Protecting Customary Forests: The Struggle to Protect the Territory of the Jalai Kendawangan Indigenous Community in Silat Hulu, West Kalimantan

The Jalai Kendawangan Indigenous Community in Silat Hulu Village, Ketapang Regency, has long lived side by side with the forest that is their lifeblood. However, since 2015, their customary forest has been threatened by the granting of large-scale plantation permits and mining activities that have penetrated the customary forest without their consent. Some land has even been cleared without consultation or compensation, leaving a trail of loss and concerns over the sustainability of their living space. In this situation, the community recognizes that without legal recourse to recognition, they will remain vulnerable.

To address this issue, the Jalai Kendawangan Indigenous Community utilized the Ketapang Regent's Decree recognizing the Jalai Kendawangan Indigenous Community. This decree served as a gateway to strengthening the community's legal standing and opening up opportunities for legal protection of customary forests. First, in-person outreach was conducted through two meetings at different locations to ensure all elements of the indigenous community understood the contents and implications of the decree.

Following the outreach process, the Jalai Kendawangan Indigenous Community held a focus group discussion (FGD) to identify strategies for protecting their customary areas. The forum examined various challenges, from the impacts of corporate expansion to the need to strengthen customary area documentation as a basis for submitting applications for customary forest recognition. The FGD results served as the basis for compiling administrative documents and following up on the application.

Community representatives from Silat Hulu and Batu Menang villages, along with a support team, visited the Ketapang Regional Government on April 27–28, 2025, to submit a customary forest application and process administrative recommendation documents. The proposal was also submitted directly to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to ensure a faster response.

Community capacity building efforts are also a crucial part of this process. On March 21, 2025, a critical legal training session was held at the Gemalaq-Tanjung Hall with 25 participants, consisting of 15 men and 10 women. This training provided the community with a deeper understanding of Indigenous Peoples' rights, as well as contextual and critical legal protection strategies. Shortly thereafter, on April 5, 2025, a special training session for Indigenous women was held at the same location with 25 participants, including 23 women. The training focused on strengthening women's roles and rights within customary structures and community resource management.

The legal training focuses on providing an equitable and inclusive learning environment, where communities can identify available legal instruments and utilize them as part of their territorial protection strategies. Through this process, communities begin to develop internal cadres capable of conducting independent advocacy, both locally and when dealing with government agencies. This legal training is estimated to have a social impact on 6000 people within the Jalai Kendawangan Indigenous Community in Bantan Sari.

The steps taken not only strengthened formal documents but also broadened understanding of the importance of active involvement in territorial protection. Outreach, focus group discussions (FGDs), document preparation and submission, and legal training formed a complementary series of interventions. Communities no longer relied entirely on external parties for advocacy but began to navigate available legal channels themselves, convinced that their customary territories, which had been guarded for generations, should be protected with a legitimate legal basis.

The Ketapang Regent's Decree recognizing the Jalai Kendawangan Indigenous Community's 3202.23 hectares of land and the proposed customary forest documents provide crucial resources for further steps in protecting the area. Furthermore, the community now has a new understanding of customary rights, available legal instruments, and how to utilize formal mechanisms to strengthen their position. The program's social impact is estimated to impact 460 women, 531 men, and 330 young people.

This multi-layered approach demonstrates how protection efforts rely not solely on administrative processes, but also on strengthening knowledge, internal social structures, and community consolidation. This model can be replicated by other communities struggling for territorial recognition, demonstrating that strengthening internal capacity and utilizing formal legal channels can be an effective, step-by-step strategy to avoid the ever-looming threat of losing their living space.