Indigenous Peoples, Forest, and Water Stewardship

“Only when the last tree has withered, and the last fish caught, and the last river has been poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money.”

Native American Cree Proverbs

Photo by Retno Dwinika / Unsplash

The dominant world is familiar with the wealthiest of our planet; the richest 10% of the global population owns 76% of all wealth, according to the World Inequality Report 2022. Yet, there is another group of wealth holders that remain rarely discussed within our society today despite their enormous possessions. They are the Indigenous Peoples.

Comprising only 5% of the world’s population, Indigenous Peoples’ territories harbor more than 80% of the remaining Earth’s biodiversity, including an essential yet ever increasingly scarce resource: water. Despite the continuous structural injustice, as well as political, economic, and racial marginalization they faced, Indigenous communities have succeeded in their stewardship of water since time immemorial. Not only lands of intact ecosystems but also many headwaters, water bodies, and other important sources of water amid places of abundant water to semi and arid environments in all global regions conserved within Indigenous water governance. In light of the plummeting health of our planet and its water bodies, the time-tested wisdom of Indigenous Peoples merits attention.

We cannot survive without “Them”

In 2009, a group of climate scientists devised the concept of ‘Planetary Boundaries’ aimed at defining a safe operating space for humanity by identifying nine components of the Earth’s system, including climate change, biodiversity loss, nutrient cycle, ozone depletion, ocean acidification, land use change, aerosol loading, chemical pollution, and freshwater change. To date, global freshwater use–consisting of the visible blue water (rivers, lakes, groundwater) and the invisible green water (rainwater, soil moisture, terrestrial precipitation, and evaporation)–has become the sixth boundary that has been exceeded by human activities, economic and population growth, posing our planet in unprecedented danger.

Green water is the crucial key to understanding the intricate relationship between water, deforestation, climate change, and Indigenous Peoples. Forests hold an important role in our water cycle. Every single tree pumps out water from the ground through its roots and releases vapor into the atmosphere through its leaves. On the forest scale, the transpiration processes of billions of trees orchestrate rivers of water in the air, cooling down the local temperature, forming clouds, and creating rainfall in distant places on Earth. Although trees “drink” a lot of water, they also have a significant role in retaining water in their root system, thus protecting the soil moisture. All of this explained how deforestation became a major manmade pressure towards the transgression of green water boundaries.

On the other hand, uncontrolled groundwater withdrawal, poisoning of rivers by excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, contamination of household trash, and mining heavy metal leakage to the water resources are all impacting the blue water change. “Water is the bloodstream of the biosphere. But we are profoundly changing the water cycle. This is now affecting the health of the entire planet,” says Lan Wang-Erlandsson, the lead author of ‘A planetary boundary for green water’.

Our dominant society with the view of water as a resource that must be handled efficiently and effectively to ensure its availability and accessibility for humanity, has proven to be unable to maintain water and the planet within a safe operating limit. Meanwhile, Indigenous Peoples with their water governance system thrive through their practices of stewardship and guardianship of intact ecosystems and water bodies based on their thousands of years of understanding of the intrinsic and relational values of forest and water. 

In many parts of the world, Indigenous Peoples are the frontline guardians against deforestation. Even in the absence of government support, voluntary community movements, for example, Guajajara and Ka’apor communities of northeastern Brazil, organized their own patrols to evict illegal loggers, sometimes even at the cost of their lives. In other communities, deep-seated ancestral pearls of wisdom of intimate spiritual relation with the tree and forest motivate daily practice to conserve the forest.

The Orang Rimba (directly translated to ‘jungle people’) of the Indonesian rainforest have an inseparable existence from the gods in trees, flowers, and animals. The forest embodies their life, from the moment of birth until the final breath. When a mother is pregnant, the tungganai (traditional healer) will select a tree where a tent will be built for her birthing place. Subsequently, the newborn will be immediately gifted two other trees, the tenggeris tree as his birth tree symbolizing the child’s name, and the sentubung tree where the umbilical cord is buried, signifying the twin sibling who will accompany the child’s journey through life.

Trees are valued as precious as human life: People who cut a single tree must pay 500 pieces of cloth as punishment, the same punishment as a murderer.

Orang Rimba also uses their strategy of Hompongan, which is planting productive trees in specific configurations around their National Park boundaries to form a safety belt to warn outsiders and illegal loggers. Their intertwined identity with nature and forest fueled their role in governing the green water.

Regarding blue water, an example can be seen from the Dene Indigenous Peoples of Northern Canada, where elders were in charge of monitoring fishing in their communities. If a certain area was used for fishing, it would only be allowed for up to ten years, and then community members were required to halt all harvesting for five years or so to let the populations rebound while moving to another area for harvesting in the meantime. Almost similar practices also happen even among many permanent-settler Indigenous Peoples of Sumatra, Java, and Kalimantan, Indonesia, called Lubuk Larangan (forbidden pool), a certain watershed that is forbidden to be harvested except during an annual customary period.

Having full sovereignty over their land, Indigenous water governance also enables them to achieve food security. Hohokam people of the southern Arizona desert are renowned as the builders of one of the first and most expanded water irrigation systems, sustainably maintaining the stream of Salt and Gila River. Malind Anim people of Merauke, Indonesia, have their wambad close to a water body such as a river or swamp, as their traditional cultivation system. It consists of an elevated garden bed that avoids flooding during the wet season, with a smart use of topography to drain excess water. The water is drained through kamahib, a drainage system that absorbs and stores freshwater during the wet season, and is used to water the plants during the dry season as well as being a fish habitat, thus building resilience through plenty and high-quality food year-round.

The understanding of the symbiotic relationship between forests and water among Indigenous Peoples goes beyond mere ecological knowledge; it serves as a guiding principle influencing various aspects of their lives. From agricultural practices to resource governance and cultural organization, the influence of this understanding spread through Indigenous societies, shaping their way of life. The effects of this stewardship are important for maintaining the planet’s biodiversity and also to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Come together with the Indigenous Peoples   

“With the increasing pressure on us Indigenous Peoples today, we cannot do this alone anymore. We are calling for global solidarity. We are calling us, as human beings, to embrace the collective spirit. This is the basis of our common humanity, the collective must survive and prosper.”

Rukka Sombolinggi, Head of AMAN (Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago), in her 2023 Skoll Award Acceptance Speech in the human rights struggle for Indigenous Peoples of Indonesia

As Indigenous Peoples stand on the frontline of the struggle for land and water conservation, they often suffer disproportionately from the cost of development but enjoy the least of its benefits. The deforestation that rarely comes to mind amidst the hustle of urban living abruptly came into their serene land. Cutting off their trees of birth, their sacred places, their livelihood, their identity.

Their children are the first ones who died of diarrhea and dehydration from river poisoning, while we comfortably sipped our cup of coffee at home. 

Photo by Christy Abigail

“Yellow elephant, that is what we called the tractor and other heavy machinery, came with a deafening roar, clearing our forest. Our hearts were shattered seeing our forest fall,” says Orang Rimba as their customary forest was being part of the eight million hectares of Indonesia forest cover was lost just in the last two decades due to the rapid expansion of palm oil plantations that happened as Indonesia became the world’s largest palm oil producer.

Forced to leave the ancestral forest that they had guarded for so long, Orang Rimba faced the harsh reality of poverty, food insecurity, and even social stigma and marginalization. Although the deforestation rate was claimed by the government to be significantly declining since 2016, the displaced Orang Rimba will never get back their forest. It is not a unique experience for Orang Rimba. All over the world, Indigenous Peoples and leaders are experiencing criminalization, jailed, and even killed for their rightful resistance movement.

Moving forward

1) Urgent Need for Indonesian Indigenous Peoples’ Law Enactment

With the ever-increasing recognition of the utmost value of Indigenous wisdom and stewardship to climate resilience, Indigenous People are gaining increasing voices within the global forum. The 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) and Conference of Parties 28 (COP28) witnessed the historically largest number of Indigenous delegates, as part of a long history of Indigenous organizing, activism, and social movement for at least 20 years. Some most important key milestones are the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (RED) policy in 2005 UNFCCC that stimulates Indigenous Peoples as key rights holders for being the directly impacted communities by the program in terms of their livelihood and relationships with the land. The adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007 is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Paris Agreement in 2015 became the first international climate policy document recognizing the rights, contributions, and knowledge of Indigenous People and the need to strengthen their practices. 

However, the Indigenous community of Indonesia is still in dire need of national and local legal protection that is truly accessible in exercising their basic rights. Often a decision was made, far in the city, to distribute Indigenous land as concession land without their knowledge. The Indigenous Peoples’ Law, which has been delayed for almost fifteen years since 2010, must be immediately passed to ensure protection for the rights of Indigenous People to determine the fate of their land and continue their practice of protecting the remaining resources of the Earth.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

2) Recognition and Integration of Indigenous Wisdom in Water and Forest Governance

As Indigenous Peoples have significantly contributed to water and forest guardianship that is critical for Indonesia's nature and climate resilience, it is imperative that Indonesia's rally in its energy transition targets, national strategic projects, and ambition to be Southeast Asia’s green energy powerhouse need to carefully consider the Planetary Boundaries. Within this framework, we can decide the limit of resource extraction that will be done in the coming years as well as the end-time of all extraction processes. Awareness that the sources of remaining targeted natural elements, such as nickel, are located mostly in Indigenous Peoples’ territories, Indonesia needs to have a system and national instruments that can ensure the protection of their rights as the legal citizens of Indonesia to be heard and included as opposed to being harmed and neglected. Together with the international community, Indonesia also needs to support Indigenous Peoples to position themselves as key actors with valuable wisdom and contributions in national policymaking processes toward better land and water conservation.     

3) Providing Community-Based Assistance for the Impacted and Displaced Indigenous Groups

Displaced Indigenous Peoples who lose their lands and livelihoods are prone to extreme poverty and multiplied social and health risks. With their shrinkage forests home, remote Indigenous Peoples who used to primarily rely on foraging had lost their healthy and culturally familiar food options. It thrust them into a food transition phase with little to no option or ability to afford nutritious food. Often Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) became their only economic choice, further increasing their risk of malnutrition, stunting, and long-term risk of chronic diseases. Combined with their poor access to healthcare, these conditions will result in increasing premature death and rising morbidity. Community-based primary health and socioeconomic development initiatives that are culturally appropriate and encourage participation of Indigenous local leaders have proven effective in improving care among them. Further support for Indigenous Peoples in redeveloping their traditional food system can be a part of a holistic solution.

References: 

1. Indigenous Peoples and the forest-water nexus (2021) Food and Agriculture Organization. Available at: https://www.fao.org/in-action/forest-and-water-programme/news/news-detail/ar/c/1396077/ (Accessed: 21 March 2024). 

2. Nurhasan, M. et al. (2022) ‘Toward a sustainable food system in West Papua, Indonesia: Exploring the links between dietary transition, food security, and Forests’, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5. doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.789186. 

3. Redvers, N. et al. (2020) ‘Indigenous natural and first law in planetary health’, Challenges, 11(2), p. 29. doi:10.3390/challe11020029. 

4. Stewart-Koster, B. et al. (2023) ‘Living within the safe and just Earth system boundaries for Blue Water’, Nature Sustainability, 7(1), pp. 53–63. doi:10.1038/s41893-023-01247-w. 

5. Richardson, K. et al. (2023) ‘Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries’, Science Advances, 9(37). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adh2458. 

6. Indigenous people, water, and climate change: Siwi - leading expert in water governance (2023) SIWI. Available at: https://siwi.org/publications/indigenous-people-water-and-climate-change/ (Accessed: 21 March 2024). 

7. Rockström, J. et al. (2009) ‘A safe operating space for humanity’, Nature, 461(7263), pp. 472–475. doi:10.1038/461472a. 

8. Veit, P. (2018) 5 ways indigenous groups are fighting back against land seizures, World Resources Institute. Available at: https://www.wri.org/insights/5-ways-indigenous-groups-are-fighting-back-against-land-seizures (Accessed: 22 March 2024). 

9. Porkka, M. et al. (2024) ‘Notable shifts beyond pre-industrial streamflow and soil moisture conditions transgress the planetary boundary for freshwater change’, Nature Water [Preprint]. doi:10.1038/s44221-024-00208-7. 

10. Krieger, A. (2022) Freshwater as a planetary boundary: Blue Water and green water, Helmholtz Climate Initiative. Available at: https://helmholtz-klima.de/en/planetary-boundaries-fresh-water (Accessed: 22 March 2024). 

11. Wang-Erlandsson, L. et al. (2022) ‘A planetary boundary for Green Water’, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3(6), pp. 380–392. doi:10.1038/s43017-022-00287-8. 

12. Arne Tobian                          PhD Candidate in Planetary Boundaries, Dieter Gerten                          Working Group Leader and Lan Wang Erlandsson                          Researcher and Theme leader (2023) Human disruption to Earth’s freshwater cycle has exceeded the safe limit, our research shows, The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/human-disruption-to-earths-freshwater-cycle-has-exceeded-the-safe-limit-our-research-shows-182562 (Accessed: 22 March 2024). 

13. Fred Pearce        •              July 24 et al. (no date) Rivers in the sky: How deforestation is affecting global water cycles, Yale E360. Available at: https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-deforestation-affecting-global-water-cycles-climate-change (Accessed: 22 March 2024). 

14. Chancel, L., Piketty, T., Saez, E., Zucman, G. et al. World Inequality Report 2022, World Inequality Lab wir2022.wid.world

15. Chamim, M. Menjaga rimba terakhir: kisah masyarakat lokal, indigenous people, berjibaku menjaga hutan. 2020. WARSI.

Christy Abigail Wulandari (Anggie) is a Medical Doctor and Research Assistant in the Department of Community Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, who is passionate about health equity among rural Indigenous peoples of Indonesia. Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Christy spent more than seven years of her clinical experience delivering healthcare in various remote and geographically limited resource areas throughout Indonesia’s outer islands and rainforests. In 2021, Christy joined a pioneer team on grassroots healthcare development among the Orang Rimba/Suku Anak Dalam, an indigenous people of Merangin District, Jambi, Indonesia, providing intensive community-based health development programs for more than two years. She is now an incoming Master of Medical Science in Global Health Delivery Candidate at Harvard Medical School.