Nusa Penida: habitat
Friends of Nature, People and Forests is helping transform 100 hectares of barren and windswept land in south Nusa Penida into a forest. This highly degraded land, near the hamlet of Julingan, was given to us by the government.
Bringing an island forest back to life
We established an initial layer of trees to alleviate soil erosion and provide wind cover and shade for more diverse saplings. With the help of local communities and the government, we then planted 18,700 mixed-species, pioneer saplings across more than 40 hectares. Our team continues to plant as many saplings each year as funding allows.
A crucial part of all our reforestation projects is protecting and maintaining saplings for their first three years. We’ve built water catchments to provide irrigation, then there is regular mulching, and keeping the saplings safe from illegal cattle grazing and grass fires.
After three years, the trees are large and strong enough to grow independently. This multi-year strategy has yielded a high tree survival rate of 71%. This figure was higher, but unfortunately, a grass fire hit the area.
Our team also work with the community to build and maintain firebreaks around the reforestation area. And we run conservation education classes to help people understand the benefits of alternative, safer methods to grass burning.
Trees for an entire island
Alongside the 100-hectares project, we are encouraging people to help replant trees all over the island. One of the ways we do this is by giving away free saplings from our nurseries. So far, we have given away more than 100,000.
By using the saplings for agroforestry, growing fruit and providing tree coverage in their villages, communities become stakeholders committed to their long-term maintenance and growth. Our snapshot monitoring over two years found these saplings had an 80% survival rate.
Every year, we grow tens of thousands of native tree saplings in our nurseries to help restore the island’s habitats and forests.
Thanks to our donors, including the International Christian Church Organization, for making this important work possible.