Manawari Sago Forest, Last Bastion of Hope for Yerisiam People
Sagu Manawari hamlet is not only a place where people make their livelihood, but also a cultural identity for the Yerisiam tribe, with sago extraction having been done by their ancestors for hundreds of years.
After their customary forest was turned into oil palm plantations, the people of Kampung Sima in Nabire regency, Papua, have staunchly defended the remaining forest area. The forest contains a stretch of sago palms they live on.
Monday (26/4/2021) at around 1 p.m. Eastern Indonesia Time, the atmosphere in an enclave of the sago palm forest in Sima village, Yaur district, Nabire regency, was very quet. Only the sound of chirping birds, buzzing insects and cracking sago trunks being pounded by local people could be heard.
Three residents of Kampung Sima were seen busy pulverizing and extracting wet starch from the sago pith. They were Andreas Wayoi (65), his wife, Alfrida Maniburi (63), and his sister-in-law, Flora Maniburi.
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They were engrossed in their activity arduously inside an enclave of the sago palm forest called Manawari hamlet. From Monday to Friday, the three of them work there using traditional extracting tools to produce wet sago starch from 9 a.m. to 4.p.m. Usually they bring supplies with them for breakfast and lunch.
This hamlet is our last hope in Kampung Sima. We will defend this area even if we have to put our lives at risk.
The road to Manawari hamlet was unpassable by motorized vehicles. To reach their place of work, the residents took a walk on a pathway layered with sago palm midribs and felled tree trunks.
The distance from Sima village, which overlooks the sea, to Manawari is about 5 kilometers. The total area of sago plantations in Manawari hamlet is 10 hectares.
Cultural identity
When met during his sago-extracting activity, Andreas said Manawari was not only a place for residents to work to survive, but also a cultural identity for the Yerisiam tribe, with sago extractions having been done by their ancestors for hundreds of years.
“Sago has been the livelihood source since the time of our ancestors and has been passed down to the next generations of the Yerisiam tribe. I have been cultivating sago since I was a teenager. I now have grandchildren,” said the father of 12.
He said the community’s dependence on the sago forest had become increasingly crucial since the Yerisiam tribe's customary forest was largely converted into oil palm plantations. The forest area previously used to hunt wild animals such as boars is now gone.
Meanwhile, fishing at sea is said to give yields not as consistent as those from the forest. Traditional fishermen are sometimes unable to go to sea when the weather conditions are bad.
“Currently, residents only depend on the sago forest. Sago is like rice for the Yerisiam people. It is consumed daily," Andreas said.
He hoped that all residents would remain united in defending the Manawari sago hamlet for their sustainability. “This sago forest is not only a source of food for us. This forest protects our village from floods," he said.
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Alfrida said they also sold the sago starch, the proceeds of which were used to meet the daily needs and school fees for their six children. Every week, they can produce five to six sacks of sago starch.
Each sack contains 15 kilograms of sago starch and fetches between Rp 200,000 and Rp 250,000 at the Kalibobo market in downtown Nabire.
Alfrida said she had been carrying out sago extraction in Manawari since the age of 10. She was hopeful that Manawari would be maintained as a sago forest and not be turned into an oil palm plantation area.
“This hamlet is our last hope in Kampung Sima. We will defend this area even if we have to put our lives at risk,” he said.
Resistence to conversion
The Manawari sago forest could have been gone for good when palm oil company PT Nabire Baru arrived in 2017 to convert the area into oil palm plantations, only to be met with strong resistance from the villagers.
“The sago forest could have been turned into plasma land, but the community opposed it. Sago has been our livelihood since the time of our ancestors. So, we resisted its removal," village head Yulianus Awujani (56) said.
The conflict between the company and the local people has simmered for quite a long time. The company once had to call the police to guard the area around the sago forest. Despite the pressure, the residents were staunch in their resistence. They refused to give up what they claimed as their ancestral heritage.
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The company relented and the conflict seemed to end sweetly for the residents. The company chose to step back as it had been unable to persuade the residents. It also had to pay compensation for the damaged trees. The Sima people's sago forest has never been disturbed since then.
According to Yulianus, the villagers were determined not to lose the sago forest as their source of life as they made daily staple food. Quite large communities of Papuans take sago “as Javanese do with rice”.
He said they did not want to fall into the same mistakes as when they had not strived enough to prevent their customary forests from being converted into oil palm plantations. The mistakes, he said, had provided them with a valuable lesson.
“The sago forest is God's gift for the Yerisiam people. So, if it was gone, everything would depend on money. Yerisiam people are not really bothered by plants [other than sago plants]. The main thing is sago," he said.
Sago also provides a source of income for the residents. One week, they can earn Rp 1 million from sago extraction. They sell it for between Rp 10,000 and 20,000 per sack at the downtown market.
For that, Yulianus hoped the Nabire government and PT Nabire Baru company would assist the residents with a sago milling machine, given that the only sago processing machine in Manawari had been out of order for the past few months. "Using the traditional way, just to produce sago starch from one tree takes weeks," he said.
Riselen F. Ririhena, head of the Animal Husbandry and Plantation Service of Nabire regency, said sago forest should be protected because it was the staple food source for indigenous Papuans. Ironically, Manawari hamlet is included in PT Nabire Baru’s concession area of 17,000 hectares.
“The existence of sago forest in oil palm concession areas should be reviewed. We will be more proactive regarding this issue in accordance with applicable regulations," Riselen said.
He said he had coordinated with PT Nabire Baru to form a sago farmer group in Sima village.
Sago is one of the leading commodities in Nabire besides coconut. The potential land for sago forest in Nabire is 142,000 hectares, 950 hectares of which has been optimized with the production reaching 469.6 tons of sago starch until the end of 2020.
“With the existence of a farmer group, we can help distribute sago milling machines, build production houses and warehouses. With more modern technology, the sago starch quality and production can improve," he said.
Regarding sago with the community, the issue has been resolved. It was not a conflict.
Joko Rudigdo, PT Nabire Baru spokesperson and manager of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, said the company had never intended to eliminate the sago hamlet. He said they always supported the community's efforts to look for food from sago.
"The company's policy is not to open [oil palm plantations] at sago hamlet. We let the existing sago grow. Even if we planned to work on the enlave, we would leave the sago area [as it is]. Because we already have the HGU [concessionair license], we will open the ones as mentioned on the HGU. If we find sago trees, we will let them grow,” he said.
Joko said the 2017 conflict had been gone for long, having been resolved through dialogue between the company and the villagers. He said the conflict had just been a misunderstanding.
"So, regarding sago with the community, the issue has been resolved. It was not a conflict. It was just an issue overblown by other parties. I see some nongovernmental organizations usually behave like that. One thing I regret is that these institutions could have talked to the company. That's what I did not see," said Joko.
This article was translated by Musthofid.