Restoring degraded land in Palangkaraya
- May 15
- 2 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
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, Benny came across a 20-hectare plot of land in Central Kalimantan, owned by the
Muhammed Subuh Foundation.
On this part of the island, more than half the lowland forests have been cleared for logging, mining, and industrial plantations. The removal of the natural green cover has exposed the topsoil to decades of extreme heat, strong winds, and acid rain.
Over the years the soil on the site had become coarse sand – porous, nutrient poor, and unable to retain water. The high acidity of the soil made it impossible for the landowner to utilise her property without restoration intervention.
In September 2023, work began on the cultivation of 16 hectares of degraded land on the pilot site. Large machinery was brought in to break open the land to prepare for restoration. Bumi Baru applied 40 tons of dolomite per hectare, as well as ground silica, minerals, and organic matter to nine hectares selected for planting
Rather than timber, Bumi Baru chose to plant fruit trees to incentivise residents to protect rather than clear the trees. Bananas were selected to provide income for farmers and sequester carbon. Bumi Baru also planted watermelon and pineapples to regenerate the soil faster.
In May 2025, Bumi Baru received its first harvest of 108,000 kilos of bananas from degraded land. To date, the company has harvested more than 307,000 kilos of produce from the pilot site, and is testing the growing of cacao, coffee and durian.
I feel very proud because we proved that we can do it. From land that was nothing, idle land, we were able to make it productive and harvested very good fruit. In my opinion, it is important to educate the local community that land that was previously unmanaged or abandoned can be cultivated to provide income.
-- Eka Kadek Wiarta, Farm Supervisor