Dewi Indriyani

Have you ever looked at wild plants and wondered, "Can I eat this?" Or perhaps, while shopping at a supermarket or market, you've pondered, "Where do these cultivated vegetables come from? Were they once wild plants before ending up in farms and supermarkets?" To find the answers to these questions, let's take a journey into human history. Before settling down, humans were nomadic, moving from place to place. Survival depended largely on what nature provided. The skill of identifying which plants to use for clothing, food, shelter, and hunting, known as foraging, was essential for daily life. So, before we could comfortably buy cultivated vegetables at the market, the basic skill humans possessed was foraging and hunting. According to the Indonesian dictionary (KBBI), foraging, or "meramban," is the activity of gathering plants directly from nature for human needs such as food, medicine, construction, rituals, etc. As time passed and the human population grew, food needs changed. This led to settled living, farming, and animal husbandry. Archaeologists and anthropologists estimate that around 10,000 years ago, humans began to develop agricultural techniques. Domestication is the process of adapting plants and animals to human life to meet human needs. From the many plants and animals known and hunted by humans, a few were selected, replanted, cared for, and eventually cultivated and domesticated. This domestication process took a long time to produce the plants and animals we know today. Amidst the current climate crisis, the food sector is one of the most impacted. Especially in agrarian countries and equatorial islands like Indonesia, the effects of extreme weather on cultivated vegetables, such as rising temperatures and droughts, are not supportive. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), statistics on disasters over the past 50 years show that more than 11,000 weather, climate, and water-related disasters occurred between 1970 and 2019. That's almost one disaster per day.Drastic climate changes and drought issues make it difficult for communities to access food, leading to soaring prices due to reduced agricultural yields caused by climate change. Foraging activities with kids | free imageCan Foraging Address Food Shortages? This question isn't a simple yes or no. The answer can be yes or it can also be no because there are many factors at play. For example, in Java Island where land is diminishing due to land conversion, the foraging areas are also decreasing. In the past, we could forage in our own gardens, but now we have to reach farther areas. Nevertheless, knowledge of edible plants in the surroundings can certainly be a good option when the prices of cultivated vegetables become difficult for the community to afford.Is the practice of foraging disappearing in modern society? With the convenience of access to shopping centers in urban areas, the practice of foraging is generally being abandoned. As a result, our knowledge of wild/local plants is also declining. However, some indigenous tribes in the modern world still engage in foraging and hunting. In Indonesia, for example, tribes like the Mentawai, Dayak, Baduy, and others prioritize environmental conservation for their livelihoods. The Iban Dayak tribe in West Kalimantan utilizes 17 types of local plants as food sources in the Betung Kerihun National Park, one of which is the pantuk or Ransa plant (Astrocaryum sp). The lack of awareness among the public to utilize non-cultivated plants, often considered as weeds in agriculture, raises concerns worldwide, including in Indonesia. For instance, a plant like Bidens Pilosa, known locally as Ajeran, is underutilized, whereas abroad, extracts from Bidens Pilosa are widely used in food and beauty products. Therefore, there is now increasing research and documentation of non-cultivated plants known and used by communities as food or medicine. Although wild plants are easily found around us, there are many principles to consider during foraging. Bidens pilosa Location When foraging, make sure the plants are far from polluted areas such as roadsides, dirty ditches, waste dumps, factories, and places where the soil is vulnerable to exposure to pollutants. This is important because plants have the ability to absorb heavy metals/pollutants from their surroundings or engage in bioremediation. Heavy metals can also accumulate in the human body and affect health.Location poses its own challenges for those living in densely populated urban areas. "Safe" areas for urban foraging include city forests, city parks/residential area parks, and one's own backyard. Plant IdentificationEnsure the identity of the plants found by observing the shape of leaves, flowers, and fruits (if any). Additionally, some plants have distinct aromas, so squeezing and smelling the leaves/flowers/roots can also help identify them. ● Ensure that the identified plant is safe. If NOT sure about its identity, consult someone knowledgeable/experienced. It's better for beginners to be accompanied by someone experienced. ● However, if STILL DOUBTFUL, leave it. Just document it. ● Once you're confident about its identity and safety, take a small part of the leaf/flower/fruit to taste or feel. ● If there are no adverse reactions to our body, such as itching/dizziness/nausea, the plant can be harvested/foraged, in moderation. ● For those trying foraging for the first time, start with a small amount because each person's body reacts differently. Distinguishing between poisonous and non-poisonous plants. There are no specific features that indicate whether a particular plant is edible or not, poisonous or not. Even aroma cannot determine a plant's edibility. Therefore, we must get to know and study edible plants well. Cultivated vegetables today originated from the foraging skills of our ancestors. This is a survival skill that should be instilled in every household, introduced to children from a young age, to face the impacts of global warming.Foraging GuidebookLet's not let this skill fade away due to the comfort of modern lifestyles that are all about convenience. The increasing awareness of food security is inseparable from the role of content creators with foraging skills in Indonesia. One example is the account (@dyahksi - Dyah Kartikasari), author of the Foraging Guidebook (Panduan Meramban). Hopefully, more environmental activists will create works to spread awareness of foraging in Indonesia. Reference: Pemanfaatan tumbuhan lokal secara tradisional dalam peningkatan ketahanan pangan oleh suku Dayak Iban Desa Mensiau, Kalimantan Barat - Biotropika Journal of tropical Biologi - 2021 Artikel Kompas 2022 - Perubahan Iklim Ancam Ketahanan Pangan Indonesia Buku Panduan Meramban - Generasi Biologi Dyah Kartikasari

While doing household chores like hanging the laundry, I got a question from my 6-year-old that made me think. “Mom, it’s always sunny here, can we use the sunlight to make electricity?” I paused for a moment before giving an answer that a young child could understand. This question came up because a few days ago, we watched a children’s video about solar panels. With colorful animations and engaging explanations, the kids were fascinated by the idea that sunlight could be turned into electricity. Ideally, Indonesia, located on the equator and bathed in sunlight year-round, should be able to harness this abundant energy as a renewable electricity source. Unfortunately, the roadmap for Indonesia to break free from fossil fuel-based electricity is still a long one. Indonesia is rich in renewable energy potential. From a simple perspective, in this country, drying laundry doesn’t require additional drying machines like in cold-climate countries. Sunlight is available all year, and even during heavy rainfall, clothes dried indoors will still dry in a few days because of the wind. Hanging the laundry with Sunlight year-round in Indonesia.However, despite the huge potential for solar energy, its utilization is still far less than that of coal-based electricity. In 2019, Indonesia produced 275 TWh of electricity from power plants with a total capacity of 69.1 gigawatts (GW). Ironically, almost 90% of this electricity came from fossil fuel power plants - coal, gas, and diesel. Only a small portion came from renewable energy plants - water, wind, geothermal, solar, and biofuel.The use of coal as an energy source has been around since the industrial revolution in the 18th century. Coal was considered essential for powering transportation vehicles and steam engine factories (2). In Indonesia, since the 1980s, coal has been used as a power plant fuel replacing oil. If we do a simple calculation, the use of coal as an energy source has been going on for over 200 years. When I explained this to my child, he spontaneously responded, “Wow, that’s a long time, Mom! Is that like the time of the dinosaurs?” I laughed at his response. I realized that humans have been relying on coal for such a long time. Isn’t it time for a change? With other energy sources that are abundantly available and continuously renewable? Do we really have to wait until coal runs out before we realize it? Learning from Indigenous Communities Although it can't be compared to larger scales, the use of electricity from water and solar energy by the indigenous community of Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, Sukabumi, West Java should be an example. Kasepuhan Ciptagelar firmly holds on to ancestral traditions and they are very close to utilizing technology from Solar and Water Energy Power Plants that have been built since 1997. Renewable energy is a perfect match for meeting environmentally friendly electricity needs. If the awareness of conserving water and utilizing sunlight for electricity generation as practiced by the Kasepuhan Ciptagelar community could be replicated in urban communities, the prediction from a research study that coal power plants could be completely replaced by renewable energy by 2050 might very well come true. One of the water energy generating turbines in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar. Photo: Della Syahni/ Mongabay IndonesiaLearning from Ciptagelar, I also began to ponder. Should electricity generation be managed locally instead of being handled by the central government? By considering the energy potential around the community and involving residents in its development and management? A Hope from Cirata Reservoir Despite the current dominance of coal energy, there is a glimmer of hope in the use of solar power plants managed by the government. In 2023, a Floating Solar Power Plant (PLTS) was built and utilized at the Cirata Reservoir, West Java. This PLTS is the largest and first in Indonesia and even in Southeast Asia. The Cirata PLTS, built on an area of 250 hectares with 340,000 solar panels, has the capacity to supply electricity to over 500,000 homes in Indonesia. PLTS Cirata Reservoir Photo : Kementrian ESDMThe Indonesian Government's commitment to transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy requires significant investment. Therefore, several financing schemes are accepted by Indonesia, one of which is the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). Simply put, this is a financing scheme from G-7 countries for developing countries to achieve a just energy transition. After South Africa, Indonesia is next to launch the JETP scheme. As Indonesian citizens, we can help monitor the implementation of a just energy transition at https://transisienergiberkeadilan.id/. A Housewife’s Hope for Energy Sources in IndonesiaI fully understand that the reality on the ground regarding electricity utilization is not simple. But as a housewife, I have dreams for Indonesia's electricity. I hope the electricity we use at home will not harm people or the environment. Moreover, the electricity tariff from renewable energy should be fair. I’m not saying it has to be cheap, but it should be reasonable—not too cheap but not overpriced either. The key is that no one is harmed. Everything should be done based on the principles of People, Planet and Prosperity. Hopefully, with the awareness of both the public and the government about Indonesia's renewable energy potential, its utilization can be accelerated. Let’s not regret being late and end up confused when answering children’s questions like, “Why didn’t we use sunlight a long time ago, Mom?”

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Dewi Indriyani

Foraging in Indonesia, Reviving a Forgotten Practice for Food Security

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