Haruna and his father-in-law, plugged in between town and the forest, worked diligently through the night and distilled dried patchouli plants and stoked the kettle with firewood, drops of fragrant patchouli oil wandering in plastic bottles.
A feeling of satisfaction washed over them as they watched the container filled with thick, rich brown oil, a sign of high quality patchouli, the result of their hard work and precision.
Haruna, 42, who, just like many Indonesians, uses one name, is a patchouli farmer in Symboro, a sub-district of Western Sulawesi. He and his father -in -law have been waiting for a few weeks to finally process their crop in a modest steam distillation facility an hour’s drive from their farm. The demand for the oils of the plant has skyrocketed over the past few years, as well as the number of farmers in the region growing and processing it. But the trend has an uglier lower abdomen, as the Great Rain Forest of Indonesia is cleaned to make room for Patchouli farming. The loss of an important ecosystem also increases the threat of landslides.
With a deep, earthly, muscular scent, patchouli oil is derived from the leaves of the PogoSemon Cablin plant, a member of the coin family. It is native to Southeast Asia, mostly in Indonesia. The aromatic oil is marketed for its soothing effects, which helps facilitate tension and anxiety. It is found in luxury flavors, cosmetics and other wellness products. Social media trends have driven the most recent increase in interest in patchouli oil.
Patchouli thrives in the tropical climate of Indonesia, which produces more than 80% of the world market. Prices for one kilogram of patchouli oil for farmers can be up to 2.4 million rupia ($ 147).
A trend that drives deforestation and landslides
A large tropical archipelago over the equator, Indonesia, is home to the world’s third largest rainforest, with a variety of endangered wildlife and plants, including orangutans, elephants, the endemic bird Maleo and giant bush flowers.
Patchouli has been an important commodity on the tropical island of Sulawesi of Indonesia since the early 2000s, but in just under two years it has become part of the daily life in Mamuju City. Dried plants hang on the porches of houses, while the bushy perennial herbs with their oval, often hairy, leaves can easily occur on the roads.
Deeper in the woods and outside the towns new lands are being cleaned. Thousands of plastic cups shelter young patchouli seedlings, which indicated that in a few months even more fields will be covered in the fragrant crop.
Local authorities encourage the community to enter the Patchouli business to support their income. But West Sulawesi’s environment and forestry agency warned that the tendency was threatening the country and the people around it. As the rainforest is cleaned, slopes become less stable, which is more prone to landslides.
Zulkifli Manggazali, head of the West Sulawesi environment and forestry agency, said that Patchouli cannot be planted on slopes with an angle of 45 degrees or more. “Because when Patchouli is planted there, there will be erosion, floods and landslides,” he explained.
It is not exactly known how much soil is deforested for patchouli planting, but as the trend grows, it cuts deeper and deeper into the forest. Patchouli distillation also has the potential to increase deforestation, as firewood is used from the surrounding forests to heat water for the steam distillation process.
In various areas where forests were cleaned to make room for patchouli plantations on the island, landslides began to take their toll. This January a family was killed by a landslide in Mamuju. Their home was in a hilly, vulnerable area.
Local authorities said at the time that Patchouli planting was not an important factor in the disaster, but it did play a role because patchouli was planted in the area.
Find more sustainable economic alternatives
Hardi, who also uses one name, is a 36-year-old Patchouli farmer. He has harvested Patchouli twice and spent most of his days with his 60-year-old mother and brother on their one-hectare plantation. His country has turned into a busy pivot where they dry and cut before sending it for distillation.
Before Patchouli, Hardi grew nails, but the long harvesting period and falling market prices urged him to make a change. He turns to patchouli, smaller plants and more like bushes, and prefers to plant it on the steep hill, a difficult location that requires a tough uphill of more than 30 minutes.
The patchouli bring enough money to him and his family’s needs. But this is unsustainable: Patchouli can only grow twice on the same country before farmers have to clean up a new patch to farm. This is another factor that leads to deforestation.
Like many farmers, Hardi has no idea exactly where the oil ends up after it has left its hands. The distillation owner, who buys the oil from him for about 1,400,000 rupiah ($ 86) per kilogram (two pounds), remains the only connection between his work and exporters, most of which is based on the most important island of Java in Indonesia, before it finally reaches the global market.
For Manggazali of the Environmental Agency, the cost is not worth the prices that the farmers and the surrounding communities would pay if their patchouli farming leads to landslide. “If a flood comes, everyone will be affected,” he said.
To avoid a spiral trend of increased deforestation for patchouli, Manggazali suggests that the island would benefit from a more sustainable industry.
“If patchouli is planted, it must be replaced with productive trees, such as Durian trees,” he said. “It also has economic value, but in the longer term.”
___
The Associated Press’s climate and environmental cover receives financial support from various private foundations. AP is exclusively responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at ap.org
