Hyginus Hardoyo, Wonogiri – Amid reports of the environmentally costly exploitation of forest resources across the country, good news comes from a handful of villages in Java.

Farmers in Wonogiri and Sukoharjo in Central Java, as well as Gunungkidul in Yogyakarta, have managed to convert arid and seemingly barren land into a flourishing ecosystem.

Thousands of trees – mostly teak and mahogany – are thriving among the limestone cliffs and shallow caves of these hilly areas. The big trees are shoehorned in among rocks. "Each tree's root system is wound through the cracks in the cliff," said Siman, the manager of one of the five community organizations that manages forest resources in the three regencies.

If the ill effects of deforestation are caused by greed and bad agricultural practices, reforestation is carried out with an understanding of the importance of environmental conservation.

Farmers are aware that strategic tree planting can cause rainfall to collect in dry areas, forming springs.

"From 1975-2000 we had to travel one-and-a-half kilometers away from the villages to collect water for our daily needs. But this is no longer the case. There are many springs now that provide us with more than enough water," Siman said, adding that water from the springs is now distributed to 130 households through a modest pipeline network.

The interesting thing is that the community-based forests are mostly managed independently, without any financial assistance from other parties or institutions.

"Local administration officials only became aware of the successful reforestation efforts in their areas after people from both here and abroad came to the villages seeking advice on reforesting arid land," said Gladi Haryanto of the Indonesian Eco-labeling Institute (LEI), one of the non-governmental organizations that are guiding local farmers through the reforestation process.

"The local administrations are now helping farmers by connecting remote villages to the road network and allowing them to use state buildings such as village halls and village head offices as venues for seminars, workshops and other gatherings," Haryanto said. The officials are also assisting visitors by taking them to see the reforested land and the springs.

Many of the farmers are taking courses to improve their knowledge of reforestation systems. Some, with the assistance of the LEI, have attended meetings and workshops in other cities.

The community-based forest management model was adopted in Gunungkidul and Wonogiri in the 1950s, with the intention of improving the living standards of farmers.

Based on an agricultural census in 2003, at least 3.43 million families throughout Indonesia have been involved in the development of community-based forests.

Forestry Ministry data for 2005 showed the total area of community-based forests was about 1.5 million hectares, consisting of projects that were developed independently by farmers and those that had received government funding.

The management of the community-based forests in Wonogiri, Sukoharjo and Gunungkidul is supervised by the LEI, Haryanto said, adding that farmers had developed an intercropping technique, where food crops like corn and cassava were planted among hardwood trees.

The farmers do not think it necessary to plant seedlings at precise intervals because their main aim is to plant as many trees as possible. They have just one rule: Anyone who fells a tree must plant 10 seedlings. The problem is there is not enough space left. "Only the strongest seedlings survive," Siman said. One consequence of this overcrowding is that the quality of the timber tends to be poor: the logs are not straight and have many branches and knots.

Another problem is that the farmers view the trees as their "savings", cutting them down when they need cash in a hurry, such as when their children's school fees are due.

The farmers, as custodians of the forest, have been in a weak bargaining position when dealing with timber companies, said Taryanto Wijaya of Persepsi, another NGO that is advising the farmers. "That's why they get such low prices for the timber," he said.

Amid the advantages and shortcomings of the forestry projects, a discourse on the management of sustainable community-based forests has started to take place. The farmers need a kind of model as well. When one person stands out as having successfully managed forested land other people will voluntarily follow him by planting trees and tending them properly, Haryanto said.