Earth care and repair in Indonesia, Eco Regions meets Steempower!
Hello Steem Community!
My name is Reville Saw and I’m looking forward to publishing on this unique platform, and just as much to read and watch all your great work
I live in Lombok, Indonesia (the island next east of Bali) and its a unique Province of Indonesia. Sometimes i almost get used to being here, but then it hits me just how far off from normal for most people it is, and that makes me happy because i do enjoy the wilder edge of living.
I’m involved with some large scale sustainable ecotourism, environmental repair and community development projects. I am a Director in Eco Solutions Lombok which is part of the Eco Regions group based in Singapore, and I’m the go-to guy when we have to figure out how to take a wrecked piece of land into something of inherent value.
At Eco Regions Indonesia we are developing two sites, one in Lombok at Tanjung ringgit and the other on a cluster of eight Islands off the northwest coast of Sumbawa (the next island east of Lombok).
A Map showing our two Ecoregions, Tanjung Ringgit and the Eight Islands
I'm kept busy running projects and activities to implement things like reforestation, enhancing our neighbouring farmer’s livelihoods though growing higher value tree crops, and engaging with the planning and construction teams for keeping it Green.
(This is my daughter and I :) )
My Vision is to see these Ecoregions not only repaired from their damaged state within their boundaries but also to create a model for change in other areas. A Model that will be appealing because the end result is tangibly more valuable, by all measures, than it previously was.
I don’t see it as enough to settle for conservation of what remains of the wild beauty and prosperity of this planet, we have to get involved at every level in which our behaviours impact our surroundings, and think “Resource creation” through earth repair. When so much of the World’s natural wealth has been degraded or destroyed, I choose to make it my vocation to fix what has been broken, and by using appropriate methods this is a great driver of value creation.
If forests have been destroyed we can help them regenerate, if the habitat is lost we can study what remains and recreate new niches. If the world around us is being reduced in complexity and beauty, we seek out the cause and we find the methods to turn around that decline into regrowth. The living world seeks growth and increasing complexity, so we need to understand it and change our behaviors and values to fall in line with that natural order.
I wager this is the winning growth model for the next century, that elusive union of Green and Growth, but it is not one of exploiting precious remaining resources or extracting from habitats, but in restoration of what is damaged and in creation of new living wealth. The job of resource creation earth systems repair can sustain livelihoods for centuries, and the rarer the beautiful places become, the more the demand there is to create them
“There is one, and only one solution, and we have almost no time to try it. We must turn all our resources to repairing the natural world, and train all our young people to help. They want to; we need to give them this last chance to create forests, soils, clean waters, clean energies, secure communities, stable regions, and to know how to do it from hands-on experience..” Bill Mollison, Founder of Permaculture
A little about my homes:
I have several homes. I’m a bit of an Analog Nomad. Among my homes I count my Bamboo grove and Food forest in Australia, My cozy rental apartment in West Lombok near my main office, my Traditional Sumbawan wooden beach house in West Sumbawa, and I count Sekaroh Forest in Tanjung ringgit
As I shift between locations depending on the order of the day, in addition to my formal work, I maintain many ongoing practical projects of which I’ll share on Steemit. These include Agroforestry gardens, Seed saving and plant collecting, Home scale Aquaponics systems, Beachside and Forest Permaculture, and interesting innovations in alternative technologies.
I do pride myself on keeping ahead with what’s going on in the field, and also I like to go back deep and find those treasures that have been overlooked
I think amongst Permaculture students there’s a good knowledge of what a banana circle is, or a papaya circle. But have you seen Coconut circles? Figs circles or Yoni Ovals? Perhaps or probably not. Coconut circles were proposed back in Bill Mollisons’ Permaculture: a designers’ manual. But I think that’s where they stayed. In my 22 years working with Permaculture I have never come across any working example of it, and I wondered why. So we made one. Actually we made 8. Plus, a fig circle.
There’s still work to do and I’ll keep you updated on all the background, how-to and what happened next
In Sekaroh forest we are trying other things too. I’m sure you know Mangos love a monsoonal tropical climate, but how about Grapes? Pomegranates? Mulberry? Well I can show you the answer.
I have also long wondered why other techniques published decades ago just aren’t in common use. Vetiver contour strips, Alley cropping, Ferro cement. We are doing it all and you’ll be able to see the results.
For the most part ill focus on my two pet project areas, a desolate coastal plain in Sumbawa and severely degraded slashed and burned dry forest area. Both receive virtually no rain for more than 5 months of the year and are quite challenging. I like hard places for pet projects, I learn most that way.
Some of what ill write about will be small and urban, like my apartment, its not all about huge properties and big open spaces! For example i tinker with some different ways of doing Aquaponics in my courtyard area, using whats locally available from any hardware and pet store, and i know quite a bit about growing mushrooms as well.
I’ll also cover select field work I do, as its rather interesting, as well as my own special brand of ethnobotanical travelling and well, anything else that I think you probably haven’t seen and aren't likely to see elsewhere.
Thank you and see you soon!
@reville your welcome to steemit. Just explore the potential. The pictures are lovely. I wish you success.
Welcome to Steemit @reville :)
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Welcome to Steem @reville I have upvoted and sent you a tip
Hi @reville, I was told to come read your intro and heard that you were into mycology. I wanted to encourage you to check out my ongoing series on the subject and welcome you to head over to the whaleshares discord channel or steemstem steemit chat channel if you intend on posting STEM related material, including of course botany and mycology related.
Welcome!
Hi dber
yes! i am into Mycology as well :)
i certainly will be posting about mushroom cultivation methods
im working on a post about an invention of mine that gives you perfect indoor mushrooms
@reville good to see you mate! Awesome intro, I love what you guy's are doing there,
Keep the updates coming! You have so much value you can add here, really looking forward to your post's
P.S: if you ever can't think of a post, take a couple photos of the closest plant and tell us about it xD
Hey @sols thankyou for leading me here.
I have about 26 articles lined up in various stages of completion .. before i finish one ive hot ideas for another.
Lack of good photos and simply proofing and formatting are the time expensive aspects..writing is easy and i have so much to write about!
What a meaningful vocation you have! And I look forward to reading about what coconut circles are... I'm probably totally off-track, but they look like they've been placed there for composting?
Indeed they are @sizzlingmonkeys. As with Banana circles the idea is that we plant them around a pit filled with organic matter so that as it breaks down it feeds the trees. This means we can feed and water all in one place and it builds up as a giant sponge. It also means that we can plant more trees in an area than if we planted in rows, but leave 80% of the area open for other uses. Ill be sure to write up about this and other tips and tricks. Thankyou!
Fascinating! And thanks for replying!
Welcome to Steemit @reville:) Nice post, i will follow your account, please follow me at @khunfarang
Welcome to steemit community !!!
Hello @reville Steemit is an amazing place.
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Good luck with your trip.Take a moment to read the post !!!
Do not forget to also upvoting this comment,
So follow me https://steemit.com/@jakir, we automatically bertemanan, and thank you have many friends in the community steemit ,,,
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