Caveman's best friends? Preserved Ice Age puppies awe scientists

Yahoo – AFP, Maria Antonova, 28 March 2016

A scientist performs an autopsy of the remains of a puppy, which died 12,460 

years ago and was discovered in Russia's northern Yakutia, at the North-Eastern 

Federal University in Yakutsk (AFP Photo)

Moscow (AFP) - The hunters searching for mammoth tusks were drawn to the steep riverbank by a deposit of ancient bones. To their astonishment, they discovered an Ice Age puppy's snout peeking out from the permafrost.

Five years later, a pair of puppies perfectly preserved in Russia's far northeast region of Yakutia and dating back 12,460 years has mobilised scientists across the world.

"To find a carnivorous mammal intact with skin, fur and internal organs -- this has never happened before in history," said Sergei Fyodorov, head of exhibitions at the Mammoth Museum of the North-Eastern Federal University in the regional capital of Yakutsk.

The discovery of 12,460-year-old puppies

 in Russia could contribute to the lively

 scientific debate over the origin of 

domesticated dogs (AFP Photo)

And the discovery could contribute to the lively scientific debate over the origin of domesticated dogs.

When the hunters stumbled on the first frozen pup in 2011, they alerted Fyodorov who immediately flew out to the remote Arctic tundra, about 4,700 kilometres (2,900 miles) from Moscow and only 130 kilometres from the Laptev Sea, which borders the Arctic Ocean.

Last year he returned for a more thorough look and found the second puppy close to the same spot, farther down the slope. Both had died when they were about three months old.

They most likely come from the same litter, said Fyodorov.

Last week he oversaw the removal of the second puppy's remarkably well-preserved brain -- "the first in the world", he said.

"Puppies are very rare, because they have thin bones and delicate skulls," he said.

The duo have been named the Tumat Dog, after the nearest village to the site.

Fyodorov said a preliminary look at the mammoth remains also found at the dig suggested some had been butchered and burned, hinting at the presence of humans. It remains to be seen, however, whether the puppies were domesticated or wild.

The answer can only be determined by reconstructing their genomes, which would take at least a year.

Grass-eating dogs?

"Thus far, the lineages of wolves that likely gave rise to dogs have not yet been discovered and it's possible that these puppies could be on that lineage, which would be very exciting," said evolutionary biologist Greger Larson of University of Oxford, one of the scientists behind a collaborative project aimed at finding out when and where dogs became the first domesticated animals.

Scientists from the Mammoth Museum of the North-Eastern Federal University

 extract the brain of a puppy, which died 12,460 years ago and was discovered in

Russia's northern Yakutia (AFP Photo)

What makes the dog particularly intriguing is that it managed to become "man's best friend" even before humans became settled farmers.

It is still unclear whether dogs were domesticated in one place or in several places independently, and whether the process started when humans took in cubs or whether wolves themselves gradually drifted to human sites in search of food.

Whatever their precise lineage, the Tumat pups will keep Fyodorov and other scientists busy for some time.

The second puppy's preserved brain will be compared with that of modern dogs and wolves. Parasites found on its body will be analysed, as will the contents of its stomach, which Fyodorov is particularly excited about.

"When we opened it, we were very surprised. The second puppy's stomach is mostly full of twigs and grass," he said, wondering if perhaps the animals were not exclusively carnivorous or whether they started eating grass after they were trapped by a mudslide and began to starve.

"This material is really exceptional and unique," said Mietje Germonpre, a palaeontologist from the Royal Belgian Institute who partnered up with Fyodorov on the project and came to Yakutsk to oversee the autopsy of the second puppy earlier this month.

"The fact that soft tissue is preserved will give much more information compared to information that can be obtained from 'normal' fossils," she said, meaning bones and teeth.

Graphic on the origins of the domestic dog (AFP Photo/Adrian LEUNG, John SAEKI)

Permafrost secrets

Fyodorov lamented the long time it takes to get ancient biological material to suitable labs due to financial constraints, the rugged terrain and red tape which sometimes means that samples reach laboratories only six months later.

"Everyone understands that the tissue of mammoth fauna loses its structure with every passing second, even in the freezer," he said.

Yakutia's melting permafrost is likely to yield up even more treasures in the coming years, he added, saying the number of reported prehistoric finds has grown "severalfold" in the last decade.

Warm and wet weather and flash floods have been a big contributor to the thaw, he said.

"Right now it's 0 degrees (Celsius) here. That should not be the case in March."

As better transport and technology becomes affordable, he said, locals are embarking on expeditions to more and more remote corners of Siberia to look for the precious and lucrative mammoth tusks, which can sell for tens of thousands of dollars and are increasingly prized by Chinese carvers given trade bans on elephant ivory.

In Russia, indigenous tribes are allowed to hunt for ancient remains on their ancestral lands.

"Our land is locked in by permafrost, but little by little it is revealing its secrets," Fyodorov said.

Related Article:

"Do Animals Reincarnate?" - NOV 22, 2010 (Kuthumi channelled by Lynette Leckie-Clark)

Malaysian quake toll hits 13 dead, 6 missing

Yahoo – AFP, Satish Cheney, 6 June 2015

A strong earthquake that jolted Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu has killed at least

 11 people and left another eight missing on Southeast Asia's highest peak, 

a government official says (AFP Photo)

Kundasang (Malaysia) (AFP) - A strong earthquake that jolted Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia has left 13 people dead and another six missing on Southeast Asia's highest peak, an official said Saturday.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck early Friday near the picturesque mountain, a popular tourist destination, sending landslides and huge granite boulders tumbling down from its wide, 4,095-metre-high (13,435-foot) crown.

A Malaysian soldier carries victims body

 parts inside a rucksack, a day after a 

powerful earthquake Mount Kinabalu, on

June 6, 2015 (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

"There are 13 (dead) bodies. Two yesterday and 11 today. We've got six people still missing. I cannot confirm with you where they are from," Mohammad Farhan Lee Abdullah, police chief of the town of Ranau near the mountain, told AFP.

Malaysian media reports have said the dead included members of a Singapore primary school group on an excursion to the mountain, including a 12-year-old girl who was killed, as well as a local Malaysian climbing guide.

"It's very sad. The Singapore children were so happy when they arrived here, but now..." Masidi Manjun, tourism minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, told reporters.

Rescuers earlier on Saturday finished escorting down to safety 137 hikers who were stuck on the mountain for up to 18 hours after the quake damaged a key trail and they faced the threat of continuing rockfalls.

Crews and officials engaged in further search and rescue efforts were kept on edge, however, by aftershocks including a Saturday afternoon temblor that Malaysian officials rated at 4.5-magnitude.

It sent staff and journalists scurrying out of the park's headquarters.

Reports said most people on the mountain when the quake hit were Malaysian but that they also included hikers from Singapore, the United States, the Philippines, Britain, Thailand, Turkey, China and Japan.

Pieces of paper showing various Malaysian rescue teams mark their current

 positions on a summit trail information board, heading towards Mount Kinabalu 

(AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

'Rocks raining down fast'

Authorities have not provided a breakdown or given details on the number of injured.

Major earthquakes are rare in Malaysia and the tremor was one of the strongest in decades, jolting a wide area of Sabah and sending people fleeing outdoors.

But there have been no reports of major damage, nor any casualties outside of those on the mountain.

Masidi said all climbing would be suspended at Mount Kinabalu for at least three weeks to allow for repairs to damaged trails, accommodation and other facilities.

Malaysia's Bernama news agency quoted a climber describing his terror as the quake unleashed a shower of large stones from the rocky peak.

"Rocks were raining down fast, like rock blasting," Lee Yoke Fah, a 60-year-old Malaysian who suffered minor injuries, was quoted as saying.

"I am not going to climb again, I am scared."

Mount Kinabalu is among the top tourist attractions in a state famed for its rainforests, wild rivers and coral reefs.

A member of a Malaysian rescue team talks with his mobile phone at the 

Timpohon gate checkpoint as they wait for victims to be evacuated a day after

 an earthquake in Kundasang, a town in the district of Ranau on June 6, 2015

(AFP Photo/Mohad Rasfan)

Around 20,000 complete the relatively easy climb each year, usually taking two days.

The force of the tremor was so strong that it toppled one of the two "Donkey's Ears", towering twin rock outcroppings that form a distinctive part of the peak's profile.

Mount Kinabalu is sacred to the local Kadazan Dusun tribe, who consider it a resting place for departed spirits.

Malaysian social media users and some officials have suggested the quake was a sign the spirits were angry after a group of 10 apparently Western men and women tourists last weekend snapped nude photos at the summit and posted them on the Internet.

"This will certainly bring misfortune... we can't play with the spirit of the sacred mountain," deputy state chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan told reporters Saturday.

He called for the tourists to be brought to justice.

In Mataram Declaration, Belated Recognition of Indigenous Rights

Jakarta Globe, Kennial Caroline Laia,  Apr 23, 2015

The government is finally getting serious about recognizing Indigenous
groups’ forest rights. (Antara Photo/Ahmad Subaidi)

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Proponents of the rights of indigenous groups have hailed a pledge by the Indonesian government to do more to recognize their stewardship of forests, seen as crucial in efforts to stave off deforestation.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar made the so-called Mataram Declaration last weekend in a belated response to a May 2013 Constitutional Court ruling relinquishing the state’s default claims to forested areas settled and used by indigenous groups.

“Long before this, civil society organizations and local communities were struggling for the recognition and protection of customary land,” said Abetnego Tarigan, the executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi. “Now the government has shown good faith, and we really appreciate it.”

He said the central and local governments often violated indigenous people’s land rights because the latter lacked title deeds to their land. In many cases, he noted, the people were disenfranchised of their rights, and their land given over to logging, plantation or mining operators.

“There are a few policies that regulate the rights of local communities to the land, such as the 2012 law on customary forests, but they don’t cover the recognition of people’s customary territory, so we need another framework to guarantee it,” Abetnego said. “This declaration should really be a form of political will for all stakeholders to push the recognition and protection of customary forests managed by the people.”

Civic-centered development

At the signing of the declaration on Saturday in Mataram, in West Nusa Tenggara province, Siti said the government and other stakeholders were committed to expediting the process to craft policies that improved the welfare and protection of local communities and conserved the environment.

“These policies are really important,” she said. “President Joko Widodo’s government has indicated that the citizenship concept is a democratic one, in which we seek to bring welfare to the people.”

She said the government was making efforts to involve people, especially indigenous groups, in environmental protection.

“Here, our development must be civic-centered,” Siti said. “This issue has been echoed by the people and environmental organizations, and now the government is listening.”

Under Joko’s 2015-2019 National Mid-Term Development Plan, the administration plans to designate 12.5 million hectares of land for “social forestry,” in which indigenous groups and local communities will commit to sustainable forestry practices, and nine million hectares for agriculture.

“These [social] forests can be developed as community forests, village forests and customary forests,” Siti said, adding that the agricultural land, to be staked out from former logging concessions, would go primarily to subsistence farmers.

Collaborative effort

Siti said it was important for all stakeholders — the central government, regional administrations, civil society organizations and local communities — to work closely together.

“The policy is ready to go, but we can’t do it alone. We need help from other stakeholders to cooperate. For example, I hope the Home Affairs Ministry will help us identify indigenous communities and their problems to ensure that all land is distributed rightly and fairly,” she said.

“We also need civil society organizations to work with the people on mediation, community building and others. Access to welfare for all Indonesians is our responsibility.”

Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, an adviser to the Home Affairs Ministry, said the institution was open to cooperating with the other stakeholders.

“But the identification process isn’t easy. There are a few requirements to meet before we can definitively say that a given community is an indigenous one,” he said. “The process must be really selective. And this is the task of regional leaders.”

Zudan said that for a forest community to qualify, it would have to show some kind of environmentally sustainable practice in its interactions with the forest.

“Here we need experts and help from civil society organizations,” he said.

People first

Siti said the new policy, unlike previous ones, prioritized the role of people in economic development through the exploitation of forests and other natural resources.

“I believe the system will be no longer like the past, when government didn’t put the people at the front of its development plans. Now, we must use dialogue in our approach to developing the economy of this country,” Siti said.

West East Nusa’s Deputy Governor Muhammad Amin welcomed the declaration, but said further talks on the issue were still needed between the central government and regional administrations.

“We realize there hasn’t been a regional policy that recognizes the territorial rights of indigenous people. However, with this declaration, we hope that the people will receive greater consideration in the policy-making process,” he said. “Should the synergy run smoothly, we may be able to achieve an environment-oriented development framework.”

Yansen T.P., the head of Malinau district in North Kalimantan, who was among the more than 30 regional heads attending the Mataram Declaration, said an increasing number of regions across the country were beginning to prioritize land rights protections when crafting new policies.

“We’ve been done a lot for several years now to show our support for our environment,” he said. “We have vast areas of natural resources and considerable local wisdom. The forest we have is the forest we must hold on to. We understand that people depend on the forest and they will try to maintain it. But to do that, we in the regional government have to provide them with legal certainty.”

Yansen said he hoped that future investments would “take the side of the people.”

“We don’t need to exploit all of our natural resources right away. We have to think about our children, grandchildren and our future generations,” he said. “Hopefully the central government’s policy will accelerate the recognition of indigenous people’s right to the forest.”

Test cases

Adi Rozal, the head of Kerinci district in Sumatra’s Jambi province, said his administration had designated 12 swaths of forest as customary forests.

“Now we’re waiting for coordination from the central government to issue a policy that fully mandates the forests for use by the local community,” he said.

Mathius Awoitauw, the head of Jayapura district in Papua province, agreed that while the central government had a key role to play, it was local governments that would serve as the test cases for various frameworks on the issue.

“All we need to do to establish nationwide synergy is to hold regular dialogues to test how capable regional governments and people are in managing their forests. In addition, there should be a regulation that truly guarantees the rights of each region to map its own customary forests,” he said.

In prioritizing the rights of forest-dwelling communities, the government has switched from an earlier paradigm that served large corporations, said Chalil Muhammad, the chairman of the Association for Community and Ecology-Based Law Reform, or Perkumpulan HuMa.

“There’s a need to create a scheme to build rights coordination between the central government, regional governments and the people in an effort to prevent forests from rampant exploitation,” he said. “These stakeholders need to change their mind-set. We need to increase human resource capacity and fix existing forestry policies.”

Edited by Hayat Indriyatno

Murder of Jambi Man Renews Call for Land Rights, Security

Jakarta Globe, Kennial Caroline Laia, Mar 08, 2015

Supporters have rallied behind Indigenous groups fighting for land rights.
(Antara Photo/Zabur Karuru)

Malinau, North Kalimantan. The recent death of a farmer in Sumatra’s Jambi province has highlighted the need to address land conflicts often interwoven with rampant deforestation in Indonesia.

Indra Pelani, 22, a member of the local Sugarcane Farmers Union (STT), died late last month after being beaten by security officers hired by Wirakarya Sakti, a subsidiary of paper giant Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), as he attempted to pass through a checkpoint near an acacia plantation run by the company, police have said.

Indra’s alleged assailants surrendered themselves to Jambi Police last week.

The incident has prompted international environmental group Greenpeace to suspend cooperation with APP, according to Agence France-Presse.

The green group had once been one of the strongest critics of APP, accusing it of destroying vast swaths of carbon-rich forests that are home to endangered species such as Sumatran orangutans and tigers. But following APP’s announcement two years ago that it would stop using any logs from Indonesia’s natural forests, Greenpeace had been supporting the company’s efforts.

However, Bustar Maitar, the head of Greenpeace’s Indonesia forest campaign, told AFP last week that the group was temporarily withdrawing support for the company’s initiatives on forest conservation after Indra’s death.

APP said in a statement that it had ordered Wirakarya Sakti to suspend all personnel allegedly involved in the incident.

“We condemn violence and we support Greenpeace’s decision to focus its efforts on this issue,” it said, adding that efforts would be made “to ensure that justice is done.”

STT had been involved in a long-running conflict with Wirakarya over the ownership of 2,000 hectares of land in Jambi prior to last month’s incident.

In 2010 and 2012, two other farmers were killed Jambi and Riau under similar circumstances — also amid conflicts with APP suppliers.

“APP must take immediate action to ensure that this is fully and fairly investigated by the authorities with full and unconditional cooperation from the company,” Bustar was quoted as saying by Mongabay.com last week.

“APP must also launch a full investigation of security procedures and its contractors to ensure such incidents never happen again,” he added.

Food and water crises

Separately, Jambi’s Social Services Office has reported that 11 members of indigenous tribes in Batang Hari and Sarolangun districts had died over the past month due to starvation, amid food and clean water crises plaguing the region.

The coordinator of the Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI), Sukmareni, said the crises had been triggered by an increasing rate of land conversions for plantation use in the area.

Indigenous people, who depend on resources provided by the forests, have been increasingly losing their source of food due to rapid growth of monocultural plantations in the areas.

Zenzi Suhadi of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) says the series of deaths due to land conflicts and deforestation should serve as a wake-up call for the government to urgently address the matter.

“This is urgent. We don’t want any other people to fall victim. The government must quickly take action in response to this,” he said, adding that the government had been turning a blind eye toward land conflicts for decades.

“People must understand their rights. Indra’s and other victims’ deaths should be a signal for us to help them demand the government uphold their rights.”

‘Participatory mapping’

An indigenous community in North Kalimantan, however, has not had to wait for the government to protect its forests from exploitation. In 2012, the residents of Punan Adiu village in Malinau district found a way to protect their forests through what is called “participatory mapping.”

The mapping allows them to draw strict lines around their customary forests, which in turn allows them to register the forests with the local administration for protection.

“The forest is our home. No one should ever take it from us,” says Markus Ilun, the community head of Punan Adiu village.

Punan Adiu, home to 121 people, is surrounded by a swath of 17,400 hectares of virgin tropical forest.

The village is a two-hour drive from the capital of Malinau, but the remoteness of the location has not discouraged corporations from visiting the area to explore for more land to plant oil palms, Markus told the Jakarta Globe in his home village recently.

“In 2013, the subdistrict chief along with three corporate representatives came to our village to lure us to give over our land to be planted with palm trees. Those corporate representatives were introduced as businessmen who had been investing in oil palm plantations in Riau and Jambi districts [in Sumatra],” Markus said.

“We were told that we would get a large amount of money should we give them the land. But we don’t want the money. We don’t want other people to manage our forests. So we stood against the offer, although other villages near us have agreed to sell their lands to those corporations,” he added.

The experience left Markus and his people worried; they feared they might lose their home soon.

That concern motivated Markus, who once visited plantations in Jambi, to consult a local NGO, Punan Watchdog and Empowerment of Malinau (LP3M), to help map their area along with the forests.

“I’ve visited places like Jambi. And what I’ve seen worries me. The forest is our home, a place where we turn to when we run out of food. Turning it into monoculture plantations would leave us, as well as our future generations, with nothing,” he said. “That’s why we initiated a plan to map our village and its surrounding areas, including the forests.”

Customary forests

In 2013, the Constitutional Court partially granted a judicial review filed by the Alliance of the Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), who sought a revision to the 1999 Forestry Law.

AMAN holds the law responsible for the rapid degradation of indigenous forests in many areas in Indonesia.

The revised law stipulates that customary forests no longer belong to the state — that the state has its own forests and should not disturb indigenous forests.

LP3M chairman Boro Suban Nikolaus said the Constitutional Court’s verdict, coupled with a local bylaw that regulates participatory mapping, allowed Punan Adiu villagers to protect their forests.

“To claim theirs as customary forests, a village must first conduct participatory mapping to identify their borders with other villages, along with their forests. That was what the Punan people did,” he said. “We started the mapping in 2012 soon after the bylaw was issued. Coupled with the court ruling, our legal basis became even more complete.”

The mapping took three years and included forest explorations, demarcations and negotiations.

Punan Adiu and LP3M collaborated with the Indonesian Paddy Community (IPC), Community Mapping Network (JKPP) and AMAN in carrying out the activities.

The final map was completed in January this year.

“The next step is to bring this map to the district head of Malinau. Should he agree, he will immediately issue a regional decree, with which Punan Adiu will obtain a legal umbrella to protect its forests,” Boro said.

“Through our communications, the local government has shown a positive response. We really hope that the process will run smoothly; it will likely take six months,” he added.

The bylaw also regulates the establishment of the Malinau Indigenous Affairs Supervisory Agency (BPUMA), among other things.

The agency will be tasked with verifying the authenticity of participatory mapping, and ensuring protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples of Malinau.

“We have drawn the map. We hope that the district head will approve of this,” Markus said. “But the most important thing is, we know we are safe. Our forest is safe.”

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), 71 percent of Indonesian villagers rely on forest resources.

“It is really important for indigenous people to understand their rights and the law,” said IPC chairman Akhmad Asyami. “We hope [Punan Adiu's] map will inspire other villages in Kalimantan and the rest of Indonesia, because we know many people depend on the forest.”

Old Traditions for Saving Water

Jakarta Globe, Sitti Aminah, Nov 27, 2014

A villager collects water from a well, which was dug from the bottom of a lake
 that had dried up in Gunung Kidul village, near Yogyakarta in Java. Drought
 continually plagues the area and the villagers who reside there. (Reuters
Photo/Dwi Oblo)

Jakarta. Indonesia is home to some of the world’s largest water deposits. According to the Water Environment Partnership in Asia, WEPA, almost 6 percent of the world’s water resources  can be found in Indonesia. Additionally, Indonesia controls 21 percent of water resources in the Asia-Pacific region.

Geographically, it can be said that Indonesia is blessed with an abundance of water in storage.

Mountainous areas covered in rain forests form natural water catchments. Mangrove forests in coastal areas, meanwhile, protect inland water storage from saltwater intrusion.

Indonesia undoubtedly plays an important role in global water security and environmental conservation. This, however, does not mean Indonesia is immune from water-related problems.

Water is one of several basic necessities, a valuable asset that has the potential to trigger problems should it be manipulated or managed unwisely. Speaking of manipulating water resources, the government and the private-sector play an increasing role in this sector.

The 1945 Constitution mandates the government as the sole manager of water resources throughout the archipelago. It is given the mandate so that it can fulfill the people’s basic necessities.

Overwhelmed by the task, the government has delegated part of its water authority to the private sector. They require the private sector to ensure that Indonesia’s need for water is balanced with accessible supplies.

Excessive use

Despite efforts to maintain supply, most urban populations in Indonesia use water excessively.  It may be because to them, water is something easily available, not something that they struggle to attain.

Lower- to middle-income people in Indonesia use 169.11 liters per day, per person on average. The figure is higher for those in the middle-to-upper class group who use 247.36 liters. Almost every domestic activity requires water, from washing clothes and cleaning the dishes to cooking, drinking and watering gardens.

According the Indonesia Water Institute, since 2000, various regions in Indonesia have been forced to deal with water scarcity. Such shortages are blamed by environmental degradation. Additionally, water becomes scarce due to unwise management.

The Baduy people

An examination of the traditional practices of some indigenous groups, including the Baduy people in Banten is insightful. Their actions are in line with sustainable development principles, consisting of three pillars: environment, economy and community. Under those principles, they are able to manage the environment wisely.

The practice, supervised by their elderly, bars Baduy Dalam (Inner Baduy) people, who live deep in the forest, from cutting down trees. Cutting trees is only allowed should the tree be of a sufficient age. If they cut down one tree, in exchange, they must plant two trees. We can see here an effort to balance the ecosystem, and maintain an abundance of trees.

The indigenous Baduy people demonstrate to us how to manage our relations with the environment. By preserving the forest, they maintain the availability of water in the soil.

In terms of their other two pillars, economy and community, an examination of Baduy Luar (outer Baduy) people’s practices is useful.  They are allowed to sell their crops to meet daily necessities, but only if they maintain the sustainability of their plantations and don’t harvest excessively — which can damage their forests. The Baduy sees nature as an integral part of their life that must to be respected. It is a remarkable value, one which has allowed them to avoid environmental-related problems, including water scarcity.

If we apply such values to our modern society, everyone will benefit. Indonesians need to wake from their long sleep and consider such core environmental principles. Unique traditional values that respect nature are part of our country’s identity. Even though they often originate from different cultural practices, they have one thing in common: a unique, traditional solution for environmental issues.

Every region in Indonesia is moving towards preserving the environment as one solution for water scarcity. I’m optimistic that this will work. I’m also aware, though, that it is going to be a life-long project to make people understand environmental principles.

Once they understand the actions they can take to alleviate water scarcity, their behavior will change. Let’s appreciate what we have, and let’s move forward with it.

Sitti “Ina” Aminah is a knowledge management officer at the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Yayasan Kehati)

Dayak Iban People Won’t Give Up Fight for Ancestral Lands

Wild West: Original inhabitants of fertile West Kalimantan lands face uphill battle against those intent on clearing forest areas, but activists say prospect of new president renews hope of a solution for the disputes between indigenous peoples, companies and local governments

Jakarta Globe, Basten Gokkon, Oct 06, 2014

Part of the 15,000 hectares of land originally owned by the indigenous Dayak Iban
people, which has been turned into a palm oil plantation. (JG Photo/Basten Gokkon)

Pontianak. For the Dayak Iban tribe of West Kalimantan’s Bengkayang district, the dense virgin forest here near the Indonesian border with Malaysia has been the center of life for generations.

“The ancestral forest is rich with natural resources,” Momonus, 42, the chief of the Dayak Iban village of Semunying Jaya tells the Jakarta Globe during a trek through the forest.

“The graveyards of our ancestors are there, as are our places of worship.”

Semunying Jaya is a seven-hour drive, with no stops, from Pontianak, the provincial capital. The nearest center of commerce, the Seluas traditional market, is two hours away, along a dirt track with no streetlights.

So remote is this village of some 50 households that using a satellite dish is the only way to catch television broadcasts — and those with a cellphone get text reminders that they are roaming on Malaysian carrier Digicom’s frequency.

Uninvited guests

Like many indigenous groups, the Dayak Iban didn’t traditionally subscribe to the notion of land ownership. The forest and everything within it was there to be used, and when the need arose they would move to another part of it.

When their nomadic wanderings came to an end and they finally settled in what would become Semunying Jaya village, they assumed that they would continue to have access to the 18,000 or so hectares of forest from which they had subsisted for decades.

Limited access to education and zero awareness of land laws meant they never thought to formalize their claim to the land.

So it came as a bitter shock to the Dayak Iban when its rich forests were suddenly beset by wave upon wave of outsiders seeking to exploit it. First came Yamaker Kalbar Jaya, a company belonging to the armed forces, which began logging the area in 1987.

Then from 1998 to 2000, the government appointed state-owned logger Perum Perhutani to reforest the area — only to see it continue cutting down valuable trees and sell them for timber across the border.

In 2000, Lundu Sawmill, a Malaysian company based in Sarawak state, illegally logged timber in Semunying Jaya, which ignited protests from the indigenous people, who fought back by seizing two bulldozers.

Two years later, the Indonesian company Agung Perkasa obtained a permit to develop an oil palm plantation in the area. But by 2004 it still hadn’t planted any oil palms. Instead, it was illegally felling trees and selling the timber in Malaysia. Its permit was subsequently revoked and awarded to another company, Ledo Lestari, a year later.

Momonus at a landmark in the Dayak Iban’s
customary forest. (JG Photo/Basten Gokkon)

Conflicts

If the villagers thought that the arrival of a bona fide plantation company — a unit of the Duta Palma Nusantara group controlled by Surya Darmadi, one of the top 150 wealthiest individuals in Indonesia — would be an improvement from the illegal loggers, they were to be deeply disappointed.

Ledo Lestari had a concession to develop 20,000 hectares of plantation, and duly razed 15,000 of the Dayak Iban’s 18,000 hectares of ancestral forest to plant oil palms. Four months after its arrival, the villagers’ rubber farms were destroyed by the company to build a road.

The community protested and imposed a fine against the company for violating its traditional laws, having successfully employed the same tactic against Yamaker back in 1987.

But Ledo didn’t flinch, offering nothing in the way of compensation, even after the villagers escalated their protest by seizing one of the company’s motorcycles.

“During the protests, we received many curses and threats from the company’s hired thugs,” Momonus says. “They threatened to kidnap us, and set bounties on our heads of Rp 50 million to Rp 75 million [$4,100 to $6,160].”

With Ledo showing no sign of wanting to resolve the conflict, the community seized an excavator and eight chainsaws in an attempt to stop the forest clearance, and invited the company manager to discuss the matter.

The response was one they hadn’t expected: Momonus and another village elder, Jamaludin, were arrested by the police on charges of extortion. After nine days in jail, they were released due to lack of evidence.

“When I was in jail, the company offered Rp 1 billion [$82,000] to each family on condition that we all give up our land,” Momonus said.

Ledo was in 2006 refused a right of cultivation, or HGU, the final permit required of commercial oil palm planters, because of the ongoing conflict with the local community. It reapplied in 2011 and the process is pending. It currently continues to operate on a plantation permit, or IUP, and land concession permit.

Sufferings

Momonus says the Dayak Iban community is justified in its stand against the plantation company.

“Our land was taken away from us without our knowing about it. Our rubber farms were cleared without any discussion. Even our graves and sanctuaries were cleared, almost as though our identity was being erased,” he says.

Ever since the forest was razed, he says, the water in the rivers around the village have become contaminated, and the villagers now resort to collecting rainwater.

There has also been a dire social impact on the community, with unemployment rising after villagers lost their rubber farms, and children dropping out of school to work — some of them in Malaysia — in order to supplement the family’s income, Momonus says.

Tensions have also arisen as some members of the community take jobs with Ledo, giving up their land in exchange for a house measuring four by five meters, with no electricity or plumbing.

“What we want is for the company to leave and to give us back our 15,000 hectares of land. We’ve had enough,” Momonus says. “For now, what we can really fight for is the 1,420 hectares of ancestral forest still standing because there was already a ruling about that from the local government in 2010. We just need help to make it happen.”

“We also want our sufferings in Semunying Jaya village to be heard by the new government,” he adds.

The graveyard in Semunying Jaya with palm
trees planted on it without the people’s consent.
(JG Photo/Basten Gokkon)

Overlapping regulations

The conflict in Semuning Jaya is one of a litany of near-identical tales of plantation, logging or mining operations muscling in on land long inhabited by indigenous groups. Of the 6,000 complaints of rights violations lodged with the National Commission for Human Rights, or Komnas HAM, a fifth relate to land disputes.

Rights activists and the dispossessed have called on the incoming administration of President-elect Joko Widodo to do more to resolve the disputes between indigenous peoples, companies and local governments.

“What needs to be done first by the new government is to issue a presidential decree enforcing the Constitutional Court’s ruling,” says Abdon Nababan, the secretary general of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, or AMAN.

The ruling he refers to is a landmark 2012 verdict striking a clause from the 1999 Forestry Law and effectively handing ownership of indigenous lands from the state to the indigenous groups themselves.

Since then, however, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has done little to enforce the ruling by issuing new supporting regulations to reflect the change.

“SBY promised [to issue a president decree] since a year ago, but he still hasn’t done it, even now when his term is almost up. If Joko issues the ruling, that will be a groundbreaking step,” Abdon says.

He adds that the new administration should also work on revising overlapping regulations and laws related to ownership of indigenous land and the presence of indigenous people across the archipelago.

“Overlapping regulations let people cherry-pick which law to use to support their personal interests. This way, the strongest party will always win,” Abdon says. “That’s why so many indigenous people lose their cases in court because they never have enough resources to go through the legal process.”

Hope for new government

Land conflicts have raged for decades, with the government continuing to hand companies concessions to hundreds of thousands of hectares of land inhabited by indigenous people.

The dispossessed communities have had limited courses of redress, and conflicts between them and the security forces, often in the pay of the concession holders, have resulted in numerous deaths and arrests.

Sandrayati Moniaga, a commissioner at Komnas HAM, says the new government must make a real effort to resolve the disputes, and warns of “nationwide destruction” if the state continues to ignore the issue.

“This has reached a crucial point. A systematic solution is non-negotiable,” says Sandrayati, noting that Komnas HAM recently filed a preliminary report to Joko’s transition team about rights violations allegedly committed against indigenous groups.

She adds the new government can use its first year in office to compile all the cases, and resolve them gradually over the following years.

Activists have also praised Joko’s plan to create a national commission focusing on Indonesia’s 70 million indigenous people, who make up roughly 29 percent of the country’s 240 million inhabitants.

Joko and Vice President-elect Jusuf Kalla have committed to creating an independent and permanent national commission to work on regulations and forming institutions that will oversee matters related to the recognition, honoring, protection and empowerment of indigenous peoples, according to Abdon.

“The commission can operate directly under the president’s watch,” he says.

Sandrayati says the national commission for indigenous people, which should also have regional chapters across the country, can provide security and certainty for the tenure of indigenous lands, eventually providing fair solutions to all stakeholders involved in the disputes.

“If all is worked out well, the indigenous people’s rights will be protected and investors can stop worrying about disputes that may disrupt their business,” she says.

Abdon adds that businesses and indigenous people should be able to live and work alongside one another, as long as they can find a mutually beneficial common ground, including but not limited to drawing up a legal rental agreement between all stakeholders protected by the state, without stripping the indigenous people of their right to the land.

“For instance, the companies can pay a royalty to the people for the duration of the contract. And once the contract ends, the companies have to return the land back to them,” he says.

The Kenya Dayak’s ‘Journey Home’ to Their Tribal Roots

Jakarta Globe, Tunggul Wirajuda, Jul 14, 2014

Filmmaker David Metcalf will host a fundraiser exhibition in August to fund his
 film ‘The Journey Home’, which aims to raise awareness about the importance
 and wisdom of indigenous culture in Indonesia and around the world. (Photo
courtesy of David Metcalf)

To foreign observers the 800 inhabitants of the village of Setulang live in a rustic idyll at the edge of a pristine forest. But these members of the Kenya Dayak that live in the North Kalimantan district of Malinau yearn for a paradise steeped in the traditions of their tribe.

“I left our original homelands when I was a small boy. But I have happy memories of my time growing up in the forests and playing in the rivers,” says Pilius, a village elder, who last saw his ancestral lands in 1969.

The land that Pilius remembers is an area of forests which they call Tala Olen , or “the forbidden forest.”

The tribesmen, particularly the elders, feel a spiritual connection to Tala Olen’s forests, rivers and land, located in an area called Long Saan, which is an eight-day journey by canoe up the Kayan River.

There are strict cultural rules about cutting down the trees in the forest or damaging it in any way, a reverence that has not changed despite their move to Setulang for economic reasons. The draw of Tala Olen is also felt by their descendants who are charmed by the elders’ stories of paradise.

“My grandfather told me many stories of growing up [in Tala Olen ] and how they lived back then. His description of it made it look like paradise,” says Herman, a young villager. “I would love to visit and pay my respects to him.”

But the Kenya Dayak’s ancient way of life and their culture of preserving the forest is under threat. Here in Kalimantan, logging and dam projects are destroying huge swathes of the forest.

Environmentalists estimate that over 52 percent of Kalimantan’s forests has already been lost.

“We don’t exactly know what will happen in the future. Will the next generation keep our agreement [to conserve the land], or will they damage it, and open new land to loggers to serve their self interest?” Kenya Dayak elder Kole Adjang asks.

“ We hope that by example [sic], our great grandchildren will also take care of our land and Tala Olen.”

Taking the Dayak’s home

In the face of these threats to Borneo’s cultural history, photographer David “Dayak Dave” Metcalf is seeking to help reunite the Dayak with their ancestral homelands.

As with many indigenous peoples throughout Indonesia, such as the Asmat and Kamoro tribes of Papua or the Badui in Java, the Kenya are hampered by poverty. As such, they can’t afford the cost of the journey to Tala Olen .

Metcalf seeks to provide the means for the villagers to revisit their homelands, a journey that he intends to chronicle in a film he will title “ The Journey Home .”

“I came up with the idea of granting the tribe their dream of visiting their ancestors’ burial grounds deep in the heart of the forest,” says the Bali-based New Zealander, adding that the journey entails more than the just the nostalgia of homecoming.

“We need to raise funds to make the film. As things currently stand, the logistics are only sufficient to take six elders to Long Saan,” says Metcalf, who is also the author of “ Indonesia’s Hidden Heritage: Cultural Journeys of Discovery ,” a chronicle of his travels through Indonesia.

Metcalf is putting on a fundraiser at the opening of an exhibition on indigenous photography in Jakarta’s Kunstkring Paleis cultural exhibition hall on Aug. 12.

The evening, which will feature eminent Indonesian designer Harry Darsono and New Zealand Ambassador David Taylor, will include performances of traditional Dayak dances.

“We hope that through raising funds to bring the elders back to their ancestral village and making a multimedia documentary about the journey, we can raise awareness of the threats to their unique way of life,” Metcalf says.

He adds that similar events will also be held at the American Club. To date, Metcalf has raised about $2,000 of the estimated $25,000 that he needs for project.

Filmmaker David Metcalf will host a fundraiser exhibition in August to fund his
 film ‘The Journey Home’, which aims to raise awareness about the importance
 and wisdom of indigenous culture in Indonesia and around the world. (Photo
courtesy of David Metcalf)

Collective effort

“The Journey Home” will be shot by a film crew from seven nations; among them New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. They include American documentary filmmaker Jason Houston, who was known for his work with the Dayak in the Malaysian side of Borneo, Robby, a member of the Indonesian world music group Navicula, and Bali-based artist Wolfgang Widmoser, whose work inspired much of the look for the Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar.”

Native American Kevin Locke, an elder from the Lakota Sioux tribe, will also be taking part. While the cultural connection between the Dayak and native Americans is very strong, Locke’s participation marks the first time that a connection between these two cultures has been undertaken.

“One of the primary purposes of [“The Journey Home”] is to raise awareness in Indonesia and other countries about the importance and wisdom of indigenous cultures around the world. This journey is about connecting cultures through art, dance, song and ancient wisdom,” Metcalf says.

“By creating a wider expression and voice for indigenous cultures globally, we can find common ground through music and dance and ancestral prayers.”

Most of all, the film will showcase Kalimantan and its place in the world.

“Kalimantan is Asia’s Amazon, representing 1 percent of the earth’s surface but 5 percent of its flora and fauna, including untold numbers of trees and plants still undiscovered by mankind. As one of the most ecologically diverse landscapes on the planet, we want to raise awareness about the Dayak people that live in Kalimantan’s forests and rivers,” Metcalf says.

“This is all the more imperative, as Kalimantan is also facing the fallout from coal and gold mining, the latter which is poisoning its streams, aside from better known problems like illegal logging and deforestation.”

Metcalf and his team of filmmakers plan to release “The Journey Home” in Indonesia and abroad by the end of this year. He also plans to pitch the film to Discovery Channel and National Geographic.

To help Metcalf and the Kenya Dayaks in their quest, contact him at www.fundrazr.com.

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"Soul Communication" - Feb 22-23, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version Part 1, Text version Part 2)

"... Some of you will walk into the forest and you'll feel it. It surrounds you with its love and beauty. Gaia speaks to you. The trees are pushing out oxygen with a benevolent system of photosynthesis. The plants give you oxygen and you give them carbon dioxide. What a system! Look around. Science will say that system happened by accident - a random occurrence. Do you believe that? What a beautiful system! The trees themselves know who you are. You walk into the forest and you feel it hug you, but perhaps another is next to you who came with a chainsaw. They don't care and they don't feel it. To them, the forest is only a resource. What's the difference between the two of you? There's no judgment here, I'm just asking you. What do you think the difference is? The answer: You're letting multidimensional awareness in and they are not. You see, you are becoming more aware of multidimensional soul communication. In this case, it's your enormous soul energy communicating with the other parts of the planet who are also multidimensional.

When you make the decision that it's OK to feel this energy, it will be there. Most of humanity so far has not made that decision. They block it. The law is this - this communication will come to you only with your allowance. The moment you open the door of allowance, you may begin to feel it. Those are our rules.

It's not just allowance for communication from the creative source, but also from an amazing number of what we would call other benevolent energies. These others are represented by groups with names that you have given them. They also cannot get through to you unless you allow it. That's their rule as well. Your names for them are Pleiadians, Arcturians, Sirians, Hathors or those from Orion. There are many more, but unless you open to the possibility of them, they can't communicate either.

Most of humanity will stand next to you as you communicate and think you're not well. That's the way it looks to them. Listen, dear ones, the benevolent groups who represent your DNA essence [your seed biology] and who know who you are are many. The amount of help you have on this planet is staggering, yet the majority of humanity will not allow awareness of it or let the possibility into their reality.. ..."