Migration and Property in Mangrove Forest: The formation and adaptation of property arrangements of the Buginese in an open access delta in Mahakam, East Kalimantan, Indonesia Myrna A. Safitri Abstract By defining local property arrangement as internal rules of the games used by people whose no property rights to protect their land claims and resource utilization, this paper discusses how migrants have invented and adapted their property arrangement in a de facto open access tropical delta in Mahakam, East Kalimantan. Unique due to its diversity of mangrove species and specific geological formation, the Mahakam Delta has been facing devastating mangrove destruction. The Delta land is designated as state forest areas; however, it is open access since pre-colonial times. In such a situation, migrants, mainly the Buginese, have occupied the land. This paper aims to explore the relationship between migration and the formation of property arrangement and semi-formal property rights. Migrants are more vulnerable than indigenous people in the sense that they have not been able to establish their community property rights and the state does not grant them with legal rights. As such, they have to bargain with street-level officials to seek for semi- formal rights by accepting any written documents provided by these officials to confirm their land claims. The case study of the Mahakam Delta migrants conceptualizes that property rights evolve from property arrangement. Migration and de facto open access regime are the formative elements of such property arrangement. This paper describes types of local property arrangements related to land, sea and river in the Mahakam Delta; how these arrangements have emerged; how migration and state regulations related to these arrangements; what the main conflicts of interests between stakeholders are, how these conflicts related to the property arrangements crafted by the migrants and how the changes of livelihood have influenced these arrangements. Keywords: Property rights, sustainable livelihood, migration, open access regime 1. Introduction Mahakam Delta is one of the unique tropical deltas in the world. Its diversity of mangrove species and specific geological formation constitutes to such unique. Since several decades, Buginese of South Sulawesi have been migrating into this area. This paper aims to analyse how the Buginese migrants have developed their property arrangements in mangrove environment in the Mahakam Delta, East Kalimantan. Much social research has been carried out in the Mahakam Delta. Some explain competition and conflicts among stakeholders (Hidayati et al, 2006, Baten, 2009, Timmer, 2011). Another discusses socio-economic changes in the delta communities (Laumonier, Bourgeois, and Pfund, 2008, Sanjatmiko n.d, Lenggono, 2011). The other relates stakeholders’ conflict with the excessive degradation of mangroves (Sidik, 2009). Few of Delta studies, however, describe socio-legal analysis of law implementation and competing state institutions that affect to the competition of land and degradation of forest. The study of Simarmata (2012) was one of that few. In addition to this, I have found no studies that describe relationship between migration and the formation of property arrangement and property rights in the Mahakam Delta. 1 This paper is based on the findings of my post-doc project under a research cluster namely “Linking Forests with Marine Systems: Investigating developmental, biological, legal and economic ties across scales in East Kalimantan (ForMIdable)”.1 The research questioned what local property arrangements related to land, sea and river in the Mahakam Delta are; how these arrangements have emerged; how migration and state regulations related to these arrangements; what the main conflicts of interests between the main stakeholders are, how these conflicts related to the property arrangements crafted by the migrants and how the changes of livelihood have influenced the property arrangements. I divide this paper into nine parts. After this introduction, in section two we discuss relevant concepts to describe the relationship between migration and property arrangement. Then, in section three we can be briefly informed about historical, social and environmental aspects of the Mahakam Delta. Section four focuses on the conversion of mangroves into shrimp ponds. It describes also the dynamics of shrimp ponds business as the major livelihood of the delta people during 1990s-to first quarter of 2000s. Sections five to seven discuss property regime changes, the emergence and invention of property arrangement and people’s strategy to legalize their land claims. Then, in section eight, description is focussed on the impact of the decline of shrimp pond economy toward peoples’ livelihood. More importantly how the livelihood changes influence the emergence of new property arrangement. Lastly, section nine concludes and provides some policy recommendations. 2. Migration and property arrangement Property rights can be conceptualized as any enforceable rights to undertake particular actions toward specific things (Commons in Ostrom and Hess, 2008:11). The normative system of the state or community is the legitimate source of property rights. Instead of property rights, we need to consider another concept that can explained the situation where people without property rights have developed their internal rules of the games to claim and utilize resources. This report uses the term property arrangement to describe such a situation. Migration is one of the formative elements of property arrangement. The key word ‘people without property rights’ in this report is generally attached to migrants. In the beginning, migrants who voluntarily come to their new land do not have any property rights either coming from the state or the community in those areas. To be survival they have to create their own rules in order to protect their land claims and utilization. However, the rules can only be applied in open access areas. It means that migrants cannot create their property arrangement if they live in areas where the state or the community property regimes are effectively implemented. These migrants usually follow the rules of the state or the community. Nevertheless, this is not the case where the areas are de facto open access. They can be part of de jure state property regime; however, they become open access due to among others less control of the state and ineffective law enforcement (Fitzpatrick, 2006a:1000). The migrants have more opportunity to bud their property 1 This is a multi-disciplinary research project funded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (http://www.knaw.nl/Pages/DEF/27/272.bGFuZz1FTkc.html). I was part of a research cluster organized by the Van Vollenhoven Institute, Leiden University. I am grateful to Professor Jan Michiel Otto and Professor Gerard Persoon of Leiden University who supervised this research. I am thankful for Jan van Olden and Dennis Janssen who managed this project; also to my colleague, Rikardo Simarmata and my research assistants, Akhmad Wijaya and Helminsyah. 2 arrangement in such areas. When the migrants’ claims and utilization of resources have taken place for longer time, they can craft their own community property regime. Property rights can be derived from this regime. If the state legalizes these rights they can be part of state property regime. Here we can see that property rights are dynamic. It can evolve from property arrangement. In this sense, migration as one of the formative elements of property arrangement constitutes such a dynamic. 3. Mahakam Delta: The people, environment and law Consisted of 46 small deltaic villages, the Mahakam Delta was formed by long-term deposition of suspended soils came from the upstream of Mahakam River that flowed to the Makassar Strait through the Delta (map 1). The mixture of freshwater from the river and salt water from the sea constitutes various species of mangroves grown on deltaic islands. The largest parts of the islands are Nypa (Nypa fructians) vegetated areas. In 2000, it is estimated that 60,000 hectares of nypa found in around 150,000 hectares of the whole small islands in Mahakam Delta, then made it the largest number of nypa areas in the world. Hundred species of fish can be found in the mangroves (Sidik, 2009: 2-4). In addition, the Delta contains rich oil and gas. A state-owned oil corporation, Pertamina, holds a concession on oil and natural gas in this area but the daily operators are some foreign companies such as PT. Total Indonesie and VICO. Both companies have operated in Mahakam since 1970s. PT. Total Indonesia is a French company, and PT VICO, -Virginia Indonesia Company, is a US company. Total conducts offshore oil mining in Makassar Strait, and VICO mines natural gas in the mainland Mahakam. The Mahakam Delta is located in the administrative territory of the District of Kutai Kartanegara There are five sub-districts (kecamatan) with several villages whose areas part of the Delta (see table 1). 3 Table 1. Population of the Mahakam Delta sub-districts 1990-2008 Sub- Population Villages/urban quarters districts in the sub-district 1980 1990 2000 2008 Samboja 22,294 30,944 35,944 51,336 Muara Sembilang Muara Jawa Muara Kembang, Taman Pole, Dondang, Muara Jawa Ilir, 11,429 16,692 19,995 28,359 Muara Jawa Tengah, Muara Jawa Ulu. Sanga- 9,893 10,318 11,294 15,016 Sanga-sanga Muara, Pendingin Sanga Anggana Tani Baru, Kutai Lama, Muara Pantuan, Anggana, Sepatin, 10,521 12,884 18,372 28,756 Sungai Meriam, Handil Terusan Muara 12,583 20,793 26,450 37,583 Saliki, Muara Badak Ulu, Badak Muara Badak Ilir, Salopalai Source: Kabupaten Kutai Kartanegara dalam Angka 2009, cited in Bengen, Sarjono and Muhdar, Delta Mahakam: Kawasan strategis dalam perspektif lingkungan hidup serta urgensi pengelolaannya secara terpadu dan berkelanjutan-Naskah Akademik. In pre-colonial times, the Delta was a territory of Kutai Sultanate. Founded in 14th century, the Sultanate had placed their capital in one of Delta villages namely Kutai Lama.