Planning Change or Changing Plans: New Opportunities and Threats for Management of Common Property in the Malinau District, East Kalimantan

Abstract

"Decentralization and political reform in Indonesia have provided a breathing space for indigenous movements. It was expected that indigenous systems of resources management provide alternatives for more sustainable and equitable use of common property and that finally recognition could be obtained for these systems resulting in more sustainable resource use. However Indonesia is developing rapidly, and traditional systems have to adjust to changing circumstances. Are the traditional systems able to adjust while maintaining the underlying principles of sustainable use of resources, and how can their efforts be supported? Or have they been influenced fundamentally resulting in dramatic changes?

"In this paper we use the experience in two communities in the Malinau district to describe the changes of the traditional management of the forests in their territory. We examine the internal factors responsible for different outcomes, as well as possibilities and pitfalls for outside parties to support communities to adjust their indigenous system to changing conditions."