While Forest Harmony with the People Surrounding. Program: Garden to Forest (Conservation) Interviewed and narrated by: Evita Izza Dwiyanti. 4th February 2021

Samuri, a 58-year old man, lives with his family in Mentubang, Harapan Mulia sub-village, Sukadana district, North Kayong, West Kalimantan. He was first involved in ASRI's reforestation program, particularly the Garden to Forest program, in 2018. Previously, he planted various seasonal crops such as vegetables, watermelon, banana, cucumber, and a small number of local , such as Durio zibethinus, pauciflorum (jengkol), and Artocarpus integer, with very conservative Figure 1 Samuri inside his own nursery, holding seedlings techniques. With the national government that will soon be planted redistricting the borders of Gunung Palung National Park boundary, his garden is now within the boundaries. According to the law, people are not allowed to agricultural crops within the site. Recently ASRI collaborated with the National Park Agency to create a solution between farmers (including Samuri) and the government which will allow farmers to continue their garden but with only fruit and hardwood trees. Over time, ASRI convinced farmers to join the Garden to Forest program, providing them with various seedlings to initiate the process. ASRI gave training and assistance to make sure the seedlings were cultivated and planted properly. While waiting for the trees to grow and form a canopy, farmers can still use the understory for agriculture. Later, when the canopy is formed, they will have to transition away from ground agriculture. Farmers will still be able to harvest the valuable fruit from trees forming the canopy. Ultimately, this process will allow farmers to continue to sustain a livelihood alongside reforestation. Samuri was among the first to join ASRI. Initially, ASRI only supported Samuri o convert 1 hectare of his garden into a forest. The trees planted were Archidendron pauciflorum, Durio zibethinus, Artocarpus integer, Garcinia mangostana, , and Nephelium lappaceum, as well as hardwood tree species such as Eugenia spp., Duabanga moluccana, and Artocarpus odoratissimus, among others. According to Samuri, after joining ASRI, his garden became more profitable. For example, previously, he could not harvest jengkol in his garden, but after ASRI provided training, he was able to harvest up to two times a year with 3-4 tonnes realized each harvest. Seeing this, Samuri realized that forests are not the problem, that forests can be a source of life for the community, if people participate with the ecosystem wisely. Samuri built a nursery in his backyard on his own accord and began to steward seedlings that will be planted in his garden shortly. Not infrequently, he helps ASRI and other farmers by providing seedlings to be planted in their own gardens. He currently has thousands of seedlings he tends to and are ready to for planting. Samuri is the only person in his village to have such a nursery. He proudly explained that on his own, he had succeeded in converting 3 hectares of his garden into forest. Hence, the total forest under his care is 4 hectares. Samuri said “I want to be a good example for my community and I will continue to encourage people to keep planting trees, because human cannot live without forest.” Figure 2 Samuri between his trees planted with ASRI on 2018