Bakian, 59, has made no compromise in rejecting every offer that has come his way. For Bakian, the protected forest stretching along the western edge of the village is worth more than gold.
By
IRMA TAMBUNAN
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN
Bakian
Lubuk Beringin is no stranger to temptation. In this uppermost village of Batang Bungo, the glitter of gold and money may lure the local people into clearing the forest for mining. However, Bakian, 59, has made no compromise in rejecting every offer that has come his way.
For Bakian, the protected forest stretching along the western edge of the village is worth more than gold. The lives of the village’s people depend on the forest. Several requests have been made to start mining the gold, but these prospectors left empty-handed on Bakian’s rejection. Others came, seeking an opening to start mining illegally. In these cases, Bakian and his fellow villagers promptly drove them away.
A very strong bond ties together the members of this community in the uppermost area of Batang Bungo in Bathin III Ulu district, Bungo regency, Jambi. On the one hand, they are aware of the abundant natural resources in their lands. On the other, they are also very well aware that mismanaging the resources would be disastrous.
It is this awareness handed down through generations that makes Lubuk Beringin a bastion of sustainable forest management. Lubuk Beringin was declared the first village-level forest management institution in Indonesia, and was given the rights to manage 2,356 hectares of the Bukit Panjang Rantau Bayur protected forest.
The nearby villages readily followed Lubuk Beringin’s lead. They worked together to build their capacity to protect the forest against the threat of environmental crimes. Thanks to their concerted efforts, the four other villages of Senamat Ulu, Sangi Letung, Laman Panjang and Sungai Telang were also granted the same forest management rights to more than 5,000 hectares of Bukit Panjang Rantau Bayur.
Bakian, who chairs the Lubuk Beringin Malay Customary Institute, has played a prominent role in protecting the upriver area. On various occasions, he has made it a point to remind the people that natural resources can be used up, so they must make sure to manage it wisely. In addition to supplying clean air and water, the lush forest also provides a source of livelihood for the community, from fruits to food crops.
When the fruits are in season, the village produces large quantities of durian and duku (lanson). Anyone may freely pick the fruits growing in the plantations.
When the fruits are in season, the village produces large quantities of durian and duku (lanson). Anyone may freely pick the fruits growing in the plantations. “When the harvest season arrives, come by,” Bakian said on Sunday (5/7/2020), when Kompas visited the village.
Bakian has also initiated a village regulation on forest and river conservation. The rule enforces several prohibitions on activities that could potentially harm the river ecosystem. Mining for gold using heavy machinery and equipment is prohibited. The same ban applies to illegal fishing, such as fishing with poison or fishing in restricted pools. The punishment for violating the rule is a fine of one goat.
The ban has been effective. The restricted pools in the upstream area of Batang Bungo are now home to a variety of endemic fish species. Apart from providing a steady source of food for the community, the restricted pools are also nurseries, breeding fish fry for developing the local aquaculture business.
Most recently, Bakian has been pushing to develop forest and river ecotourism. The ecotourism management body has developed a novel type of tourism that is growing in popularity. On weekends, the upriver area teems with visitors splashing about in the clear river water.
KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN
Bakian
Residual trauma
Living in an upriver area is not without its challenges. Bakian said that the village had experienced two major disasters. The first was a flash flood; the second was the river drying up.
At the end of 1990, while everyone was asleep during a downpour, a loud rumbling was heard. Suddenly, a flash flood struck the village, sweeping away several houses. The current swept away the cattle and destroyed farms. Strangely enough, however the people also saw cut logs floating down the raging river.
“The large logs floating on the river showed that illegal logging was happening in our protected forests,” Bakian said.
Not long afterward, the village experienced severe drought. The river dried up. The successive calamities finally made the people realize that they were not just living in an area rich in natural resources, but also under the risk of natural disasters.
Now armed with knowledge of widespread illegal logging in the protected forest, the people of the village wanted to kick out the loggers. Yet they faced legal constraints. “Protected forests belong to the state,” Bakian pointed out.
So the people proposed that their village be declared a forest management institution, and received a positive response from then-forestry minister M.S. Kaban. That is how Lubuk Beringin became the first village to be granted management rights over its forest.
This legal basis empowered the village in protecting its forest. In the years since Lubuk Beringin became a forest management village, the area has not shown any decline in forest cover. Periodical surveys conducted by the nongovernmental Warsi Indonesian Conservation Community have shown the absence of logging in the protected forest.
The village has succeeded in its dedicated efforts to safeguard its protected forest, as seen in its achievement of zero percent emissions. The village’s efforts have also attracted the interest of donor countries, including Sweden, which gave the village Rp 1 billion in funding through the voluntary carbon market.
“The choices are clean water and a life of peace, or a bit of gold and [natural] disasters. In the end, [we] chose the former,” said Bakian.
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