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Liu Mulang villagers embrace ecotourism to protect customary forest
The Dayak subtribe that makes its home in Liu Mulang village plans to develop ecotourism while maintaining its customary laws, including protecting the natural environment that is its source of livelihood.
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Motorized canoes called "ketinting" are docked at Liu Mulang village on the shores of Danum Usan, one of the many tributaries that flow into the Mahakam River. The customary village and forest in Long Pahangai district, Mahakam Ulu regency, East Kalimantan, is home to the Bahau Busang Uma Lakwe people, a subtribe of the indigenous Dayak ethnic group. (JP/A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil)
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or the 196 Bahau Busang Uma Lakwe people who live in Liu Mulang village of Long Pahangai district in East Kalimantan, along the Danum Usan tributary of the Mahakam River, the river is more than just home.
It is also the Dayak subethnic group's source of livelihood, a pathway that connects them to the world outside the 27,064.95-hectare forested area that they call home, 80 percent of which is old-growth rainforest.
Danum Usan and the surrounding area are still pristine old-growth forest, and part of the forested area that makes up 80 percent of Mahakam Ulu regency. The local activities still maintain the traditions of forest production, hunting and fishing.
Instead of leaving their customary forest untended or worse, used mainly for extractive exploitation that would harm the unspoiled environment, the villagers plan to turn the area into an ecotourism destination.
For the Liu Mulang villagers, the river and the forest are part of their cultural heritage. They visit the area at least once a year to celebrate the harvest or just to have a picnic.
“Since I was little, this area has always been where we relax in our free time. I will be happy if the area becomes a tourist attraction. We’re proud to have a natural environment that is as beautiful as this,” said Liu Mulang villager Veronica Lawaq, 31.
Veronica said the villagers would come to the area to have a picnic, when they would cook local dishes liked rice steamed in bamboo, and vegetables foraged from the forest or freshly caught river fish.
