Alongside the current challenges posed by the COVID 19 pandemic, the count-down to man-made climate change crisis has already begun. While the California wildfires have caused more deaths and destruction so far this year than in all of 2019 (260,000 acres charred in 2019), the Australia wildfire have burned more than 10 million hectares, affecting millions of people, and killing a billion native animals. This has led to a hurtful realisation that some of the species and ecosystems may never recover. Simultaneously, heavy rains and flood in South East of Brazil, Rwanda, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and many other countries has displaced millions of populations and damaged over thousand plus acres of agricultural lands.
In the pic: Women members of the Coop
A period of heavy rain and flash floods in Indonesia continue to traumatise the country since Jan 1st, 2020. In Aceh Province, days of flooding from 26th July have affected over 15,000 people and destroyed over 3,000 homes. Though the country is typically prone to frequent floods and landslides during the rainy season, the condition is made worse by the cutting down of forests. As such reforestation becomes an urgent call for action to be taken by every individual for restoring the balance of nature and for creating the right conditions for living beings and nature to survive.
In the Pic: The women members campaign in front of the magnificent water fall in Wonosari Village for its perseverance
The members of Kokowagayo – the first all women cooperative in Indonesia recently took an initiative for organizing an Environmental Protection Program ‘Save the earth- One Person, One Tree’. The program was a joint initiative with 04 Agri- business students who have been providing professional services at the Cooperative for nearly a month along with the faculty of Agriculture from Unsyiah Banda Aceh University in Indonesia. A total of 15 women and 10 men came together to volunteer for the cause and each took the initiative to plant one tree (avocado, durian, and mahogany). The trees were planted in and around the road that led to the magnificent waterfall in Wonosari village where the maximum number of farmer members of Kokowagayo reside. The Wonosari village is the administrative centre of Gayo’ Highland, Central Aceh which is located on the beautiful island of Java. Around 50 trees were planted covering the waterfall and the Cooperative plans to organise the activity every month and plant more trees. They are targeting at planting 1000 trees through the Project. 
In the pics : The students of Unsyiah Banda Aceh University along with the women members of the cooperative plant the trees and display the banner that reads- Save the earth- One Person, One Tree’
‘’Water is the source of life for all living beings. We have 119 members in Wonosari Village, and they all need clean water. During the rainy season like now, many of the areas are affected by floods and landslides, including this waterfall. During COVID 19 we are unable to do many activities, so we thought why not start here by taking an initiative to preserve the waterfall. A simple act of planting one tree by one person can create a large impact for conserving our environment in the long run. ‘’– Dewi Wahyuni; Women Member; Koperasi Kopi Wanita Gayo’ FLO ID 31465
They also gave 100 trees to Alfaith Islamic Boarding School where majority of the children of women members study. It is also the first school to implement health safety protocols in the Bener Meriah District during the pandemic. The Cooperative targets at planting 1000 trees through the Green Project.
Pics below: Members of the Cooperative with the students of Alfaith Islamic Boarding School
Pic: A student pose for the pic as he plants the tree
The year 2020 has been the driving force behind awakening collective consciousness not only for securing health and food safety but also for attaining environmental sustainability. Kokowagayo, the first All Women coffee cooperative in Indonesia has certainly made us realise that the lock down phase with limited travel and work, is the perfect time for an individual and for families and communities to dedicate their time for preserving the biodiversity. It is rightly said that nature is the economic winner for COVID-19 recovery, hence the time has come when everyone must take personal accountability to protect the environment (water, land, air) for a sustainable future.
The chain of environmental disasters in 2020 caused by man-made climate change has made us realise that it is important that we start preserving and promoting the growth of our native ecosystem and in doing so every little effort and every tree planted makes a difference for natural regeneration and for insuring against possible environmental disasters.
Pic Credits: Koperasi Kopi Wanita Gayo’ FLO ID 31465
