INDONESIA II

Community based ecological resource management in Mandailing-Natal, North Sumatera.

OBJECTIVES

• To empower existing Muslim community river management groups with Islamic teachings about the environment.

• To encourage these groups to extend their stewardship to the rehabilitation of watershed and water resources

LOCATION:

The 137 km Batang Gadis River in the kabupaten (district) of Mandailing-Natal (Madina), Province of North Sumatera, Indonesia. Panyabungan is the district capital.

BACKGROUND

Since independence in 1945, local communities in Madina have been overseeing the implementation of the river protection (lubuk larangan) program. The practice prohibits the harvesting of fisheries close to human settlements for a period of between 6 months to a year. Implemented in 70 settlements, the district of Madina has the largest river protection scheme in the province of North Sumatra.

A small fee is charged to residents and sojourners alike to catch the fishes. The income derived there from is in turn used to pay for the development of social facilities such as schools, roads and mosques, providing educational scholarships and administrative salaries, charity towards orphans, poor and invalids, etc..

The income generated by this community-based ecological resource management program benefits the community directly. In view of the current Indonesian economic and political situation, where remote communities can no longer count on the government for ‘development’ funding, the program instils confidence and financial self-reliance.

However, the rivers and watersheds are now facing two threats – illegal logging and pollution. The root causes of the destruction of habitats in Indonesia generally are corruption and weak local governance.

Illegal logging carried out by national lumber companies, with the tacit collusion of the civil, police and military establishments, has ravaged the countryside. With increased consumption, pollution caused by the careless disposal of non-biodegradable domestic wastes, human wastes, and agricultural wastes, is degrading the water quality and river fisheries.

Both these activities have left an adverse impact on the watershed and consequently water quality and fisheries resources that the communities living in the area depend on. The well being and health of the people living in the watersheds, as well as the benefits of the river protection scheme, are at stake.

IMPLEMENTATION:

• Training workshop on the ethics of Islamic environmentalism, promoting concepts such as stewardship (khalifa), governance (amirate), ecology (fitra), reserve (harim) and combating corruption (riba).

• To engage the local government in promoting participatory planning and decision-making, invoking the provision of 'village parliament' as provided in national law No. 22 1999, enacted with the movement toward regional autonomy.

• Setting up a confederation of the respective community groups to coordinate monitoring, evaluation, strategies and actions plans in reforestation and solid waste management.

• Further empowering community stakeholders through social development programmes and increasing effective organisational capacities.

• Linking the communities with national and international water management and fisheries and environmental experts and activists.

LEAD ORGANISATIONS AND CONTACT PERSONS:

Dr. Zulkifli Lubis
Department of Anthropology
Faculty of Social and Political Science
University of North Sumatera
Jl. Dr. Sofian No. 1 Kampus USU
Medan 20155, Sumatera
Indonesia.
Email: [email protected]

The Chief Executive

Yayasan Bindu Nusantara
(The Bindu Archepelago Foundation)
Jl. Letda Sujono No. 75,
Medan, Sumatera, Indonesia.
Email: [email protected]

Abdur-Razzaq Lubis
Heritage Trust
120 Armenian Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 604- 26 33 985, Fax: 604-26 33 970
Email: [email protected]