Barasak Customary Forest in Pilang Village, Jabiren Raya District, Pulang Pisau Regency, Central Kalimantan Province is the first Customary Forest recognized by the Government. This recognition is through the Decree of the Minister of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia Number: SK.5447/MENLHK-PSKL/PKTHA/KUM.1/6/2019. It has gone through a long journey in the process of being designated as a Customary Forest.
Bue (Grandfather) Iber Djamal (83) is a traditional figure in Pilang Village who has had a militancy in protecting nature since he was young. After the 2015 fire, he was determined to propose Customary Forests as access to manage forest resources for the common welfare. He is also one of the founders of AMAN (Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago) from Central Kalimantan.
Bue Iber together with the indigenous community has been fighting since 1997 when the forest fires occurred which became a dark record in Indonesia. In my interview with Bue Iber, he told me about his struggle to obtain rights related to the management space of the indigenous community. He saw the landscape of his area change into hell after the peatland management project (PLG) began in 1996. Trees were cut down, the land was destroyed, the fields where they planted various local rice seeds and other food crops were gone, replaced by plots of rice fields.
"From 1998-2014 we fought as victims of PLG, considering that since 1997 the company has made drainage, excavations II. This resulted in the community's gardens not being compensated, from there Bue was moved to see the condition of the community," said Iber.
Bue Iber said that since 2008, land buying and selling activities have begun, where palm oil companies have started to enter. In the past, Customary Forests were called "Pahewan" (forests that cannot be cultivated, animals and plants around them must not be damaged, in today's language it is called captivity). Old people in the past had a closeness to the forest, because they got all their livelihoods from the forest. The challenge is because of village politics, where many residents want to sell land arbitrarily (barasak forest).
In 2018, LESTARI NGO assisted him in submitting the administration for MHA recognition. The long dynamics to obtain recognition were told by Bue Iber during an interview, where. When meeting with the Provincial Government and the Pulang Pisau Regional Government, there was still no clarity in the application process. Armed with a high fighting spirit, in 2019 he finally got an answer with the issuance of a Decree of Recognition from the Minister of Environment and Forestry.
Until now, together with LPHA Hutan Adat Barasak, we have fought for and maintained several customary forests as part of our responsibility to protect the forest. As well as access to maintain the local wisdom of the Indigenous People in Pilang Village.
"For the Dayak people, the forest has a spirit that must be protected and respected. All of God's creations have a spirit," said Iber.
Even though there is a decree, he still faces many challenges in his ambition to preserve the forest, which is part of the Dayak cultural identity, especially for the younger generation.
