The Story of the Shamans Who Protect the Remaining Forest on Bangka Island (bahasa Indonesia)

• Bangka Island, which covers about 1.1 million hectares, has a denudational landform dominated by granite hills. Hundreds of years of tin extraction and monoculture plantations such as palm oil have left only the hills as the remaining forest.
• The destruction of the hills will not only harm the lives of the Jerieng Tribe, in Pelangas Village, Simpang Teritip Sub-district, West Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province, in the world, but also their spirituality.
• The Jerieng tribe is an old Malay subtribe spread across 13 villages in Simpang Teritip sub-district, West Bangka Regency, with an area of about 62 thousand hectares. Penyabung Hill in Pelangas Village, which is about 300 meters high, is the highest area, as well as a sacred area for the Jerieng Tribe.
• Every year, in the month of Muharram, the Jerieng tribe performs the "mountain taber" ritual on Peyabung Hill. The essence of the meaning of the ritual is as a form of gratitude for natural products, as well as praying to the Almighty to be kept away from all diseases and disasters.

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Bangka Island, which covers about 1.1 million hectares, has a denudational landform dominated by granite hills. Hundreds of years of tin extraction and monoculture plantations such as palm oil have left the hills as a remnant forest, which has long been a sacred area for a number of Indigenous peoples on Bangka Island.

"The destruction of the hills will not only harm our life in the world, but also our spirituality," said Janum bin Lamat [58], the Customary Chief of the Jerieng Tribe, in Pelangas Village, Simpang Teritip Subdistrict, West Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province, mid-September 2022.