Category: News From The Field

Some time ago, residents of Cibening village had their turn to be injected with the Covid-19 vaccine, prioritizing the elderly and workers. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, no one has been infected so far.

PT Gold Teak helped the residents of Cibening village by providing cloth masks to be worn by children and working adults as well as mothers who often went to the market. Other assistance is a water containers and soap for washing hands, placed in front of public facilities such as schools, madrasas and mosques.

In addition, PT Gold Teak also prepared and provided counseling banners for villagers to follow the Health Protocol. The banners were placed at the village entrance, in front of the schools and in front of the plantation.

Currently, almost all villagers, including PT Gold Teak workers, have received the Covid-19 vaccine. Hopefully people’s awareness about health will be even better, maintaining health is better than treating or curing.

Cibening village is drained by a river that is deep but has shallow water. When the rainy season, the water will overflow and sometimes flow and flood the surrounding fields which are lower than the river. But when summer comes, the river water dries up and there is only a little water left between the river stones.

The bridge that crosses the river has also been damaged many times and has broken several times and even broken. PT Gold Teak always helps to repair the bridge by donating iron rods and cement as well as labor assistance from the workers.

This time PT Gold Teak donated Teak and Tamarind seedlings to be planted on the river bank. The goal is that the tree roots can hold the soil on the riverbank so as not to slide. The Teak & Tamarind seedlings are given to village head, villagers & school communities, it is hoped that the younger generation will understand how to protect nature from being damaged and most importantly, keep water flowing in rivers during summer.

PT Gold Teak always make seedlings for community in Cibening village, to plant around houses or around the riversides and bridge sides.

“A river doesn’t just carry water, it carries life” (Amit Kalantri)

This year PT Gold Teak took a step forward by becoming a member of the British Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia. This step is taken to build a business network so that the success story that has been achieved by PT Gold Teak can be shared with the global community who concerns about the issue of global warming, reduces poverty and is interested in green investment for sustainable environmental development..

In addition, PT Gold Teak also wishes to seek business partners related to teak plantations, wood products, carbon trading or investors who want to achieve NetZero Targets through green investment CSR programs.

BritCham is the gateway for PT Gold Teak to meet and collaborate with key players in the forestry, plantation, timber business or even with the Indonesian government to rehabilitate critical lands, damaged forests through Agroforestry initiatives.

All trees planted on the Goldteak plantation are well recorded, it has been done from the purchase of the seedlings, when they were planted, what fertilizer was given , what pest or bugs attacked the young trees and  the circle of the trunks. Goldteak  counts the total live and dead trees regularly, the trees fell because of land slide, hit by lightning or the root was rot because of fungus. Goldteak also made a record about the treatment of the tree’s problems.  All records are carried out manually and periodically, completely with photo documentation.

Last year, 2020, Goldteak installed Tracking Nails on 100 Teak trees planted in 2005. Markers are installed on trees to find out the name, age and history of tree cultivation, only by using a Recorder or Reading Tool, all this information can be known instantly. Goldteak plantation will use the Nail Tags for all the trees for the purposes mentioned above.

These Nail Tag has a unique ID number and are widely used in forest management, timber tracking and tree position tracking.

Almost all employees and workers have been working with Goldteak since the plantation was established, with only a few resigning because they wanted to have the experience of working in a factory or in construction.

To build a sense of loyalty to the project is not easy. However, there is a sense of family and a desire for GoldTeak and its employees to grow together in a healthy and a happy way.

Teak has a small and simple nursery, which is located in the plantation. The nursery is used to grow the young teak trees which found around the teak trees or to make teak germination.

Teak is propagated mainly from seeds; the seeds are soaked in water for 12 hours and then put in the sun for 12 hours. This process is repeated for a few weeks, with the seeds normally sown in germination beds. The seeds are germinated after 2 s to 4 weeks.

The young trees can be used to replace the trees that have been damaged by landslides or lightning. The young teak trees also can be used to replace the unproductive fruit trees.

Good wood comes from good treesThe distance between Cibening village and Bumisari village is about two hours away by car or one hour by motorbike. The teak plantation in Bumisari village is only two hectares and is a pilot project. The teak trees planted are Javanese teak and Asian teak.

The villager stopped planting rice there because the soil is not suitable for rice but is very suitable for planting teaks.

The teak trees are more than 15 years old now, they are healthy and never attacked by pests and diseases. The trees have good wood of the best quality.

Goldteak has a small and simple nursery, it is located in the plantation. The nursery is used to grow the young teak trees which found around the teak trees or to make teak germination.

Teak is propagated mainly from seeds, the seeds are soaked in water for 12 hours and put them in the sun for 12 hours, repeated for  a week or two, usually the seeds are sown in germination beds. The seeds will be germinated after 2 weeks to 4 weeks.

The young trees can be used to replace the broken or fallen trees cause of landslide or lightning. The young teak trees also can be used to replace the unproductive fruit trees.

Each type of plant has a different absorption rate of carbon dioxide. Many factors and causes influence this, including the quality of chlorophyll in the leaves, which is determined by the amount of magnesium which is the core of the chlorophyll.

The greater the level of magnesium contained in plant chlorophyll, the darker green the leaves will be. This helps optimize the photosynthesis process. In addition, plants or fruit trees are among the best carbon absorbers. Other factors that determine the absorption capacity of carbon dioxide are temperature, sunlight, and water availability.

Teak, Mahogany, and Acacia trees are plants that absorb carbon dioxide very well. Other plants are Tamarind, Banyan, Matoa, Saga, Flamboyan (Delonix Regia), and many others.

To reach the Goldteak plantation from the roadside of Bantargadung, you have to go through a road of approximately three kilometers, and pass Cibening village . Every rainy season, the road is always damaged due to eroded rainwater.

This year, people who live in Cibening village worked together to repair damaged road and bridges.

Waiting for repair assistance from the government certainly takes a long time because of bureaucracy. The village head should report about the damage to the sub-district and district levels then the respond will go back to the village apparatus in months.

Usually the people will do self-financing to collect repair funds and they will work together voluntarily for several days.

Almost all Golteak workers live in Cibening village. On Fridays, when they are not working, they help the community repair the road or the bridge. The repair this time is not only patching the potholes but also cementing the sides of the road so that rainwater does not flow into the middle of the road.

Not all Goldteak workers live in Cibening village, some live outside the village, but they are not far away. This year, 2021, worker’s data were updated, how many workers still work for Goldteak plantation and how many workers resigned because they had a new job or there was a new family member by birth.

Currently the site manager & the guardians who work in the plantation are as follows:

Site manager: Zaini Lutvi

Supervisor 1: Parid

Supervisor 2: Budi

Guardians: Beben / Sidem, Deni / Kudil, Maman, Ajat, Aji, Ater, Bana, Caci, Engkusnadi