There is a God in the Forest of the Rimba People

By: Cindy Julianty and Kasmita Widodo

"With a peacock chicken, a deer goat, a buffalo deer, a lipai roof, a buttress wall." meaning they refrain from eating domesticated animals, and do not cut down trees just to build a house.

The Makekal Ulu Rimba People are one of several groups of Rimba People who have lived for years in the forest area located in Muaro Tabir and Muaro Sebo Ulu Districts, Tebo Regency, Jambi. In 2000, the government designated the forest area they inhabited as Bukit Dua Belas National Park to protect the living space of the Rimba People. In ancient times, the Rimba People were led by Depati, but as their numbers grew, the leadership of a group was led by Temenggung. In their lives, the Makekal Ulu Rimba People protect several forest areas as sacred areas, which are then registered as AKKM Makekal Ulu Rimba People.

The protected areas include, among others, Tano Nenek Puyang Forest, which is a customary forest formed by the initiative of the Makekal Ulu Rimba indigenous community in 2010. The formation of this area was motivated by the high demand for land for rubber plantations and threats from outsiders. Additionally, the Rimba People need a place for traditional customs called bebalai, deity rituals, places for the deceased, childbirth, and others. The Customary Forest or what is called the forbidden forest cannot be opened for production activities such as gardening, as this forest is only intended for the ritual activities of the Makekal Ulu Rimba People.

ICCA documentation in Makekal Ulu | doc: Aldya Saputra

In addition, they also have other areas that have been conserved by the Rimba People since ancient times, known as Kelaka, Benteng, and Bukit Betempo. These three places are called Tano Bedewo (land of the gods), where the gods reside according to the beliefs of the Rimba People, so not just anyone can enter this area.

"Where the earth is stepped on, the sky is upheld, where the tembilang is planted, the garden grows, where the lizard jumps, the dog barks, where the mentiko breaks, the rice spills, where conflict grows, there is the resolution," thus the customary saying of the Rimba People. The strong relationship between the Rimba People and nature can be seen from various prohibitions. The Rimba People must not damage the forest recklessly because they have prohibitions within the forest, so it must not be encroached upon and cut down, let alone destroyed. Because the Rimba People consider that the area has sacred value and a very high function.

Then there are sialang trees, setubung, and tenggeris trees that must not be cut down in the forest because these trees have high cultural values and benefits. Likewise with wildlife, there are some wild animals that are forbidden to be consumed because they are believed to be "gods" that they respect, such as tigers, hornbills, peacocks, siamangs, ungko, simpai, monkeys, and pangolins. The local wisdom values of the Rimba People believe that nature will retaliate against humans who destroy nature for their own interests.

In September 2018, the Director General of Ecosystem Natural Resources Conservation, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, came to Bukit Suban, to sign a cooperation agreement with the Sarolangun Government. The signing of the cooperation agreement, which was made into an inscription, is a sign of the commitment of the office representing the government to integrate the customary rules of the Rimba People with government regulations in the management of TNBD. The signing of the cooperation between KSDAE and the Soralangun government is important, as a form of recognition of the Rimba People as the true owners of the forest area in Bukit Dua Belas National Park.