materials that might tell us something about who is living in and around trees. Maybe we can find ants, maybe bugs and maybe we can find feathers, which means birds are living in the tree.

“Why do leaves fall off trees?” –Rasyid, 6-year-old

Great question! The short answer is that leaves fall off trees when they are not doing their job anymore. A leaf’s job is to turn sunlight into food for the tree. To do this, the leaf needs water. This water comes from the soil, and is sucked up through pipes in the trunk and branches to the leaves – this can be a very long way for tall trees! If there isn’t enough water, the leaf can be damaged and stop working, which becomes a dead leaf. The tree doesn’t want to waste all the good things in the leaf, so it takes the nutrients from the leaf back into the stems and roots. This way, they can be recycled. When the leaf is empty, the tree stops holding onto it and it falls to the ground or blows away in a gust of wind.

“Why do trees grow fruit?” – Hafidz, 6-year-old

Some trees produce flowers and some produce fruit to help with seed dispersal. Animals and birds eat the fruit and then poop out the seeds at another location, thereby dispersing the seeds, and produce trees – which can take a while to grow.

Now, do you ever wonder how kids all over the world draw the same picture: the two mountains, a river, the sun, the birds, and some trees? Do they understand nature and trees? 

Well, it has two reasons: first, the one is because they are naturally connected with the environment. They love looking and being in nature and learn from them. They are always curious and excited to know and study about the environment and get more knowledge practically. The second thing is a beautiful nature drawing with all these elements of nature are the easiest topic to draw in a drawing because we are surrounded by it and therefore can draw it naturally.

We want to thank kids from Yayasan Annisa for their amazing questions. It’s always wonderful to hear how people connect with a tree, especially kids because they are our next Gen-Z generation to protect our earth and their future.

 

4 Issues Organizations Have to Face before Starting Community Forestry Projects

Community Forestry Projects

4 Issues Organizations Have to Face before Starting Community Forestry Projects – Some Asian and Latin American countries have felt the benefits of community forestry, yet the West and Central Africa regions are not. Indeed, it becomes the challenge of community forestry. Learn some of the challenges so you can find the best solution and start this project.

4 Issues Organizations Have to Face before Starting Community Forestry Projects

Community Forestry Projects

Lack of Community Awareness about Community Forestry 

Some communities often don’t understand the points and what they do while doing this project. As a result, they often reject this idea no matter how hard organizations try to explain it. Instead of forcing them to start the project, you should educate them.

They have to understand first the meaning of community forestry, the purposes, benefits, and things that the communities will do. The more they understand the points, the easier for you to ask them to do this project.

Communities Don’t Get the Right to Manage Their Land 

It is one of the serious challenges while starting community forestry. The truth is that communities need to get their rights to manage their lands in this project. It ensures them that there will be no legal actions while doing something in the forest.

Indeed, they can’t take the forest resources as they want because it is not their land. It disturbs many things, such as their heritage and culture. At the same time, other parties keep exploiting the forests and the environment.

Industrial Production Models 

The industrial production models are one of the biggest challenges to starting community forestry. These models often exploit forest resources. Some companies even deforest the forests to fill the demands and earn more money.

It is also the reason why the local communities should have a legal right against their forests or lands. Passing through the restricted areas is considered as breaking the law. This issue demotivated the local communities to start forestry projects.

Unclear Legal Framework 

Some countries have to deal with the unclear legal framework to start a forestry program. In this case, you should show that the program helps to set up a suitable legal framework. It includes the way local producers’ access and manage forests and also interact with markets.

Alternatively, communities and smallholders should have access to forests through individual or collective ownership. It can be coming from the temporary use rights. Guatemala and Bolivia are two countries that successfully solve this legal framework issue by applying temporary use rights.

The truth is that there are so many challenges to starting community forestry. It needs participation from all parties to get a maximum benefit. Organizations that focus on forestry programs should educate people about why they need to do forestry programs.

At the same time, organizations also have to help local communities to get legal rights to manage and use their lands. Community forestry is not about destroying the industry but finding the best solutions or alternatives to save the forests and environment from exploitation and deforestation. Indeed, this program will reduce a variety of negative impacts on never-ending forest exploitation, such as disasters, low oxygen quality, global warming, and many more. We are waiting and please if you want to contact us

4 Steps on How the Community Forestry Project Works

How the Community Forestry Project Works

Community Forestry – How the Community Forestry Project Works – Community forestry is letting the communities that depend on the forest manage the forest resources to improve their conditions. This program works in several ways to educate all parties to protect forests and the environment. Learn how the community forestry program works below.

Helps Local People to Get Their Rights 

This program can’t run well if the local people or communities don’t get their right to their land. That’s why the first step of this program is to help them get the right to manage the land and forest. They can manage the forest according to their traditions and culture because they are the owner of the forest. The long-term effect of this program is to make forests and the environment healthier than before.

4 Steps on How the Community Forestry Project Works

How the Community Forestry Project Works

Educate All Parties about the Importance of Community Forestry 

There is a case that specific parties refuse to start community forestry. It can be because they don’t understand the points and benefits of the community forestry program. That’s why the organizations that focus on this program should educate all parties about the importance of doing it regularly.

Let’s say you have to explain the economy, social, climate, and environmental benefits they will get after doing this program. You can even compare the conditions before and after running this plan. Show to them the example of communities that have successfully gotten the benefits. It is also necessary to explain the dangers of keeping exploiting the forest and the environment.

Share Beneficial Experiences with Communities in Different Countries 

Some countries are successfully developing this plan. It is a great example for other countries that still struggle to do it. The next thing that organizations have to do is learn from the success stories. It is a precious asset to get new models and approaches for the development of this project in your country.

You can go abroad and learn directly from the communities and people there. Then, share your knowledge and experience with your communities. Nowadays, you can use a variety of media to share the idea of this project attractively, such as films, social media, websites, and many more.

Keep Practicing 

You can’t stop the project only because the communities don’t get the points of it. On the other hand, you should be more creative to find the most effective way to trigger the communities and people in the forest to start a community forestry project.

Indeed, you have to get the community environment and a good support system to keep everything running well. The best thing you can do is by solving the issues and challenges one by one until reaching your goals.

The point is that doing a community forestry project involves a long process. The process is hard to complete sometimes, but it doesn’t mean that you have to stop. You have to think about the advantages the communities get when they apply this project regularly. The explanation about the way community forestry works above can also help those who want to start the same project.  Please contact us..for more info

The Goals of Applying Community Forestry Worldwide

The Goals of Applying Community Forestry Worldwide

The Goals of Applying Community Forestry Worldwide – Community forestry is one of the effective strategies to preserve, restore, and enhance forests. In this case, the communities who live near the forest have the right to manage the resources based on what they need.

The goal of the community forestry program is to improve the living conditions of the communities. The following information shows other goals that communities can achieve from this program.

The Goals of Applying Community Forestry Worldwide

The Goals of Applying Community Forestry Worldwide

 

Protect the Forest and Environment 

One of the goals of this program is to protect the forest and its surrounding. Industrial-scale logging and plantations are the biggest challenges since it destroys forests massively. This condition indeed affects the people who live and depend on the forest.

This program changes the rule where people around the forest have the right to produce food and take care of it. They know well how to use forest resources wisely. A good forest and environmental condition is a precious investment for future generations.

Improve the Condition of the Communities There 

Another benefit of developing a community forestry program is to improve the condition of the communities that live near the forest. They are not only protecting the forest but also allowing the use of the resources.

For instance, a community in a certain area knows that the forest produces a lot of nuts. In this case, they can take and consume the nuts or sell them. This strategy helps the community survive economically since they earn money to buy healthy foods and other things.

Keep the Heritage and Identity 

Communities who live near forests get used to the plants there. They know which plants that safe to consume, for medication, or poisonous. It is one of the precious assets that the younger generations should know.

They can keep the tradition and heritage. The most important thing is that this community can protect the forest from exploitation and deforestation.

Use Forest and Environment without Exploiting It 

The young generations and business owners can collaborate with the communities that depend on the forest. They can learn new knowledge about how to use forests and the environment wisely without exploiting them.

Indeed, the community forestry program should give benefits to all parties involved without sacrificing the forest. This program can even produce innovation, renewable energy, and other new opportunities for all sectors. As a result, the communities around the forest can stay peacefully while taking the forest resources.

The point is that the community forestry program has a lot of benefits. The benefit of community forestry is not only for human beings but also for the forest and environment itself. All parties have a role to prevent forest resources exploitation and deforestation.

The better the communities treat the forest and environment, the better the quality of the forest. The communities will get high-quality resources in the best forest and environmental conditions. Imagine that by applying for the community forestry program, you will get high-quality oxygen, beautiful scenery, and forest resources you have never seen before. At the same time, this program also reduces serious disasters caused by forest exploitation or deforestation.  For more info, please contact us..