Summary report of the Community Conservation Resilience Initiative in:

Sabah, Introduction

The Community Conservation Kinabalu in the district of With independent funding from the Resilience Initiative (CCRI) was and community members are now Commonwealth Foundation, this undertaken with five villages in actively seeking formal recognition three-year project (2015-2017) aims . These emblematic sites were for their lands from the government, to increase the resilience of the chosen as they reflect diverse land and the revival of their traditional Indigenous Peoples’ customary use practices that are commonly practices. Mengkawago is in the institutions and natural resource observed by their respective district of , the whole of it stewardship systems through communities. within a commercial forest reserve, constructive engagement with the Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve, and decision-making processes. The Sg. Eloi is in the , community members are trying to project involves documentation of specifically in the mangrove areas at secure the community forest for the customary institutions and natural the mouth of the Pitas River, and continuity of their traditional resource stewardship systems, community members are working to practices. Terian is in the district of strengthening of local and protect, restore and apply , on the mountains along international networks, and sustainable use of their community the . The core village engagements with policy- and mangrove forest. Alutok is in the settlement is located right next to the decision-makers to improve district, parts of which are boundary of the Crocker Range Park implementation of supportive laws located within a commercial forest but parts of the broader territory are and to promote legal and reserve, the Forest Reserve, overlapped by the Park. They are institutional reform. and the community is working to working to strengthen their secure and highlight their traditional community watershed management practices of forest management. Kiau system. is located at the foot of Mount

Mapping community resources. PACOS Trust Alutok village, Sabah. PACOS Trust

1 Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · April 2018 Community Conservation Initiatives and Ecological Impact

People in the Tombonuo ethnic group Located at the foothills of Mt. which they have also been attempting from Sungai Eloi, Pitas, depend on Kinabalu, the Kiau community forest to protect. By harvesting honey their mangrove forests for protein, conservation area is a 1,024-acre sustainably, the community also fuelwood and medicinal plants. In forest area set aside by the protects the surrounding forest area, addition, the mangrove area is a place community as a heritage area. The providing broader environmental for spiritual purposes. The community Dusun community is focused on benefits. identifies and manages their revitalising traditional forest practices conservation areas based on such as the use of Dusun forest terms The Dusun community in Terian lives traditional customary uses and (boros puru) and giving respect to the on the hillside and are mainly farmers practices. forest spirits (mamatang/mamason). who grow paddy (rice) and cash crops To conserve this forest, they have also such as rubber. They depend on the The Murut Tahol of Alutok, Ulu formulated a protocol to govern its Terian River for their livelihood and Tomani, is a community of forest- use. have a micro-hydro turbine to dependent hunter-gatherers, and they generate electricity and a gravity-fed take special care of their forest. For In Mengkawago, the forest-dependent water system to provide clean water. example, they practice tavol in Sungai Rumanau community is one of They are actively managing and preparation for large and important the few communities that still maintaining the condition of the river occasions such as weddings. Tavol maintains knowledge of harvesting and watershed in their village. prohibits hunting and resource wild honey from bees that establish gathering in specific areas in the their hives in a particular tree species forest for specific time periods, (Menggaris). The community has been ensuring resources are not depleted documenting their traditional and preventing conflict and knowledge of wild honey collection competition in the community. within their community forest area,

Communities sketch a map of their territories and the customary laws attached to Jungle trekking during the visit to Mengkawago. them. PACOS Trust PACOS Trust

Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · April 2018 2 Internal and External Threats

A large-scale shrimp farming project where they could forage and hunt. Forest Reserve are prohibited without in Sungai Eloi is clearing mangroves After the state government a licence, which affects the vital to the community’s livelihoods designated most of these forests as a community’s access to forest and the surrounding environment. state park in 1964, the communities resources and their traditional forest- More than 2,000 acres have already lost ownership and, subsequently, dependent practices. been cleared since 2012. The their traditional practices of hunting Environment Protection Department and gathering were prohibited. While Terian is fairly isolated and has approved the environmental impact Although the forests were excised poor access to gravel roads, it is assessment and the company plans to from the park in the 1980s, legally among the nine villages in danger of clear another 1,000 acres despite they are still State land and the being submerged or relocated by protests from the communities and community thus still faces insecure development of the proposed certain NGOs. The community leaders land tenure. There are also concerns Kaiduan Dam (12 km2 would be are also facing threats—part of a about proposed tourism development submerged and 350 km2 gazetted as growing global trend of threats with the area being open to land title water catchment reserve). Even towards indigenous leaders and applications by interested companies. before the proposed dam, Terian environmental defenders. struggled to get recognition of the Mengkawago has been included parts of their territory, including Part of Alutok and its community within a Class II Forest Reserve since hunting grounds, which overlapped forest are located in a Class II Forest 1984. Like in Alutok, the community with a state park (Crocker Range Reserve and are now held by a has no governing power over the Park). company concessionaire (Sabah forest area and it can be logged by Forest Industry), making the the concessionaire. Other human community’s land tenure insecure. activities (such as hunting) within the They face threats of encroachment, Efforts have been made by the community to replant affected areas with mangrove trees. PACOS Trust as they have no rights to the forests, and the prospect of losing their community forest through deforestation and monoculture planting of Acacia Mangium. The wild flora and fauna in the forest area would also be depleted.

Initially, the communities of Kiau used the forests in their customary territory as hunting grounds

3 Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · April 2018 Potential Solution-Oriented Approaches, Strategies and Policies

Sungai Eloi, Pitas makers, leading to their community with their traditional practices. They forest being excised from the Forest want the government to recognise The community is promoting the Reserve—or at the very least to have the community forest reserve, and to environmental, social and cultural governance and management of the do so, they plan to further document importance of the mangroves and community forest their management and protection, devolved to them within Mengkawago community members harvesting honey. and is appealing to the company, the Forest Reserve. PACOS Trust state government and related agencies to stop the clearing of the Kiau, Kota Belud mangroves and assist with restoration. Community members are The community is also raising awareness about their currently trying to gain struggles at regional and recognition for their international meetings related to conservation area by human rights and biodiversity working together with conservation. Sabah Parks and Ecolinc (an existing project Alutok, Ulu Tomani aiming to increase connectivity between In Alutok, they will organise Crocker Range Park and workshops and community meetings Kinabalu Park, including to form a tavol committee to raise through recognition of awareness amongst the community ICCAs) and applying for and youth on the importance of tavol, a Native Reserve title in and increase exposure and the hopes of protecting understanding of laws relating to the the forest in accordance preservation and conservation of Stakes made from bamboo are used to make ladders for climbing trees. PACOS Trust tavol. There are also plans to organise trainings and exposures for the tavol committee’s capacity in documentation and to consolidate all of their training and skills. They also hope that by promoting tavol as a good practice for forest stewardship, it can be recognised and supported by the government and key decision-

Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · April 2018 4 their practices, update their traditional activity, they could reach a community protocol and have formal agreement with the Forestry meetings with relevant Department as a form of mutually government agencies. beneficial conservation of the forest To get to the bee hives at the top of a tree, community area. This agreement could also pave members use ladders made out of bamboo. Tony Allison/PACOS Trust Mengkawago, Tongod the way to addressing existing tensions between the Forestry The community of Department and the community over Mengkawago hopes to agroforestry activities (Lasimbang, show the importance and 2016). multiple values of the forest area and secure legal Terian, Ulu Papar recognition and protection of their customary lands, Terian will appoint a working practices and livelihoods. To committee, organise awareness date, the community has campaigns and have dialogues with successfully completed relevant stakeholders to show that their community map and they are stewards of the watersheds community profile and has and surrounding forests—which are documented their historical also part of the UNESCO Biosphere sites. They are also in the Reserve. The community hopes that process of documenting plans for the Kaiduan Dam will be their traditional practice of reconsidered if not halted altogether honey collection as an and their traditional protocols example of community recognised. Efforts to establish a forest stewardship. The Community Use Zone with Sabah community is hopeful that Parks have yet to come to fruition, by documenting this though this area is now recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. There could View of Mount Kinabalu. PACOS Trust be an opportunity to engage with UNESCO over the concerns with the dam, though more pervasive challenges remain with government funding and approval processes.

5 Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · April 2018 Preliminary Conclusions and Recommendations

The communities involved have Sg. Eloi, Pitas Alutok, Ulu Tomani demonstrated their resilience and ability to be stewards of their Any further development of the The Sabah Forestry Department customary territories, but significant shrimp farm should be halted to should excise the community forest challenges remain that threaten their prevent further damage to the from the Class II Forest Reserve or territories and practices in both the mangroves and the project reclassify it as a domestic forest short- and long-term. Consolidating developers should pay for reserve (Class III) and devolve their community protocols will restoration of the mangroves governance and management provide a clear basis for targeted destroyed. The Environment responsibilities to the community, dialogues and negotiation with Protection Department should based on indigenous knowledge and government agencies and other retract the environmental impact practices. This arrangement should stakeholders. Currently there are assessment clearance for the not impose any requirements to existing provisions in policy and legal aquaculture project and undertake a clear the forest under the guise of frameworks that can be public review, with full and effective ‘poverty eradication’. At the very implemented by the government. participation of the villages in that least, a co-management agreement However, challenges must be area. An independent review should should be established with the overcome to ensure the objectives be undertaken of the impacts of the community for the community forest. can be achieved, including the federal and state governments’ elimination of possible conflicts of ‘poverty eradication’ programmes Kiau, Kota Belud interest, appropriate recognition for (such as the shrimp farming project). various forms of communities’ The community should be allowed to Sabah Parks should continue to assist customary laws and stewardship determine what form of with efforts to recognise the systems, ensuring equitable development is appropriate to their community’s conservation practices governance and effective way of life. Another legal option but should do so in ways that are management of natural resources in being considered is to work with the tailored to each community in the areas overlapping with communities’ Drainage and Irrigation Department Ecolinc (corridor) area, including by territories, overcoming challenges to recognise Water Conservation considering the pros and cons of with coordination and jurisdiction Areas in the community’s mangrove Native Reserves and other forms of between government agencies, and areas. legal recognition more fully with the promoting culturally appropriate community before proceeding with research and education (Lasimbang, gazettement. Sabah Parks and 2016).

A common recommendation across all of the communities is to seek recognition of their community protocols from the Native Court, especially where the state legal system has fallen short in its recognition of customary law and traditional knowledge and practices.

Community ritual to ask for help from the forest spirits to protect the mangroves from encroachment and destruction. Sudin Ipung/G6

Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · April 2018 6 companies interested in tourism Mengkawago, Tongod the trees on which the honeybees operations in the area should also depend. The community should also assist the community in setting up Similar to Alutok, the Sabah Forestry be compensated with land agreed by eco-tourism initiatives in accordance Department should excise the the community that is of relatively with the community’s protocol and community’s traditional territory equal size, quality and fertility as development plans. Another option from the Forest Reserve or at least what as that cleared by the being considered is to work with the reclassify it into a Class III Forest concessionaire. An additional option Sabah Forestry Department to Reserve and devolve governance and being considered to support their demarcate and gazette their management responsibilities to the livelihoods is to work with the community forest reserve in community, based on indigenous Forestry Department’s Social Forestry accordance with the community’s knowledge and practices. At the very Unit to assist the community to protocol. least, the Forestry Department, establish a local enterprise for the concessionaire and community harvested honey. should establish a co-management agreement to allow the community secure access to forest products for their subsistence use and to protect

Group photo in the Mengkawago community forest. PACOS Trust

7 Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · April 2018 Testimony

“The mangrove is our home. It was devastated by the shrimp farm. We have no support from the leaders to defend our land. In 2012, we were threatened when we tried to hunt for food in our traditional hunting grounds. We are severely affected without our traditional foods. There are fewer (shells), fish, and crabs. Some days, there are none. Land applications in Kampung Kuyu were cancelled in favour of the farm. We want our ICCA to continue in our community. We are restoring our mangroves on our own, and we want them untouched. We will die defending our land.” Olon Somoi, 46 years old, Kampung Sungai Eloi, Pitas Olon Somoi. Beverly Joeman/GFC

Terian, Ulu Papar supporting the communities in Ulu Conservation Areas and Community Papar to resist the dam and should Use Zones. The community’s The state government should leverage the designation of the watershed management protocols immediately halt plans to build the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to should be formally recognised and Kaiduan Dam and identify recognise the communities’ supported by all relevant alternatives for addressing the city’s contributions to water catchment government agencies. water supply needs, including by stewardship and biodiversity retrofitting pipes to stop leakages. conservation more broadly, and the Sabah Parks and the Ministry of need for sustainable economic Tourism, Culture and Environment activities in the area. This could should play a more active role in include legally recognising Water

This summary is based on a full CCRI report about the communities' conservation resilience assessment in Malaysia, which can be found here: http://globalforestcoalition.org/community-conservation-resilience- initiative-ccri-full-country-report/

References

Sabah Forestry Department, 2011. Sabah Forestry Department Annual Report 2010. , Sabah. http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my/pdf/ar2010/index.htm

Lasimbang J, 2016. At least 5 communities practise ‘Tagal Hutan’. Workshop on Promoting Tagal Hutan to Conserve Traditional Indigenous Practice, Enhance Watershed Management and Address Climate Change. Daily Express, 18 February, p2a. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=106900

Lasimbang J, 2016. Tagal Hutan to conserve culture, land and forest through development of a Policy Framework. http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/rap/Asia-Pacific_Forestry_Week/doc/Stream_4/ST4_24Feb_Jannie_-_Tagal_Hutan_land_rights.pdf

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