Hunching barely, he pulled off the layers of plastic overlaying the higher a part of the bee hive field. He intently examined each nook of the Trigona itama bee hive to verify its honey had shaped completely.
“Kelulut bees don’t sting, so don’t hesitate to come back nearer. Its honey tastes candy with a touch of sourness,” Sutoyo, chairperson of the Kelulut Honey Cultivation Social Forestry Enterprise Group (KUPS), stated in Tuwung village, Pulang Pisau district, Central Kalimantan, in mid-January 2024.
Tuwung village lies 40 kilometers exterior of Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan province. It’s a one-hour journey from the capital metropolis.
In 2015 and 2016, Tuwung village skilled wildfires, with thick smoke limiting visibility to 2 to 3 meters.
Now, the village helps the preservation of the area’s peatland hydrology. Wildfires not ravage the area’s forests and peatlands. Rambutan timber now thrive, producing ripe purple fruit.
The Kelulut Honey KUPS is reaping the advantages of the well-preserved peat forest in Tuwung village. Village locals independently handle sustainable forests and produce dozens of liters of pure honey month-to-month.
Social Forestry
For Tuwung villagers, December 26, 2019, was a big day. On that day, the Ministry of Setting and Forestry (KLHK) issued a decree permitting the locals to handle the village’s forest, which spans 1,297 hectares in space, by means of the Village Forest Administration Establishment (LHPD).
Virtually 50 % of the village forest sat atop the administration space that burnt within the 2015–2016 wildfires.
The forest administration scheme was carried out participatively by LHPD for agroforestry actions by means of the 2020 Nationwide Financial Restoration (PEN) program. Tuwung Village LHPD has three enterprise items: Kelulut Honey KUPS, Fishery KUPS, and Farming KUPS.
The Ministry of Setting and Forestry absolutely supported the village authorities by offering land for social forestry efforts and planting timber and fruit seeds within the village forest.
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As a result of cultivation of assorted timber and fruits, the forest is inexperienced once more and enjoys a mutualistic relationship with kelulut honey bees.
Kelulut bees acquire meals from virtually all flowering crops, appearing because the forest’s non-wood useful resource that harbors potential for financial development, particularly for villagers.
The Kelulut Honey Cultivation KUPS was established by means of the Decree of Tuwung Village Head Quantity 25 of 2023. The enterprise group, which consists of 20 individuals, manages 100 bee hive packing containers.
The group’s preliminary financing got here from the central authorities’s allocation for PEN’s meals agroforestry sector, which amounted to Rp200 million (roughly US$12,811) in 2020.
In the meantime, Rp35 million (roughly US$2,241) in financing was sourced from the 2022 Village Price range (APBDesa) and Rp17.79 million (about US$1,139) from the 2023 Village Price range.
To help cultivation, the area’s Forestry Service additionally provided assist in the type of productive financial help for bee hive packing containers and water separator machines.
Tuwung village produces about 15 liters of kelulut honey every month. The honey is bought at Rp25 thousand (roughly US$1.6) per 100 milliliters, producing a transaction worth of Rp3.75 million (roughly US$240) monthly, or Rp45 million (roughly US$2,882) per yr.
Social forestry by means of the kelulut honey cultivation scheme has elevated native villagers’ financial worth, whereas the kelulut honey product, believed to spice up physique immunity, has change into a preferred memento from Central Kalimantan.
World Recognition
Chief of america Forest Service, Randy Moore, seemed elated when Setting and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar provided him a purun grass straw to sip kelulut honey from.
Moore famous the fragile style of the candy and bitter honey. He licked the top of the purun grass straw that touched the bee hive to make sure no honey was left.
“I’m filled with hope, awe, and respect with what I see. Thanks for the chance to be right here and witness what you may have achieved,” he acknowledged whereas visiting Tuwung village.
The odor of bitter peatlands reduce by means of the air. A delicate breeze blew on the leaves, shading the realm of social forestry within the coronary heart of Borneo.
Tuwung village’s success story — from being ravaged by hearth to changing into a productive village — provided the American delegates new information a couple of forest managed and stored by the locals.
The Indonesian authorities has seemed to america for laws and values relating to forest administration and coping with wildfires, because the superpower possesses huge forests and nationwide parks.
“We study in regards to the forestry system from america, through which nobody is allowed into the forest. No mosquito shall die, and no department shall break,” Minister Bakar stated.
Nonetheless, the Indonesian authorities has adjusted to handle the forestry sector by strengthening entry to social forestry. Individuals are given entry to the forest and amenities, information, establishments, and monetary help to attain financial prosperity.
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Editor: Bayu Prasetyo
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
