In Sukabumi, West Java, Muhamad Kosar is known not only as a facilitator, but also as a brother-in-arms for the farmers marginalized by conservation area boundaries. As a member of Kaoem Telapak and a driving force at the Action for Conservation with the People Foundation (Aksi Konservasi Bersama Rakyat—Aksara Foundation), Kosar has spent years weaving back the hopes of farmers around the Mount Halimun Salak National Park (Taman Nasional Gunung Halimun Salak—TNGHS). For him, the forest is not just a row of trees, but a living space that must be managed with dignity.
The Shadow of Criminalization in Their Own Land
The roots of this struggle began in 2003, when the expansion of the TNGHS area changed the status of the residents’ cultivated land to “illegal” overnight. The lives of the farmers, initially peaceful under Perum Perhutani, suddenly became tense and terrifying. “Imagine, the coffee was still warm, the stove was still burning, but the people were gone. They ran in fear just from seeing neatly dressed people from a distance,” Kosar recalled, remembering the difficult times more than a decade ago.
The tension reached a boiling point in 2008 through the tragic arrest of Mr. Lili and Mr. Atang during a forestry operation. They were criminalized simply for using leftover wood from the past to repair a house that was nearly collapsing. This incident left a deep mark on the residents’ hearts and became the catalyst for Kosar to ensure that the law must no longer marginalize humanity.
A Fruitful Turning Point
A turning point emerged when the Director General’s Regulation Number 6 of 2018 concerning Conservation Partnerships was issued. Kosar saw this as a window for justice that had to be seized immediately. In 2019, he moved to unite the residents into 14 Forest Farmer Groups (Kelompok Tani Hutan—KTH) across 4 villages. The process was not instant; he had to restore the self-confidence of the residents who, for decades, felt “defeated” by the system. “Our spirit is a spirit of togetherness, a spirit of mutual cooperation (gotong royong), a spirit to jointly develop the existing potential,” said Kosar, emphasizing the importance of collective spirit in every step of his struggle.
The long wait of two decades finally bore sweet fruit in 2023. As many as 14 KTHs, sheltering more than 1,200 farmers, officially received recognition of land management rights through the Conservation Partnership scheme. Now, there is no longer any fear when encountering officers. The current legal status has even successfully shifted the residents’ mindset from merely “cultivating” to “protecting.”
