Kategori: Kerja RMI

Indigenous Peoples Community of Cibarani and Their Potentials

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Kasepuhan Cibarani Indigenous Peoples are indigenous peoples who live in the administrative area of ​​Cibarani Village, Cirinten District, Lebak, Banten. According to the current village head and customary head, Dulhani, the first pupuhu or ancestor of Kasepuhan was Ama Haji Dul Patah. They had lived in their wewengkon (customary territory) long before the Dutch colonial era.

The customary territory of Kasepuhan Cibarani covers almost the entire Cibarani Village which consists of 10 villages with an area of ​​approximately 1,200 hectares. Kasepuhan Cibarani Indigenous Peoples are descended from Parung Kujang, a pancer (center, parent group) in the Kasepuhan.

Generally, the Cibarani people are engaged in agriculture. Every day, they cultivate rice fields and gardens. This routine is carried out from morning to evening, except Friday and Tuesday due to taboos in Kasepuhan Cibarani. 

On November 5, 2018, the customary head of Kasepuhan Cibarani Indigenous Peoples, Abah Dulhani, directly submitted the Kasepuhan Cibarani Customary Forest application to the Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya in Manggala Wanabakti, Jakarta. Part of the customary area proposed to become Customary Forest is a forest area that functions as Production Forest and is held by Perum Perhutani.

Furthermore, on July 31, 2019, the Kasepuhan Cibarani Customary Forest Verification and Validation Team carried out the verification and validation process of the subject and object of submitting Customary Forest simultaneously in three locations: (1) Kasepuhan Cibarani Multipurpose Center, (2) Border between Cibarani and Baduy in Sukawaris Village, and (3) Mount Liman Block in Pasir Sempur Village. 

Economic Potential and Natural Resources

Cultivating rice fields is a primary activity for the Kasepuhan Cibarani Indigenous Peoples. Kasepuhan Cibarani Indigenous Peoples usually grow rice and harvest it twice a year. The seed varieties that are used are various types of local seeds called pare gede. There are about 20 varieties recorded that are still stored in leuit (traditional barn). Generally, the community use cereh apel seeds which take 4-5 months to harvest. The rice harvest is not traded, but only for the community’s consumption and stored in the leuit (traditional barn). This activity is also a form of the food sovereignty system initiated by the Kasepuhan ancestors.

To get cash, the community trades plantation products such as palm sugar, chocolate, cloves, coffee, rindu, petai, jengkol and seasonal fruits. In addition, the community also works as daily and/or weekly farm laborers, timber transporters and seasonal harvest workers. The distribution of the livelihoods sources of Kasepuhan Cibarani Indigenous Peoples from the agricultural sector can be divided into daily, weekly, monthly and annually.

Income that is included in the daily source of livelihoods, among others, farm labour and the sale of palm sugar. Whereas income that is classified as a weekly source of livelihood, namely farm laborers and harvest laborers, bananas, picung, chocolate, palm sugar, and rubber. Monthly sources of livelihood consist of sales of rice, corn, cucumbers, bananas, as well as farm laborers and harvest laborers. On the other hand, the main source of annual livelihood comes from selling cloves, coffee, durian, rambutan and timber. Although the numbers are not large, some people also earn income from raising goats and chickens.

Kasepuhan Cibarani Indigenous Peoples have quite diverse sources of income. With the issuance of the Customary Forest Decree, their livelihoods will be more secure. Customary forests are the rights of indigenous peoples and a community management system combined with local wisdom will certainly provide two benefits at once: forest benefits and preservation.

 

Author: Siti Marfu’ah

Editor: Indra N. Hatasura

Translator: Alfina Khairunnisa

Masyarakat Adat Kasepuhan Cibarani dan Potensinya

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Masyarakat Adat Kasepuhan Cibarani adalah masyarakat adat yang tinggal di wilayah administrasi Desa Cibarani, Kecamatan Cirinten, Lebak, Banten.  Menurut Kepala Desa sekaligus Kepala Adat saat ini, Dulhani, pupuhu atau leluhur Kasepuhan yang pertama adalah Ama Haji Dul Patah. Mereka sudah tinggal di wewengkon (wilayah adat)-nya jauh sebelum zaman kolonial Belanda.

Wilayah Adat Kasepuhan Cibarani meliputi hampir seluruh Desa Cibarani yang terdiri dari 10 Kampung dengan luasan kurang-lebih 1.200 Hektar. Masyarakat adat Kasepuhan Cibarani merupakan keturunan dari Parung Kujang, sebuah pancer (pusat, kelompok induk) di masyarakat Kasepuhan.

Umumnya masyarakat masyarakat Cibarani berkegiatan di bidang pertanian. Sehari-harinya mereka mengolah lahan sawah dan kebun. Rutinitas tersebut dilakukan dari pagi sampai petang hari, kecuali hari Jumat dan Selasa karena pantangan yang ada di Kasepuhan Cibarani. 

Pada tanggal 5 November 2018 lalu, Ketua Adat Kasepuhan Cibarani, Abah Dulhani, telah menyerahkan secara langsung pengajuan Hutan Adat Kasepuhan Cibarani kepada Menteri Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (LHK), Siti Nurbaya di Manggala Wanabakti, Jakarta. Bagian dari wilayah adat yang diajukan menjadi Hutan Adat adalah kawasan hutan yang berfungsi Hutan Produksi (HP) dan dipangku oleh Perum Perhutani.

Selanjutnya pada tanggal 31 Juli 2019, Tim Verifikasi dan Validasi Hutan Adat Kasepuhan Cibarani telah melakukan proses verifikasi dan validasi (vv) subjek dan objek pengajuan Hutan Adat secara serentak di tiga lokasi: (1) Balai Serba Guna Kasepuhan Cibarani, (2) Batas Kasepuhan Cibarani-Baduy di Kampung Sukawaris, dan (3) Blok Gunung Liman di Kampung Pasir Sempur. 

 

Potensi Ekonomi dan Sumber Daya Alam

Bersawah adalah kegiatan primer bagi Masyarakat Cibarani. Masyarakat Cibarani biasa menanam padi dan memanennya dua kali dalam satu tahun. Varietas benih yang dipakai masih menggunakan benih lokal (pare gede) berbagai jenis. Tercatat ada sekitar 20 varietas yang masih tersimpan di lumbung. Umumnya warga menggunakan benih cereh apel yang memerlukan waktu selama 4-5 bulan hingga panen.  Hasil panen padi tidak diperjual-belikan, melainkan hanya untuk konsumsi masyarakat dan disimpan di leuit. Kegiatan tersebut juga sebagai bentuk nyata dari sistem kedaulatan pangan yang digagas para leluhur kasepuhan.

Untuk memperoleh uang tunai, masyarakat memperdagangkan hasil kebun seperti gula aren, coklat, cengkeh, kopi, rindu, pete, jengkol serta buah-buahan musiman. Selain itu masyarakat juga bekerja sebagai buruh tani harian dan/atau mingguan, buruh angkut kayu maupun buruh panen musiman. Sebaran sumber mata pencaharian masyarakat Desa Cibarani dari sektor pertanian ini apabila ditinjau dari jangka waktunya maka dapat dibedakan menjadi sumber penghidupan harian, mingguan, bulanan dan tahunan. 

Pendapatan yang termasuk ke dalam sumber penghidupan harian, antara lain buruh tani dan hasil penjualan gula aren. Sedangkan pendapatan yang tergolong ke dalam sumber penghidupan mingguan, yaitu buruh tani dan buruh panen, pisang, picung, coklat, gula aren, dan karet.Sumber penghidupan bulanan terdiri atas hasil penjualan padi, jagung, timun, pisang, pete, serta buruh tani dan buruh panen. Di sisi lain sumber penghidupan tahunan utamanya berasal dari penjualan cengkeh, kopi, durian, rambutan, dan kayu. Walaupun jumlahnya tidak banyak, beberapa orang juga memperoleh penghasilan dari beternak kambing dan ayam.

Masyarakat Adat Cibarani memiliki sumber pendapatan yang cukup beragam. Dengan dikeluarkannya SK Hutan Adat, maka sumber-sumber penghidupan mereka akan lebih terjamin. Hutan Adat adalah hak masyarakat adat dan dengan sistem kelola masyarakat yang dipadukan dengan kearifan lokal tentu akan memberikan dua manfaat sekaligus: kebermanfaatan dan kelestarian hutan.

Penulis: Siti Marfu’ah

Editor: Indra N. Hatasura

Back and forth Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Forest Areas

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Recently, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) issued a new regulation on Customary Forests, P. 17/2020 concerning Customary Forests and Private Forests. This regulation is the implementing regulation for the administration of Customary Forests that have been allowed since the Constitutional Court decision number 35/PUU-X/2012 (MK 35) which corrected Forestry Law number 41 of 1999 by removing Customary Forest from the State Forest category and placing it in the Private Forest category. Previously, there were two Ministerial Regulations (Permen) regulating the administration of Customary Forests, namely P.32/2015 concerning Private Forests and P.21/2019 concerning Customary Forests and Private Forests. The spirit behind the issuance of P.17/2020 needs to be observed, because the predecessor regulation is only 16 months old and considering the achievements of Customary Forests which are quite small, namely 44,630 acres, from the Social Forestry’s target which is 4.38 million acres.

A quick glance at this Ministerial Regulations (Permen) shows the strong spirit of formalization in order to protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their customary territories in the form of forests. The new concept introduced by P.17/2020 is the Designation of Customary Forest which refers to the stage of validation of forest areas. The appointment is an alternative to the Designation of Customary Forest when the process is hindered by the recognition of Indigenous Peoples through regional legal products which become a condition for carrying out the verification process prior to stipulation.

The question then is, why is a new concept needed while in the previous Ministerial Regulations (Permen) the same protection has been administered through the Indigenous Forest Indicative Area Map? Designation of Customary Forest is intended for at least three things: 1) Providing time (two years) for Indigenous Peoples to complete the requirements for recognition through regional legal products; 2) Give time for holders of forest utilization permits and other management rights to coordinate with the Indigenous Peoples who own the Customary Forest; and 3) Protecting Customary Forests from the entry of new forest utilization permits. The three of them are the advantages of designation compared to the previous protection scheme which did not regulate what can and cannot be done after being determined to be an indication of Customary Forest.

Forward or backward?

Unfortunately, there are no transitional provisions governing the continuation of the administration of the temporary Indigenous Forestry Map while the legal basis, which is P.21/2019 is revoked and declared invalid since the issuance of this new regulation. Then what about the fate of the 950,129 hectares of Indigenous Peoples territory that has been protected through this scheme? As a result of this legal vacuum, if P.17/2020 is implemented in a normative-textual manner, efforts to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples in forest areas that are supported and encouraged by many parties have been threatened in vain.

Another problem in the appointment is the prerequisite that instead of speeding up, it is feared that it will actually slow down the process of Designating and Stipulating Customary Forests. Designation of Customary Forest can only occur if there is a process of Identification and Mapping of Customary Areas. This process is also a new stage introduced by P.17/2020, which is carried out by a team formed by the Regional Head to become the basis for the issuance of a decision to recognize Indigenous Peoples by the authorized Regional Head as regulated in Article 14 of this Ministerial Regulations (Permen). The results of the identification and mapping along with the regional legal products recognition for the Indigenous Peoples on which they are based are then required to pass the validation stage of the Customary Forest application so that the application can be verified before the Customary Forest is determined. The question is then, what will happen to the application that has been submitted without prior identification and mapping of customary areas by the regional team? Do they have to submit a new application?

In addition, the experience of civil society in facilitating the process of determining Customary Forest since 2016 shows the political process in the regions in order to gain recognition for the Indigenous Peoples as the biggest challenge. Instead of speeding up, this process has put more burdens on Indigenous Peoples in the political process at the regional level, even before entering into the KLHK administration to get their Customary Forest. P.17/2020 also reaffirmed the criteria for Indigenous Peoples in Article 67 along with its explanation in Law (UU) No. 41/1999, which the Constitutional Court did not grant to the civil society lawsuit eight years ago. It is true that P.17/2020 also regulates the authority of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to facilitate the Identification and Mapping of Customary Areas. Uniquely, this facilitation process is arranged to be carried out by an Integrated Team that is formed and appointed by the Director General of Social Forestry and Environmental Partnerships (Dirjen PSKL) whose composition and duties are exactly the same as the Verification Team. In fact, one of the internal factors for the delay in the administration of Customary Forests is the queue for services at the verification stage by the Team which is fully under the authority of the Director General of Social Forestry and Environmental Partnerships (Dirjen PSKL) but the time frame is not regulated even in this latest Ministerial Regulations (Permen). 

Need Bureaucratic Courage

The good spirit of P.17/2020 is difficult to be realized if it is not supported by the administrative courage from the executors. The Minister of Environment and Forestry is expected to be able to present a policy that bridges the process of Designating Customary Forests over the accumulation of Indigenous Forest Indicative Area Map that have been stipulated in SK.10292/MENLHK-PSKL/PKTHA/PSL.1/12/2019 concerning Maps of Customary Forests and Indicative Areas of Indigenous Forests Phase III. It is hoped that the Director General of Social Forestry and Environmental Partnerships (Dirjen PSKL) will be able to take tactical policies regarding applications for customary forests that are currently in process or that are new in relation to potential obstacles in the process of identifying and mapping customary territories and regional legal products that are recognized by Indigenous Peoples.

Apart from these two things, protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in forest areas through the Indigenous Forest Indicative Area Map, the current Designation of Customary Forests, and including the Designation of Customary Forests since 2016 which has reached 66 units with a total area of ​​approximately 44,630 hectares, will be useless if it does not present a sense of security for Indigenous Peoples.

Therefore, openness of public information and community involvement are important. The lack of community involvement in decision making regarding the function and extent of Customary Forests which will be designated serve as important notes for civil society, as well as regarding the Decree and maps of Customary Forests which are not open to be accessed by the rightful communities.

All of them require bureaucratic courage that has not been demonstrated in the implementation of Customary Forest regulations in the last four years.

This article is also published on forestdigest.com

Author: Wahyubinatara Fernandez

Translated by: Alfina Khairunnisa

Maju Mundur Perlindungan Hak Masyarakat Adat di Kawasan Hutan

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Baru-baru ini Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (KLHK) menerbitkan regulasi baru mengenai Hutan Adat, P.17 tahun 2020 tentang Hutan Adat dan Hutan Hak. Peraturan ini menjadi peraturan pelaksana administrasi Hutan Adat yang dibolehkan sejak keputusan Mahkamah Konstitusi nomor 35/PUU-X/2012 (MK 35) yang mengkoreksi Undang-undang Kehutanan nomor 41 tahun 1999 dengan mengeluarkan Hutan Adat dari ketegori Hutan Negara dan memasukkannya ke dalam kategori Hutan Hak. Sebelumnya, telah ada dua Peraturan Menteri (Permen) yang mengatur administrasi Hutan Adat yaitu P.32/2015 tentang Hutan Hak dan P.21/2019 tentang Hutan Adat dan Hutan Hak. Semangat di balik penerbitan P.17/2020 perlu dicermati, karena peraturan pendahulunya baru berumur 16 bulan dan mengingat capaian Hutan Adat yang terbilang sangat kecil yaitu 44.630 Hektare dari keseluruhan target Perhutanan Sosial seluas 4,38 Juta Hektare.

Membaca sekilas Permen ini menunjukkan semangat formalisasi yang kuat dalam rangka melindungi hak Masyarakat Adat atas wilayah adatnya yang berupa hutan. Konsep baru yang diperkenalkan P.17/2020 adalah Penunjukan Hutan Adat yang merujuk pada tahapan pengukuhan kawasan hutan. Penunjukan menjadi alternatif Penetapan Hutan Adat ketika prosesnya terkendala pengakuan Masyarakat Adat melalui produk hukum daerah yang menjadi syarat dilaksanakannya proses verifikasi sebelum penetapan.

Pertanyaannya kemudian, mengapa dibutuhkan konsep baru sementara pada Permen sebelumnya perlindungan yang sama sudah diadministrasikan melalui Peta Wilayah Indikatif Hutan Adat? Penunjukan Hutan Adat dimaksudkan untuk paling tidak tiga hal: 1.) Memberikan waktu (dua tahun) bagi Masayrakat Adat untuk melengkapi persayaratan pengakuan melalui produk hukum daerah; 2.) Memberikan waktu pada pemegang izin pemanfaatan hutan dan hak pengelolaan lain untuk berkoordinasi dengan Masyarakat Adat empunya Hutan Adat; dan 3.) Melindungi Hutan Adat dari masuknya izin pemanfaatan hutan baru. Ketiganya menjadi kelebihan Penunjukan dibandingkan dengan skema perlindungan terdahulu yang tidak mengatur mengenai apa yang boleh dan tidak boleh dilakukan setelah ditetapkan menjadi indikasi Hutan Adat.

 Maju atau Mundur?

Sayangnya, tidak ada ketentuan peralihan yang mengatur kelanjutan administrasi Peta Wilayah Indikatif Hutan Adat sementara P.21/2019 yang menjadi dasar hukumnya dicabut dan dinyatakan tidak berlaku sejak diterbitkannya Permen baru ini. Lalu bagaimana nasib 950.129 Hektare wilayah Masyarakat Adat yang telah dilindungi melalui skema ini? Akibat kekosongan hukum ini jika P.17/2020 dilaksanakan secara normatif-tekstual saja, usaha perlindungan atas hak Masyarakat Adat di kawasan hutan yang didukung dan didorong banyak pihak selama ini terancam sia-sia.

Permasalahan lain dalam Penunjukan adalah prasyaratnya yang alih-alih mempercepat, dikhawatirkan justru memperlambat proses Penunjukan maupun Penetapan Hutan Adat. Penunjukan Hutan Adat hanya bisa terjadi jika telah ada proses Identifikasi dan Pemetaan Wilayah Adat. Proses ini juga adalah tahapan baru yang diintroduksi P.17/2020, yang dilakukan oleh tim yang dibentuk Kepala Daerah untuk menjadi dasar penerbitan keputusan pengakuan Masyarakat Adat oleh Kepala Daerah berwenang sebagaimana diatur dalam Pasal 14 Permen ini. Hasil identifikasi dan pemetaan beserta produk hukum daerah pengakuan Masyarakat Adat yang didasarinya kemudian menjadi syarat untuk dapat melewati tahap validasi permohonan Hutan Adat sehingga permohonan dapat diverifikasi sebelum Hutan Adat ditetapkan. Pertanyaannya kemudian, bagaimana nasib permohonan yang telah diajukan tanpa didahului identifikasi dan pemetaan wilayah adat oleh tim daerah? Apakah harus mengajukan permohonan baru?

Selain itu, pengalaman masyarakat sipil memfasilitasi proses penetapan Hutan Adat sejak 2016 menunjukkan proses politik di daerah dalam rangka memperoleh pengakuan Masyarakat Adat sebagai tantangan terbesar. Alih-alih mempercepat, proses ini justru semakin membebani Masyarakat Adat dalam proses politik di tingkat daerah, bahkan sebelum masuk ke administrasi KLHK untuk mendapatkan Hutan Adat mereka. Sudah begitu P.17/2020 juga menegaskan kembali kriteria Masyarakat Adat dalam Pasal 67 beserta penjelasannya dalam UU 41/1999, yang gugatan masyarakat sipil atasnya tidak dikabulkan Mahkamah Konstitusi delapan tahun silam. Memang betul P.17/2020 juga mengatur kewenangan KLHK untuk memfasilitasi Identifikasi dan Pemetaan Wilayah Adat. Uniknya, proses fasilitasi ini diatur untuk dilaksanakan oleh Tim Terpadu yang dibentuk dan ditetapkan Direktur Jenderal Perhutanan Sosial dan Kemitraan Lingkungan (Dirjen PSKL) yang komposisi maupun tugasnya sama persis dengan Tim Verifikasi. Padahal salah satu faktor internal kelambatan administrasi Hutan Adat selama ini adalah antrean pelayanan di tahap verifikasi oleh Tim yang sepenuhnya di bawah wewenang Dirjen PSKL namun tidak diatur tata waktunya bahkan dalam Permen terbaru ini.

 Butuh Keberanian Birokrasi

Semangat baik P.17/2020 sulit terwujud jika tak didukung keberanian administratif dari para pelaksananya. Menteri LHK diharapkan dapat menghadirkan kebijakan yang menjembatani proses Penunjukan Hutan Adat atas akumulasi Peta Wilayah Indikatif Hutan Adat yang telah ditetapkan dalam SK.10292/MENLHK-PSKL/PKTHA/PSL.1/12/2019 tentang Peta Hutan Adat dan Wilayah Indikatif Hutan Adat Fase III. Dirjen PSKL diharapkan dapat mengambil kebijakan-kebijakan taktis terkait permohonan Hutan Adat yang sedang berproses maupun yang baru dalam kaitannya dengan potensi hambatan dalam proses identifikasi dan pemetaan wilayah adat serta produk hukum daerah pengakuan Masyarakat Adat.

Selain kedua hal tersebut, perlindungan hak Masyarakat Adat di kawasan hutan melalui Peta Wilayah Indikatif Hutan Adat, Penunjukan Hutan Adat saat ini, dan termasuk Penetapan Hutan Adat sejak 2016 yang telah mencapai 66 unit dengan total luasan lebih kurang 44.630 Hektare, akan nirmanfaat jika tidak menghadirkan rasa aman bagi Masyarakat Adat.

Karena itu keterbukaan informasi publik dan pelibatan masyarakat menjadi penting. Minimnya pelibatan masyarakat dalam pengambilan keputusan mengenai fungsi dan luasan Hutan Adat yang akan ditetapkan menjadi catatan penting masyarakat sipil, juga mengenai SK Penetapan dan peta Hutan Adat yang tertutup untuk diakses masyarakat penyandang haknya.

Semuanya membutuhkan keberanian birokrasi yang belum pernah ditunjukkan dalam pelaksanaan regulasi Hutan Adat selama empat tahun terakhir.

Artikel ini juga terbit di forestdigest.com

Penulis: Wahyubinatara Fernandez

Learning to Manage the Environment from Indigenous Peoples

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Indigenous people have their own local wisdom in protecting the environment and managing their natural resources. BRWA (2009) states that forests located in indigenous peoples’ territories are of good quality. Seeing this, the local wisdom should be an example for wider community, especially young people in protecting the environment.

On July 25, 2020, Relawan4Life, a youth movement assisted by RMI, conducted an online discussion called Disaring through Zoom, entitled “Learning to Manage the Environment from Indigenous Peoples “. The purpose of this online discussion was to invite other young people to get to know the local wisdom possessed by indigenous peoples.

This discussion was led by Febrianti Valeria, a student of Political Science at the Christian University of Indonesia (UKI), who is also a member of Relawan4Life. This time, it presented two speakers who were indigenous people, Abah Maman Syahroni from the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih Indigenous Community, Banten and Pengendum Tampung from the Indigenous People of Orang Rimba, Jambi. The online discussion was attended by 24 people, consisting of 12 men and 12 women and discussed on how indigenous peoples live in harmony with nature.

Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih

Abah Maman said that there are various kinds of local wisdom that are owned by the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih Indigenous People, and the main local wisdom is the rukun tujuh, because the life of the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih Indigenous People centered around farming. Rukun Tujuh is a process of traditional rituals of planting local varieties of rice (pare gede) carried out by the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih Indigenous People, such as asup leuweung (the traditional ritual process of clearing agricultural land collectively); nibakeun (customary ritual process of asking permission and praying to start sowing seeds); ngubaran (traditional ritual process of treating rice plants from pests), mapag pare beukah (the process of traditional rituals asking for good agricultural products); beberes/mipit (traditional ritual process of requesting permission to harvest rice); ngadiukeun (traditional ritual process of bringing rice into the traditional rice barn/leuit); and Serentaun (traditional ceremonies asking for fertility and prosperity for the next harvest).

When planting rice, the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih Indigenous People do it together, and the rukun tujuh will be the guidance to oversee every agricultural process carried out by the community. This was done so that the community did not overtake each other when planting rice, which resulted in a continuous pest cycle (pests reproduce throughout the year due to continuous availability of food).

Another local wisdom is ronda leuweung (guarding the forest). According to Abah Maman, one of the duties of the ronda leuweung is to ensure that the forest is kept intact and that there is no illegal logging. Abah Maman said the person in charge of the ronda leuweung is usually chosen by the customary head.

Abah Maman emphasized that what the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih Indigenous People were doing was to maintain food security and strengthening community groups, so that people would preserve the values ​​of the karuhun (ancestors).

Legally, the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih customary community has been recognized by the local government with the Lebak District Regulation No. 08 of 2015 concerning Recognition, Protection and Empowerment of Kasepuhan Indigenous Communities.

Abah Maman said that the Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih Indigenous People are not a group of indigenous peoples who are completely closed to the outside world. An example is that in Pasir Eurih, formal education is well received by the community. 

Orang Rimba

Pengendum said that the Orang Rimba are a group of indigenous people who live in the forests of Bukit Dua Belas Jambi. The daily life of Orang Rimba is to hunt and gather forest products. Even so, the Indigenous People of Orang Rimba take forest products responsibly, if they want to eat today, they only take the forest products for today, because the Indigenous People of Orang Rimba are worried that if their natural resources are taken excessively, their food will run out.

Pengendum said that the Indigenous People of Orang Rimba have a traditional conservation system which is still upheld today. For example, there are locations that are considered sacred, such as tanaperana’on (a location for childbirth) which is specially protected, so that the trees around the location are not cut down. The location for giving birth to each child will also keep changing.

Apart from the location for giving birth, there is also a location for a funeral. When someone dies, the Indigenous People of Orang Rimba will build a house to store their corpses, and the house is surrounded by trees, where these trees cannot be cut down. This aims to protect the bodies of those who died.

Pengendum also explained that the Orang Rimba Indigenous People are also required to guard two trees for each giving birth to one child. This leaves many trees that are not cut down, and are protected. Because the more children are born, the more trees are maintained.

Apart from the forest, the indigenous people of the Orang Rimba also preserve the river, such as not defecating near the river, or bathing with soap. The Speaker said that apart from damaging the river, the indigenous people of the Orang Rimba believed that the river is a path traversed by gods. If the river is damaged, the gods will be angry.

The speaker also explained that long before the pandemic, the Indigenous People of Orang Rimba were already familiar with physical distancing. The Indigenous People of Orang Rimba call it besesandingon, that is, when someone is sick, that person must isolate himself from family and other communities. This is to prevent transmission of the illness.

So much local wisdom of indigenous people that contributes to the environment. Quoting a comment from one of the participants from Disaring, “indigenous peoples are the answer to our various problems, we should also learn from them”.

Please click the following link, to view Disaring 6.0 – Learning to Manage the Environment from Indigenous Peoples. https://youtu.be/PbbTH5OZ9rM

Author: Siti Marfu’ah

Translated by : Alfina

Jadi dan Menjadi Masyarakat Adat: Suara Anak Muda Adat

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“Bagaimana kamu memandang identitasmu sebagai masyarakat adat di masa kini, disaat modernisasi, terutama teknologi informasi dan digitalisasi telah semakin mengubah cara kita berinteraksi dengan lingkungan kita, dan lebih jauh telah mempengaruhi cara kita memandang sesuatu, termasuk kontribusi pada stigma yang melekat pada masyarakat adat dan mereka yang bergantung pada sumber daya alam? ” “Menurutmu apakah Kamu masih menjadi bagian dari masyarakat adat saat Kamu menggunakan teknologi yang tidak digunakan orang tua dan leluhurmu di masa lalu?” “Menurutmu, apa yang membuatmu menjadi bagian dari masyarakat adat? Dan apakah artinya itu ? ”

Berangkat dari kehidupan sehari-hari pemuda/i adat, pertanyaan-pertanyaan semacam ini dirancang dengan cermat dalam program berjudul “Being and Becoming Indigenous”—atau “Jadi dan Menjadi Masyarakat Adat” untuk memberikan ruang bagi generasi muda dari empat komunitas adat mendiskusikan persepsi mereka sendiri tentang ke-adat-an mereka di tengah modernitas. Beberapa pertanyaan tersebut sebenarnya tercermin dari pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang sering dilontarkan oleh masyarakat non-adat kepada pemuda/i, mempertanyakan identitas mereka sebagai bagian dari masyarakat adat. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan seperti ini yang kontradiktif dan jarang dibahas telah membingungkan para pemuda/i ini.Karena persimpangan antara kehidupan mereka yang berbasis tradisi/adat dengan modernitas jarang sekali dibahas, maka arah perubahan yang mungkin terjadi pun tidak terencana dengan baik.

Anak muda adat Mollo, Timor Tengah Selatan, Nusa Tenggara Timur.
Sumber foto: Lakoat Kujawas

“Being and Becoming Indigenous”—atau “Jadi dan Menjadi Masyarakat Adat” merupakan program pemberdayaan generasi muda adat dengan memberikan ruang bagi mereka untuk memahami akar dan makna tradisinya, terutama tentang tata kelola sumber daya alam, di tengah kehidupan modern. Selain hal tersebut di atas, program ini juga bertujuan untuk memperkuat persepsi pemuda/i tentang adat yang berimplikasi pada partisipasi pemuda/i ini dalam mereproduksi praktik mata pencaharian berbasis komunal mereka kedepannya. Keempat komunitas Pemuda/i adat ini adalah Kasepuhan Pasir Eurih di Kabupaten Lebak, Provinsi Banten, Mollo di Kabupaten Timor Tengah Selatan, Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur, keduanya berada di Indonesia, dan Agta-Dumagat-Remontado di Filipina akan berkesempatan untuk mendefinisikan identitasnya sebagai bagian dari komunitas adat meskipun hidup dan terhubung, termasuk secara digital, ke dunia modern. Para pemuda/i akan mendapat pengalaman di ruang belajar bersama ini guna memahami makna menjadi masyarakat adat selama delapan bulan ke depan.

Program ini dikelola oleh RMI-the Indonesian Institute for Forest and Environment bekerja sama dengan Asian Farmers Association for Rural Sustainable Development (AFA) dengan pelaksana lokal adalah Lakoat Kujawas di Indonesia, dan PAKISAMA di Filipina. “Being and Becoming Indigenous” adalah sebuah program yang didukung oleh program VOICE.

Semoga dalam prosesnya Anak muda-anak muda adat ini dapat mempersepsikan identitas mereka sebagai bagian dari budaya pemuda/i global sembari tetap berpegang pada akar tradisi mereka!