The trees at Bumisari plantation look good, they have a good maintenance. The guardian, Rian, works very well. He always cuts the grass and keeps the plantation clean from the garbage. He also made terraces (the area in Bumisari a little bit slippery), so he can check all trees regularly.
He stays in the house with his wife and his two children, sometimes his father or his father in law visited and accompanied his family. The position of the plantation is quite far from the nearest village.
Bumisari Village is located about 50 km from Pelabuhan Ratu beach, to reach this village we have to drive through Cikidang area (there are tea, rubber and palm oil plantation in Cikidang). Most of the people in Bumisari plant rice or cassava, they sell their harvest to local collectors. Because the collectors bring the harvest by using trucks, most of the road is in bad condition. Recently, local government fixed the road. Although they did not fix the whole road, but at least to reach teak plantation does not take long time.
It is very interesting when we compare the local teak and Solomon teak. Local teak has more branches and the trunk size is quite different, Solomon has less branches and straight trunk. Local teak has darker color and more leaves. The trees does not grow at the same time, we can find one tree grows well doe not although they were planted at the same time. For local teak, Indonesian people like to call “Hutan Jati” or teak forest than “Perkebunan Jati” or teak plantation.
It makes sense, because when we enter the local teak plantation, we found the irregularity of the trees. There is a question, does it mean that Solomon is better than local teak? The answer is local teak & Solomon teak has different characteristic and for the quality and price, the market has answered that Solomon is more expensive because it has a better quality.
It is amazing to see that our model is working!
The 3P: People, Planet and Profit concepts encourages us to make business decisions with a balance of the people related to our projects and the environment while enhancing our profit.
A core concept of GoldTeak is to hire guardians to care for our trees from the beginning. Most plantations put the trees in the ground and then leave them to grow knowing that even if a small portion of the trees grow properly they will profit. However, if you look at the top photo you will note that these trees are significantly smaller than the trees in the second photo. It is hard to believe that these trees were planted at the same time and are on land adjecent to the obviously healthy and large trees at the GoldTeak Bumisari Plantation.
Our 3P motivation can be described as the following:
Bumisari is a small 2.6 HA plot located not far from Cibening. It is HHAHA our first project and the inspiration for the GoldTeak 3P: People, planet and profit concept. The trees are growing well and are at an age where they suffer very little during the dry season.
The trees on the hill look healthy. Rian, our only guardian at Bumisari, cuts the grass and cleans dried leaves from the land. The dried leaves are a fire hazard so it is better to remove them; however, the dried leaves when decomposed provide nutrients for the trees. To address this issue GoldTeak is deciding how to best implement composting in 2010 with the grass and leaves in order to return these nutrients to the trees.
Rian measures and re-numbers trees. Beginning in year 2 of the Bumisari project GoldTeak began to number certain trees in order to evaluate growth cycles as well as growing patterns. Our teak escalation tables show a basic overview of the growth cycles.
For the first year of the project we did not understand the need to have guardians to care for the trees and help them grow. In the second year of the project GoldTeak decided that while it would cost more money to have a full time employee living on the land, the long term results would justify the additional cost.
We compare Bumisari and a field of another grower adjacent to our plot. These trees have not been cared for and it is obvious that the work of clearing the weeds and nurturing the trees produce better growth.
Guardian Rian is a full time employee of GoldTeak and lives on the plantation with his family.
He also plants cassava and some vegetable just for daily needs.
The normal height of teak trees is about 40 meter and they have a clear bole of 18 to 20 meter. The good teak trees have big diameter, less branches and about 80 years old. Teak trees grow in dry place with rain fall 1200 mm/year and on the land 0-700 m above sea level.
Teak trees can grow in Bumisari very well, the soil is rich with nutrition and the weather is good because this area is located in a coastal area.
In Bumisari plantation, teaks were planted on the land which is used to be a paddy field and near rubber plantation. Teak does not have a problem with paddy and rubber but it has a problem with cassava trees. Cassava takes nutrition which is needed by the teak.
Bumisari plantation is not big, it has one guardian and he lives there with his family.
The guardian who takes care Bumisari plantation is Rian, he stays in a Rumah Kebun or garden house. This house is a bamboo house and facilitated with bed room, living room and kitchen, it has a small veranda or porch. Rian live here with his family, his wife, his daughter and his father. Like others guardians, he also do fasting during this Ramadan, to keep him and his family healthy during fasting month, Goldteak gave medicine and vitamin.
During fasting month, Rian still did regular activities like cleaning the ground or picking up dried leaves, he also measured the trees and made sure no body smoke or made fire around the plantation.
Usually in hot season, teak trees prune by themselves, this is a natural way to the trees to receive the sunrise more so it the time for the trees become bigger. There is no pest or decease attacking the trees, they look healthy.
The land is dry and there is no grass to cover it, the sunrise will be easily reach the root and it will make the root strong.
Goldteak plantation is in Bumisari village, now it has a water pump donated by NGO. People take and use the water for their daily life, for cooking, drinking, washing and bathing.
Like in Cibening, teaks in Bumisari plantation grow well. The teak trees also get a good maintaining. The workers cut coarse grass regularly in order to let the trees get enough nutrition from the soil. Basically the trees grow well, especially with a good water supply for the trees.
In Bumisari plantation, the trees does not have same diameter although they were planted at the same time, the soil in Bumisari is quite different with the soil in Cibening because the land in Bumisari previously was used as paddy field. Beside that, the structure of the land is also different.
The worker, Ryan, stays in Bumisari plantation with his wife and his son. He always receive his salary one day after the Cibening workers do, because the site manager, Zaini, often visit him the next day to hand in his salary.
Bumisari area previously was a paddy field and the land is quite sloppy. The soil is good enough for the teak trees but is not the best place for teak especially the teaks are not from the best type “Solomon”.
The teak trees looks healthy, but actually the trees must be bigger, taller and healthier. Up to now, the trees are well maintained.
Beside the siding and the soil, other factor is maintaining. For teak tree, the maintaining starts from the planting time until the tree is about three or four years old.
The simple and basic maintaining is to cut the wild grass, giving enough nutrition like fertilizer and giving pesticide as well.
The teak plantation at Bumisari is guarded by one worker and he stays with his family (wife and 1 child).
The teak project in Bumisari used mix types of teak, the seeds were from local Javanese and Thailand or Malaysian teaks. The growing of the trees are not the same like the trees in Cibening project. The project in Cibening used Solomon type. The diameter of seven years old teak tree is only 53 cm, the trunks are not very straight, the guardian have to take care the trees and the land as well.
The activity of maintaining the trees and the land is standard, cutting the wild grass, giving the fungicide and fertilizer, the guardian should keep waching to the teak disease. The trees are already seven years old, just need several years to cut. The road must be cleared from the wild grass also, because after raining season, sometimes the road is blocked by the grass.
The guardian who stays at Bumisari project also had cassava harvest, he and his family got plenty cassava, but cassava at Bumisari project is smaller than cassava in Cibening project, probably because Cibening soil is more fertile.
The monoculture plantation is needed a special attention for the soil, erosion caused by heavy raining can not avoided. There should be another plants planted between the teak trees in order to hold or to keep the soil strong, or build the water way around the plantation, so it will help the water runs to different way.
There is a NGO from religion organization has donated and contributed to Bumisari village a water system, now people in Bumisari can consume the clean water to drink, cook and bathing or washing.
New Works on Land:
Worker are doing his regular job; clearing and weeding the grasses all around teaks trees, making foot step down to small gazebo, making new rest room with new closet and cemented at the back of the guardian house.
General Condition of Land:
Due to raining & strong wind last week causing some teaks trees crumple and broken also some house roofs at guardian house broken.
Update on Village:
A lot of peoples at Bumisari village have planted paddy field at this rainy season.
Update on Guardians;
They are healthy.
