Category: News From The Field

Hilly area usually has a steep ground with different level of slope.

When the land is used for paddy field, vegetable garden or hard wood
plantation, we need to make a Terracing way to avoid a landslide.

In some areas, although the Terracing way is applied, in rainy season
it is possible to have a landslide in a water crossings. The strong water
flow will erode the land wall and the landslide can not be avoided.
It is suggested to make a strong water gutter and a bit deep or build a
rock wall/bamboo wall or plant trees which have strong roots
(like bamboo or shrubs)

To save trees and the land is important but to avoid the landslide to
protect people is more important.

“ The rain follows after the forest “ (Hawaiian proverb)

Have you seen or visited the Teak plantation on the dry season?
From the distance, we saw the brown landscape on the hill, very
few spots looked green. When we were in the plantation, almost
all trees had no leaves and the ground was full with dry leaves.
The air was hot and we felt the wind also blew hot, sometimes our
eyes felt hurt and itchy, our skin dry and always felt thirsty.

Only few birds flew and almost no frogs in the water spring or
near the wells because only little water left there.

At the same time we can measure how big the trees grow, every year
the tree has one more circumference. The trees bark are full with
ants or termites, they pill out the bark. This is the nature way
to let the trees breathe and get more sunlight.

This year, we should be happy because all trees are healthy and grow fast.

“ All seasons have something to offer “ (Jeannette Walls)

One of guardians, Caci, held a wedding party for his daughter Riri.

Like other Indonesian, he prepared the party for the reception after
the wedding ceremony. Usually, family and relatives were invited to
attend the weeding ceremony in the morning and after that the groom
and the bride were ready to welcome the guests, all the neighbor,
their office colleagues or friends and their both parent’s friends.
All the people congratulated and gave them wedding gifts or money
in the envelopes.

Sometimes, there was an entertainment for the guest, can be traditional
dances, music or songs and all people participated on the stage,
they could dance or sang. Like other wedding entertainment, the band
and the singers received money not only from the host but also the guests.

In the same week, Bana, is one of the worker, got married but the party
was held in the next village, where the bride lives.

All the workers and their family came to the two parties, because the parties
were held on Friday, the workers day off. They took turn to come to the party,
some of them should stay in the plantation.

“ Family like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions yet
our roots remain as one “ (Unknown)

When the rainy season ends, people in Cibening Village will have a serious problem,
they do not have enough water especially clean water during hot season.
The River crosses the village will be dry and the well or water springs
will flow less water, they use it for drink and cook only. They have to go to
other village about 2 kilometer to get clean water for bathing and washing.

Basically, Sukabumi area has a normal rain fall during rainy season,
but people in Cibening Village never collect and keep the water for the next season.
The rain water just flow down and run out when the hot season comes.

PT Goldteak has made several wells, two of them have water and will be
cemented to protect from land slide. The water are clean, for now
it can be used for trees or people in the plantation only. In the near future,
PT Goldteak will help the people to make wells so they can have their own water,
they can collect the rain water and flow it to the well or from water spring.

“The usefulness of a well is known when it dries up” (Proverb from Uganda)

One of the causes of Global Warming is the increasing of greenhouse gases. Carbon
Dioxide (Co2) and Lead (Pb) emissions are continuing to rise due to burning of
fossil fuels, land-use change, forest degradation and deforestation. The other
toxic substance which goes to the atmosphere and create an air pollution are;
Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (No2), Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC),
Sulfur Dioxide (So2) and Hydro Carbon (HC).

To reduce the greenhouse gases, we need to conserve the forest. There are some
good trees which can reduce the emission of CO2; Teak, Mahogany, Acacia and
Albizia Saman. Teak is the best tree because it has some benefits, not only
give an economical value but also it can make the environment green, fertile
and can keep plenty of water.

If one tree can produce 1,2 kilogram of oxygen, we can imagine how much oxygen
when Goldteak has 40 ha of Teak trees. In the future, Goldteak will participate
in Carbon trade and get benefit and profit of producing the wood.

“The cultivation of trees is the cultivation of the good, the beautiful and
the ennobling in man.” (J. Sterling Morton)

According to the Green Cities Campaign, today more than half of the world’s
population live in the cities. As the urban population grows and the effects
of climate change worsen, our cities have to evolve. It’s time to invest
inefficiency and renewable energy, rebuild the cities, towns, municipalities
and states.

To have cities in the future we need to learn how to make and use clean energy,
green houses or buildings and free pollution transportation.

People who live in Cibening Village still keep their tradition, the houses are
made of wood and bamboo on stilts, and the roof was made of palm or coconut
leaves. They collect rain water and use wood or charcoal to cook.
They raise chicken, ducks or goats, and for the people who have more land,
they plant vegetables and rice.

We hardly find vehicles there, only several people have motor cycles or bicycles.
Modernization just started three years ago when they have electricity,
some people bought televisions, refrigerators or mobile phones.

The Elementary school has an additional program, they call it “Green Project”,
the children learn how to plant vegetables, flowers, fruits or hard trees,
they also learn hydroponic. With their parents, they plant herbs at the back
or front yard.

Teak tree has a commercial value, the price of teak wood is very expensive not only in domestic market but also in the international market. To obtain high quality wood, we need to choose the best seeds. We have to pay attention from nursery to planting, until the harvest time.

The first year is critical planting, we should recognize whether the young trees are attacked by pests and diseases. What parts are attacked, roots, trunks, leaves or shoots. Then we should recognize the pests attacking the young teak, insects, fungus, grubs, borers or any bacteria which can make the roots rotten. From the beginning of the rainy season till the end of the rainy season is a period where the insect attack.

Goldteak maintains the trees very well, Teak trees, Mahogany trees, Acacia trees, Jabon trees and other fruit trees like Oranges, Durian, Rambutan, Mango, Sapodilla, Local Lychee and Dragon fruit.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now” – Chinese proverb.

Silviculture is a practice of controlling of establishment, growth, composition, health and quality of forest to meet diverse needs and values (ecology and economy). Silviculture focuses on making sure that the treatments of forest stands are used to preserve and to better productivity (Wikipedia).

The history of Cibening land was dry, the position of the land is near the coastal area which contain of gravel, sand, clay and silt. People open the land for rice field or cassava by collecting rain water. About 10 years ago, GoldTeak opened the land up hill to plant trees, now we can see that the land turned green. Ecology and economy are growing as well, many animal like birds, monkeys, pigs, snakes and insects come. Many variety of fruit and vegetables also grow and people start to realize that GoldTeak gives positive domino impact to the village.

GoldTeak does not end with simply growing the trees, there are some other principal activities such as the following:

• Growing teak trees is not enough, other trees, fruit and vegetable are required to enrich and balance the culture.
• Pruning is one of the Silviculture practice, it removes all the lower branches. The clear knot-free lumber has a higher value.
• All trees have different time to harvest, but to maximize the productivity we need thinning. Actually, the goal of thinning is to control the amount and distribution of available growing space. It also controls the growth, quality and health of the trees.

GoldTeak makes the people in Cibening and the nature grow together.

Eid al-Adha also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, this festival commemorates the prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to God. This festival also marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Today Muslims all over the world who can afford it, sacrifice a goat, a sheep, a camel, or a cow and share the meat to the poor people, neighbors or their relatives. Sometimes they still have the festival for several days.

This year the guardians got one goat from the GoldTeak company to celebrate Eid al-Adha, they have a small party at the plantation with their family.

Goldteak plantation has several springs which always give water to the plantation all year long, but the quantity is still limited so they can not be used by the people in the village especially in dry season. Concerning about the need of water, Goldteak has a plan to make some wells in the plantation. Unfortunately, the workers felt pessimistic, because the plantation area covered by soil and stones. Two years ago, the workers made one well with 8 meters deep and it is full of water.

Learned from the first, the workers made another three wells in different locations. One is at Durian area, one is at Mangga area and the other one is at Oranges area. Water was found in three meter deep, and the quality of the water is better than the first well. Two wells can be used to water the trees and one well can be used to support people in the village, first priority is for drinking water and the second is for the Mosque.