“We, the people of color … to begin to build a national and international movement of all peoples of color to fight the destruction and taking of our lands and communities, do hereby re-establish our spiritual interdependence to the sacredness of our Mother-Earth to respect and celebrate each of our cultures, languages and beliefs about the natural world and our roles in healing ourselves…” – Principles of Environmental Justice

The environment is an interdependent network of life, including humans who are part of the Earth’s life system, as explained by Fritjof Capra in his book, “The Web of Life” [1]. However, understanding of the environment in the modern era is often reduced by mechanistic and scientific paradigms, which cause a separation between humans and nature. As a result, the connections within the web of life are severed, leading to the view that nature is merely an object to be exploited, extracted, and dominated to meet human needs [2].

The exploitative management of natural resources in Indonesia is not without historical causes. Colonialism in Indonesia in the past was primarily aimed at exploiting natural resources. After independence, these colonial practices were adopted by the feudal system that had long been entrenched in Indonesia. This created groups or business entities that not only destroyed natural resources for economic gain, but also expanded inequality, marginalization, and conflict in the struggle for natural resources [3].

Decolonial Ecological and Reactualization of Customary Law

Building on previous issues, Malcolm Ferdinand in his book “Decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Caribbean World” emphasizes the need to liberate the utilization of natural resources from a unilateral colonial paradigm towards a more holistic and sustainable paradigm. Ferdinand emphasizes that the liberation of natural resource management from the colonial paradigm can be achieved by reintegrating humans and nature as a single entity. In addition, natural resource management must also take into account the principles of local wisdom or customs [4].

Natural resource management based on local wisdom opens up a deeper understanding of the spiritual aspects of the relationship between humans and nature. For example, the Dayak Iban tribe views the forest as their father and the earth as their mother. Similarly, the Dayak Kanayatn tribe, with their philosophy of “Adil Ka‘ Talino, Bacuramin Ka’ Saruga, Basengat Ka’ Jubata,” connects the values of justice, goodness, and spirituality with environmental management. This philosophy emphasizes that the environment must be managed fairly, well, and with respect for nature as a living entity [5]. For the Dayak Kanayatn community, forests are considered a manifestation of Jubata (God) who gives life to humans. Therefore, destroying forests or the environment is equivalent to hurting God who gives life. Thus, ecological decolonization based on local wisdom can restore harmony between humans, nature, and God [6].

REFERENCES:

[1] F. Capra, The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1996.

[2] V. Shiva, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. London: Zed Books, 1989.

[3] T. Li, “Centering labor in the land grab debate,” Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 281–298, 2011, doi: 10.1080/03066150.2011.559009.

[4] M. Ferdinand, Decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Caribbean World, A. P. Smith, Trans. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2022.

[5] A. Escobar, “After Nature: Steps to an Antiessentialist Political Ecology,” Current Anthropology, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 1–30, 1999, doi: 10.1086/200061.

[6] F. Berkes, Sacred Ecology, 4th ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 2017.