We Are Protectors of Nature
Dear colleagues, friends and families.
“We are tea farmers. We are also protectors of nature. Tea plants are very suitable for cultivation on mountain slopes like here. With climate change causing high rainfall and strong winds, the tea plant is a supporter of soil strength.” Mr. Suko delivered his speech in a low-pitched voice as if Mr. Suko was moved, his sentences came out like music in the mountains. “We must be responsible for ensuring the reduction of disasters due to changes in the earth’s climate. Of course, the tea produced meets export quality, but the most important thing is that the tea plants protect us from landslides.”
The seminar on tea plantations is the result of collaboration between the Griya Jati Rasa Co-op (Co-op), the Griya Jati Rasa Foundation, and the Business Faculty of Duta Wacana Christian University (DWCU). It was held on October 28, 2024, to celebrate the 96th Youth Pledge Day. Youth Pledge Day is a celebration of the pledge made by Indonesian youth on October 28, 1928, to unite all youth under one homeland, one nation and one language. This historic declaration was made when Indonesia was still colonized by the Dutch and laid the foundation for Indonesia’s independence movement.
They gathered in Jakarta to strengthen our shared vision of one Indonesia, namely one homeland, one blood and one language.
As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Youth Pledge, Indonesian youth are faced with a different reality than they were nearly 100 years ago, namely, how to build a grassroots economy that cares for nature.
Co-op members in the Menoreh mountains attended the meeting at the tea production house in the middle of Pak Suko’s tea plantation. The speakers for the meeting came from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Yogyakarta Special Region Tourism Office, and lecturers from the Business Faculty of Duta Wacana Christian University. The purpose of the meeting is to encourage cooperative members to produce products that are ready for export.
As a member of the Indonesian Fair-Trade Forum, the Co-op must ensure that its members’ products are produced using low-carbon methods. Products, whose production leads to a high level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, can contribute to global warming. On October 15, DWCU held a partnership meeting with its partners. The Co-op and the Griya Jati Rasa Foundation were invited. During that meeting, I raised the issue of collaboration between the DWCU and the community to build a low-carbon economy. The president of DWCU welcomed my response and invited us to further discuss the purpose of the carbon market. In early December, Co-op members and partners participated in another seminar at DWCU, organized by the foundation of Griya Jati Rasa, the Co-op and DWCU. At this seminar, we discussed research that invites a community to champion low carbon emissions in agriculture. These low carbon emissions would enable the community to become involved in the carbon market. The research, carried out by our colleague from DWCU’s IT department, shows that the community could lower its carbon emissions since high carbon emissions, according to the research, are the result of current agricultural practices. Two more seminars are scheduled for the new year. These seminars will be conducted directly in the villages in different regions of Yogyakarta and are part of our low-carbon market movement in Yogyakarta.
On November 13, we met with DWCU’s president and the dean of the Faculty of Business to discuss low-carbon economic development. I presented a paper at the meeting outlining my proposal for a DWCU and community collaboration to discuss how to initiate a low-carbon economy. I then prepared a written invitation to all DWCU faculties to send representatives interested in being involved in research and conducting community empowerment programs related to low-carbon economic development. The Co-op, which has members spread throughout the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DI Yogyakarta) has the potential to be directly involved in this program because the products are packaged in environmentally friendly packaging. Apart from that, Co-op members are actively involved in maintaining trees, which are also a source of CO2 conservation to reduce carbon levels in the air. Forests, land, water and oceans are natural places for conserving excess CO2 so that it does not get trapped in the atmosphere.
Ustad Beny Susanto, the Co-op chair, also invited the president to attend the seminar on December 9 held on DWCU’s campus. Activities with the themes of Semar Jati Rasa Mobile, Online Sales, and Environmentally Conscious Youth Entrepreneurship were marked by the launch of a map depicting natural tourism and production in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DI Yogyakarta). I created the map and obtained the intellectual rights to the map from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in Jakarta.
This symbolic geographical map takes on an appearance that is identical to the geographical map of the world of Yogyakarta, but the overall appearance of the map resembles the body of the mystical Javanese puppet character, Semar. In Javanese philosophy, the character Semar is a representation of a divine figure who is incarnated as a human and has both an ugly and a cute appearance just as humans have both ugly and appealing characteristics. I imagined Semar as a symbol of Yogyakarta. Mount Merapi, a significant landmark that towers above Yogyakarta in the north is represented as Semar’s hair. The Borobudur temple is located and the Prambanan temple is located at Semar’s back. A straight line stretches from Merapi to the South Coast, which is an imaginary line from Yogyakarta’s philosophical axis and represents that the power of the mountains to the north of Yogyakarta and the sea to the south of Yogyakarta is mediated by Yogyakarta’s palace in the middle of the map. The “Semar for Yogyakarta” geographical map of Yogyakarta is emblazoned on t-shirts and bags that can be purchased at Yogyakarta International Airport.
In October we celebrated the Adeney family reunion at Edge Resort in Yogyakarta. Every family member was given “Semar for Yogyakarta” t-shirts to wear. The 20 cottages at the resort housed the Adeney family during the reunion. Edge Resort, Yogyakarta, is a labor of love. Built by Bernie with the help of 25 villages, Edge Resort was the perfect place to hold the reunion since it incorporates Bernie’s vision of sharing beauty, adventure and healing with advocacy for environmental protection and nature conservation. During the reunion, the Adeney Family enjoyed fellowship with Co-op members. They made mini leather puppets and their own homemade “batik.” One of the many highlights of our time together was a performance by Peter and Leonie at the International Puppet Festival held in Yogyakarta. Peter and Leonie arrived a week earlier than the rest of the family to participate in the festival and were able to stay with us at the compound during the festival. The family participated in the International Puppet Festival almost every day. In addition, our grandson, Robbie arrived two months earlier to stay with us. He and Bernie went to Ambon, Banda, and Tual for Robbie’s to get his international driving certificate and to expand his future marine biology studies.
We must all ask, “Are we ready to change our lifestyles and carry on low-carbon practices to reduce the disaster of climate change?” The earth is the fruit of God’s art. We all have to take care of the earth. Any trip we undertake must consider the environment so that the earth remains healthy for all who come and live with it. Let us live in harmony with God’s created world.
Farsijana