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Turning Wood Waste into Carved Handicrafts
Carving discarded wood offers one example of how communities make use of local materials.
Pulai (Alstonia pneumatophora) is a tree found on peatland in Penampi. Its wood is commonly used for construction and its roots as a cork substitute. The original account also describes local traditional uses of its sap for wounds and tooth cavities.
For Amirudin, aged 40, pulai wood is a material for carving. Practising the craft since 2013, he has sold carved boat ornaments to the Bengkalis National Land Agency, the Malay Customary Institution in Duri and the Penampi Village Government. More recently, he has made machete sheaths for farmers in Penampi and nearby areas.
“A commissioned sheath can usually be completed in a day, at around Rp 200 thousand each,” Amirudin told Yayasan Gambut on Saturday, 21/11/2020. He uses pulai offcuts left from making jong titis boats for a festival held annually by the Bengkalis Regency Government.
A machete sheath made from nirih wood in Penampi
He carves in between his work as a pineapple farmer. Besides supplementing household income, the activity uses wood waste that jong titis makers would otherwise burn. Better tools would allow Amirudin and his colleagues to make use of more of these offcuts.