At the foot of the Rinjani National Park, in Lantan, Batukliang Utara, there lies an abandoned coffee processing site. It's a unique place, as it lies right in the jungle in a small dip of land. The ruins of the place which is said to have included the landlord's residence, a swimming-pool fed by natural spring water, some ponds for aquaculture, and who knows what other highlights, was destroyed following unrest and discord with the local population some 15 years ago.
The place is now overgrown with moss and plants. As you walk around you hear lizzards dart between the granite blocks. Adjacent to the site, spanning a couple hundred hectares of forest is a polyculture with shade-grown coffee trees.
Shade-grown coffee is a particular form of coffee culture. It's actually the old form, since coffee trees were originally never sun tolerant (they burn under too much sun exposure) and were thus grown under canopy. However, in the last few decades sun tolerant coffee trees have been developed, and because they produce higher yields, have taken over as the dominant form of coffee culture.
Shade-grown coffee trees are planted under the canopy of existing trees, which make them an ecologically friendly alternative to sun-grown coffee plantations. Under sun-grown coffee monoculture, for example, indigenous bird populations decline by over 70%. With shade-grown coffee cultivation, some natural forest may be removed but it still allows for a rich mix of various types of trees and other plants to co-exist, which could all produce fruits, vegetables, nuts, and medicines; shade-grown coffee is typically less input-intensive (pesticides, fertilizer etc.) and thus better for maintaining a healthy biodiversity of a place.
At the same time, shade-grown coffee trees, as here in Lantang, are a source of income for local residents. They offer villagers viable alternative to cutting trees for wood and income. That said, of course yields per hectare for shade-grown coffee are much lower than for sun-grown coffee.
A foreign agri-investor company is in discussion with the local government of Central Lombok to resume management of the coffee site under a HGU license agreement. The HGU (Hak Guna Usaha) license agreement gives the license holder the right to use the land for cultivation purposes, such as for coffee. It does not include the right to harvest timber products.
Ultimately, it is expected that the agri-investor will turn the site into an agro-tourism destination, where visitors will find first-class lodging on a coffee estate, be able to do some wandering around such as to a nearby waterfall - or even trek up the Rinjani Mountain - and be in nature. In my mind, the forest trails that I have seen would also make for great mountain-biking.
Although the license hasn't been issued yet, we have already seen workers on the site beginning with cleaning up, cutting underbrush, and other works, before full construction can begin. In total, some 260 workers are already said to be employed, working away in the forest or on the main site under supervision of different team-leaders. So this is obviously a pretty big project. I wouldn't be surprised if the lodges are up and running in less than 18 months.
Coffee pot belonging to the workers
Tourism in Lombok is really taking off, I told ya!
