It is believed that the Wehea Dayaks descended from the mountains of the Apo Kayam into the upper reaches of the Mahakam River over the past four hundred years. The Wehea Dayaks have a sophisticated understanding of the region's forest and riverine ecosystems. As their communities have grown, they have moved progressively downstream, establishing new villages. In 1870, they sited a village approximately ten kilometers upriver from the current settlement of Diak Lay, constructing a large, traditional communal longhouse. By 1945, however, the village had become too large for the residential space, and the Council of Elders decided to relocate the families into four new communities along the Telen and Wahau Rivers. Diak Lay was one of the larger new communities, with fifty-two households. Tribal elders met to demarcate communal lands among the groups. The area allocated to Diak Lay was bounded to the north and south by streams feeding the Wahau. To the east and west, since no other communities resided in the forest area or had prior claims, the community was allowed to extend its range as necessary for hunting and the creation of new swidden fields.
Over the past 120 years, the forests of Diak Lay have undergone a series of changes and recurrent patterns (see Figure 12). Initially, both sides of the Telen River were covered in primary forest. In the early 1900s, the Wehea Dayaks began opening swidden rice fields along the east bank of the river. By the 1920s, these abandoned fields along the river had been left to fallow and regenerate as secondary forests and fruit gardens. Swidden plots for rice cultivation were opened further from the river, deeper into the forest. In 1945, the village of Diak Lay was established on the opposite bank. Over the next four decades, ladang fields penetrated progressively further into the primary forest, extending up to six kilometers from the village. Former ladangs were allowed to regenerate into thick, secondary forest.
Figure 12
Village leaders estimate that the traditional community lands (adat) of Diak Lay comprise approximately 920 square kilometers. Community lands are bounded by the Suad River on the northwest border and the Kenden River on the northeast, down to the Sebeluh River on the southeast cutting across to the west (see Figure 4). Most of the area recognized as adat land serves as territory for hunting and gathering. Lands more intensively managed for active or fallowed swidden fields, banana, rattan, or mixed fruit gardens, and boundary forests (keledung) comprise at most 80 square kilometers closest to the village, or less than one-tenth of the tribe's ancestral land.
The Wehea Dayaks practice a number of agricultural, agroforestry, and forest-management systems. Land resources are broadly divided: those used for swidden fields, either active or in one of the five phases of successive regeneration; those converted to long-term use as banana, mixed fruit, or rattan gardens; and those permanently under large or smaller tracts of secondary or primary forest. The Wehea Dayak classification scheme for natural regeneration is similar to that of the Benuaq Dayaks, although some variation exists in the time periods. A transect illustrates various types of Wehea Dayak land-use systems (see Figure 13).
Figure 13
The selection of swidden sites, or ladangs, occurs during a community meeting (petku meu) held in May. The Benuaq Dayaks have a similar communal decision-making process in Damai, although the system has broken down in Datarban since the population began to plummet. During the meeting in Diak Lay, possible sites are proposed by the tribal headman, village headman, chief of the fields (kepala padang), and the fifteen tribal elders. Other community members may also propose sites. Each proposal must be supported by a description of the characteristics which qualify the site as suitable for agriculture. The primary consideration in selecting a prospective site is whether sufficient natural forest regeneration and soil fertility recovery have occurred since it was last opened for agriculture. Forest land designated empla neumeu is deemed ecologically premature or unready for reopening. In general, if a forest has regenerated for more than ten years, it has usually reached the stage known as eulang neumeu -- adequately rejuvenated in terms of nutrients and water moisture to support agriculture. Prospective plots must be at least one hectare in order to support several families. Most plots have been previously used for ladangs and are selected in regenerating secondary forests. The site histories and past productivity are weighed and considered. Since the original primary forest was first cleared in Diak Lay in the second half of the 1940s, new ladangs are now opening regenerated forests for a third rotation. This fallow period is similar to that of the Kenyan Dayaks, where families usually clear swiddens from regenerating, secondary forest ranging in age from eight to twenty-five years (
FN 16). Once a ladang site has been proposed during the communal meeting, the committee visits the area to determine whether the site meets all the ritual and physical requirements. If so, the kepala padang will attempt to divide the area equally among the community members interested in farming it.
Perched on the riverbank of the Mahakam, curios children of Diak Lay are eager to greet visitors
This couple in Diak Lay describes its dependencies on the rainforest for game, vegetables, fruits, gum, medicines, fuelwood, and structural building materials; the Dayaks also harbor a special respect for forest animals, many of which they collect as pets or place on display.
The Mahakam River serves as the primary conduit for barge transport of commercial logs harvested from the rainforest.
A typical scene of a Dayak riverside settlement along the Mahakam.
While primary forests often give somewhat higher yields initially due to their greater soil fertility, they are generally avoided due to the additional work involved in clearing larger trees. Recently, one man proposed opening a primary forest using a chainsaw. Other members of the community were reluctant to join him because the site was too far from the village. Nonetheless, he proceeded to open the ladang. While his crop was bountiful, his harvest was poor due to damage by monkeys, deer, and other pests. Community members believe that because he acted alone and without the cooperation of others to help guard his crop, he suffered accordingly.
Fields are frequently opened by cooperative groups of 10 families. An adult male and female from each household travel to the ladang and provide one full day of labor to each member of the group of 10. Such an arrangement is usually enough to clear most of the larger trees and brush on the plot. Each ladang averages about one hectare. In Diak Lay for the 1991-92 cropping season, a total of 53 hectares was under ladang for 47 households. This land yielded approximately 41 metric tons of paddy (dry unhusked grain), or 774 kilograms per hectare-a good harvest for swidden fields.
While the Wehea Dayaks have maintained small house gardens (kebun) for generations, growing populations, interactions with other Indonesian ethnic groups, and a desire to generate more agricultural cash produce have stimulated the expansion of kebun in Diak Lay. Kebun are primarily dedicated to the production of fruit or rattan and are considered permanent land-use systems apart from the swidden rotation cycle. Kebun may be formed from old regenerating ladangs, secondary forests, buffer forests (keledung), or homegardens (pekarangan). Generally planted on communal lands, usufructs to kebun may become privatized. Once an individual has invested significant labor in planting fruit trees or rattan, the community recognizes his/her rights to that produce. In Diak Lay, the three types of kebun are differentiated according to primary produce, including rattan, bananas, and mixed fruit. Most kebun also shelter a wide variety of additional domesticated and natural forest species.
In the Diak Lay area, rattan gardens (hetan gue) were started in the early twentieth century in response to expanding commercial demands stimulated by Kutai rulers downstream. Certain rattan gardens in Diak Lay are nearly one hundred years old. Once an old ladang has been taken over for a rattan or mixed fruit garden, the investment and care is substantial enough that it rarely reverts back to ladang. Sega and pendas are the most valuable commercial rattan varieties, prized for their strength and pliability in weaving.
Sega rattan is usually planted in secondary forests with good canopy closure. According to Pak Biteq, in the first year rattan seedlings do best with approximately 30 percent light, planted 5-10 meters apart in clumps of 3-4 plants. Only the most suitable sites are planted, generally averaging 200 seedlings per hectare. As the plants mature, they require larger trees to climb. Certain silvicultural operations can enhance rattan productivity and help sustain maximum yields. Maturing rattan requires 40-60 percent light to achieve optimal productivity; consequently, larger trees of 50 centimeters in diameter are sometimes felled to create more openings in the canopy. The rattan groves may also be cleaned of undergrowth and climbers to lend additional spacing. The plants are ready for harvest by the time they are 6-10 years old. When fully grown, a sega shoot may reach 15 meters or more in length. After reaching maturity, shoots can be selectively harvested annually. The plant sprouts up to 10 new coppice shoots each year. Once a well-stocked garden is established, it may produce for generations.
When they achieve full productivity, Pak Biteq reports that rattan gardens can generate up to 5,000 kilograms of cane per hectare annually. In Diak Lay, however, most rattan gardens produce on average only 500 kilograms per hectare due to damage resulting from periodic fires which burned the area during the 1980s. After drying, this shrinks to 250 kilograms. Growers in Diak Lay received Rp. 500-1,200 ($0.25-0.60) for one kilogram of dry rattan in 1992, depending on variety and quality. These prices were somewhat lower than in 1987, before the Indonesian government banned whole rattan exports. However, after an initial drop in the late 1980s, prices have been rising again.
Approximately one-third of the rattan gardens in Diak Lay are owned by the old village headman, who has moved to Tenggarong. Still, most village families own small plots of 1-2 hectares. It is estimated that Diak Lay may have over one hundred hectares cultivated in rattan gardens. Most of the rattan supply is purchased by Pak Abdullah, a Kutai agent who owns the village store and handles trade in many forest products. Occasionally, operators of river taxis purchase rattan from family producers (
FN 17). In 1991, Pak Abdullah reports making 4 trips to Samarinda to sell 17 metric tons of rattan, produced from Diak Lay gardens or the neighboring forests.Villagers and traders report that rattan markets and prices are uncertain. Demand for rattan is often driven by orders from furniture-makers and exporters in Samarinda and other large urban centers. Nonetheless, most families in the village might earn Rp. 150,000- 300/000 ($75-150) per year from rattan.
The most serious threat to rattan gardens is fire. The publicized East Kalimantan fire of 1982 caused extensive damage to the rattan gardens of Diak Lay, and they are still recovering. Communities attempt to protect the gardens against fires. When they do break out, a gong is struck and all members join together to suppress the fires, using their parangs to hack away burning materials and beat out flames.
While rattan is the primary product from these groves, the gardens tend to harbor a diverse mix of native and exotic species. This research in Diak Lay has documented over ninety different species of climbers, herbs, trees, and other plants flourishing in rattan gardens, many of which are useful subsistence goods. The prospects for sustaining rattan culture in Diak Lay are promising. With natural reserves declining under increasing forest pressure, market opportunities for cultured rattan should grow. International markets also appear robust, with demand increasing. Rattan cultivation could continue to produce a reliable and expanding source of cash.
Mixed fruit gardens as a land use appear to have evolved only in the last 30 years in response to growing markets for fruit downriver. Particular species such as durian, guava, langsat, mangos, citrus, pineapples, bananas, rambutan, and kemiri nuts are cultivated for the market, while a much wider variety of fruits are grown for home consumption. Gardens are usually located near the village homesteads. Diversity inventories of mixed gardens in Diak Lay identified 150 species of plants. Banana gardens, by contrast, tend to be much less biologically diverse and are characterized by a stronger sense of private ownership and commercial orientation.
Homegardens (pekarangan), planted in the courtyard surrounding a house, produce goods solely for subsistence. These are planted with a variety of vegetables, ornamentals, spices, fruits, and plants for medicinal and ritual use. Pekarangan in Diak Lay average 200 square meters and support 122 species of plants. Social interactions, rituals, construction, and many other activities occur in the pekarangan.
The Wehea Dayaks believe that natural forest protection and regeneration are among the best ways to ensure the steady availability of fertile agricultural lands. Depletion of soil fertility in fields close to the village forces communities to walk increasing distances to open new fields or even relocate their village. Both situations result in considerable expenditure of unproductive labor. Consequently, there are strong incentives to maintain the productivity of forest lands in close proximity to the village through long rotations and careful stewardship.
The Wehea Dayaks recognize that rapid regeneration can best be facilitated by selecting forest areas with sufficient soil fertility and minimizing disturbance when the ladang is opened and while crops are growing. The Dayaks know that the relatively low general fertility status of the tropical laterite soils in the area prohibits more than one year of productive farming. They are also attentive in their use of fire, controlling burns so that the soils are not overly hardened. Certain ladangs which were fallowed and regenerating but later burned by the spontaneous forest fires of the 1980s have succumbed to Imperata grass. When opening a ladang, the Dayaks of Diak Lay collect the slash and wood into small piles to isolate the bum. They leave large trees (over 100 centimeters in diameter at breast height -- DBH) as mother trees to reseed fallowed ladangs. Tree stumps are not removed from fields, allowing their root systems to hold the soil, or, with certain species, to produce coppice shoots which regenerate rapidly once the field is abandoned. By minimizing damage to the forest ecosystem throughout its preparation and use for agriculture, forest regeneration in old ladangs usually results in vigorous regrowth.
The Wehea Dayaks also reserve strips of natural forest (keledung) between ladangs of households with kinship ties. Generally, keledungs are 20-30 meters wide and as long as the ladang field, with an average keledung to ladang ratio of 6:1. The Wehea Dayaks say the keledung serves numerous social functions by clarifying field boundaries and establishing physical barriers, reducing in-breeding within extended families. Ecologically, the keledung provides a source of seed for the regeneration of fallowed swiddens, as well as corridors for the movement of humans, birds, and animals. Keledungs play an important role in enhancing natural regeneration by moderating the microclimate, reducing the temperature, and increasing the humidity near the ladang. The ketedung can also slow the movement of pests from one ladang to another. Broadly classified by age of regenerating secondary forest, keledungs include young forests 10-40 years old (muda) and those 40-100 years old (tua). Forests over one hundred years are classified as primary forest, or keletong (
FN 18).
Much of the tribal land within five kilometers of Diak Lay village is covered in young, secondary forest, the majority used formerly as ladang and fruit and rattan gardens. Further from the river (usually more that five kilometers west), the land is dominated by primary forest (keletong) and mature, secondary forests. Perceived by Dayaks as communal lands, these forests are generally deemed too far away for ladangs and kebun and are used primarily for hunting and the collection of non-timber forest products. Any member of the village can freely collect forest products with the exception of birds' nests, for which harvesting rights to nesting caves are owned by individual families.
Birds' nests have been collected by Dayaks in the Kalimantan forests for centuries and sold to traders for the Chinese market. The nests, built by swifts (Collocalia spp.) using their saliva, are highly valued as an ingredient in Chinese soups. Controlled by seven households, there are twelve birds' nest caves in the Diak Lay area. In the neighboring village of Ben Hes, ten caves are controlled by six families. Many cave claims date back one hundred years and are passed on from generation to generation.
Owners must protect their caves or hire guards during each nesting cycle. Several male members of a family typically take turns guarding their caves, which are usually within a day's walk of the village. Due to the high value of the nests, theft attempts are common. Historically, conflicts have occurred over cave control, and the forests nearby are rumored to hold the bones of those who have struggled for this right. In the past, the caves of Diak Lay and Ben Hes were owned by the Dayak Raja of Wehea. After this system of control dissolved due to political changes during the colonial period, the more powerful local families gained claims over the caves. Still, acts of sabotage and conflict occur regularly. Occasionally, a family will lease the harvest rights of its cave to others for Rp.50,000-100,000 ($25-$50) per collection period.
A mixed homegarden with banana, rattan, cassava, and many other species is an important traditional land use practiced by the Dayaks and other local and migrant groups
Initiated by village headman Pak Biteq, an understory plantation of rattan in the rainforest will eventually evolve into a valuable rattan garden in which he holds the harvest rights.
From top: Dayak woman weaves baskets from high quality sega rattan from the forest; successful young hunter returns from forest with deer and boar to share with community; differing qualities of birds' nests collected from the forests of Indonesia and China are sold in the booming medicinal markets of Hong Kong.
The swifts require approximately 42 days to build their nests, after which the collection activity begins. Normally, 8 nest harvests take place each year, and one cave may yield 15-100 nests. The maximum harvest occurs during the peak nesting season between January and April, while the lowest yields occur from May to July. Each nest may be worth Rp. 5,000-15,000 ($2.50-$5), depending on its quality. The clearer and whiter the nest, the higher its value. The nests are collected immediately after the eggs are laid. If left longer, the quality will deteriorate as the nests darken. However, the removal of the nests before the eggs are allowed to hatch may influence the population of the swifts. Traditionally nest harvests were more regulated and allowed only every 75 days.
Pak Abdullah, the agent handling birds' nest sales from Diak Lay and Ben Hes, reports that most collectors gather 90-100 nests per harvest, grossing an average of Rp. 600,000 ($300). Collectors' costs for food and other supplies to camp near the cave for 42 days average Rp. 75,000 ($37.50) per person, often advanced by the agent. This leaves each collector with a net profit of Rp.125,000, or approximately Rp.3,000 per day ($1.50) -- one-third the wage available from timber companies.
Pak Abdullah sells the nests to Pak Idwar, another Kutai, at the subdistrict headquarters of Muara Wahau. Pak Idwar has purchased the rights to handle nest transactions for 89 caves in the area, paying Rp. 106 million ($52,000) for this concession. In turn, he sells the nests to a Chinese Indonesian, Pak lyeng, who purchased monopoly rights to become the pahtar (exclusive buyer) to all nest trading in East Kalimantan Province for 1992 at the annual auction in Tenggarong. The pahtar in Kalimantan can earn a 300 percent profit over and above the collectors' income. However, in Hong Kong medicinal markets, high quality Indonesian birds' nests sell for over $3,000 per kilogram, in contrast to the $500-$750 the collectors may receive. Since this new system has been recently installed, it is premature to assess how it will affect birds' nest markets and collectors' prices.
Gahru is also collected in the Diak Lay area, gathered primarily by Banjarese, Javanese, and Kutai who have moved into the Muara Wahau region. Intensive gahru collection began only in 1990. Pak Dahlan, a Kutai involved in gahru collection in South and Central Kalimantan feels that the supply will have been largely tapped out in the Muara Wahau area in another two or three years. There are eleven small "bosses" or middlemen who finance approximately one hundred collectors each. Only an estimated 10 percent of the collectors are local Dayaks. Generally the local population is unable to compete with more experienced collectors who migrate to the area from other parts of Kalimantan.
In the Diak Lay area, Pak Dahlan reports that an experienced collector can find gahru on average in one of every seven trees he fells. Usually it occurs in larger trees. In September 1992 Pak Dahlan and four other Kutai men collected 10 kilograms of gahru and received Rp. 2 million ($1,000). The boss, who purchased a collector's permit from the Ministry of Forests, the local government, and the police, gave the collectors a cash advance of Rp. 100,000 for field supplies. The trees are cut with axes, as it is too far to carry chainsaws and fuel. The collectors' net profit of Rp. 300,000 ($150) per person translated to about Rp. 10,000 per day-approximately what loggers or agricultural laborers might receive-for their labor. However, the search for gahru is more closely related to prospecting in terms of the risks involved. Many collectors remain in the forest for weeks without discovering any of the substance.
The entry of timber operations initiated radical changes in land-use patterns in Diak Lay. Due to sedimentation from erosion caused by eight timber concessions around the village, the Telen River has turned a muddy brown. On the river's west side, the OTP Company has encroached several kilometers onto the traditional lands claimed by the Wehea Dayaks. Pak Bourhan Mas, the tribal leader of Ben Hes, reports that OTP logged right up to the river's edge between 1979 and 1984. Its felling and extraction operations caused severe erosion, clogging the Mbung River. Pak Bourhan feels that OTP seriously infringed on the concession boundaries, overcutting the forest and inflicting considerable ecological damage during the extraction process. As a result of the subsequent soil erosion and compaction, very little natural forest regeneration has occurred. Pak Bourhan explains that instead of progression through the sequences of secondary succession after ladangs are fallowed, much of the logged-over forest has turned to Imperata grass and scrub, with scant evidence of high-value meranti saplings or other indicators of renewed fertility. Apparently, OTP made no attempts to reforest the area, nor to carry out any environmental rehabilitation or community development program.
Pak Bourhan recalls that when OTP and other concessionaires first arrived in the early 1970s, the villagers were hoping they would create new employment and local markets for their fruit and vegetables. Instead, few individuals have found steady work in the concessions, which tend to intensively cut and move quickly on to new areas. Pak Bourhan feels that the environmental costs of timber operations have been heavy and unfairly borne by the local, forest-dependent communities. The slow recovery of felled areas eliminates them from production for a period of time during which they are not even considered for potential ladang fields. At the same time, the availability of rattan, gum, and other important economic non-timber forest products has declined sharply in logged-over areas. Revealing the unequal power relation- ship and lack of communication among resident user groups, OTP did not consult the Wehea Dayak leaders in Ben Hes or Diak Lay before beginning timber operations on Dayak communal lands. The villages were first visited by representatives of the timber company only when they came to recruit additional laborers for the felling.
In contrast, Pak Bourhan expressed greater satisfaction with P.T. Mugi, the timber concession to the north which has made an effort to comply with the government's 1989 requirement that concessionaires conduct community development programs (Bina Desa). Mugi has sent two young extension workers with college degrees to assist the community with agricultural development and educational projects. In Diak Lay, the extension workers are helping expand the school through the sixth grade and assisting in the construction of a road from Diak Lay to the subdistrict headquarters at Muara Wahau. The community had identified both activities as priorities.
The Diak Lay villagers are less enthusiastic about the concessionaire's Bina Desa program in the agriculture sector. The extension workers have wanted to help the farmers move from rotational to sedentary agriculture, but their demonstration plots for soybean cultivation failed after a pest infestation. Furthermore, a company pesticide demonstration accidently killed household chickens in Diak Lay. The experience of outsiders with the nuances of ecological productivity in the area are limited, and it is uncertain whether the fragile soils of Diak Lay can sustain annual cropping. Instead, the Dayaks' time-tested, long-term fallow and rotational swidden strategies may provide the best option for sustainable farming and forest regeneration.
The Mugi extension workers have encouraged the villagers to work together with the local government to clarify their land boundaries. Community leaders have been reluctant, fearing that their lands may be further restricted due to the government's perceived sympathies with the concessionaires. Pak Biteq, the headman in Diak Lay, explains that villagers are concerned that the concessionaires are taking over too much land. As Diak Lay's population grows, the community may not have adequate land to meet its needs for new ladangs. Pak Biteq feels that the concessionaires should take responsibility for replanting the logged forests with a comparable mixture of valuable species which they have extracted, including rattan damaged during the process. He feels that the temporary logging roads left behind should be improved before the companies move on to facilitate development of the local transportation infrastructure. Along the same lines, Pak Biteq believes that former logging camps could be adapted so that Dayak communities could use them as bases for nursery and reforestation activities. Once the concessionaires have completed their operations, he feels they should be required to repair their roads and camps and return the land to the authority of indigenous local communities, thus allowing the Dayaks to protect, manage, and utilize the area.
Pak Biteq recommends that management decisions regarding logged-over forest lands be based on consensual decisions emphasizing access controls, natural regeneration, and enrichment planting to meet the long-term needs of future generations. Such land-use decisions should be discussed and determined during open community meetings. In Diak Lay, he feels that individual households could be assigned use and protection responsibilities for specific tracts of forest, in similar fashion to their current allocation of rights and responsibilities over ladangs. However, the forest land should never be privately owned, nor should outsiders be allowed to enter or operate in these areas without the permission of the community. While usufruct rights can be sold and traded, Pak Biteq feels strongly that the land should remain inalienable, under the control of the community in perpetuity.