By: Novita

Bahitom Village in Murung Raya Regency, Central Kalimantan is a village that has abundant natural resources, but does not utilize them optimally. In fact, this village has reliable youth if given appropriate guidance, so that they can increase their capacity to manage local natural resources independently and sustainably.

Seeing this, WWF-Indonesia held the Borneo Youth Program with the theme "Sustainable Village and Youth - Village Food Security". The participants of this activity were not only youths from Bahitom Village, but also those from Kalasin Village, Tumbang Jojang Village, Makunjung Village, teachers and students of SMAN 3 and SMKN 2 Bahitom, and university students. The purpose of this activity is to increase the capacity and role of youth in managing natural resources while taking into account aspects of sustainable development. Through this activity, it is hoped that youth will be able to mobilize an environmentally sound tourism village, especially for Bahitom Village which has been designated as a tourism village by the local government.

The activity, which lasted for five days (July 25 - 29, 2017), provided learning material about the natural resources in Indonesia (especially those in Kalimantan), the threat of extinction of Indonesian animals, and the role of humans as leaders on earth who are responsible for environmental management. In addition, sharing sessions were also held from resource persons in managing local natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Knowing one's own potential is needed to be able to increase one's capacity. Therefore, self-development material on "Interpersonal communication" was also provided. In this activity, participants were given red and yellow paper, after which participants were asked to write their weaknesses on red paper, while their strengths on yellow paper. The result was that 90 percent of the participants wrote more on the red paper. This means that the youth of Bahitom Village have more negative self-assessments. In fact, the youth there have abundant potential, it just hasn't been maximized.

Activities are not only carried out in the room, participants are invited to make field visits to see firsthand real examples of activities by managing local potential in the area. One of the places visited was Mr. Suharto's river cage. The cages utilize the natural potential of the Barito River for his fish business. In addition, the youth were also invited to explore agricultural land in the transmigration area managed by Bathera Mandiri.

In following up on the findings in the field, the participants were invited to discuss in groups. The discussion concerned the management of green entrepreneurship. Participants were asked to determine ideas, business and marketing plans, calculate the initial funds needed, and take into account the impact and risks to the environment. The results of each group's discussion were finally put together to develop a project plan for the next six months based on the local potential in their location.

By looking at the natural potential in Bahitom Village, the local youth agreed to make a project plan for carp farming in cages or ponds. Furthermore, WWF-Indonesia team will oversee this project plan. In addition to assisting, this activity can also be a means of sharing with the team regarding obstacles and solutions when the project is implemented.

This training activity received appreciation from the Head of Bahitom Village, it is hoped that through this activity the next generation of the village will gain useful experience for the progress of Bahitom Village.