Agrarian reform movement in the Betung Kerihun National Park: mobilisation of hunter-gatherer communities against nature protection in Kalimantan

Abstract

This chapter examines the mobilisation of indigenous hunter-gatherer communities against nature protection agencies in the Betung Kerihun National Park in West-Kalimantan, Indonesia. The park protects one of the world's top biodiversity hotspots, one of the largest remaining rainforests of Southeast Asia with numerous endemic species and threatened iconic mammals, like the Bornean Orangutan. To integrate nature conservation and community development, the park is divided into zones with different functions and possible uses and aims to regulate some of the residents' resource extraction practices and to support them in adopting environmentally more sustainable livelihood strategies. Triggered by a raid targeting gold miners, activists of an agrarian reform movement mobilised the communities against the national park - to fight against resource use regulations and the "monopolisation" of their land. This led to a boycott of national park programmes and severe frictions between villagers and the national park authority. Some of the perspectives and claims of the activists contradict with realities on the ground. Yet, their mobilisation succeeded, as the hunter-gatherers' traditional autonomy at the edge of the state and their distrustful relations with the national park authority provided fertile ground for insurgency. The case highlights the role of critical events as triggers of social mobilisation. It also directs attention to historical trajectories, cultural factors, and pre-mobilisation tensions, shaping the course and outcomes of mobilisation.