Community radio in action in Indonesia - environment
David Leeming
All,
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106824
This is an excellent example of how participatory local radio can really work well...
David
Community
Radio Helps Revive Forests
By Kanis Dursin*
JAKARTA, Feb 21, 2012 (IPS) - Irman Meilandi
unhesitatingly attributes the return of birds, wildlife and the forests around
his hilly village of Mandalamekar in West Java province to conservation advice
streaming in over community radio.
"Thanks to Radio Ruyuk (meaning scrubland), the people
of Mandalamekar have adopted a campaign to replant deforested areas and
conserve forests around the village," says Meilandi, referring to the yet
to be licensed community radio station that specialises on environmental
issues.
Broadcasting on FM 107.8 megahertz, Radio
Ruyuk goes on air at 6 p.m. and signs off at 11 p.m. Its programmes discuss
organic farming, herbal plants and medicines and village infrastructure, all in
the local Sundanese dialect.
"Radio Ruyuk was designed to encourage local people to
pay attention to the condition of the village’s forests and
wildlife," says Meilandi, co-founder of the Mitra Alam Munggaran
(Nature’s First Partner) or MAM, a social movement concerned with
shrinking water supply in Mandalamekar, a seven-hour drive from Jakarta.
Established in 2002 by a dozen local residents, the MAM
movement started out by organising public discussions, distributing leaflets
and putting up posters, urging people to protect the forests around the
village.
While MAM was able to get local officials to ban the
harvesting of rattan, hunting, and cutting down trees in protected forests,
cooperation from local people was initially missing. Many were involved in tree
felling and cultivation on lands designated as water-catchment areas.
Radio Ruyuk has been organising, on Sunday evenings, a live
talk show from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on various environmental issues confronting the
718-hectare village. The hosts and participants are mostly farmers and small
traders, working voluntarily.
The issues discussed include tree-planting activities, with
MAM activists occasionally joining in to explain local policies or provide
updates on the status of Indonesia’s forests.
Indonesia, one of the world’s most densely forested
countries along with Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congro, saw
extensive deforestation through the last century. Its estimated forest cover of
170 million hectares in 1900 was halved by the beginning of this century.
"The MAM programme aims to raise local people’s
awareness and stimulate a sense of responsibility toward the environment,"
says village chief Yana Noviadi. "We wanted more people to be aware of the
dangers of deforestation and to participate in replanting."
Radio Ruyuk, which hit the airwaves for the first time in
October 2008, is run by the Mandalamekar Community Broadcasting Council, which
manages the radio station with Meilandi serving as its secretary.
"In the beginning, Radio Ruyuk focused on environmental
issues, the link between the shrinking of river waters and deforestation in the
area and also local forest-related policies," says Noviadi.
In 2008, a year after he was elected village chief, Noviadi
declared forest conservation as one of his official programmes, further
boosting people’s participation in tree-planting activities.
By 2011, Mandalamekar had replanted a total of 118 hectares
of deforested area, including some 40 hectares located around water sources,
and before long the volume of water flowing into the village’s rivers had
increased.
"Paddy fields that once lay fallow are now irrigated
and farmers grow paddy all year round," says Meilandi, adding that
Mandalamekar has 34 hectares of irrigated paddy fields.
"More importantly, stories of local residents picketing
water irrigation structures or quarrelling over water resources are unheard off
now," Meilandi says.
Noviadi concurs with Meilandi, saying that he had heard
stories of farmers setting up traps to discourage people trying to divert
water. "While these are now told in a joking manner, they were
disturbing," Noviadi says.
Since 2008, local officials have made it a policy to ask
every visitor to the village to plant trees in designated areas. "We want
their support for our programme. The idea is to instill environment awareness
among visitors so they can do the same in their villages," Noviadi says.
By law, community radio is limited to a radius of
two-and-a-half km, but Radio Ruyuk is received in six districts with a combined
population of more than 10,000 people.
"A neighbouring district head once phoned in with a
request for a talk on steps that can be taken at the grassroots level to
conserve forests. When we asked where he was calling from, he replied that he
was at a gathering of village heads in his district who were waiting to hear us
over the radio," Noviadi said.
Mandalamekar’s conservation efforts have not gone unnoticed.
For two consecutive years, in 2009 and 2010, it won the prize for the best
self-financed village forest management programme at the regional level. It was
also runner-up at the provincial level in 2010.
"To the best of our knowledge, the regional government
never made any assessment of our forest management, but I guess they listen to
Radio Ruyuk," Meilandi says.
Meilandi himself claimed the 2011 Seacology Prize for his
efforts to preserve the environment and culture of Mandalamekar. "They
told me that I was chosen from among candidates in 46 countries," Meilandi
says.
Seacology, a non-profit with headquarters in Berkeley,
California, focuses on preserving island ecosystems and cultures around the
world.
"Winning awards has never been our goal," Meilandi
said. "We take pride in the fact that we were able to replant deforested
areas with our own resources, without external help," he says.
*This story was produced with the support of UNESCO