- Jo Kenaru/tvOne/Manggarai Barat-NTT)
VIVA – West Manggarai Regency is targeting 500,000 bamboo saplings to be completely planted by 2023 to add to the 93,000 bamboo saplings already planted in January-March.
Government through West Manggarai Regent Esdistasius Endi ensures that the development of the number of bamboo clumps is one of the special concerns in addition to tourism.
This commitment continued by Regent Endi, is part of the commitment of the Yayasan Lingkungan Bambu Lestari (YLBL) made by Monica Tanuhandaru who is building the Komodo Bamboo Campus in Labuan Bajo.
As information, the groundbreaking of the Komodo Bamboo Campus was carried out on May 8, 2023, in the Batu Cermin area. This campus stands on 2.5 hectares of land owned by the West Manggarai Regency Government in the Batu Cermin Cave Destination area (GBC).
On the campus, a joint production house will be built to process bamboo into various high-value products (laminated bamboo, bamboo bicycles, pellets), dormitories, a learning center, and two bamboo cabins will be built based on the design of the winner of the national competition.
Kampus Bambu Komodo di Labuan Bajo, Manggarai Barat, NTT
- Jo Kenaru/tvOne/Manggarai Barat-NTT)
"The Komodo Bamboo Campus will have a learning center. It will be a public facility for people to learn from bamboo planting nurseries to sustainably harvesting bamboo to managing it into innovative products," Endi explained.
Endi also said that bamboo planting is a joint and massive movement. Soon, he continued, the Regent will issue a Regent Regulation containing village budget guidelines where the bamboo planting movement is included in village development activities.
"Why are we determined that the joint production house be built in Labuan Bajo? Our goal is how to design all policies so that Labuan Bajo as the center of the people's economic movement will increase," he emphasized.
Village Budget Financing The movement to plant bamboo, explained by Regent Edistasius Endi, is included in the Guidelines for Preparing the Rural Budget Plan (RAPB Des) for the food security program with bamboo planting sub-activities.
"The process of determining the APBDDes is around March, the rainy season has stopped. We believe that from September, October to December, both church schools and villages must realize up to 500,000 bamboo saplings in this district. So, when this production house runs, then cut down 1 then plant 10 and so that this survives, this is a good thing that will not become extinct. We prepare all the policy arrangements," said Edistasius Endi.
Arboretum of 28 bamboo species
From the mapping made together with the Bamboo Lestari Environmental Foundation and the Diocese of Ruteng, there are 27 variants of bamboo that grow in West Manggarai. The development of the 28 variants will be centered around the 18-hectare Batu Cermin Cave area.
"The Batu Cermin Cave area will be the center of the arboretum. There will be 28 species of bamboo in Batu Cermin. If people enjoy exotic nature, don't forget they also need fresh air," he said.
Furthermore, the campaign, which also involves school children and the Catholic Church base of the Ruteng Diocese, is believed to reduce carbon emissions and enrich oxygen. This movement is claimed to be able to control climate change.
"Bamboo plants can absorb and store carbon and enrich oxygen. And Labuan Bajo, especially in West Manggarai, is a storehouse of oxygen," he said.
