Indigenous Peoples Jongkakng Bonua Tumo'k in West Kalimantan Restoring Water through Multicultural Planting Traditions

Pisang Village, Jangkang District, Sanggau Regency, West Kalimantan, is located far from the hustle and bustle of the city. To reach it, it requires a four-hour overland journey from the district capital on unpaved roads. Remote and isolated, Pisang Village harbors extraordinary biodiversity. Covering an area of ​​approximately 25.000 hectares, the area is dominated by protected and production forests, and boasts hilly topography and river basins that make the land ideal for water catchment.

However, in recent years, the face of Pisang Village has begun to change. Due to the plummeting prices of commodities such as rice, pepper, and rubber, making them insufficient to meet basic needs, the people of Pisang Village have turned to oil palm as an economic solution. This shift has led to a drastic shift in cropping patterns, from a multicultural system inherited from generation to generation to a monoculture system.

Massive land use changes have occurred in almost all seven hamlets in Pisang Village. Rubber plantations, pepper fields, fields, and even riverbanks, particularly the Ponyowe River, and the surrounding foothills, have been converted to oil palm plantations. In addition to land conversion, changes in planting culture have also resulted in the decline of local endemic plants, which actually have high economic value.

The impact is not limited to the land, but also extends to the Ponyowe River, which flows through three hamlets: Tumbuk, Kompas, and Pisang. It is no longer clear and abundant. This river is a source of life, irrigation for rice fields, and even a site for traditional harvest thanksgiving ceremonies. The Ponyowe River's water level is decreasing, and the supply of clean water is dwindling. River erosion also increases the potential for landslides.

The Jongkakng Bonua Tumo'k Indigenous Community, who inhabit this area, is not sitting idle. They have designed and implemented an initiative to restore critical areas along the Ponyowe River. Their strategy involves reviving the tradition of planting local crops along the river. This tradition, once a strong economic and cultural force, has been eroded by the onslaught of monoculture. The initiative is being carried out collaboratively, primarily by three women's groups: the Nyak Pongodi Group from Pisang Hamlet, the Odoh Narap Group from Kompas Hamlet, and the Dori'k Ponyowe Group from Tumbuk Hamlet.

The activity began with consolidation, task allocation, and nursery preparation. The Village-Owned Enterprise (BUMDes) RESPICK SENTOSA provided seedlings of local endemic plants such as durian, pekawai, sugar palm, jonger, tamarind, tampui, and bamboo. A total of 500 seedlings were prepared and cared for at the Dusun Pisang nursery. Care was carried out in turns by the women's groups. Agreements were established through briefings involving the hamlet head, traditional chief, community leaders, and Temenggung Jongkakng Bonua Tumo'k.

Planting took place in early May 2025, with locations divided across three hamlets with a total planting area of ​​approximately 2 hectares. In addition to the three women's groups, the planting also involved three regional heads and three traditional heads from the three hamlets where the Ponyowe River is located. In Pisang Hamlet, planting took place in the abrasion-prone Ponyowe Riverbank areas, focusing on plants such as durian and tampui. In Tumbuk Hamlet, planting took place upstream of the Pamsimas dam that irrigates the three hamlets, as well as riverbank areas that had experienced landslides due to land use conversion. Meanwhile, in Kompas Hamlet, despite the small area, residents remained enthusiastic about planting on the remaining riverbanks.

The selection of local plants is not only for ecological reasons, but also for their inherent economic and cultural value. The sugar palm, once widely tapped, is now nearly extinct. Bamboo shoots, once used only as a vegetable, now have a high market value, reaching Rp 100.000 per kilogram when processed into dried bamboo shoots. Jonger, used as a building material, is also being rediscovered for its economic benefits. Communities are realizing that by planting local species, they are not only protecting the environment but also creating new livelihoods that are compatible with their natural environment.

Martina Titing, the head of the Odoh Narap women's group from Kompas Hamlet, expressed her hope, "Previously, bamboo shoots were only used for cooking, but now we understand their value. We're planting these bamboo seedlings so we can have the raw material available later. We want to sell dried bamboo shoots and other processed products."

On the other hand, this initiative also evokes the community's collective memory. 75-year-old Temenggung Antonius Ago recalls his childhood when the Ponyowe River was deep, clear, and teeming with fish. This is one of the reasons he is so passionate about participating in the project. He wants his grandchildren to enjoy the same river he once knew.

– “ "In the past... the Ponyowe River was more than 2 meters deep in some places, because children often swam and jumped from the branches of the trees on the banks, there were still many large rocks and various types of fish for daily side dishes. My late father also often tapped the sugar palm to make sugar, now there are no longer people who are skilled at making sugar from the sugar palm and finally only the umbut (young shoots at the top to be used as vegetables) is used." Antonius Ago, Temenggung Jongkakng Bonua Tumo'k who is 75 years old from Kampung Pisang)

The Ponyowe Riverbank restoration initiative in Pisang Village has provided valuable lessons for the entire community. Indigenous communities are beginning to realize that preserving nature is not solely the responsibility of one particular group, but can be done collectively by everyone. Collaboration between village heads, regional heads, customary leaders, and women's groups has proven key to the success of this initiative. Awareness of the need to re-cultivate local plant seedlings is also growing, as local species have proven to be more adaptable to local conditions and have a high success rate.

The preservation of local plants through this restoration activity not only seeks to restore clean water quality to three affected hamlets and protect the village from disasters covering an area of ​​21.507 hectares, but also has the potential to open the way for the development of new livelihood sources based on local plants that have been passed down from generation to generation.