Intan Yones, Fight for the Forest for Women

“Hanya mengambil tanpa melestarikan, akibatnya hutan jadi rusak. Padahal, ketika hutan rusak, sumber air pasti rusak, dan akhirnya perempuan sendiri yang paling menderita dan paling susah, beban perempuan akan semakin berat,”

Intan Yones Astika’s life is inseparable from nature. Since childhood he was accustomed to knowing the green fields. Intan is used to helping her parents, Suyoko and Kasiah, in agriculture.

He became more familiar with nature after living with his aunt in Rejang Lebong Regency, a vegetable center in Bengkulu Province. The location is on the hillside of Bukit Barisan, part of the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS).

Intan mahfum with women’s activities in the buffer villages around TNKS. The village women sometimes have to “cat and cat” to take forest products, as a form of struggle to stay alive.

“Only taking without preserving, as a result the forest will be damaged. In fact, when the forest is damaged, water sources are definitely damaged, and in the end it is women themselves who suffer the most and are the most difficult, the burden on women will be even heavier,” said Intan.

Women and nature, the relationship between the two of them cannot be separated. The relationship between women and nature is a reproductive relationship that guarantees the survival of humans and nature. Deforestation clearly makes the welfare of women and their families decline. Because women have a role to provide basic needs, such as gathering food and drink, energy, doing household chores, and maintaining family health.

“Every month, women need large amounts of water. Especially when I’m menstruating,” said Intan.

Lack of awareness and knowledge that women have rights to forests, prompted Intan and four of her colleagues to agree to form the Community of Women Rescue World Heritage Sites (KPPSWD), on October 20, 2016. They began to educate, build awareness, that women have rights to forests. Not only the right to benefit, but also save the forest.

At KPPSWD, the girl who was born in Batu Roto, March 30, 1996, disseminates information through the Jendela Perempuan Desa (JPD) newsletter. In the form of writings made by the KPPSWD editor about women’s activities in the TNKS buffer village. The newsletter was printed and circulated with support from the Non Timber Forest Product-Exchange Program Indonesia (NTFP-EPI).

During the pandemic, Intan and her colleagues also collaborated with Bincangperempuan.com, again producing newsletters, with the support of the Nusantara Media Development Association (PPMN) and Unesco. His writing contains information on the efforts made by women in villages around TNKS in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only a newsletter, they also started to create their own website, https://jendelaperempuandesa.wordpress.com with the main tagline “Fighting for women’s rights to the environment”. And campaigning through social media, Facebook and Instagram.

“We build a conservation narrative based on women’s rights as the embodiment of human rights, women,” he added.

Her seriousness in activities at KPPSWD made Intan finally appointed as Chair of the Women’s Division at Live Indonesia. Here, Intan is more free to provide assistance to the women’s movement in the village supporting TNKS. Together with village women from various ethnic groups and different social statuses, they held hearings with the Deputy Regent of Rejang Lebong Regency, the Governor of Bengkulu Province and the government regarding policy determination and support for women’s rights to the environment/TNKS/World Heritage Forest. As well as carrying out an inventory of plants in KSNP.