Thanks to a donation from the Otter Foundation, we are working hard in West-Kalimantan to spread the sugar palms. Not only we hope to spread ca. 40000 seedlings, we also train 1000 farmers from 100 Dayak villages.
The farmers learn to tap the sugar palm, and they also learn about the many other uses of the sugarpalm. Furthermore, we are working on defining the property rights of the land of the Dayaks, so that oil palm companies can’t violate so easily their often ancient rights.
Big man in this project is Nico Tatontos who travels day and night to spread the seedlings and the knowledge. He often travels for several days to reach the villages. For instance, the trip to the Ambalau region is a three-day’s journey, where he first takes the plane, then hops on a bus or uses other local transport, and sometimes he slithers and slides on a moped over muddy roads. Sometimes he takes the moped into a boat, and it also happens that he has to walk for the last 28 km!
The beginning of January 2013 Nico started again to visite the villages in West Kalimantan.
On the picture Nico sits on the back of a motorcycle with the seedlings of the sugar palm. Agung, a son of one of the most respected Dayaks from Tembak, accompanies him to Tembak.