Jakarta Globe, Ryan Dagur, Apr 06, 2015
 |
In an effort to preserve their ancestral rainforests, indigenous settlements across
the archipelago are turning to eco-tourism initiatives driven by non-profit
organizations. (Ucanews.com Photos/Barmen Simatupang) |
Sui Utik,
West Kalimantan. When Lukas Alfario Surya Dewanto arrived at the remote Sui Utik
hamlet deep in the forests of West Kalimantan last year, he wasn’t sure what to
expect.
A student
at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Lukas and his friends had little
understanding of indigenous culture and life.
After two
months of living with local families, however, Lukas has come to appreciate the
unique site. The hamlet, which borders the northern part of Malaysia’s Sarawak
state, is a stunning place: ancient trees and the forest canopy; birds, bears,
snakes, and deer roam freely alongside fresh streams.
“We came
here to feel how to live in the middle of ancestral forests and to get to know
the local people that have protected the forests for years,” said the
23-year-old. “I want to go back there someday,” Lukas added.
Whether
that is possible depends on the indigenous Dayak Iban’s ability to protect
their sacred land. Already, Sui Utik is the only community in Kapuas Hulu
district’s Batu Lintang village that hasn’t sold their trees or turned their
land into palm oil plantations.
Instead,
the villagers have banked on eco-tourism, hoping that by attracting students,
locals and foreigners alike, they can convince the world of the importance of
protecting their land.
Strong
commitment
Over the
past decade, a number of companies have come to the hamlet and surrounding
areas to collect woods. With them, they brought Malaysian ringgits to lure the
indigenous residents.
“We refused
it. It was only the Sui Utik hamlet that rejected it. Almost all other
communities living in other hamlets of the village as well as other villages
accepted it,” said Raymundus Remang, 42, a community leader.
For the
indigenous Dayak Iban living in Sui Utik, it has been a tradition that they
only use about a third of their 9,500-hectares of ancestral forests for crop
planting. They let the rest of the ancestral forests grow as they are — making
it an appealing locale for loggers.
“Although
we are told that we will be given money, we don’t want it,” he said.
Thanks to
their strong commitment, massive trees such as gaharu or agar wood and ulin or
Borneo ironwood can only be seen in Sui Utik.
Neighboring
hamlets and villages only have few small trees. Worse, they are covered with
palm oil plantations.
“We need
money, indeed. But we don’t need to sell our ancestral forests. We love our
ancestral forests so much,” Reymundus continued.
Unlike many
of their neighbors, the villagers have held on to their traditional beliefs,
including one that says destroying nature will only create a catastrophe.
“If any
activity of illegal logging comes in, the existing order will vanish. We don’t
want our next generation to see damaged nature because of their parents’
deeds,” Raymundus said. “We bring our children and grandchildren to our
ancestral forests. We teach them how to protect our ancestral forests. We also
tell them how important the effort is,” he added.
The
community also calls on every member to plant trees starting as a young child.
This has become an obligation. It’s hoped that this will allow for an ample
supply of wood when they grow up and need to build houses.
For young
indigenous men like Verdianus Muling, 23, such an obligation is never a burden.
“We will
take care of our ancestral forests,” Verdianus said. “If we destroy our
forests, we will have to face the impact,” Inam, 31, added.
Customary
law
To protect
the forest, indigenous villagers institute a complex traditional law —
violations of which entail sanctions.
The
customary law regulates, among other things, the correct time for planting
trees, growing rice and cutting timber.
Traditionally,
before cultivating their land between September and October, the Dayak Iban
hold a ritual in which they slaughter a chicken to be given to so-called
guardians of the land.
A similar
ritual is held before cutting down trees, which includes the prayer: “Have
mercy on us, we have to cut down trees as we need woods.”
Sanctions,
meanwhile, depend on the gravity of the violation. If someone steals fruit from
trees planted on a neighbor’s land, for example, he must give at least one sack
of rice to the owner of the land.
A tribal
leader is the one who decides the sanction.
“We respect
this customary law. We even introduce it to our children and grandchildren,”
Apay Janggut, a 44-year-old tribal leader, said.
Apay is a
common honorific in the Iban language.
The 304
people living in Sui Utik adhere to the rules closely. Each of the hamlet’s 30
families is allowed to cultivate at least three hectares of land during a
three-year period.
After that,
they must move to another piece of land and leave the old one, a strategy that
protects and preserves the ancestral forests.
The
forests, in turn, provide all that the community needs. Its people hunt for
animals, go fishing, and search for herbal medicine.
“Our
forests have everything that we want and need,” assured Apay Salim, another
tribal leader.
Deforestation
Forest
comprises 60 percent of Indonesia’s land area, which makes it the third largest
area of tropical rainforest in the world.
However,
deforestation is an ongoing threat. Recent reports have found that Indonesia
may have the highest rate of forest loss in the world.
Between
2000 and 2012 more than 6 million hectares of forest was lost, according to a
University of Maryland study published last year and headed by a former
Indonesian forestry official.
When it
comes to deforestation, indigenous people comprising more than 500 communities
across the archipelago play a significant role in protection and prevention.
And what
the Sui Utik hamlet community has achieved received praise from Zenzi Suhadi, a
forest campaigner with the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi.
“Sui Utik
shows that indigenous people make an effort to protect their ancestral forests
for generations,” he said.
According
to Zenzi, 58 million out of 130 million hectares of forest in the country —
Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua islands — have been turned into
palm oil plantations or gold and manganese mines.
“I don’t
know the exact number of permits for the plantations and mining. But it’s more
than 10,000,” he added.
In having
avoided such fates, the hamlet serves as a correction tool for the local
government.
“People
living in Sui Utik show that indigenous people have a local wisdom, which can
help them survive if it is preserved well,” said Agapitus from the Indigenous
Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), an umbrella of indigenous
communities in the country.
Development
of eco-tourism
The
indigenous people’s effort in protecting their ancestral forests in Sui Utik
has driven GreenIndonesia and AMAN to jointly develop an eco-tourism
initiative.
Besides the
hamlet, the initiative involving six communities of indigenous people from
across the country is also developed in other areas with indigenous communities
such as Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, Jambi and Maluku.
Through the
program, women weavers from all over Indonesia connect, share knowledge, and
keep their traditions alive. The communities work with many local plants to
create unique colors and pay close attention to maintaining the environment
where the vegetation grows.
According
to Yopie Basyarah, program manager at GreenIndonesia, the initiative aims to
re-enliven the culture of the indigenous people.
“We try to
develop everything purely coming from the indigenous people in Sui Utik. We
don’t want to do things that we want, but we always ask the indigenous people
about what they want,” he said.
In January,
GreenIndonesia joined a tourism program held in Oslo, Norway, to introduce the
initiative.
“We wanted
to introduce Sui Utik hamlet to the world. What impressed us during the program
was that so many people said they wanted to visit Sui Utik,” he added.
Dozens of
Norwegians have promised to visit the hamlet in June.
Support for
the development of eco-tourism in the hamlet also comes from the local Catholic
Church.
“The
initiative is in line with the indigenous people’s effort in making nature
their best friend,” said Father Marchadius Markus Golo of Benua Martinus.
The
community sees nature as something which cannot be separated from their
Catholic faith, he said.
Nearly all
members of the indigenous community are Catholics.
“They see
nature like they see the body and the blood of Christ. The land is like the
body of Christ, and the water is like the blood,” Marchadius said.
The
indigenous people have such way of seeing things because they view nature as
something given for free by God.
“This is
their faith, and with this faith they have the commitment to protecting their
ancestral forests,” he added.
In Kapuas
Hulu district, 51.6 percent of its 3.1 million hectares of land is a
conservation area. Only 20 percent is given to palm oil plantation companies.
“We don’t
want to force the indigenous people like those in Sui Utik hamlet to accept palm
oil plantation companies. They already have a commitment to protecting their
ancestral forests,” deputy district head Agus Mulyana said.
But
eco-tourism is far from a guaranteed salvo.
Konkordius
Kanyan from Lembaga Bela Banua Talino, a local NGO dealing with agrarian
issues, stressed that indigenous people would likely face challenges with the
development of eco-tourism.
“Eco-tourism
will bring changes when everything is measured with money. The indigenous
people in Sui Utik must be able to maintain their cultural values which they
have kept for so long,” he said.
Residents,
however, remain hopeful that their chosen path will succeed.
“We feel
happy [with eco-tourism] as we can earn money from so many visitors coming
here. This helps [our community],” Raymundus said.
For him and
other members of the hamlet, turning their protected forests into an
eco-tourism attraction may well be the best way to improve their lives.
“People
come to Sui Utik, and it makes us believe that what we have chosen so far isn’t
wrong,” Raymundus said.
This story
is a publication of Ucanews.com and is edited for style by the Jakarta Globe.
Ryan Dagur
is a special correspondent for Ucanews.com.
