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Indonesia embraces Landcare
With the help of the Secretariat for International Landcare (SILC), based in Victoria, and the Finnish Government, Indonesia has launched its first official Landcare project to restore a buffer zone between Merapi and Merbabu mountains national parks on Java.
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Steep farmland in the Selo region of Java. Credit: SILC
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The project involves a large number of volunteer farmers and community facilitators and more than 1600 households (7000 villagers) in the region. It seeks to raise awareness about climate change and its impact on more than 27 000 farmers locally in the Selo region, as well as demonstrate how a sustainable agriculture, silviculture and grazing land-use model can enhance the local environment, diversify farm incomes and improve household welfare at the same time.
Almost 90 per cent of the primary vegetation cover in the Merapi-Merbabu corridor has been lost due to agricultural conversion and clearing for firewood, which supplies most of the energy requirements for the local villagers.
