Nagari Sako Utara Pasia Talang is a beautiful nagari, a wealth of the motherland in the realm of Minang. Located in Sungai Pagu District, South Solok Regency. Nagari with an area of 35.41 square kilometers overlaps with the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS). This national park is registered as a World Heritage Site as the Cluster Mountainous Tropical Forest Heritage Site of Sumatra (TRHS) together with TNGL and TNBBS. The TNKS area with an area of 1,386 million hectares covers four provinces, namely West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu and South Sumatra. There are at least 436 villages whose territory borders this area. Including the Nagari Sako Utara Forest which has an area of 204 Ha. Nagari Sako Utara consists of four jorongs, namely, Sipoto, Bunda Gadang, West Mudiak Lawe and East Mudiak Lawe.

Become the home of biodiversity

The type of vegetation in the Nagari Sako Utara Forest area is tropical rain forest. The trees are generally tall, the soil tends to be moist which makes this area cool so that many types of flora and fauna can be found here. There are at least 4000 species of flora which are dominated by the dipterocarpaceae family. Nagari Sako Utara Forest is a forest that is a source of water for hundreds of hectares of community rice fields. There are at least three rivers in this forest, namely the Talang River, the Mudik Laweh River, and the Sputu River.

"The Batanghari River Jambi originates here," said Iqbal, program coordinator at KSH-ICS.

The large variety of tree species makes the nagari forest not to escape the attention of illegal loggers and encroachers, who clear land for fields or plantations.

This activity will certainly damage the range of the Inyiak, a designation for the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) given by the public local. This rare species is considered as an ancestor who first in habited forest areas so that its existence must be respected. Usually, when the inyiak enters the garden, the residents will drive it back into the forest. Here we will find a short cave called tiger calau. People believe that this cave is a resting place for tigers.

Keeping with local wisdom

As a buffer for the TNKS, the village forest is rich in potentialbiodiversitythis must be maintained.The awareness of the local community is actually quite good, they sayno longer huntingthe striped-skinned animal preys on deer, antelope and pigs. The ones who are still a threat are hunters from outside the area.

"Since the Galodo incident in 1994 on the Mudia Laweh River, people have become more aware of the effects of logging," recalled Risman as chairman of the LPHN group. Galado is a term for flash floods accompanied by sediment such as sand as a result of the soil structure being unable to hold water.

The awareness is growingstrengthened by itagreement that was drawn up together in 2016 ago.The agreement is formationforest patrol group or what is called LPHN (Nagari Forest Patrol Agency)as a forum for safeguarding the nagari forest, as well as being tasked with maintaining, supervising and maintaining the sustainability of forest areas for the welfare of the community. For them, as much as possible to avoid conflict with tigers is their way of sharing living space.

Protecting the forest also means protecting life.This is donecommunity with LPHN by planting tree seedlings to increase forest cover. Very month, the LPHN group will patrol the Nagari Forest area to ensure that there is no hunting, encroachment or tree felling by outsiders. Not infrequently in the patrol activitythey found traces of Sumatran tigers, remnants of illegal logging activities, or indications of poaching.

“If someone is caught cutting down a tree, we will give sanction forplant trees one to ten," emphasized the former Mayor of North Sako Nagari, Mr. Eris Novel Dt. Jo Malenggang. He also conveyed that with this routine patrol the community would not dare to cut down the forest carelessly.

“Those who want to cut down trees must ask permission from the mayor of the village and LPHN. Even if there is logging, the trees or wood taken are not for sale and purchase;but for the needs of building houses or public infrastructure in the community.”

Independence support for LPHN

Tropical Forest Conservation Action for Sumatra(TFCA-S) supports the work of this LPHN group through its partners, namely KSH-ICS. TFCA-Sumatera distributes grants to ensure the survival of Sumatran tigers in the TNKS area. Since 2011, TFCA Sumatra has provided grant support to eight partners, covering 61 villages in 12 districts that intersect with the TNKS ecosystem. Where Pundi Sumatra as the facilitator of TFCA-S for the central region (West Sumatra, Riau and Jambi), plays a role in monitoring, assistingand assisting KSH-ICS in managing its grant funds, so that it can optimally support efforts to conserve forests and protect the Sumatran tiger in Nagari Sako Utara.

The strategy designed to help the independence of LPHN by KSH-ICS is to provide institutional strengthening,increase capacityLPHN members regarding SMART Patrol, and assisting in setting up the zoning of Nagari forest management.

Institutional strengthening is done byexpandnetworkcooperation with parties-relevant parties, such as the Government of Nagari Sako Utara Pasia Talang, KPH, Forestry Extension Officers, the Food Security Agency, BAMUS, ninik-mamak, bundo kanduang and nagari youth to jointly guard the forest.Because conservation work cannot be carried out unilaterally, there needs to be support and collaboration from other parties in these activities.

One form of the nagari government's commitment to the LPHN group is by budgeting a four million APBNag (Nagar Revenue and Expenditure Budget) to assist LPHN operations. This commitment certainly does not come easily. KSH-ICS is necessaryfacilitatemeeting between the Nagari Government and BAMUS in integrating the LPHN work plan.

"The goal is for the government to help with LPHN's operations, because forests are shared property," said Risman. Until now, the source of saving funds for LPHN uses member fees.

Inclusion of the younger generation

Currently the number of LPHN Sako Utara Pasia Talang members is 38 people. They are the young generation who care about nature. There are no specific criteria for joining this group. They must be people with a social spirit, devoted to the nagari, and committed to protecting the Nagari Forest. Iqbal, was a member of LPHN born in 1994. Being the youngest member made him even more excited to learn new things, HeJoin the Patrol Division.

“I thoughtthe TNKS and LPHN foundations are both institutions that aim to protectforests and the environment, so in the end I chose to join LPHN to take part in protecting the environment around this Nagari forest," he said.

The living area of the village community with the nagari forest is about four hundred to five hundred meters, so if something happens to the nagari forest, of course the impact will be feltdirectby society.

Through support from TFCA Sumatra, KSH-ICS tooseeks to improve the quality of patrol results data by increasing the capacity of the patrol HR.

"Through the training provided by KSH-ICS, we have reached the stage of data processing through the Smart Patrol application," said Risman when asked about the development of members.

Established the Bareh Lato business group

From the aspect of improving the welfare of society,KSH-ICS also assists the LPHN Sako Utara groupForestablish a Social Forestry Business Group (KUPS)in the field of rice trading. Bareh Lato, the name for this business is based on the natural fertilization system that occurs in the region. Leaves and tree branches from the forest that drift into the river and are carried to the rice fields cause this forest waste to experience weathering and provide high nutrients to the soil.

The advantage of this rice is rice that is environmentally friendly, does not use chemicals andare still strong in applying the traditional knowledge of the local community. For the South Solok Regency area, there are no business producers like this yet. To make it easy to remember, this rice is named Bare Lato Sakura with the slogan "Bare Rancak Makanpun Fat"

In marketing, this business group cooperates with several minimarkets in South Solok, namely Iliran Mart Padang Aro and Budiman Mart Muara Labuh. Until now there are 800 kilograms of rice marketed. Profit sharing as stipulated in the SOP is allocated 5% for LPHN operations.

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