The context is that Jambi is a province that was colonised by the Javanese in the ‘70s for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a palm oil industry. Achmadi and his father-in-law, like millions of other Jambi farmers, rely totally on palm oil for their livelihood and know no other way of making a living. And they have always used fire as their prime method of land-clearing to plant palm oil.
Patrick tells us this in Jakarta. He is working with a local environment group called WALHI, who are committed to stopping land-clearing and the fires. Their campaign plan is to call on the Governor of Jambi to institute a moratorium on all logging in the province. Patrick plans to visit the Governor in the near future in order to discuss forest management and measures to control the fires.
In the town of Jambi, we meet Hari, the son of a palm oil farmer. He works part-time in town for a community organization. It is the day of a local fund-raising event, involving rap music, and there he sees a flyer posted by the environment group, WALHI outlining the effects of fire as a method of land-clearing and why they have to stop.
Hari is curious. His family, like millions of Javanese farmers, is totally dependent on palm oil and have always used fire as their main method of land clearing. He knows his brother-in-law, Achmadi, is preparing for a major burn-off on his land very soon, and so he visits WALHI and gets some printed information on fire prevention and their rationale for stopping deforestation and fires.
Hari travels home to his village – Sungai Bahar- for a harvest of palm oil. He joins his father, Kundori, and brother-in-law, Achmadi in cutting the palm fruit on their small plantation. It’s a community event and other men from the village are helping out. At the end of the day, they have a large pile of fruit which is loaded onto a truck. Hari travels with the truck to the palm oil factory where he helps unload and gets payment based on the weight of the load.
The next morning, Achmadi arrives at Kundori’s house on his motorbike with his wife and daughter. They live a few blocks up the street, but travelling in the village by bike rather than walking is a status issue. At breakfast, Hari brings out the WALHI papers.
A huge row ensues. Achmadi and Kundori think the WALHI proposals are outrageous, unfair to them and unworkable. They have always used fire and believe they do so responsibly. They use a wizard to protect the outer zone of the areas they burn and believe this magic stops the fires from spreading and causing too much smog. They cannot accept that their fires are causing climate change or affecting Singapore and Malaysia.
Back at his house, Achmadi and his wife are getting ready for a wedding in their street. As they get dressed, Achmadi tells his daughter, Daya, 5, that it is because of palm oil that he is able to feed her and send her to school. He says that is why he must to clear and burn his new land to plant more palm oil
A truck loaded up with palm oil passes by the wedding house as Achmadi and his family arrive by motorbike. It is a very elaborate, traditional Javanese wedding, with colourful clothing, music, dancing and plenty of food. Achmadi is well regarded his community, and it is clear that the feast and gifts of money to the wedding couple are all paid for by region’s palm oil industry.
The WALHI director, Feri rings Patrick in Jakarta and tells him about the visit from an angry farmer, Achmadi, and why he still insists on burning. Patrick says he will raise the issue of small-time farmers with the Governor when he meets him.
Arief, from WALHI takes us deep into the forest where we meet the Orang Rimba people ourselves and hear how the logging and burning for palm oil is depriving them of their home and traditional lifestyle. They are endangered and want to the government to give them a protected area.
Patrick arrives in Jambi. He is met by the Governor’s advisors and taken via the VIP welcome room. Clearly the Governor regards this meeting as important. At his hotel, Patrick meets briefly with Feri from Walhi to talk about the questions Patrick will ask the Governor. In particular, they talk about the challenge of convincing local small farmers to stop logging and burning, and the need for alternatives.
Patrick goes to the Governor’s palace for his meeting with Governor Zul. The Governor is clearly passionate about stopping the fires and agrees that no peatlands should be logged or burnt at all. Patrick is surprised and pleased with this outcome. When Patrick raises the issue of the small time farmers, the Governor says he would like to meet Achmadi.
In the meantime, Achmadi continues planning for the fire he intends to light sometime in the near future. This involves organising many people, including a magic man, a spiritual leader, about 15 men to help with the fire, other support people including cooks, food and fire lighting equipment. Leonard begins following Achmadi as he makes these preparations. Achmadi is also cutting down the last remaining trees on his property.
Cathy Henkel: Friday 27th July
