doi: 10.11594/jtls.08.02.06 THE JOURNAL OF TROPICAL LIFE SCIENCE OPEN ACCESS Freely available online VOL. 8, NO. 2, pp. 130 – 143, April 2018 Submitted November 2015; Revised December 2017; Accepted January 2017 The Plant Wisdom of Dayak Ot Danum, Central Kalimantan Herianto *, Zainal Kusuma, Ellis Nihayati, Cahyo Prayogo Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya University, Malang Indonesia ABSTRACT This research aims to describe plants diversity having local wisdom value for Ot-Danum Dayak people, Tumbang Payang village and Tumbang Kania village, Central Kalimantan. The result reveals that since a long time ago, Ot- Danum Dayak people truly depend on natural resources to meet various daily needs. The vast majority of subsistence and society's income are form forest plants product. Plant diversity can provide food product for society, can produce various plants to be consumed and also produce alternative income sources, such as exploited for food, medicine, fermentation, tonic, cosmetic, building material and etc. However, the existing plant diversity is endangered since deforestation and forest degradation, and even there are many lesser-known species. Therefore, it needs to quickly find the information about the species to conservation effort, given the existing forest resource has a big potential to be developed and cultured to the species through domestication and providing a genetic resource for hybridization and selection. Keywords: Domestication, subsistence, perception, genetic, culture, conservation INTRODUCTION changes in Tumbang Payang and Tumbang Kania vil- Indonesia has a wide variety of ethnic groups living lages, due to deforestation and excessive forest degrada- throughout the archipelago from Sabang to Merauke. tion, have brought great impact on the surrounding The tribes in used to be dependent on the natural re- Dayak communities. For example, several types of plants sources to meet the needs of everyday life. Each tribe has are beginning to extinct due to logging and some have different knowledge in the use of plants. The diversity become extinct due to the utilization of biological re- of plants and the related knowledge are ones of Indone- sources and the use of land by human intervention. De- sia’s cultural richness to keep [1]. velopment policies that are less concerned about envi- Central Kalimantan also has a vast natural biodiver- ronmental sustainability also play a role in the species sity supported by the potential traditional knowledge, extinction process. These finally lead to the extinction of characterized by every Dayak ethnic group in Kaliman- the traditional and indigenous inheritance [3]. There- tan. Biodiversity is always closely linked to the culture fore, efforts to document traditional knowledge along of the local community [1]. One of them is through the with cultural-based plant conservation efforts for utilization of various types of plants used in meeting the knowledge, conservation, and community welfare must daily needs, especially the people who are around the be done. forest area. The diversity of plant species is the basis of To support the policy pattern, based on information sustainable development because it incorporates com- from the community, there should be a sustainable man- plex experience, skills, and insights by local communi- agement of indigenous woody species, medicinal plants, ties about the surrounding environment [2]. crops, and other plant species. In line with the paradigm, Dayak Ot Danum tribe living in the upstream of this study is expected to generate a synergy of public Katingan still have beliefs, customs, culture, and empir- perceptions on local plant species and current condi- ical data related to natural phenomena and the historical tions. This will become the basis for the placement of process of environmental change. The environmental plant species in accordance with the conditions and *Corresponding author: How to cite: Herianto Herianto, Kusuma Z, Nihayati E, Prayogo C (2018) The Plant Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya University Wisdom of Dayak Ot Danum, Central Kalimantan. J. Trop. Life. Jalan Veteran, Malang, Indonesia 65165 Science 8 (2): 130 – 143. E-mail: [email protected] JTLS | J. Trop. Life. Science 130 Volume 8 | Number 2 | April | 2018 The Plant Wisdom of Dayak Ot Danum place of growth, especially in the utilization and use of waringin Timur Regency, Central Kalimantan Province. indigenous plants biodiversity in forest ecosystems. The The administrative area of Tumbang Kania Village co- study is important as it deals with some data on the local vers an area of 164 km2. Based on geographical location, culture of Dayak Ot Danum tribe. it lies in position 01°47’16.4’’ – 01°47’21.0’’ south lati- tude and 112°16’00.2’’ – 112°16’.8’’ east longitude. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study sites Data collection technique The research was conducted in Tumbang Payang A preliminary study was conducted before the main village and Tumbang Kania village, Bukit Santuai Dis- study to find out the profile of Dayak Ot Danum com- trict of Kotawaringin Timur, Central Kalimantan (Fig- munity in Katingan Hulu, i.e. Tumbang Payang village ure 1). Tumbang Payang is the village closest to the cen- and Tumbang Kania village. Data were collected ter of PT. Sarpatim, Bai Base Camp (BBC), about 12 through focused discussions and interviews with key in- km. This village is located on the Kuayan River, the set- formants. There are 106 family heads in Tumbang tlement is lined north-south. It is located on the left side Payang and 40 family heads in Tumbang Kania; as many of the upstream direction, or according to the term used as 40 people were chosen randomly as respondents in by the local people, it is the kiri mudik of Kuayan River this study. To fill out the questionnaires, respondents with an area of 105 km2. Administratively, Tumbang were assisted by research assistants who guided the pro- Payang is part of Mentaya Hulu District, Kotawaringin cess of answering questionnaires and ensuring that all Timur Regency, Central Kalimantan Province. Tum- questions were answered by the respondent. The ques- bang Payang consists of 1 (one) kampung (hamlet)and tionnaire showed a set of questions systematically ar- 4 (four) Rukun Tetangga (neighborhoods). It is geo- ranged. Filling questionnaires were conducted, among graphically located on 01°47’09.0’’ – 01°47’17.6’’ south others, at home, public places, and fields. In any data latitude and 112°17’31.9’’ – 112°18’03.6’’ east longitude. collection activity that involved the community, the re- Tumbang Kania is located on the upstream of the searchers began by introducing themselves and telling Kuayan River; the distance from the center of PT. Sarpa- the intent and purpose of the study. Small talks were tim, Bai Base Camp (BBC) is about 11 km. Unlike other made to build good communication between researchers villages that are located on the kiri mudik, Tumbang and respondents. Kania Village is located on the right lane of Kuayan The research used a descriptive method with a qual- River. Administratively, the village of Tumbang Kania is itative approach. Data collection was obtained from the definitive village that belongs to the administrative semi-structured in-depth interviews with small groups area of Tanggang Santuai District, Kota- or with individuals, then field data were made by obser- vation plot (PCP) with 20 × 100 m size of 5 (five) repli- cations and a snowball sampling system (excluding PCP). The result was made based on the number of spe- cies criterion and its use to explain the existing phenom- enon in the field [4]. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Characteristics of respondents Data collection through purposive sampling was conducted to complement each respondent’s data. The information obtained provided the necessary data input. Through the distribution of questionnaires, characteris- tics of the respondents according to the categories are described in Table 1. Table 1 describes the data of each respondent in 2 (two) villages, i.e. the data of the questionnaire which shows the most dominant frequency. It shows that peo- Figure 1. The Study Sites – Tumbang Payang and Tumbang ple in their productive age are still dependent on the Kania Village JTLS | J. Trop. Life. Science 131 Volume 8 | Number 2 | April | 2018 Herianto, Zainal Kusuma, Ellis Nihayati, Cahyo Prayogo 2018 Table 1. Characteristics of Respondents in Tumbang Payang and Tumbang Kania Description Category Sex Male 75% and female 25% Age Most are in the range of 40-50 years, Tumbang Kania 35%; Tumbang Payang 45%. Education background Elementary school (35%); Undergraduate ((S1) 5%). Main job 75% farmers; 5% traders Side job The majority or 75% chose entrepreneurs such as cutting timber from forests, hunting, selling crops, ranching, and the fewest jobs as laborers and 5% fishermen Origin of family head 85% Dayak tribe; 15% migrants from Java (Javanese) Tribe 95% Dayak Ot Danum; 5% Javanese Income 45% earn IDR 500,000 – 1,000,000 and 10% earn more than IDR 4,000,000. Marital status and number of family 90% married; 10% married and widower; 35% respondents bear the fam- members ily burden and 15% bear a family Ownership of land and buildings 95% own private land; 5% cultivate customary land Extent of land for business around The village land is around 10 - 100 ha. the forest Types of plants Dominant such as palawija (coarse grains, pulses, roots and tuber (CGPRT) crops), rubber, rattan, fruits. Source: Research data, 2016 surrounding nature, such as forests. The main work is Chickens are served for guests and in other ceremonies farming (in paddy fields, fields, and gardens). to honor the ancestral spirits. The other types of animals They usually plant food crops in their paddy fields, currently raised by the community include cattle, ducks, while annual plant species planted in the garden. Types and goats [5]. of food crops cultivated by the community include rice, The most dominant land use patterns are for rubber corn, yams, beans, and vegetables.