The introduction of strict community forest rules is helping to make use of abandoned land in West Sumatra, Indonesia and encouraging young people to stay on the land.

An article on Mongabay.com looks at the situation in the village of Indudur where young people were increasingly leaving the village in search of less arduous employment than farming the steep slopes.

In an attempt to “restore the spirit of farming in the community”, Zofrawandi Rangkayo Mudo worked with village and community leaders to increase the economic capacity of the empty land, and has developed a series of rules by which to govern these areas.

Each family in the village is required to plant a minimum of half a hectare with plants for long-term investment, such as rubber, chocolate, nuts, and resin trees. Unmarried men are required to do the same. Those who fail to plant and maintain a community forest plot come under serious scrutiny from the village and may be prevented from participating in community governance. Those who comply are rewarded.

The article outlines how West Sumatra Province reportedly plans to allocate 500,000 hectares of forest areas as ‘community and customary use’ forests. Currently, there are 108 communities in various stages of securing authority to manage the land they have always depended upon for survival.

Read the full story: Sumatran village protects environment through agroforestry by Loren Bell and Elviza Diana, Mongabay-Indonesia (January 21, 2015).