Globally Important Agriculture Heritage System (GIAHS) Application Integrated Agricultural System of Tri Hita Karana – Tri Mandala in Bali, Indonesia Coordinating Ministry of Human Development and Culture Republic of Indonesia 2015 Collaborated by: Local Government of Karangasem District, Bali – Bogor Agricultural University – Udayana University GIAHS proposal Globally Important Agriculture Heritage System (GIAHS) Initiative SUMMARY INFORMATION Name/Title of the Agricultural Heritage System: Integrated Agricultural System of Tri Hita Karana – Tri Mandala in Bali, Indonesia Requesting Agency/Organization: Local Government of Karangasem District Country/location/Site: Karangasem District Indonesia Bali Island Karangasem District, one of the nine districts in Bali Province, is located in the eastern part of Bali Island (Annex 1). Accessibility of the site to capital city or major cities: From Soekarno-Hatta (Jakarta) Airport, Karangasem District could be reached by taking a domestic flight to Ngurah Rai (Denpasar) Airport, which takes about 2 hours and driving from Ngurah Rai (Denpasar) Airport to Amlapura, capital city of Karangasem District, which takes about 2.5 hours. Approximate Surface Area: 839,54 km2 Agro-Ecological Zone/s: tropical climate; rice, peanut, soybean, vegetables in the wet land; corn, snake fruit, coconut, cashew nut, banana and jack fruit in the dry land. Topographic features: Karangasem District is laid in the mount foot of Gunung Agung, with various topographic features ranging from mountainous, hilly to flat in the low land area. Climate Type: Tropical Monsoonal Type Approximate population: 568,737 (Source: Dinas Kependudukan dan Catatan Sipil, Karangasem District, 2014) Number of working force in agriculture, plantation, forestry and fishery:116,100 (47.24% of total labors, 2014) Main Source of Livelihoods: Agriculture, Fishery, Animal Husbandry, and Tourism Ethnicity/Indigenous population: Balinese Summary Information of the Agricultural Heritage System Agriculture system in Karangasem District is a sustainable land use system based on Tri Hita- Karana (THK) and Tri Mandala (TM) philosophies of Bali. This agriculture system is globally important, due to: (1) limited land and water resources which are features of island regions, are overcome and enabled agriculture to prosper by using the local wisdoms based on its unique philosophy; and (2) has since sustained food production and livelihoods of a large population about 570 thousand in 2014 over a long period more than ten centuries. Tri Hita Karana (THK) is a philosophy for everything and attaining happiness (welfare) while maintaining the harmony between man and God (e.g. religion), man and man (e.g. organization), man and nature (e.g. agriculture field). Tri Mandala (TK) is also a philosophy that keeps harmony according to the space utilization; utilization of land is divided into three stages according to the differences in the degree of sanctity, (i) the upper for protected area, (ii) the middle for human living, and (iii) the bottom for agriculture production. Based on these two philosophies, area of land is used sustainably by some management systems. One example of such agricultural systems under THK and TM is Subak for rice field water management, and another system is called Abian for dry land management to grow both annual and perennial crops. Under Subak and Abian management, agriculture has provided enough food and become the means of major income for their livelihoods in the region. Agro-biodiversity is conserved, such as beras bali (Balinese rice), upland crops, fruit trees, flowers, vegetables and livestock, as well as precious genetic resources from specific crops and livestock such as salak bali (snake fruit), jagung seraya (Balinese corn), kelapa dalam variety of coconut, cashew nut, and Sapi Bali (Balinese cattle) through agricultural production. In addition, by using local wisdom and traditional techniques, water is efficiently used and shared fairly, the stone terraces are built to prevent erosion in the steep slopes of the fields. Tri Hita Karana (THK) and Tri Mandala (TM) philosophies are deeply established in the way of life in Bali, including the rituals related to agriculture. Also, it has conserved rich food culture and unique calendar. Through THK and TM implementation, the agricultural land cover can be seen throughout the year both in rainy and dry seasons, whether rice plant or upland cash crops, e.g. peanut, soybean, corn, vegetables crops, and flowers. The agriculture zone strictly adheres the Palemahan aspect of THK philosophies, which is practiced in Nista Mandala of TM. Palemahan expresses the relationship between farmer and environtment. In addition, this sustainable land utilization has created beautiful scenery as remarkable landscape of the mountains and sea. However, agriculture in this region is also exposed to threats such as young people moving away from agriculture and development of large-scale resort area. For these reasons, with the opportunity of the GIAHS designation we should inherit this good land use system and pass on to the next generation by committing our efforts to conserve high-quality agricultural land, developing value added agriculture, agro-tourism and so on. Description of the Agriculture Heritage System I. Characteristic of the Proposed GIAHS Global (National) Importance (a) Geographical features and landscape Karangasem District has an area of 83,594 ha, with 91.26% dry land, various topographic landscapes, ranging from green mountains and hills to flat low land with dry beaches. Such varied landscapes depict various uses of land and enclosed land use for agriculture. Thus, it is really important to have sound water management to support sustainable agriculture activities (Fig.1). Fig. 1. Subak and Abian system practices for terraces paddy field (top and bottom left) and upland management (bottom right) (b) Tri Hita Karana and Tri Mandala Philosophies Tri Hita Karana (THK) as a Hinduism philosophy in Bali implemented agricultural systems such as Subak and Abian. It consists of three concepts. The first, “Parahyangan” is the relation between human and God(s), which is implemented as Pura Sawah (temple in the paddy field). The second is “Pawongan”, implemented as man and man relationships, farmers‟ organizations (pekaseh/leader and pawongan/member). The last one is “Palemahan”, relationships between human and nature, such as paddy field/dried field and its boundaries. Tri Mandala (TM) is a regional division based on Hinduism concept implemented in Bali. This concept has been adopted in most parts of traditional villages. TM consists of 3 zones, namely Utama Mandala (the Main Zone, the upstream areas which can either be mountains or hills), Madya Mandala (the Middle Zone, the median areas such as the slope of the hills and the low land), and Nista Mandala (the downstream areas, such as beaches or seashores). This TM concept can be implemented in stages, from bio-regional scale to village scale. In a village scale, Subak and Abian are implemented by allocating the zones for specific purposes, such as temples as religious places are built in Utama Mandala zone, while residential buildings are located in Madya Mandala zone, and agriculture cultivation is conducted in Nista Mandala zone. Such TM concepts are in line with universal concepts adopting THK (Fig 2). Fig. 2. Diagram of THK (top) and TM (bottom) philoshophies (c) Subak and Abian Balinese people have known Subak since the 11th Century. This can be traced back from the finding of the Writings of Purana Klungkung King (994 Saka/the year of 1072). Subak is an irrigation system which has developed due to strong Hinduism influence. To Balinese people, irrigation Fig. 3. Pura Subak as Parahyangan is not merely to provide water for plants, but water aspect of THK can also be used to build a man-made eco-system flow. Temples located near water springs (THK implementation on Parahyangan concept) is the main focus of cooperative management system in distributing water to irrigation channels (Fig. 3). Subak has been recognized as a leading and advanced irrigation system. This agricultural system, being implemented for centuries, has been sustained by the rural people in Bali. Subak is an independent system performed by the community in order to manage the division of water irrigation for paddy fields. This system is managed hierarchically by groups and each member of the groups is assigned to have a specific role (this is an implementation of THK on Pawongan concept). Finally, Subak is also known as a local wisdom which enables farmers to be in harmony with the nature and to gain optimum harvest (this is an implementation of THK on Palemahan concept). Abian is a farmers‟ organization which performs agricultural activities on dry land. In Balinese language, “Abian” means garden, or yard, or rice field. Albian is considered the same as Subak, which reflects the function of Pawongan, with humans act as actors performing activities, in which the organization traditionally has a leader, members, and mechanisms to achieve its goals. The main tasks include physical work (Palemahan aspects), which is in line with the concept of Tri Hita Karana Similarly, in the concept of Tri Mandala, agricultural land which is managed by using Abian lies in Mandala nista, the land devoted to agriculture. The activities include not only cultivating annual and perennial crops, but also raising cattle. In managing the area, although it is in Mandala nista zone, the