Field Notes

Our founder, Benny Batara, began Bumi Baru in 2022. A child of the Batak tribe in Sumatra, whose father bought and restored land as a personal investment, Benny decided to apply his indigenous experience and knowledge of agroforestry to the growing problem of degraded land in Indonesia. To prove soil restoration could be achieved anywhere, Benny searched the country for the most degraded piece of land he could find to serve as a pilot site, laboratory, and showcase. In 2023,