Indonesia has launched its first official Landcare Project with the help of Australian Landcare workers and funding from the Government of Finland.
The Embassy of Finland in Jakarta funding was granted to Indonesia’s Institute for Forest and the Environment (INFRONT) to establish a landcare group close to the Indonesia’s active volcano Mount Merapi.
"We have been working for the past 10 years with countries around the world and now to get Landcare established in Indonesia," says Sue Marriott from the Secretariat for International Landcare. "It shows what can be achieved by farmers and communities working together across international boundaries."
The three-year Mt Merapi Landcare project aims to restore and enhance the productive and protective functions of the buffer zone between Merapi and Merbabu mountains National Parks. The project area covers 7,000 villagers and involves a large number of volunteer farmer and community facilitators and more than 1,600 households in the region.
The project also seeks to raise awareness about climate change and its impact on more than 27,000 farmers locally in the Selo sub-district as well as demonstrate how a sustainable agriculture, silviculture and grazing land-use model can enhance the local environment, diversify farm incomes and improve household welfare at the same time.
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