The story of the Heartland Project is about ‘investment’ for the earth and how youths are the driving force behind it. People usually invest by using money to get long-term material benefits. In this case, the Heartland Project youths invested in something in the long-term as well, but on a much greater matter than personal material benefits. They invested in the earth. Instead of using money, youths united for this investment by giving their time, energy, and most importantly, their whole heart - to organize, to take part in this movement, and to share the positive influence.
So, what is the Heartland Project? It’s a collective solidarity tree-planting movement where youths from various places take leadership roles in reforestation. From finding seedlings and choosing the area of planting, to influencing others to join through invitation or simply by sharing actions on social media.
The first Heartland Project was coordinated by Sumarni Laman, 23 years old Dayaknese from Central Kalimantan. 2,535 trees were planted on June 23rd by 1,188 people all over Indonesia (read more on the first Heartland Project here). Sumarni took the lead again in the second heartland project, delegated tasks for Youth Act volunteers and together they managed to hold the Heartland Project Pt 2 on November 20th - 21st 2019.
Here’s what happened…
November 20th - YouthAct received 2,000 seedlings for free from BPDAS-HL Kahayan (government office under Ministry of Environment and Forestry). The seedlings were delivered to Ranu Welum HQ, which is in the capital city area, where Heartland Project participants could easily collect the seedlings and plant individually at their homes. Teachers from a school called Sahabat Alam also came and took hundreds of seedlings for their students to plant in the school area. More tree-planting in school areas also occurred on this day (see participants list at the end of article).
November 21st - This day is the highlight of the Heartland Project Pt 2 as Sumarni and her team coordinated reforestation in an actual ex-burned site (the legacy of 2015 mega fire) at Tumbang Nusa area, in collaboration with Re-Peat Foundation (Rehabilitation of Peatland, part of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry board). Invitation letters were sent to schools and universities days before, resulting in a total of 110 youths joining. Most of them are from Student Associations for Environmental and Adventure Activity, where the participants were already familiar with tree-planting and environmental activities. The youths were divided randomly into teams and everyone was able to make new friends.
Participants learned to plant neatly in order to make the reforestation as effective as possible. On this day they experienced the hardships of tree-planting - it’s not as easy as it seems to be! They needed to walk 30 minutes to the planting site, and measure the markers that would help us choose the best places to plant seedlings. Enduring temperatures of up to 36 degrees with no shade, working tirelessly amongst the stumps of previously burned trees and charred ground, 110 Palangkaraya youths planted a total of 1,500 seedlings.
Before heading back to the city, they gathered at Re-Peat camping ground area to have lunch together, play bonding games, listened to Emmanuela Shinta from Ranu Welum and Purwanto Budi Santosa from Re-Peat sharing motivational speeches about the crucial role youth plays, environmental health and the climate emergency, along with threats we face during our lifetime as adults.
“What you all did today is not an ordinary thing to do. What you did today is a huge investment for our earth and the next generation after us. All of you invested in the future of Kalimantan and the world.” said Emmanuela Shinta 110 youths that participated in the reforestation.
November 22nd - On the last day of the Heartland Project Pt 2, the youth goes online for campaigning this movement on social media. Posts with #THEHEARTLANDPROJECT tag can be found on instagram and facebook, where youths all over Indonesia uploaded pictures and videos of them taking action.
Along with social media updates, reports on the number of seedlings planted by communities inside and outside of Palangkaraya were tracked by the Heartland Project team. A total of 1,683 seedlings were planted.
The Heartland Project Pt 2 succeeded in planting a total of 5,317 trees all over Indonesia with 2,535 youths unite together as the driving force behind it. This investment for the earth didn’t rely on money. Just like the name, it’s more of a heart-to-heart effort.
Everyone needs to be part of the solution, especially young people who have great powers as catalysts for change. Taking care of the earth is a responsibility everyone needs to do, not only a job for environmentalists nor projects government organizations & NGOs. Through the Heartland Project we learn that if we really want to ‘save the earth’... Action is more important than theories.
25 youth organizations and schools that participated in this movement:
Youth Act Kalimantan, SMK 2 Mantangai, SPALA Antang Batarung, SPALA Tingang, Sispala Linggrar Hornbill. MTsN 2 Palangka Raya, PKBM Candra Kirana, Mapala Sylva Raya, Mapala Comodo, FKIP Mapala Figure, IMAPALA Octarian, Mapala from Muhamadiah University, Agriculture Students at Palangka Raya University, Mapala from University of PGRI Palangka Raya, GPI Jalan Suci Church, HMJ Fisheries, Sahabat Alam School, Mulya Asih Farmers Group, SMP 5 Mantangai, SMK 3 Palangkaraya, SMAN 3 Palangkaraya, Barendeng Manulis, Mapala FISIP, Sakolah Adat Arus Kualant, SDIT Alam IKM AL Muhajirin
Places in Indonesia reached by #THEHEARTLANDPROJECT:
Mentawai Islands, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali, Lombok, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Kalimantan
Extra notes:
Re-Peat opens the area for the public to learn more about forest and reforestation and many research projects are completed here. Their reforestation programs prioritize having the public included in the process, so that people can learn and experience how difficult it is to reforest and as a result, become even more eager to protect it.
Thank you to Charissa Shop for donating to transportation cost, 3 buses were rented for the reforestation activity.
Thank you for your hard work, Heartland Project Pt 2 main coordinator team: Sumarni, Pretty, Jeje, Andre, Rio, Rama, Jaki, Iyal.
Written by MARSELA ARNANDA (RANU WELUM MEDIA)
Pictures on this article are courtesy of RANU WELUM MEDIA