Lestari Moerdijat Highlights Indigenous Peoples' Role in Protecting Local Food Ecosystems

Indigenous customary territories harbour vast tracts of forest and local food sources that are crucial for the sustainability of ecosystems. Indigenous communities are the last bastion in preserving biodiversity and realising sustainable food sovereignty, said Rerie in a statement on Wednesday (20 May 2026).

The statement was made as she opened an online discussion on Biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples, and Food held by the Denpasar Discussion Forum 12. The discussion, moderated by Arimbi Heroepoetri, S.H., L.LM., featured Hilmar Farid, Ph.D., Helianti Hilman, S.H., L.LM., and Dicky Senda as speakers. Sapariah Saturi attended as a respondent.

According to Rerie, the National Awakening Day commemoration on 20 May, whose theme is “Guard the Nation’s Growth for the Sovereignty of the State”, is closely related to the theme of International Biodiversity Day to be observed on 22 May, which is “Act in Local Realms with Global Impact”.

These two commemorations aim to build momentum to raise awareness among stakeholders and the public about the future. Rerie argues that amid the climate crisis and homogenised consumption, customary territories have proven able to safeguard ecosystems while independently providing abundant nutritional sources.

BRWA (Indigenous Territory Registry Agency) data records at least 4.9 million hectares of indigenous-cultivated land underpinning autonomous local food systems. Indigenous peoples and local communities, said Lestari, have traditionally contributed to safeguarding 80% of the world’s biodiversity.

Rerie revealed that Indonesia’s biodiversity is a frequently overlooked source of food. BRIN (National Research and Innovation Agency) notes that Indonesia has more than 5,500 types of staple crops and 33,000 types of medicinal plants.

Rerie added that historical data show Indonesian staple food consumption used to be diverse: rice (53.5%), cassava (22.26%), maize (18.9%), and sago and tubers (4.99%).

However, over time there has been massive homogenisation with national consumption dominated by rice (74.6%) and wheat (25.4%). This homogenisation pressures indigenous regions to clear land for monoculture food crops, which damages local land-use patterns.

“In fact, we can build food security based on local wisdom. Every development initiative must start from the modalities of knowledge and local wisdom that we possess,” said Rerie.

Hilmar Farid, Director-General of Culture at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for the 2019-2024 period, argues that Indonesia is the second-largest megabiodiversity country in the world. Indonesia holds 85% of the world’s sago reserves, more than 100 types of local carbohydrate sources, and 700 regional languages. Yet with all these facts, Indonesia chooses to import wheat to meet part of its carbohydrate needs.

“This shows there is a mindset problem in building our food sovereignty,” Hilmar commented. “Our food system is highly centralised. After all, we are an archipelagic country.”

According to Hilmar, national decentralisation of food is the solution to meeting basic needs in the future and upholding food sovereignty. Placing indigenous communities in a central role in the development and strengthening of national food security must be realised.

Founder of Javara Indigenous Indonesia, Helianti Hilman argues that Indonesia’s regions, with their biodiversity, are sources of various foods. The growing global healthy-living trend presents a major opportunity for the local food industry using local ingredients to supply global markets.

“The diversity and uniqueness of local food ingredients, as well as our culture, are strengths for exporting specialist food products abroad,” said Helianti.

According to Helianti, what is happening now is a crisis of food policy, not a food crisis. For, as Helianti insists, Indonesia actually has diverse food sources.

Dicky Senda, founder of the Lakoat Kujawas Community in the Mollo Mountains, Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, argues that the local food system must be built consistently so that sustainable knowledge about local foods can continue from generation to generation.

According to Dicky, Timor’s local food sources are actually diverse and have long been consumed by the community. However, the stigma developing in Timor today is food shortage because food is only understood as rice. Enhancing knowledge about local foods from an early age should be a concern for all parties as part of developing and sustaining the culture of local food.

Managing Editor of Mongabay Indonesia, Sapariah Saturi, argues that the facts presented by the speakers reveal that Indigenous communities play a central role in maintaining biodiversity, and this should motivate the government to recognise Indigenous rights promptly.

Without rights and recognition for Indigenous peoples, the wealth of biodiversity and local food resources in Indonesia is at risk of extinction. According to Sapariah, the enactment of an Indigenous Peoples’ Law is highly anticipated as part of recognising Indigenous rights nationwide.

Senior journalist Usman Kansong argues that the problems in food biodiversity stem from the evolution of human civilisation from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural and industrial societies.

In agricultural societies, there is the domestication of food, whether plant or animal. In this phase, homogenisation begins. In industrial societies, homogenisation is dictated by the market. Today Indonesia is developing a food estate by clearing forests that are sources of biodiversity.

“What is planted is rice, cassava, and maize, but for the purpose of fuel—the bioethanol; in other words, our stomachs compete with fuel tanks,” Usman concluded.

According to him, efforts to …