The sweet rewards of harvesting kelulut honey in the heart of Borneo

[ad_1]

JAKARTA (ANTARA) – Suwandi Frans Sutoyo, 30, gently opened the lid of the kelulut hive, which is usually made of a wooden cutout, to check the stingless bee colonies and make sure that ants and house lizards do not disturb them.

He hunches over slightly, peeling back the layers of plastic film on top of the hive, carefully inspecting every corner of the Trigona itama hive to make sure the honey is perfectly formed.

“Kelulut bees do not sting, so do not hesitate to get close. Its honey tastes sweet with a slightly sour taste,” said Sutoyo, chairman of the Kelulut Honey Planting Social Forestry Business Group (KUPS), in Tuwung village, Pulang Pisau district, Central Kalimantan in mid-January 2024.

Tuong Village is located 40 kilometers away from Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan Province, and about an hour’s drive from the capital.

In 2015 and 2016, Tuwung village was hit by wildfires, with thick smoke and visibility of only two to three meters.

Now, the village supports the protection of the region’s peatland hydrology. Wildfires no longer ravage the region’s forests and peatlands. Rambutan trees now thrive and bear ripe red fruits.

Kelulut Honey KUPS is benefiting from the well-preserved peat forest in Tuwung Village. Villagers independently manage the sustainable forest and produce dozens of litres of pure honey every month.

Social Forestry
December 26, 2019 was a special day for the villagers of Tuwung. On that day, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) issued a decree allowing locals to manage the village’s 1,297-hectare forest through the Village Forest Management Unit (LHPD).

Nearly 50% of the village’s forests are located above the management area that burned in the 2015-2016 wildfires.

The forest management plan is implemented by LHPD through the National Economic Recovery (PEN) Program 2020 for agroforestry activities. Tuwung Village LHPD has three business units: Kelulut Honey KUPS, Fisheries KUPS, and Agriculture KUPS.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry fully supports the village government by providing land for social forestry work and planting trees and fruit tree seeds in the village forest.

The forest has regained its greenness thanks to the planting of various trees and fruits, and has developed a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with the kelulut bees.

Kluru bees obtain their food from almost all flowering plants and as a non-timber resource of the forest, have the potential for economic growth, especially for villagers.

Kelulut Honey Plantation KUPS was established under Tuwung Village Chief Order No. 25 of 2023. The business group consists of 20 people and manages 100 beehives.

The group’s initial financing came from the central government’s grant to PEN’s Food and Agriculture and Forestry Division, which in 2020 amounted to IDR 200 million (about US$12,811).

Meanwhile, IDR 35 million (USD 2,241) of financing comes from the 2022 village budget (APBDesa), and IDR 17.79 million (USD 1,139) of financing comes from the 2023 village budget.

To support the planting, the region’s forestry department also provides help in the form of productive economic assistance such as beehives and water separators.

Tuwung village produces about 15 liters of kelulut honey per month. Each 100 milliliters of honey is sold for 25,000 rupiah (about 1.6 U.S. dollars), with a monthly transaction value of 3.75 million rupiah (about 240 U.S. dollars) and an annual transaction value of 45 million rupiah (about 2,882 U.S. dollars).

Social forestry through the Kelulut honey planting program has increased the economic value of local villagers, while Kelulut honey products, which are believed to enhance body immunity, have become a popular souvenir in Central Kalimantan.

Global recognition
Randy Moore, chief of the Forest Service, looked delighted when Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar handed him a purun straw to sip Kalulut honey.

Moore noticed the delicate taste of sweet and sour honey. He licked the end of the purun straw that touched the hive to make sure no honey remained.

“I am filled with hope, awe and respect for what I have seen. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here and witness what you have achieved,” he said during a visit to Tuwung village.

The air is thick with the sour smell of peatlands. A gentle breeze rustles the leaves that shade this community forest in the heart of Borneo.

The success story of Tuong Village, which was destroyed by fire and turned into a productive village, gave the U.S. delegation a new appreciation for the forests managed and protected by local people.

The Indonesian government has been looking to the United States for regulations and values on forest management and handling wildfires, as the United States owns large tracts of forests and national parks.

“We learned from the American forestry system, where no one is allowed to enter the forest. Mosquitoes are not allowed to die and branches are not allowed to break,” Minister Bakar said.

However, the Indonesian government has adjusted forestry management to strengthen social forestry access. People have access to forests and facilities, knowledge, institutions and financial assistance to achieve economic prosperity.

[ad_2]

Source link