LET’S go to the past to a place far away in East Nusa Tenggara. As far as you can see there’s only barren land with virtually no trees on the 21,000-hectare Kecamatan Loura in the West Sumba district of East Nusa Tenggara. Some cattle feed on what’s left of dry grass. Dry and hot, that’s what Loura was two decades ago.

Today, Loura with a population of 25,000 is no longer a barren land. It has since changed into a forest of jati, mahoni