50 Indigenous Leaders’ Voices for Nature and People in Indonesia

This book gathers the personal testimonies of fifty Indigenous leaders from diverse communities across Indonesia, from Aceh in the west to Papua in the east. Each voice represents a distinct customary territory — a mukim, kasepuhan, dayak, adat sea territory, or forest community — offering a first-person account of how these communities relate to and protect their natural environments.

The narratives reveal common threads: the deep spiritual and cultural bonds between Indigenous peoples and their lands and waters, the daily practices of conservation rooted in customary law, and the persistent pressures from deforestation, land grabs, and exclusionary state policies. The leaders speak candidly about both their resilience and the threats they face, making this collection a powerful human testimony to the stakes of biodiversity loss.

Published in 2023 as the English edition of Suara Masyarakat Adat untuk Alam dan Manusia (2021), this volume is produced by Working Group ICCAs Indonesia (WGII) and serves as both advocacy material and a living archive of indigenous conservation knowledge that risks disappearing alongside the ecosystems it sustains.