Living rubber, dead land, and persisting systems in Borneo; Indigenous representations of sustainability

Abstract

Kantu’ tribesmen in West Kalimantan say that when they plant rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) in their swiddens or swidden fallows, the land thenceforth becomes tanah mati [dead land], in implicit contrast to the remaining ‘living land’ contained in the swidden agricultural cycle. It is argued here that the Kantu’ characterization of rubber lands as ‘dead’ has to do with a pervasive ideology of exchange involving both society and environment. Rubber is not part of this system and, accordingly, it ‘kills’ exchange and thus the land. ‘Exchange’ cannot, however, be equated with ‘sustainability’, nor can we conclude that rubber cultivation is ‘destructive’ -- for in many respects it is just the opposite of this. An exegesis of Kantu’ beliefs about rubber and dead land reveals the inadequacy of existing Western concepts for discussing sustainable environmental relations cross culturally.