Laja Lolang Basua: Towards Recognition of Dered Entinyu Customary Forest and Jerik Customary Forest in West Kalimantan

Laja Lolang Basua, an Indigenous Peoples organization in West Kalimantan, is a unifying forum or “Betang Bersama Tampun Juah” in fighting for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The Tampun Juah community is spread across three Ketemenggungan (equivalent to villages) and has awareness and critical thinking towards its customary territory. With the support of the Nusantara Fund Direct Funding, this organization runs a program to facilitate the recognition of territory and Customary Forests for the Tampun Juah Indigenous People in the Sisang Ketemenggungan, Lubuk Sabuk Village.

This program increases the understanding of Indigenous Peoples about the benefits and legal implications of recognizing customary areas. Before the program was implemented, it was found that there were still Indigenous Peoples who did not know the benefits and impacts of the Decree on Recognizing Indigenous Peoples. For this reason, Laja Lolang Basua expanded the socialization to six villages: Kuyak, Entabai, Lubuk Sabuk, Lubuk Tengah, Plaman Umbang, and Segumon.

The activity began with socialization of the benefits and impacts of recognition to the community in six villages. In addition, participatory mapping was carried out using drone technology to produce accurate data on customary territory boundaries. Technical discussions, customary deliberations, and preparation of documents for submission of Customary Forest Decrees to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) were also undertaken to obtain formal recognition of Customary Territories and Customary Forests.

Indigenous Peoples gain new insights into the stages of customary forest recognition, participatory mapping practices, the history of forest management, and the preparation of supporting documents for the recognition of customary areas. Awareness is growing that the Decree of Recognition is not just an administrative document, but an important instrument for obtaining legal recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In addition, this socialization also encourages understanding of the importance of managing and documenting various activities in the management of customary areas and collaborating with stakeholders, including local governments, all to strengthen efforts to obtain legal recognition.

After the socialization, the Indigenous Community of Lubuk Sabuk Village agreed to propose the recognition of the Dered Entinyu Customary Forest covering an area of ​​460,63 hectares and the Jerik Customary Forest in Lubuk Tengah Village covering an area of ​​517,43 hectares. Through this initiative, 321 members of the Indigenous Community (264 women and 57 men) directly felt the benefits of this program, with the intervention area reaching 7.818 hectares covering 3.537 residents of Lubuk Sabuk Village.

This program also strengthens the values ​​of mutual cooperation and the customary institutional system in maintaining the sustainability of their customary areas. Indigenous Peoples not only strengthen efforts to gain recognition of customary land and forest rights, but also strengthen the customary institutional organization system in managing customary areas.