Stories of the Guardians of Mekar Raya Customary Forest

• The Dayak Simpang Customary Forest in Mekar Raya Village, Simpang Dua District, Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, is preserved. There are forests they can manage, and some that must not be disturbed. They have sacred forests named Mount Juring, Mount Tanikng, and Semugo Hill, and sacred rivers, Tanikng River, Bejangkar Rapids, and Amuntuda. These areas must not be disturbed as they are sacred areas for rituals, healing, or have historical value related to origins.
• This customary forest also has Tembawang, known for producing fruits and plants for traditional medicine and rituals.
• Ignatius Tondi, a young man from Mekar Raya, says the village youth play a role in maintaining and continuing ancestral traditions while striving to innovate for their future.
• Customary law in Mekar Raya Village is still strong and applies to anyone who dares to break the rules, including companies. A palm oil company tried to measure land to determine the location for land clearing without the community's knowledge. Three warnings were ignored, and eventually, the company faced customary sanctions.

"This forest has existed for hundreds of years. Our ancestors protected it, now it's our duty to protect it," said Yulius Yogi, a young man from Mekar Raya Village, Simpang Dua District, Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan.

This 35-year-old man kneels under a tree in the Mekar Raya customary forest. The forest covers 2,000 hectares. It spans mountains, hills, rivers, and rapids.

They also have sacred forests named Mount Juring, Mount Tanikng, and Semugo Hill, and sacred rivers, Tanikng River, Bejangkar Rapids, and Amuntuda. These areas must not be disturbed as they are sacred areas for rituals, healing, or have historical value related to origins. One of them is the sacred river. In that river, people are not allowed to catch fish or anything. If violated, they will face misfortune.

These sacred rivers are areas with quite deep basins. They are suitable places for fish to spawn and breed.

By making this area sacred, it indirectly also protects the fish habitat for spawning and preserves them in the river.

Yogi, as the Head of the Village Forest Management Institution, together with the residents, drafted a community management plan. The reference is the teachings of their ancestors regarding area management.

"These rules have existed since the Dayak Community settled in an area," he said in early November 2024.

Now, these rules are documented and serve as evidence to the government as a blueprint for community forest management.

For the residents, even without documentation, there are unwritten rules they maintain and preserve to this day as part of their spiritual values and cultural identity.

One example, ngalayo, prohibits cutting down trees, especially fruit trees in the tembawang. However, heirs from the tamawang/tembawang village have the right to take and use any fruit within it. Violators face strict customary sanctions.

In practice, residents have long known that to maintain water quality in the rapids or mountains, they must not disturb the surrounding forest.

"We don't dare to enter carelessly," he said. Even their clean water source is used for other regions' needs, and Mekar Raya residents gain economic value through environmental services.

Ignatius Tondi, a young man from Mekar Raya, says the village youth play a role in maintaining and continuing ancestral traditions while striving to innovate for their future.

"These mountains and rivers are part of our identity as the people of Mekar Raya Village. If we don't protect them, the next generation might never know the value of this place," said the 35-year-old man.

The customary area and its contents are a living space inseparable from their identity and daily life as the Dayak Simpakng Indigenous Community in Mekar Raya Village. At least, there are three regular rituals they still perform. It forms a close relationship between humans and nature. This ritual is a manifestation of the community's respect for nature.

There is the mulang semparan ritual or customary ritual to open fields, and the nyapa taun ritual after harvest, which is a form of gratitude from the villagers to the ancestors who have given blessings and results to the community.

There is also the bebantan ritual, a village cleansing every three years. "This is a form of village purification," he said.

The Dayak Simpakng Customary Forest in Mekar Raya Village has Tembawang, known for producing fruits and plants for traditional medicine and rituals.

Clean water sources from the customary forest in Mount Juring are also used by six hamlets for daily life. They preserve the sanctity of Mount Tanikng, which must not be disturbed. This mountain is a sacred forest for customary rituals and healing.

"Here, the water is channeled to residents' homes, we built a dam," said Tondi.

The water flowing from Mount Juring is managed by the Village-Owned Enterprise (Bumdes) and receives assistance from the Forest Management Unit (KPH) for the bottled water business.

"This is still natural, the tap water can be drunk directly and no need to buy. Straight from the mountain and no need to process," said Ricki as the Village Secretary.

The villagers never experience drought even with little rainfall in certain seasons.

Customary law in Mekar Raya Village is still strong and applies to anyone who dares to break the rules, including companies. A palm oil company tried to measure land to determine the location for land clearing without the community's knowledge. Three warnings were ignored, and eventually, the company faced customary sanctions.

Ricki said, customary law requires a white plate as a sign of ultimatum not to break the rules again. The plate used for customary payment must be an antique Dutch-era plate.

Besides the white plate, there are other items like furniture with resale value, iron, or other things determined by custom.

To strengthen recognition and protection of their customary area, the youth of Mekar Raya are fighting for government recognition. They do not want the customary forest to be touched by palm oil or mining concessions as it would erase their cultural, spiritual identity, and living space. It would also eliminate the biodiversity within it.

Previously, Mekar Raya had already obtained a village forest permit in Mount Juring. The decree from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry was issued in 2023. To strengthen protection, they will propose recognition of the customary law community and proceed to propose the determination of the customary area.

"Now we are still submitting the determination of the customary area," said Toni, the village head.

The process has gone through two stages, submission and further verification of documents at the regency. They will meet with the regent and related agencies to discuss the proposal for recognition of this customary area.

The struggle to gain recognition and protection of the customary law community and customary area is also their strength in protecting the forest.

"With the aim that when the decree is issued and recognized by the regency and central government, it means we have the power to protect the forest."

The community is also committed to business development through social forestry groups formed and receiving national-scale programs through Bank Persona. This fund is channeled for pig farming and planting fruit seedlings in the agroforestry forest area in the village's special land forest.

In their agroforestry forest, they plan to plant fruit trees. "There are durian, petai, mango, rambutan, avocado, and guava," said Yogi.

The villagers have formed a Social Forestry Acceleration Working Group (Pokja PPS) as an information service center to enhance understanding and capacity building of the community in and around the forest area.

Residents plant fruit trees and raise pigs with beneficial results for each other. This way, he said, will also help LPHD in strengthening the village economy without damaging nature.

"We are aware of the many pressures to open land here, but we have a responsibility and moral and cultural duty to continue to preserve this forest," said Yogi again.

In 2023, the Mekar Raya community, with support from Tropenbos Indonesia, documented important areas they protect and preserve, including tembawang areas, sacred forests, Semugo Hill, Senibung Hill, Berugak Hill, and sacred rivers. They also registered this area as Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) with ICCA Indonesia to strengthen public support for their struggle to protect the customary forest.

Mansen, Head of the Community Empowerment and Village Government Office of Ketapang, said there are four stages to obtaining recognition and protection from the state. It includes identification, verification, validation, and determination.

Currently, the proposal process from Mekar Raya is at the verification stage. If validation is completed, the Ketapang Regent will grant recognition to the customary law community.

"Indigenous communities living around forest areas are among the groups vulnerable to environmental changes," he said.

Their residential area has potential natural resources, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and high fisheries, also facing threats from land conversion, such as mining and plantations.

Recognition and protection of indigenous communities, he said, is an important issue in the implementation of the 1945 Constitution, especially Article 18B paragraph (2) of the second amendment. The law states that the state recognizes and respects the unity of indigenous law communities along with their traditional rights.

This recognition brings various benefits, such as resolving overlapping land or land claims conflicts, addressing natural resource disputes, preserving the nation's cultural identity, and maintaining ecosystem balance and local wisdom.

Asti Noor, from the Working Group ICCAs Indonesia (WGII), emphasized that human rights-based conservation efforts must place indigenous communities as the main subjects of conservation actors.

"Indigenous communities as conservation subjects, not objects that only follow state rules," she said.

This approach not only guarantees rights for indigenous communities but also their contribution to sustainably preserving nature.

"The hope is that conflicts affecting indigenous communities will decrease and they can fulfill their role as guardians of nature."