Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
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138 • Eva Wollenberg, Ramses Iwan, Godw<strong>in</strong> Limberg, Moira Moeliono, Steve Rhee and Made Sudana<br />
purposes and questions (see below). We nevertheless shared concepts and<br />
methods <strong>in</strong> Bogor and developed fruitful synergies with the work <strong>of</strong> our<br />
colleagues elsewhere that <strong>in</strong>formed the work <strong>in</strong> Mal<strong>in</strong>au.<br />
Mal<strong>in</strong>au River watershed<br />
The Mal<strong>in</strong>au River watershed is the most densely populated area <strong>of</strong> the<br />
district and the most developed. The CIFOR <strong>Adaptive</strong> Collaborative<br />
Management team chose to work <strong>in</strong> the 27 villages <strong>of</strong> the upper Mal<strong>in</strong>au<br />
River (Figure 5-2), from Sentaban to Long Jalan, to be close to other<br />
CIFOR activities. About 6,673 people (Mal<strong>in</strong>au Vot<strong>in</strong>g Census 2003)<br />
reportedly live <strong>in</strong> the 500,000-ha watershed, although we suspect this<br />
figure is slightly higher than the actual resident population. The villages<br />
are distributed among 21 settlements with as few as 15 to as many as 997<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividuals each. About 51 percent <strong>of</strong> the households are considered poor<br />
accord<strong>in</strong>g to national standards <strong>of</strong> hous<strong>in</strong>g, cloth<strong>in</strong>g and number <strong>of</strong> meals<br />
per day (BKKBN 2001). The area is ethnically diverse, with the ma<strong>in</strong> ethnic<br />
groups be<strong>in</strong>g the Kenyah, Merap, Lundaye, Tidung and two Punan groups<br />
(Mal<strong>in</strong>au and Tubu). The Merap 9 ethnic group reportedly controlled the<br />
territory for most <strong>of</strong> the 20th century and ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>s a wide presence. Punan<br />
groups that historically collected forest products for the Merap <strong>of</strong>ten lived<br />
and <strong>in</strong>termarried with them.<br />
Government resettlement programs <strong>in</strong> the 1960s to 1980s and one program<br />
<strong>in</strong> 1999 then encouraged other Dayak groups from more remote areas <strong>of</strong><br />
the district to settle <strong>in</strong> the area. Current villages correspond to the different<br />
ethnic groups that arrived <strong>in</strong> the area at these different times. The villages<br />
ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ed their autonomy and were l<strong>in</strong>ked to the <strong>of</strong>ficial government<br />
structure through their kepala desa (village heads), most <strong>of</strong> whom also<br />
had local authority with<strong>in</strong> their village as customary leaders. In the upper<br />
Mal<strong>in</strong>au, n<strong>in</strong>e settlements consist <strong>of</strong> such ethnic village clusters, with two<br />
to four villages <strong>in</strong> each location.<br />
With the resettlement programs, population pressure on local resources <strong>in</strong><br />
the watershed <strong>in</strong>creased substantially, and newcomers did not always sever<br />
ties with their former territories. Villages <strong>in</strong> the upper Mal<strong>in</strong>au claimed<br />
multiple territories that overlapped with other villages’ claims. Based on<br />
district Decree No. 3 <strong>in</strong> 2001, the government has sought to transform<br />
the clusters <strong>in</strong>to s<strong>in</strong>gle villages and reduce the overall number <strong>of</strong> villages.<br />
District <strong>of</strong>ficials have also stated that villages could make claims only to<br />
land where they were liv<strong>in</strong>g.