T

he death of at least 11 tribe members living in Bukit Dua Belas National Park (TNBD) in Jambi from starvation and illness is shocking. The nomadic Anak Dalam tribe, known as the Orang Rimba, has long maintained a tradition of moving to another place when one of their family members dies.

The moving activity, or melangun, has made it difficult for the government to provide social assistance and health care to the tribespeople.

But instead of curative tackling, it is imperative to understand the causes of the fatalities among the tribe members. First, their territory has been drastically reduced by the activities of private companies. Reportedly there are seven companies operating near the national park. Second, these corporate activities have dramatically reduced the source of food for this indigenous group.

It appears from the latest incidents that prior to awarding concessions to private companies the Environment and Forestry Ministry did not conduct a ground check to find out whether the concession areas overlapped with other uses, such as hutan adat (customary forest) as in the case of the Orang Rimba, villages, transmigration areas, mining areas or oil palm plantations.

The direct negative implication of this oversight is uncertainty in forestry and agricultural sectors. This has been exacerbated by frequent conflicts among interested parties. Currently such conflicts tend to be rampant in Indonesia. The Orang Rimba, with their traditional beliefs, habits and knowledge, have been disturbed by the expansion of forestry and agricultural plantation industries, which the government has promoted to boost economic development.

Forestry Ministerial Decree No. 246/1996 on spatial planning arrangements for industrial timber plantations provides an opportunity to local indigenous people to take part in industrial timber plantation by managing an area of about 5 percent of the total concession area. According to the decree, the allocated 5 percent is intended to encourage life-support plantation development in partnership and collaboration with local communities. However, the regulation only looks nice on paper. In reality, control and monitoring of its implementation is lacking.

Furthermore, incentive and disincentive mechanisms have not substantially been developed. Law enforcement also remains weak.

Another policy to support the existence of indigenous tribes like the Orang Rimba is Law No. 6/2014 on villages. The law requires the government at all levels to arrange customary villages for tribespeople.

Thanks to the supporting regulations, there is no reason for the Orang Rimba to lose their opportunity to take an abundance of food from forest resources, to suffer from starvation or to find no place to roam to maintain their traditions.

Actually, their real characteristics show they live permanently in a particular place. They only make a move if one of their family members dies or in the event of an outbreak of disease.

The population of Orang Rimba is relatively small at around 3,000 people, therefore they should not be difficult to handle. Intensive communication is particularly needed to persuade them to settle down in a particular customary village. It would then be easy for the government to provide the social assistance and healthcare they deserve as Indonesian citizens.

Permanent settlement will also allow the Orang Rimba to manage land for farming activities, enabling them to feed their families. With this land allotment, the government may introduce them to effective land management, helping them to produce crops for sale or consumption.

Under the life-support plantation program or tanaman kehidupan as mandated by Ministerial Decree No. 246/1996, the Orang Rimba could play a pivotal role in developing local plants, which in turn would offer the tribe multiple benefits.

First, indigenous plants could be cultivated in collaboration with forestry companies that operate near customary forests. Such partnerships would protect the species from extinction. Second, the Orang Rimba could develop plants that they have known and utilized for years, either for medicine, staple food, ritual or other uses. Third, in so doing the Orang Rimba would be able to play a crucial role in the government'€™s efforts to manage forests sustainably.
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The writer works for the Center for Climate Change and Policy Research and Development at the Environment and Forestry Ministry. The views expressed are her own.