Danau Liut

Lake Liut is an area that has been utilized for generations by the community for fishing. Before being known as Lake Liut, this lake was known as Ghost Lake due to many mystical stories heard by the community. This lake is also used as a place for shamanistic practices (manang) conducted for 3 years to catch fish and utilize certain fish for customary purposes—allowing fishing in the upstream and downstream of the lake on the condition that not all fish are depleted. The biodiversity around Lake Liut, such as wood and medicinal plants, is also used for the daily needs of the surrounding community. The management initiative for Lake Liut is supported by external parties, such as: Kapuas Raya Nature Institute, the Food Security and Fisheries Office, and WWF Indonesia in 2021 to create an agreement for the sustainable management of Lake Liut.

The community has utilized the fish caught in Lake Liut for consumption and small-scale sales as additional income. Usually, the community catches fish together during the dry season. The main rule established in the management of Lake Liut is that fishing with electricity is prohibited, and the community is not allowed to exploit the fish resources in Lake Liut on a large scale. However, there are regulations for fishing that are established for customary ritual purposes, namely fishing is allowed in the upstream and downstream of the lake during the dry season and is not permitted in the middle of the lake. Once fishing has occurred in the upstream of the lake, it is not allowed to fish in the downstream of the lake. Currently, the formation of management regulations is still in the process stage—there are no customary regulations or village regulations governing the management of Lake Liut.

The management conducted by the community over Lake Liut contributes to the preservation of the ecosystem and the welfare of the village community. Through management regulations that prohibit the use of environmentally unfriendly fishing gear and limit the utilization of natural resources in Lake Liut, the community hopes that this can be established as a sustainable management activity. Furthermore, Lake Liut is also closely related to the cultural identity of the Dayak Melaban Community—who utilize Lake Liut as a means of customary rituals while paying attention to and preserving natural resources through local knowledge that does not contradict the principles of sustainable natural resource management.

The Dayak Melaban Indigenous Community in Senangan Jaya Village does not yet have a legal basis or specific regulations governing the recognition and protection of rights or the protection of community-managed areas.