Project" Sawah Bali" soon to be "Yayasan Konservasi Sawah Bali" Update #1 June 2013

Dear Friends,

The Project has been gaining traction since I left Bali two months ago.  With anticipation I shall be returning to Ubud on August 8 to continue the momentum.

* The Project has been invited to join the Governing Assembly of Bali's Cultural Heritage.  This Assembly oversees and implements protection + monitoring policies for the Unesco  World Heritage Sites in Bali. The designated sites are subak and there exists a mutual interdependency between sawah + subak. The Project will be working closely with these gifted and committed academics and policy experts.

* This summer the General Assembly will be conducting a comparative study of the  Vermont Land Trust's work in the USA over the past 25 years. This will be a SWOT study and will gauge feasibility of the conservation tools used in the USA to protect farmland.  It will also give the Assembly the data of how Vermont restructured its agricultural base with niche  food products to benefit  the farmers economically. The USA partners are very excited to share their economic data/programmatic narrative/organizational format and their input will be invaluable.  The VLT and VHCB (Vermont Housing + Conservation Board) represent the top professionals in the conservation field and they conduct their work with a lot of heart.

* Since there is no legal entity recognized as a "trust" in Indonesian law, it has been

decided that a "yayasan" (foundation) will suffice for incorporation.  The mission of preservation + conservation will still be applicable as the Project will hold no "real property". Further legal  investigation with regards to Indonesian property law needs to be explored and clarified.

*Valuable partnerships have been made and I return to Bali to strengthen those and

continue to make strategic new ones. With  the incumbent Governor re-elected the timing appears to be Now .

This is just a beginning and thus far it has been fortuitous. The story has a prelude and needs a large cast of characters. This will be a wholly managed and controlled  Balinese yayasan.  First on my agenda as I return will be to gather a dynamic team of people with skills commensurate with the Project's start up. Enthusiastic individuals who can offer skills in project management, accounting, communications + PR + web design, community organizing and capacity building, grant writing,etc will be  welcomed. And those who have life skills......please share and join.

It is my hope that permanent salaried positions will be offered to those who excel in their work.  This is a start up and the path will likely be as one walks a rice paddy;

slow and steady and circuitous.

I will be in touch with each of you,  for each of you possess  a particular pearl of wisdom with your information and network .

I value your feedback and suggestions + feel free to SHARE this Update!

Salam Hangat,

Phiphi (Phyllis Kaplan)

Logo design by  Indonesian designer Kurniawana  









travelin' woman

Sawah Bali-pushing dreams toward reality

    Bali Sawah Conservation Foundation

                                                     (working title)

       Yayasan Konservasi Sawah Bali

Sawah (rice paddy) in Jatiluwih, Bali, a designated Unesco World Heritage site 2012

Overview

To ensure the future of Bali’s natural and historical heritage by protecting  the  endangered sawah .  Balinese farmers are subjected to economic pressures  to sell their livelihood and spiritual locus for development due to the gross  income inequality between agriculture and the tourist industry as well as debt incurred.  The destruction of the sawah will annihilate food security as well as the tourist based industry Bali has become dependent upon to raise its developing nation standard of living.

Project Description

To create a wholly controlled, managed and owned Balinese foundation (yayasan)  that will conserve, monitor and provide stewardship for the sawah by replicating the US model of a Land Trust. The Project will have partnership with Bali/Indonesian +US NGO’s, educational institutions government affiliations and social entrepreneurships. In April, the Unesco representative and governing body in Bali, (Governing Assembly for Bali’s Cultural Heritage) for the World Heritage Sites invited the Project to be part of this  Assembly.

Mission

• Community Commitment: The Project will conduct community outreach /assessment forums to discuss with Balinese farmers on how They envision their future by looking at “How a Sense of Place” affects their ability to sustain an agricultural community, based on food security, adequate  clean water and the dependent  role  that tourism  plays in either sustaining or destroying their way of life .
• Economic Parity: Current land use legislation does not recognize this underlying reality of income disparity, rendering it ineffective.  Project will educate and inform  the farmers about the successes of agricultural land trusts, their missions and the land use  tools that are used to achieve the mission of  protecting agricultural land in perpetuity. Restoring heritage rice and value-added  product development will increase farmers’ income.              

Vision     

• Restore best land use practices for Health of farmer, ecosystem and natural   resources: Bali instituted  a program 3 years ago to provide compost to farmers to go back to organic methods. The Project will encourage and provide ongoing technical assistance/education to farmers to transition from conventional chemical/fertilizer agriculture and return to organic farming. In addition, farmers will be encouraged to plant  their heritage rices (black, red + traditional white which are nutritionally superior than the modern hybrids introduced in the 1970’s for yield.)
• “Gotong Royong”- Working together is a time honored tradition in Balinese society. Utilize the strength of the subak  (1000+ year old engineered irrigation cooperatives) recognized by Unesco as a unique + democratically  managed ,  operational water supply source. Sawah and Subak are  integrally intertwined systems. In addition to this organization, Balinese society is efficiently run by banjars  (village management). These  traditional structures expedite matters transparently and issues inclusively.  They will negotiate offers as a cooperative, providing a process of efficiency and sawah contiguousness which supports the success of organic farming and resource management.
• Sustainable Balance of Tourism and Agriculture:  Recognizing the reciprocity and dependency of quality based tourism and sawah and initiating a plan to implement .  Tourists will no longer flock to Bali if the unique aesthetic  and sacred practice of the sawah has been destroyed.  At present it has  also been shown that  demand exists  for high quality food products such as organic heritage rices/produce, and the tourist and expat communities will support premium prices . The Project will devise  a chain of supply for the farmer of organic products to market or for value added products by partnering with social entrepreneurships currently existing.

Why Now?

• TIMING - POLITICAL FORCES  FINALLY ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THE PROBLEMS AND THE POLITICAL WILL SEEMS TO BE THERE.
• MOMENTUM AND RECOGNITION FROM UNESCO DESIGNATION
• THE CONCEPT AND REPLICATION OF  U.S. LAND TRUST IS BEING INTRODUCED AND GARNERING SUPPORT.

ROLES

Start-up of Yayasan : Technical assistance from staff of both the Vermont Nature Conservancy and The Vermont Land Trust.  The scope is Bali, an island the size of Delaware with a population of  4 million. Vermont and Bali are similar in small landmass+scale, easy access  to governance + institutions and Bali + Vermont share a unique cultural cachet that is recognizable worldwide. Facing a similar problem that agrarian Vermont has been actively solving for 25 years ,Bali could succeed in restructuring its agricultural base by niche product development and marketing, just as Vermont has managed to do out of economic necessity and environmental degradation.

Technical Assistance in the form of:

1. job descriptions
2. job training for  Balinese staff  in Bali (commensurate positions)
3. advice, troubleshooting+problem solving  from the skilled and experienced ngos
4. work with legal team to amend/modify/write land use legislation (if needed)

Prepared by

Phyllis Kaplan (phiphikaplan.sawahbali@gmail.com)  802-375-1197 residence: Sandgate, Vermont and Ubud, Bali

travelin' woman