Ekasari is a rural village
nestled beside Bali Barat- the only National Park in Bali. I was
invited there recently to facilitate a sustainable community development
program. Nyoman, a young man of about 30, was the organizer from
this village. His interest in sustainable development started when
he realized the forests, of which his village felt a strong connection,
were being illegally logged. The social, economic and environmental
impacts were being felt throughout the area. When he spoke to the
members of his village about this problem, he discovered other issues
connected with unsustainable development.
What remained of their traditional patterns of life were being
increasingly threatened by the ever-expanding frontiers of globalization.
The villagers realized something had to change. They agreed that
an outside facilitator would be useful in guiding the initial process
and could bring information about the global movement towards sustainability,
information not received from the mainstream media.
Nyoman took me to Ekasari before the program began to meet with
the community and gain a better understanding of the issues. On
our way up the mountain we stopped to take a rest from the winding
road. I was amazed as I looked across the hills to see that the
whole landscape was still forested. I then realized that the forests
in this area were not natural, but created. Food forests with perhaps
a thousand species of food. It was so incredibly integrated and
established that it looked like a natural eco-system.
When we reached Ekasari, we walked around the village. Along every
street there was an absolute abundance of food. This is the place
where Ekasari grew up so he knew the landscape intimately. As we
walked, he pointed to at least 20 different varieties of mango,
a dozen types of bananas, jackfruit, rambutan, the prized mangosteen
and durian, red papaya, crunchy jambu (like rose flavored apples),
coconuts, and salak (snake skin fruit). Under the fruit trees were
gingers, cassava, taro, coffee, cacao, and a huge array of greens.
Even the paddies were filled with diversity. Ducks waded and weeded,
and living amongst the rice stalks were and frogs, eels and fish.
Along the edges of the terraces were beans, corn, flowers, chili
and citrus. Growing on the near-vertical terrace walls were wild
leafy greens, which to the untrained eye could be taken as weeds.
I was shown which were edible and those with medicinal qualities.
The valleys below were filled with food forests - permanent crops
that maintained the riverbanks and helped to cleanse the water.
Every piece of the landscape was cultivated, yet not the landscape
we imagine when we hear the word "cultivation".
We stopped in the cool shade of one of the valleys to escape the
midday heat. "This is where my whole village used to play,
wash and bathe, until the dam was built upstream to divert water
to the town over the other side of the mountain" he said. "It's
just a trickle now, but there used to be a swimming hole here that
could fit 40 people". Along the banks the food forest was still
intact. He climbed up a coconut tree and threw down a couple of
young green ones, sliced off their tops and we sipped the cool refreshing
drink. We made a feast from the ripe cacao fruit - a favorite with
the children (chocolate is made from the dried and ground seeds
of this delicious fruit).
We took a shortcut back through his neighbors' compounds. Each
family owns about half an acre in the village, where the houses
are clustered, and a number of fields throughout the surrounding
landscape. The family compounds were all filled with food - fruit
trees, chickens, pigs (to process scraps), wild greens, spices and
flowers. Flowers are a vital part of the garden and farm for the
daily offerings in the temples.
It is in places like this that I always learn so much. My notions
about food forest diversity were extended this day - particularly
with regards to other ways of using plants and foods I was already
familiar with. I used to chop off growing tips of pumpkins when
they invaded a path or garden - but these are a prized food known
in Asia as "dragon whiskers".
I now also have a completely new perception of bananas thanks to
the Balinese. This oversized herb is incredibly multi-functional.
Apart from the nutritious fruit, we can also eat the flower petals,
the young stalks, and even the banana peel. (I've tried this mixed
with vegetables and made into balls - a meal in itself). The roots
and base are a feast for pigs, and the old leaves can be stripped
back to the fibrous stem and twisted to make a strong rope or material
for weaving very comfortable seats. By utilizing all the different
parts of plants we can save space, resources and time, and begin
to significantly reduce the amount of land we require to meet our
needs, thereby minimizing our ecological footprint.
"Welcome to our poor village" was the greeting I received
from the village head when I arrived at the banjar (community hall),
yet around me, all I had seen was food was dripping off trees, people
in well-made natural houses, well nourished, well dressed it seemed
like paradise. I soon realized as they began to outline their problems,
that the issue was not of poverty, lack of resources, lack of skills,
etc., but a perception of poverty and lack. This sense of lack has
only become apparent recently through the comparison of their lives
of people they see in the "west" through television and
tourism.
As a permaculture consultant, my role in Ekasari was not to teach
permaculture techniques (they already had that knowledge, and after
all, permaculture draws much of its inspiration from the traditional
practices of places like this). Rather, my role was to bring information,
facilitate the process of linking the people, resources and skills.
In a ten day vision workshop with a broad cross section of community
representatives we explored possibilities. Together the group formulated
many strategies for working cooperatively.
In the short space of a month after the workshop, villagers initiated
many projects; a community seed bank and nursery, a school food
garden and cafe, forest and greenbelt revegetation, the formation
of a small enterprise development group, a women's group, a youth
group, and eco-tourism cooperative. Some farmers began sowing traditional
rice varieties, and others are converting some rice paddies back
into food forests - fully integrated with animals. Through this
process they have involved many hundreds of people, including school
children, and continue to engage more sectors of the community.
The community leaders in Ekasari see the potential role their village
can play in providing inspiration to other villages throughout Bali,
Indonesia and other parts of Asia. The issues they face are very
similar. They hope not only to reclaim their own quality and way
of life but to help other regions do so too.
Morag Gamble was invited to Ekasari to facilitate
the visioning process and launch of the sustainable community development
project.
Nyoman is the youth leader in Ekasari and son
of the former village head. He is responsible for the initiation
and ongoing management of the sustainable community development
program.
Morag Gamble lives at Crystal Waters Permaculture
Village in Queensland, Australia. She is an international permaculture
design teacher & consultant. She encourages you to help seed
the villagers projects, a little goes a long way. She may be contacted
by email for more information at morag@permaculture.au.com.
