“Since I have been 19 years old, I have dedicated myself to work in the forest. My motivation to participate in the program brought by Fairventures stems from enjoying things related to the forest,” explains Herlianto, one of our smallholder farmers from Tumbang Manggu village, in Katingan District.
Herlianto had already started managing his land in 2020. First he started with a rice field and then switched to planting over 1,500 rubber trees on 2.6 hectares of land. After attending a series of our information events in his village in 2021, he decided to additionally join our program in the beginning of 2022. So now he has been able to place Sengon trees between all his rubber trees and enriched his land. All in all he has now three kind of plants there with prospective commodities of dogfruit, rubber and light wood / Sengon. This year an additional hectare will also be added with just trees and cocoa throughout our program.
Herlianto’s passion for farming and the forest also results in him being the village’s farmer coordinator. “As the coordinator, I am once again striving to bring together the visions of the farmers in this village”, he explains proudly. Over 60% of the people in the village are farmers, the rest of them work mostly in the palm oil or private timber sector. This also demonstrates the possible outreach a person like Herlianto can have and how he can positively impact the community and therefore the environment. Being a native from Tumbang Manggu and having served as the village head for more than six years, he understands the local people’s needs best and also how to address them.
Beyond the promise of a sustainable future for the environment, he envisions a brighter path for his village and himself. “Trees can be a commodity that gives all of us hope for the future. Besides our contribution to the environment, we will also be economically supported.”