Sabah, Borneo – Planting Paddy Hill

Reforestation

Indigenous children, youth and adults in Ulu Papar plant hill paddy together. The indigenous communities of Ulu Papar have adopted this time-honoured practice for generations to provide food for their families. Although planting hill paddy involves land clearing, the indigenous peoples of Ulu Papar applies the ‘Gompi guno’ system (a traditional system) in planting hill paddy. ‘Gompi guno’ means use and preserve. After the paddy is harvested, the land used will be left to allow forest regeneration. The regeneration process takes up at least 10 years until it can be cleared again. This is one of the sustainable way of the Ulu Papar communities in agriculture.