Guarding The Ancestral Forest “Fields”

“The spirit will never fade, even though our step may stumble,” laughed Kamison, as he made his way up the muddy road.

For Kamison, who belongs to Borneo’s indigenous Dayak people, the forest is his “field” – a source of livelihood passed down by his ancestors from long ago. The forest provides food, medicinal plants and raw materials, as well as a holding ground for traditional ceremonies. To honour this, Kamison has become a forest guardian, formally representing his village and several others in the surrounding region.

Kamison is acting Chairman of the Forest Village Management Institute (LPHD; Indonesian acronym) for Tuwung Village, as well as overseeing Village Facilitators from the Ministry of Villages through the Community Development and Empowerment Programme. Villages under his remit include Tuwung, Sigi, Petuk Liti and Bukit Liti, all of which are located in the Pulang Pisau Regency of Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).

Kamison, his wife and three children live in Tuwung Village, part of the Kahayan Tengah District. The village can be reached by road, about 45 minutes’ drive from the Central Kalimantan’s capital, Palangka Raya City.

Ancestral Heritage

According to census data from Tuwung Village’s official website, the village is made up of just 679 people. The community remains strongly in touch with their ancestral customs and some members still adhere to the Kaharingan trust system, which lays out certain rules to achieve a full and satisfying life.

Further aspects of their cultural heritage are also present in the village:

1. Rumah Panggung

Rumah Panggung (stilt houses) are an adaptation of the traditional Betang Houses that typify Dayak architecture. Many families in Tuwung Village have retained this building style, decorating their homes with a variety of symbolic Dayak roof ornaments.

2. Sandung

A Sandung is a place to store the bones of people who have passed away, following a traditional ceremony named Tiwah (the Kaharingan funerary rites). Sandung generally take the form of small wooden houses, adorned with classic Dayak carvings.

3. Sapundu

Sapundu is a tall carved sculpture, used as a pole to bind sacrificial animals during the Tiwah ceremony. The engraving represents the deceased person, who is upset. After the ceremony, the Sapundu is placed near the Sandung.

The cultural heritage of Tuwung Village extends beyond these artefacts; the community has been officially designated as a Village Forest by the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. This grants community members the right to manage their ancestral forest and protects it from commercial expansion. According to Kamison, the decreed Village Forest area is around 1,297 and is divided into two zones: Zone One, which is close to the village, and Zone Two, located at the forest’s interior.

Village Forest Utilisation

Village Forests are a legal management designation under Social Forestry, the government’s scheme for indigenous land ownership.

“Zone One of the Tuwung Village Forest is a utilisation zone, allowing us to harvest natural products like rattan, rubber and fruits, which were first planted many generations ago. Then there is Zone Two, a protection zone, which we are currently surveying for its conservation potential,” explained Kamison while sipping his black coffee.

Kamison clarified that, in the utilisation zone, people can make full use of the forest’s existing natural resources, whereas in the protection zone, they are expressly forbidden to hunt or collect timber.

“Actually, people only take according to their needs, not in large quantities. Like to make ‘lanjung’ (a backpack made of rattan), if they need 10 pieces of rattan, they only take 10 of them,” said Kamison.

Guarding the “Fields”

Kamison stated that the former Dayak people could only prosper by relying on the forest. Abundant natural resources could be harvested at no cost, becoming “fields” of plenty for many rural communities.

If the forest is properly maintained and protected, he is sure that his community will be able to live in prosperity again like their ancestors.

“After the village law was issued by the Ministry, the status of villages and Village Forests became much clearer. Now, it has become the basis of our efforts to protect the surrounding forest area, especially in Tuwung Village,” he said.

The biggest threat we currently face is palm oil, continued Kamison. We are afraid that the expansion of the company’s land will breach the Village Forest area. However, with the legal protections conferred by Social Forestry, we have renewed confidence that we can continue protecting the forest.

“We are aware of some people who still harvest gemor (bark) from the protection zone, but these excursions also double as free patrols to monitor any other illegal activities going on in Zone Two. For example, if there has been illegal logging or encroachment from companies, they will usually report it to us,” he said, while pointing to one of the survey teams.

Kamison admits that it can be difficult to persuade people to maintain the forest sustainably, facing both pros and cons in his work assisting village communities. However, this does not discourage Kamison, who eagerly seeks to increase environmental awareness and bolster community participation.

“This is not an easy matter, the community need direct examples of how we are protecting the forest. At one point, I brought several Tuwung residents to visit the Tangkahen Village Forest and see firsthand the results,” he said.

Kamison added that many people are not sure if looking after the forest can improve their economic standing. However, there are examples of Village Forests providing direct benefits to the community even without harvesting natural products.

“Like in Tangkahen, forests can be developed for research and ecotourism, substantially boosting the local economy and granting community members more financial security,” Kamison explained.

He continued that people are slowly starting to become aware of these benefits, as more and more communities develop their own Village Forests. Even costs for the potential survey process and subsequent Village Forest patrols are partially allocated from the village budget.

Kamison hopes that he can carry on his ancestral legacy, protecting the forest “fields”. Although he works as an honorary (low income, limited term) employee, his principle is “love your job- even if it doesn’t make you rich, at least it can make you live.”

“Despite only being an honorary employee, when my current role ends, I will remain focused on serving the environment and forests, especially in my home village of Tuwung. I will continue to assist the village government and local business groups, even when this work is no longer paid,” he concluded.

Kamison’s commitment to guarding his ancestral forest is inspiring. His story has shown that, by maintaining indigenous cultures and granting communities their legal management rights, we can secure a more sustainable future for Borneo’s rainforests.

Written by Yohanes Prahara, BNF’s Content Creator and Media Liaison