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| Indigenous systems and ecological knowledge among Dayak people in Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan – a preliminary report |
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Reference |
| Laxman Joshi, Kusuma Wijaya, Martua Sirait, Elok Mulyoutami,"Indigenous systems and ecological knowledge among Dayak people in Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan – a preliminary report", ICRAF Southeast Asia Working Paper, No. 2004_3. Link:http://www.scribd.com/doc/11469965/Indigenous-systems-and-ecological-knowledge-among-Dayak-people-in-Kutai-Barat- |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| The Dayak were traditionally forest dwellers. The environment has shaped their complex cultures and beliefs. The vice verse is also equally true. The Dayak people created a mosaic of land use systems including swidden agriculture, mixed fruit orchards, rubber and rattan plots and woodlots. Customary laws shaped the landscape and dictated extraction of forest products from common properties. Indigenous value and knowledge of biodiversity is understandably rich among the Dayak people. The conservation of controlled exploitation of natural resources among the Dayak is ensured by customary adat laws to prevent over-exploitation and environmental destruction |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| Spacial Boundaries: East Kalimantan province which is located along the equator on the island of Borneo. The province covers a land area of 21,193,000 hectares (11 percent of the entire country) with only 2.3 million or 1 percent of the total population. The topography of the region varies from lowland forests to mountainous areas in the northSocial Boundaries: Dayak, meaning ‘people of the upstream’, are the indigenous non-Malay people in Borneo. Traditionally, Dayak communities lived in communal longhouses, called lamen in which several families with the same descent lived together. A lamen is essentially houses the whole community under a single roof. Longhouses were built above the ground and wooden walls separate the each family section. A longhouse grows as new sections are added to accommodate new families. Every longhouse has a customary chief who would manage and regulate community owned resources including Bengkar (forest reserves) and the Simpukng (forest gardens). |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| Every longhouse has a customary chief who would manage and regulate community owned resources including Bengkar (forest reserves) and the Simpukng (forest gardens). Usually Kepala Desa (village head) gives permission to villagers for resource extraction in community forest reserves (Bengkar). The conservation of controlled exploitation of natural resources among the Dayak is ensured by customary adat laws to prevent over-exploitation and environmental destruction Before a harvest function, a ceremony Pakaatn Nyahuq is performed in which offerings are made to the Holy Spirit in Bengkar. People not following the adat rules can be fined. Dayak community rarely settle more than eight to ten years in any one area, primarily as the fertility of the area declines with cultivation and also because of the belief that it is important to move after family members dies |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| Most Dayak practice swidden agriculture, traditionally involving long and complex rotations of crops and trees on various patches of land. The umaq plots (non-irrigated paddy fields), normally after a year of rice cultivation, are later allowed, with enrichment planting of fruit trees, rattan, to develop into simpukng (forest gardens) that are an important resource for the Dayak Benuaq for collecting fruits, medicines, timber, firewood, rattan, wildlife. Sharing of rice by surplus households with rice-deficit families also exists. Most Simpukng are mainly used in mast fruiting years. They are open for anyone who wants to eat fruit although it is not allowed to collect fruit in someone else’s garden in order to sell them. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| In the 1990s, the companies received a government permission to establish tree and oil palm plantations (HTI) on forest gardens clearly seen as private or communal property. Destruction of graves, rattan and other forest gardens started and so did the conflict between villagers and the companies. Although compensations were promised to settle conflicts, this was never implemented Large-scale logging and mining activities in the region go against the traditional strategy of harmony and sustainability and are causing much social conflict and environmental degradation. |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| 1) Forestland conversion to plantation forests or agriculture has been rapid. Rubber, coconut and oil palm are the three main estate crops. Large-scale logging continues in the region with dire consequences on the environment and forest functions. Illegal logging activities by timber companies and small-scale loggers have been a big problem.2) Government programs to extend monoculture plantations of rubber, oil palm and Acacia without due consideration to local ideologies, local knowledge and local aspirations are likely to speed the rate of deterioration of natural resources and indigenous systems and culture and knowledge 3) Coal and gold mining, now a major source of income for the government and the people, is contributing to the environmental degradation |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| In 1967 the Indonesian government declared 75% of the country as state forest, including forests in Kutai Barat, and distributed it to logging concessions and mining companies. Commercial logging started soon after the forest nationalization. The logging and mining industry has brought over a rapid and irreversible change in the traditional landuse systems in the Dayak land. The longhouse system is now becoming obsolete as families these days prefer to live in single houses for various, including political, reasons. Dayak groups had complex social structures and strata (as among the Punan group). However, in the modern era these social structures have more or less disappeared due to socio-political interventions, trading and development activities |
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Other Features of Institution |
| Dayak people with their long association with nature have learnt how to use the products while maintaining a continued supply of these products. They have knowledge about plants and wildlife in their different landuse systems. They know which plants are edible, which are harmful, which have medicinal values and what the requirements of these individual plants and animals are |
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Purpose |
| Manage and regulate community owned resources like forest reserves and forest gardens. |
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Country |
| Indonesia |
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Region |
| East Kalimantan province, the island of Borneo |
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