Recognition and Protection of the Territory of the Meratus Dayak Indigenous Community in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency, South Kalimantan Province"

South Kalimantan is home to the Meratus Mountains, a tropical rainforest region rich in biodiversity. Its dense vegetation is home to a variety of flora and fauna, including rare endemic species. This is where the Dayak Meratus Customary Forest stretches, a living space protected from generation to generation. In Indigenous cosmology, nature is alive and sustaining. Therefore, the forest is not only a source of food and livelihood, but also a source of identity, ancestral heritage, and part of a belief system that binds humans to nature.

In this region, the traditional life of the Dayak Meratus remains strong. Traditional institutional structures continue to function and play a vital role, including in natural resource management through local wisdom, traditional rituals, and the practice of mutual cooperation, which persists to this day. For example, distributed land, namely the wisdom of the Meratus Dayak Indigenous People in dividing customary land and forests based on their function and purpose. Forests are divided into protected forests, customary forests, sacred forests, and taboo forests. 

Protected forests are designated to protect water sources, prevent flooding and erosion, and maintain soil fertility, prohibiting clearing and logging. Customary forests are sources of sap and natural products such as resin and fruit. Sacred forests are burial grounds and ancestral shrines, while taboo forests are areas of worship guarded by strict customary rules. All of this wisdom existed long before the advent of state policies regarding forest management.

There are also rituals aruh As rituals related to food and the cycle of life, mutual cooperation in farming, managing fields, preparing ritual equipment, and hunting in sacred areas demonstrate that customs exist beyond mere symbols. They exist as daily practices that regulate social relations and relationships with nature. In fact, the traditional institutions of the Dayak (Bukit) Meratus still function to this day in resolving social issues, both civil and criminal.

However, in recent years, the Meratus Mountains have been increasingly surrounded. Plantation expansion, mining activities, and infrastructure development pose threats to both the sustainability of nature and the survival of Indigenous Peoples. This situation has become even more complex since some Customary Forest areas were designated as State Forests with a protected function, including in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency. Rather than providing protection that recognizes Indigenous Peoples' role as primary guardians of the forest, this policy has actually narrowed their living space and diminished their rights to the land, forests, and resources they have traditionally managed.

In fact, Indigenous Communities in Kalimantan have had their own wisdom in forest management which has been their living space even before the republic existed, as has been explained regarding “Tanah Diadih”. The state formally took over and regulated the management of forest areas, which was strengthened since the New Order era through the Basic Forestry Law No. 5 of 1967 and reinforced by a series of technical policies such as the establishment of the Forest Use Agreement (TGHK) in 1982 which classified almost the entire land area of ​​Kalimantan as a state forest area, as well as the expansion policy of Forest Concession Rights (HPH) and Industrial Plantation Forests (HTI) in the late 1970s-1980s.

Amidst these pressures, the Meratus Dayak Indigenous Community did not remain silent. They chose to take collective action to strengthen the recognition and protection of their customary territories. In Haruyan Dayak Village, Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency, the Meratus Dayak Indigenous Community at Balai Ambih, Balai Impun, and Balai Kumuh began the process of extracting spatial and social data as the basis for mapping their customary territories. This mapping is needed to produce supporting documents to accelerate the Recognition and Protection of Indigenous Communities (PPMA) in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency.

Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency itself does not yet have a Regional Regulation on the Recognition and Protection of Indigenous Communities, but it does have a Committee Decree to identify, verify, and validate Indigenous Communities in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency. The small committee team consists of sub-district heads and village heads from three sub-districts (East Batang Alai, South Batang Alai, and Hantakan), the Traditional Institution, and the Regional People's Representative Council (PW). AMAN South Kalimantan, PD AMAN HST, Wing Organization, in the three sub-districts to accelerate the Recognition and Protection of Indigenous Communities (PPMA) in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency. 

The process begins with the collection of boundary points in the field. All collected points are then verified jointly to ensure accuracy and precision. The next stage is a deliberation to agree on the boundaries, which are then formalized through the signing of the Boundary Arrangement Report (BATB). The final data is processed into a map of the customary territory, while social data collection is conducted through in-depth interviews to compile a community profile that includes population size, customary institutions, natural resource potential, important locations, and social and environmental conditions. All stages are conducted in a participatory manner, directly involving indigenous people as the primary source of knowledge, as they are the ones who best understand the boundaries, history of the area, and the spatial structure of their lives.

​Through this process, three maps of customary territories were compiled complete with community profiles: Balai Ambih with an area of ​​​​200,23 hectares, Balai Kumuh with an area of ​​​​564,53 hectares, and Balai Impun with an area of ​​​​388,85 hectares. These three documents are an important foundation for the Dayak Meratus Indigenous Community to gain control over their customary territories by obtaining social recognition of 4 bordering customary territories, strengthening the recognition of customary territories, maintaining forest sustainability, managing livelihoods sustainably, and ensuring life without abandoning the values, culture, and cosmology that they live together in the Meratus Mountains nature.