Planting trees in Kamojang Forest is growing in popularity from year to year. Iwan Bace hopes that others will benefit as he works without pay to sustain the environment in many more places.
Iwan Bace once enjoyed a monthly salary of tens of millions of rupiah when he worked as a sailor. Since 2014, he has been busy cultivating the seedlings of endemic tree species, and then planting them to restore the forest ecosystems. He does this without any pay.
Early in the morning on Saturday (28/5/2022) at Saung Monteng in Ibun village, Ibun district, Bandung regency, West Java, the cool air can be felt at a saung (hut) located at an elevation of around 1,200 meters above sea level. However, it soon became hot when Iwan invited Kompas to walk to his nursery in Kamojang Forest. The nursery, measuring around 84 tumbak (1,176 square meters), is terraced and has six levels, and climbing to the higher level left us panting.
Iwan clears weeds and other unwanted vegetation from the rows of polybags containing tree seedlings. However, on one of the terraces, the weeds were left untouched to compete with seedlings already 40-50 centimeters tall. Iwan explained that seedlings of this height were ready for planting. The weeds are left alone to harden the seedlings for when they were “released” into nature.
“In the [wild], the competition with weeds is very tight. Here, they can adapt," he said.
He freely shares his techniques for cultivating tree seedling, as he is the field manager of the Saung Monteng Foundation, a group of environmental activists most of whose members do not have the same academic qualifications in conservation as Iwan does. The community, currently chaired by Aip Saepudin, was formed because of they shared the same concern about the critical condition of Kamojang Forest.
One of Saung Monteng's main goals in building a nursery is to plant the seedlings of trees endemic to Kamojang. Data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry show that the local people cultivate around 449.17 hectares of the 5,426.19 ha Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve for agriculture.
The residents’ vegetable farms now encroaches conservation areas, including Mount Rakutak in Pacet district, Bandung.
In the [wild], the competition with weeds is very tight. Here, they can adapt.
At the nursery, Iwan recalled the endemic tree species he had developed, which included kibeureum (Distylium stellare), pasang (Lithocarpus platycarpus) and meuhmal (Litsea cubeba). He also showed the seedlings of jamuju (Dacrycarpus imbricatus), a very rare species in Kamojang Forest. "We can produce 20,000-30,000 trees every year," said Iwan.
They plant the seedlings on 41 hectares of critical land in Kamojang Forest, which has been targeted for restoration since 2014. The visible results show that the dry springs at three locations have now filled with water again. One of these springs is in Legok Tengek, Ibun district, Bandung. After seven years of replanting trees, the local forest has a dense canopy, whereas it was uncovered before.
Iwan added that some of the nursery’s seedlings had been distributed to other communities for replanting in various parts of West Java, such as Ciamis, Tasikmalaya, Sumedang, Karawang and Kuningan. Everything is free.
JOHANES GALUH BIMANTARA
Iwan Bace
Zero rupiahs
Iwan's job title of manager sounds prestigious, but it doesn't mean he makes the same income as a manager at a company. In fact, his salary is zero rupiahs, meaning he works without pay. This is the exact opposite from his previous job as a member of the crew on a foreign-owned cruise liner. His last basic pay was US$5,000, or around Rp 61 million in 2014. With benefits, his monthly salary reached $6,000 (Rp 73 million).
Even so, Iwan felt that his life had not improved despite his high salary. This was because his break during the off-season could span a year or two, during which he would be unemployed. In addition, he sometimes used up his money for extravagances when the ship made port, such as liquor. This last was the main reason Iwan made the drastic decision to stop working and serve nature for no pay.
"Life is more comfortable, calmer, the path to sin is cut,” he said, laughing.
For him, cultivating tree seedlings and then planting them in the forest is akin to religion. Every second, every hour, the water that is produced by the forest and the oxygen that is produced by the trees are consumed by many people.
He is not concerned about meeting his family’s material needs. He believes that as he takes care of nature as entrusted by the Creator, nature will take care of him and his family. This belief in reciprocity has become a reality. They always have food to keep the kitchen bustling and life running.
In surrendering his material concerns to God, Iwan is free to immerse himself in the business of restoring the Kamojang ecosystem and continuing to learn. He is now able to identify endemic tree species and avoid making the wrong choice when gathering seeds or seedlings in the forest. In the past, seeds were gathered in the forest and then planted at the Saung Monteng nursery. After around six months, the seeds grew into vines. Apparently, they were weeds.
They also have to know how to take care of the seedlings depending on the species. For example, said Iwan, the seeds of the salam tree must be planted directly without drying them first, while the seeds of the huru dapung (Actinodaphne glomerata) must be dried before they were planted.
Iwan hopes that others will benefit as he works without pay to sustain the environment in many more places.
The Saung Monteng volunteers do more than planting trees. The volunteers, including Iwan, also visit the seedlings 40 days after planting to check that their development is not disrupted. These activities include cleaning up unwanted vegetation and watering the seedlings during the dry season. They call this monitoring activity panglayadan.
Planting trees in Kamojang Forest is growing in popularity from year to year. Saung Monteng is also trying to expand, so Iwan has been given the additional task of finding seedlings in the dry season for reforesting riverbanks, roadsides and cemeteries.
Iwan hopes that others will benefit as he works without pay to sustain the environment in many more places.
Iwan Bace
Born: Bandung, 12 Sept. 1969
Wife: Dedeh Komariah
Children: 3
Education: STM Karya Pembangunan Majalaya technical high school(1987-1990)
Occupation: Field Manager, Saung Monteng Foundation
