The World Heritage Nomination of Balinese Cultural Landscapes Local Struggles and Expectations
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CHAPTER 12 The World Heritage Nomination of Balinese Cultural Landscapes Local Struggles and Expectations Keiko Miura and I Made Sarjana REVIEW COPY Introduction The Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: The Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy was nominated as a World Heritage Site in 2012 (Map 12.1). The subak system is an asso- ciation of both irrigated cultivation and religion, whose activities range from water distribution, operation and maintenance of the physical sys- tem, resource mobilisation, conflict resolution, and organising religious rituals (Pitana, 2005: 2).The subak plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of the Balinese rural cultural landscape consisting of a large and complex ecosystem including mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, springs, rice terraces and communities. The nomination file emphasises that ‘subaks are not simple water-user associations managed by single communities’; ‘[i]nstead, subaks are connected via the water temple networks into functional hierarchies that manage the landscape at dif- ferent scales, from whole watersheds to individual paddies’ (Ministry of Culture and Tourism [MCT], 2011: II-8). The Hindu-Balinese philosophy of tri hita karana (three causes of goodness, prosperity, or happiness) is the conceptual basis of the effi- cient management of the subak system, including water temple networks, so that the relevant communities seek balance and harmony between the supernatural world, the environment and human beings. It means that the harmony of nature, religion and culture is considered crucial for 274 King-Unesco-book.indd 274 27/09/2015 23:03 The World Heritage Nomination of Balinese Cultural Landscapes Subak landscapes Supreme water temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur Catur Lake Batur Angga Batukaru Pakerisan Watershed Royal water temple Denpasar JAVA Pura Taman Ayun kilometers REVIEW COPY 0 5 10 20 © NIAS Press 2015 Map 12.1: World Heritage Properties of the Balinese Cultural Landscape prosperity and happiness which parallels the notion of sustainable de- velopment (MCT, 2011: II-8–II-9, II-18; Pitana, 2005: 13). The World Heritage nomination of the five landscapes has however met a number of challenges because of the discrepancies in the priorities conceived by stakeholders, primarily between those committed to conservation and those who are seeking development opportunities, which in turn involve negotiations about who should manage the respective properties. It has also been affected to a certain degree by a previous proposed site, Pura [temple] Besakih, the supreme Bali Hindu temple complex, which was the subject of much controversy, and difficulties engendered after the World Heritage inscription of a similar Southeast Asian site – the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (Figure 12.1). The subak landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru is the largest site and has possibly the most outstanding landscape in the Balinese World Heritage property. It consists of mountains, forests, two lakes to supply the subak below, i.e. Tamblingan and Buyan in Buleleng Regency, 15 subaks managing rice terraces in vast areas, 12 villages, and a network of five major water temples. Rice terraces in this site belong to Tabanan Regency which is the ‘rice-barn’ (lumbung) of Bali, where the land is 275 King-Unesco-book.indd 275 27/09/2015 23:03 UNESCO in Southeast Asia REVIEW COPY Figure 12.1: Pura Besakih (photo Keiko Miura) fertile with volcanic soils. This area maintains organic farming of the traditional red, white and black rice varieties, even though the cultiva- tion of high-yield varieties (HYVs) has spread over Bali since the 1970s through the influences of the Green Revolution (Pitana, 2006: 91; Lansing, 2007: xviiii–xx, 3–5). The supreme temple among the five temples is Pura Luhur [supreme] Batukaru, and the other four temples are Pura Luhur Pucak Petali, Pura Luhur Tamba Warah, Pura Luhur Besi Kalung and Pura Muncak Sarithat which mark out the boundaries of a sacred territory as the highest mandara or sacred landscape of Tabanan Regency. Whenever the land needs cleansing and purification, the dei- ties of the temples are taken on a pilgrimage to the sea temple, accom- panied by representatives from all the local subaks and villages. Like the Pekerisan watershed area, this site, too, is representative of the purity of the landscape that ‘resisted pressures to abandon traditional agricultural practices’ (Lansing, 2006: 7; MCT, 2011: II-10–16, II-37–48; Pitana, 2006: 91). 276 King-Unesco-book.indd 276 27/09/2015 23:03 The World Heritage Nomination of Balinese Cultural Landscapes REVIEW COPY Figure 12.2: Jatiluwih Rice Terraces and Mt. Batukaru et al (photo Keiko Miura) Local conflicts over the World Heritage nomination and heritage management Balinese society is characterised by local collective decision-making power vis-à-vis higher authorities. Evidence for this socio-political feature can be found in the World Heritage nomination process. Since the 1990s there have been three attempts by the central government to propose the nomination of Pura Besakih as a WHS. All attempts to nominate the temple complex however failed, due to strong local resistance expressed by the Besakih customary village (desa adat) and the Hindu Council, which had stakes in the socio-economic manage- ment of the site. At the heart of the dispute was the lack of clarity with regard to the functioning of the temple and who would be responsible for site management after it became a WHS. To make matters more complicated, Besakih had become a political vehicle for certain groups like kinship groups over the issues of ‘rituals, development programmes, or the devolution of government, for expressing power struggles with 277 King-Unesco-book.indd 277 27/09/2015 23:03 UNESCO in Southeast Asia the centre’ (Darma Putra and Hitchcock, 2005: 225–237). In 2001 when the last attempt to nominate Besakih as a WHS was made, the preparation of the nomination of another site, that of Taman Ayun had proceeded smoothly ‘under the leadership of the senior custodian of Mengwi Palace’ with the clear lines of temple ownership facilitating the decision–making process (ibid.: 232). Since 2002 Bali had been proposed for three sites as components of a WHS that encompasses many of the most archaic and dramatic Balinese rice terraces (Pakerisan River Basin Area, Jatiluwih farm- ing area [the core area of Catur Angga Batukaru]) (Figure 12.2) and Pura Taman Ayun (Figure 12.3). The process for the World Heritage nomination however took a long time because many requirements still had to be met. In addition, it was not good timing when the Rice Terraces in the Philippine Cordilleras had changed rapidly after the World Heritage inscription which encouraged an increasing number of REVIEW COPY tourists, several insensitive tourism developments, and inadequate land management, also in part due to the lack of human resources through the outmigration of young people seeking modern urban livelihoods. Such mismanagement caused erosion of the Philippine terraces fol- lowing deforestation, abandonment of some irrigation channels, and neglect in the repair of damaged terraces. All in all, it was feared that this situation could endanger the surrounding environment and ruin the balance of the ecosystem maintained by the positive interaction between the local populations and their landscape (Bali News Views, 18 December 2009; Villalón, 2012). The Philippine site was subsequently placed on the World Heritage Site in Danger List in 2001 (UNESCO WHS, 1992–2013b), from which the Balinese were to learn a lesson to make strong commitments to ensure the sustainability of their cultural environment (Bali News Views, 18 December 2009). Prior to commencing the nomination process of this Balinese WHS, Jatiluwih village had also developed very complex political problems. Had it not solved these, it would not have been included in the nomina- tion file. In promoting village tourism, disputes occurred around several issues between the desa adat (responsible for customs and human affairs) and desa dinas (established by the Dutch to address such matters as land and statistical data). Pitana (2001: 7–9) writes that in 1991 Jatiluwih was selected as one of the three sites for pilot projects for village tour- 278 King-Unesco-book.indd 278 27/09/2015 23:03 The World Heritage Nomination of Balinese Cultural Landscapes REVIEW COPY Figure 12.3: Pura Taman Ayun (photo Keiko Miura) ism development in Bali. The aim of developing village tourism was ‘to eliminate the leakage of profit’, so that the profit could ‘be enjoyed by [the] local community directly or through the higher multiplier effect and spin-off activities’ (ibid.: 5). Based on the concept of village tourism the desa adat was to manage all tourist attractions, but the desa dinas in Jatiluwih was more dominant than the desa adat. A model house funded by the government was even built in the compound of the head officer of the desa dinas (ibid.: 7). According to the then heads of both desa adat and desa dinas, the Tabanan authorities and the desa dinas invited investors to develop tourism facilities without involving the desa adat. Investors tried to buy substantial areas of land from villagers, which the desa adat refused. Some villagers nonetheless responded to the inves- tors to clear forests in order to sell some land to them, which created a rift among the villagers who opposed it. Here the notion of tri hita karana was at stake. In the end, the investors cancelled their plan (Miura, 2008:51; Pitana, 2001:7). 279 King-Unesco-book.indd 279 27/09/2015 23:03 UNESCO in Southeast Asia Another problem in promoting village tourism was related to the geography and the kind of tourist attractions there. Jatiluwih is located on the slope of Mount Batukaru with narrow roads winding along the slope, where tourists can enjoy cool fresh air and a beautiful landscape consisting of rice terraces, mountains and valleys.