Sustaining nature, traditional knowledge and sound agriculture in Siberut Island, Indonesia

Siberut Island is the largest island of the Mentawai Archipelago, West Sumatra, Indonesia. As a UNESCO biosphere reserve, it features a wealth of endemic species of flora and fauna.

In the past, traditional knowledge and practices allowed the Siberut People to benefit from their forests without damaging them. They used, in particular, an agroforestry practice called Pumonean, that integrated conservation, economic and socio-cultural aims. Faced with rapid socio-cultural change, however, the Siberut People have been adopting new agricultural systems, with negative impacts on both their environment and culture. Recognizing the development needs of the local communities as well as the need to conserve their environment, this initiative seeks to prevent environmental degradation at the difficult interface between a subsistence economy and a cash economy. It sets out to identify appropriate traditional knowledge and practices that can be integrated into cash-oriented agro-forestry systems, and to transfer appropriate technical and other skills to the Siberut people so that they engage in cash-oriented agro-forestry practices taking advantage of their traditional knowledge and while fully respecting their customary practices.

Download : Land_Use_Analysis_PASIH