Jambi village has unique take on conservation<\/p>\n
Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post, Jambi<\/p>\n
\"Ke atas tidak berpucuk, ke bawah tidak berakar, di tengah-tengah
\ndi makan kumbang\" (Like a withered plant, without leaves nor
\nroots, and its stem eaten away by the beetles).<\/p>\n
This is the curse that will be directed at illegal loggers if
\nthey dare to damage the community-owned forest in Batu Kerbau
\nvillage, Pelepat district, Bungo regency.<\/p>\n
The preserved forest (386 hectares) of Batu Kerbau, which
\nforms part of a total forest area measuring 776 hectares, has
\nbeen declared a traditional community forest through Bungo
\nRegental Regulation No. 1249\/2002.<\/p>\n
\"The curse is intended to serve as shock therapy for illegal
\nloggers,\" the traditional leader of Guguk village, Datuk Muhammad
\nRasyid, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Rasyid, the former village chief, who retains the
\ntitle of Datuk Sinaro nan Putiah, said that timber could only be
\ntaken from the traditional forest in the public interest, such
\nas, for example, during the construction of the Al-Istiqomah
\nmosque in the village.<\/p>\n
As an effort to uphold customary law, those who plunder
\nnatural resources in the traditional or protected forests face
\nsanctions, such as a fine amounting to one cow or ox, between 20
\nand 100 gantang of rice (one gantang is the equal to four
\nliters), between 20 and 100 coconuts, a certain amount of cooking
\ningredients, or between four and eight kayu of cloth (one kayu is
\nequal to about 20 meters), as well as cash fines of between Rp
\n500,000 and Rp 2.5 million.<\/p>\n
\"If they don't accept the sanctions, the violators will be
\nreported to the police to be prosecuted in accordance with state
\nlaw,\" he asserted. Sanctions may also be imposed on Muslims based
\nlocal residents -- such as reciting religious texts up to 40
\ntimes.<\/p>\n
The efforts made by the village over the last few years have
\nproved highly successful and gained recognition when the village
\nreceived a national-level Kalpataru Award last year.<\/p>\n
The Batu Kerbau village chief, Tafrizal, said that application
\nof customary law had restored the quality of the Batang Pelepat
\nriver, which runs through the village. It was once polluted by
\nmud from the soil erosion resulting from illegal logging in
\nupstream areas.<\/p>\n
Now, the 800 families living in the village can use water from
\nthe river once more for their household needs. Besides that, the
\npeople can once again exploit the deeper parts of the river,
\nlocally known as the Lubuk Larangan, which literally means the
\n\"Prohibited Deep Pools\", which play host to many kinds of fish.
\nThe people are only allowed to harvest the fish once in every
\nthree years, which allows fish species like semah, barau, meta,
\ndulum, baung, bajubang belang and belido to mature and reproduce.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jambi-village-has-unique-take-on-conservation-1447893297",
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