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Story Publication logo March 13, 2022

The Hope Is for the State To Return the “Heart” of the Mapur People (bahasa Indonesia)

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Three people look at the camera, in the foreground is a house.
English

After political reforms in Indonesia in 1998, about 13,565 hectares of forest belonging to the state...

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This story excerpt was translated from bahasa Indonesia. To read the original story in full, visit Mongabay. You may also view the original story on the Rainforest Journalism Fund website here. Our website is available in EnglishSpanishbahasa IndonesiaFrench, and Portuguese.

a man stands on a stretch of road where a creek runs perpendicular to and over the pavement.
Asi Harmoko [40] stands in the middle of the flow of Aik Duku which is in Cundong Hill, Aik Abik Hamlet. Formerly, this area was a customary forest, but now it is a palm oil plantation. Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia, 2022.

Asih Harmoko [40] was silent for a moment when asked about the customary forest of the Mapur Tribe in Aik Abik Hamlet, Gunung Muda Village, Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands. He took a breath. “There is no customary forest in this village. Everything has become an oil palm field," he said in early February 2022.

"This hamlet used to be surrounded by forests and kelekak [orchards such as durian, cempedak, and mangosteen]. Various trees are growing," said Asih, who since 2019 has been chairman of the Mapur Indigenous Institute [LAM].


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He recounts his childhood and adolescence, often invited by his late grandfather [Atuk Amin] and his father [Saini Pangilan Aku], to his family's garden in Benak, the customary forest of the Mapur Tribe at the foot of Pelawan Mountain [300 meters].

a young girl smiles at the camera. She sits next to an elder. They are both sitting in their wooden house.
A child from the Mapur tribe family in Aik Abik Hamlet, Bangka Regency. Is it possible that in adulthood we will find customary forests? Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia, 2022.
A woman is crouched over a basket
Our forest is finished, said a mother in Aik Abik Hamlet, after drying rice from the fields. Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia, 2022.
rows of planted trees dominate the landscape where turquoise colored pools sit on bare patches of land<br />
The forest area around Aik Abik Hamlet, which is now turned into a stretch of oil palm plantations and tin mines. Image by Taufik Wijaya/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia, 2022.
rows of trees line the edge of a shore where reddish brown water drains into a bright turquoise ocean.
The company's shrimp farm is being built on the coast of Tuing Hamlet. Image by Taufik Wijaya/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia, 2022.
A thatched-roof structure on stilts sits with tropical trees in the background
Mapur tribal house in Aik Abik Hamlet. The only symbol of the existence of the Mapur Tribe whose territory is filled with palm oil. Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia, 2022.
A green landscape with mountains in the distance on a cloudy day. The trees are planted in rows as far as the horizon. there is a road cutting through the middle.
The expanse of oil palm plantations to the foot of Mount Cundong and Mount Pelawan, which is seen from the top of Mount Tuing. Formerly, this area was the customary forest of the Mapur Tribe. Image by Taufik Wijaya/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia, 2022.