Coloring Batiks for Mangrove Forest Conservation

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

Residents catch fish in a mangrove forest in Tanjung Rejo village, Percut Sei Tuan district, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, Saturday (12/10/2019). Fishermen incomes have declined apparently due to the destruction of mangrove forests, which have been cleared to make charcoal, fish ponds and oil palm plantations. Now people are struggling to find greener and more sustainable economic resources.

The mangrove forest in Tanjung Rejo village, Percut Sei Tuan district, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, which was damaged due to exploitation, is now green and well conserved. Locals have realized the benefits of mangroves and used the shrubs as batik coloring material.

It was cool at the Tanjung Rejo Batik Center on the eastern coast of Deli Serdang on Saturday (12 October 2019) morning. Batik Mangrove Lestari Group chairperson Hamida, 35, arrived, carrying a sack of mangrove twigs. She was going to boil the twigs into natural batik coloring.

“After we became aware of the damage to the mangrove ecosystem, we’ve been very careful. We pluck the twigs from branches of mangroves already over 5 years old or naturally dead,” she said.

Making mangrove batik is now a way of utilizing forest products without felling so that the ecosystem is maintained. The village set up the Tanjung Rejo Batik Center with the aid of Yayasan Gajah Sumatra (Yagasu) foundation, the rural fund and the family planning village program.

Today there are 12 members of the group actively engaged in batik coloring daily. Besides, 20 housewives are learning this skill.

Hamida said originally none of the village residents had ever dyed batik cloths. Most of them are fishermen catching crab and other fish in the mangrove forest. Before 2000, when the forest was still in pristine condition, fishermen could obtain 10-15 kilograms of crab daily. At the time, the crab cost Rp25,000 per kilogram.

The entry of factories caused the denudation of the mangrove forest. Residents were felling mangroves and sold them to charcoal factories. Investors from outside the village blocked the pool (as a tidal water lane) so that no water flowed in and out of the mangrove forest.

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

Expanse of mangrove forests can be seen in Tanjung Rejo village, Percut Sei Tuan district, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, as seen on Saturday (12/10/2019). The income of the fishermen has declined apparently due to the destruction of mangrove forests which are mostly cut down to make charcoal, fish ponds, and oil palm plantations. Now people are struggling to find greener and more sustainable economic resources.

After the mangrove forest dried up and the shrubs were turned into charcoal, the land changed its function to become an oil palm estate or fish pond.

When more than half of the mangrove forest was ruined, residents began to feel its impact. The coast experienced abrasion of up to 100 meters due to the absence of mangroves to resist sea waves. Fishermen’s income dropped as the crab caught only amounted to 1-2 kilograms daily in spite of the price hike to Rp 40,000 per kilogram. The same thing happened to the villages along the eastern coast of North Sumatra.

In 2010, the local community, together with Yagasu, cultivated mangrove seedlings and planted them in the denuded forest area. The residents also solved the pool’s blockage problem. Part of the fish pond grew mangroves again.

“As the replanting program was underway, we realized that local people had to earn income from the mangrove forest. Then we sought a way of securing economic gain while conserving mangroves,” said Hamida.

Batik making with a dye derived from mangroves was later tested. In 2014, Yagasu facilitated batik training for residents of Tanjung Rejo and several coastal villages in Pekalongan, Central Java. Thereafter, they followed intensive training at the Yagasu office in Medan and with instruction by batik makers from Pekalongan.

Hamida started coloring batik with mangrove twig coloring extract. “But the result failed to find a market because of its plain and dull color, dim brown,” she said.

So she continued to search for color variations based on the type, age and part of the plant. From experimenting, she found that the color was brighter if the twigs were plucked from upper branches.

For color diversity, residents also use the extract of secang (a dyewood shrub) for red and indigo for blue. As a result, the batik produced has seen bigger demand from the market. Yagasu assists in their sales to other cities as well as abroad. Several government agencies buy mangrove batik for their uniforms.

Mangrove batik is sold for Rp300,000-Rp2.5 million per cloth. The Tanjung Rejo Batik Center now sells two to five sheets per week on average. Its production rises when there are visitors or big orders.

I used to be chatting and watching TV after teaching. Now I’m painting batiks.

According to Suliana, 29, a member of the center, she has been considerably helped by the extra income from batik making. “I used to be chatting and watching TV after teaching. Now I’m painting batiks,” she said.

Batik is also crafted into handiwork such as sandals, small bags and key ring ornaments. Group members also make various kinds of food from mangroves such as chips from jeruju (tidal shrub) leaves, berembang (seaside tree) fruit syrup and juice, fudges, jams, flours, candies and cookies. However, these food products cannot yet be widely marketed as they haven’t yet been licensed for distribution.

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

The chairperson of the Sustainable Mangrove Batik Group, Hamida, shows batik cloth with natural dyes from mangrove plants in Tanjung Rejo village, Percut Sei Tuan district, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, Saturday (12/10/2019). Making batik is one of the efforts to help improve the economy of coastal communities while maintaining mangrove ecosystems.

Hutan Bakti Nyata Farmers Group chairman Samsul K, 35, who is also Hamida’s husband, said the income increased from the mangrove forest had made the community even more aware of the need to safeguard environmental conservation. They are planning to launch mangrove tourism activity.

Community empowerment

According to Research and Monitoring Manager of Yagasu, Grace Yanti Pandjaitan, the community’s economic promotion constitutes the best shield for the rescue of the mangrove ecosystem.

Grace said Yagasu, along with coastal people, had restored 5,578 hectares of mangrove forests in North Sumatra and Aceh from 2011-2018. Most of the mangrove forest damage resulted from the change in function to become oil palm and fish pond areas. The program for community empowerment is a follow-up to the ecosystem restoration.

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

The chairperson of the Sustainable Mangrove Batik Group, Hamida, makes batik cloth with natural dyes from mangrove plants in Tanjung Rejo village, Percut Sei Tuan district, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, Saturday (12/10/2019). Making batik is one of the efforts to help improve the economy of coastal communities while maintaining mangrove ecosystems.

The mangrove forest rescue, said Grace, had not only saved the plants, but also the widely varied species in the ecosystem such as fish, crabs, jellyfish, reptiles and birds. “Mangrove forests also store up carbon,” she added.