A short story from Witawaya - Baliem Valley

Standing beside his farm and nursery plots, Mr. Korneles Kossay speaks about the importance of preserving forests in and around the Baliem River. He is the chief of the Witawaya Customary Authority Body who has led a small group of people to develop a proper agroforestry system in their customary area. The idea of self-sufficient food and energy sources has driven him and his group to manage their customary lands.

Witawaya is one of nineteen customary groups in Wamena (Baliem Valley) that has mapped their area with the support of Samdhana and YBAW . The total areas of Witawaya is 4,867 ha and covers 19 villages within 4 sub-districts in Jayawijaya District. Mr Korneles was the key facilitator in the mapping process, and it was smooth and well-organized. During the mapping process, he and his community reflected on the needs of customary land use planning and sustainable land and forest management in their area. Since then, they started to develop a nursery for reforestation and to raise community awareness about the importance of forests and crops for the future generation.

Samdhana Institute, through its partnership with AFP3 and LSPK, has supported Mr. Korneles and his community to sustainably manage their resources. Small grant support through funding from CLUA, IUCN and Margareth A. Cargil Foundation has been granted since 2013 in support of the initiative. The grant has stimulated the community to expand their reforestation program, develop a proper land use plan, run a community organizing program through nursery and farming, and develop a robust data and information system of Witawaya. In 2013 they agreed to develop an authority body responsible for facilitating all the programs they have planned.

Now about 5000 seedlings are growing and when they are mature enough they will be shared to all community members in 12 Pilamo (traditional residences group) in Witawaya.

The same steps of the program are now expanded to Musalfak, another customary group whose mapping process was also supported by Samdhana and YBAW. Using the experiences from Witawaya, Mr Korneles and LSPK are offering advice and guidance. The work also provides opportunities for young Papuans from Wamena to join these projects, as evidence by LSPK's enthusiastic and creative facilitators.