Looking out over the steep hills of the Aceh region, Northern Sumatra, the land looks like a green patchwork quilt. Some areas of the hillside are deep green, a thick forest covering them, then suddenly a crisp square strip and the ground is light green, sometimes grassy, sometimes lines of chilli peppers that create an odd texture from a distance. On some hillsides I can even see scars of brown and grey rubble where the land has given way under the heavy tropical rain, washing the over growth down and onto the road in dramatic landslides.
This patchwork is one that shouldn't exist. - local people are forced to find ways to make ends meet, grow crops and sustain their families. Ordinarily I’d expect to see larger, more well known cash crops like Palm oil or maybe sugar or cocoa. But in this particular region of Aceh it’s a more specialist ingredient that can sometimes be found as a culprit. Patchouli.
Patchouli became synonymous in the 60’s with the hippy movement, the scent of a generation who believed in treating the planet better and communing with the natural world. Ironically though the use of patchouli may have inadvertently been fuelling the loss of habitat in regions that play host to native Orangutans, Rhinos and Elephants. Patchouli itself is also endemic to the area, having been grown and traded for hundreds of years. The plant is related to mint although its scent is far from minty, instead, once the leaves are dried and then distilled, it gives a richer, darker odour that sits well with amber fragrances and in general is very versatile -although it does suffer a bit with the marmite effect for some people, loving or hating it.
For the Patchouli we source at ånd we realised that the essential oil was driving problems in some simple but catastrophic ways. The farmers needing fresh, fertile land to grow on would cut the trees on the steep slope and plant for a year or maybe two, this would degrade the soil and then they would move on. However, this degrading cycle left open ‘wounds’ on the land that would sometimes lead to landslides and increased soil erosion.
The impact would begin to have knock on effects for those animals needing wildlife corridors to connect healthy populations together, a real issue in this region. So the remedy was to host a series of workshops with farmers led by an Indonesian NGO to identify ways to continue to build soil fertility for Patchouli rather than deplete it, reducing the need for tree felling and allowing for better growing conditions and a truly regenerative income for farmers. This worked - reducing the impact of farming in the area as a direct result of the workshops.
The issue now though is to keep that momentum going, the industry is a profitable and healthy one but scaling and sustaining the change is the next challenge. Keep an eye here for more news but by buying Påtch you can make a small difference in patching things up!
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