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Punan Batu
Photo caption The Punan Batu Benau Sajau Indigenous Community received the Kalpataru Award. © YKAN

Perspectives

The Punan Batu Benau Sajau Indigenous Community has received an award from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK)

June 27, 2024

On World Environment Day 2024, the Punan Batu Benau Sajau Indigenous Community was honored with the Kalpataru Award. The government, through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), highly appreciates Kalpataru for individuals or groups contributing to environmental conservation.

Read: Across Generations Preserving the Sasi Tradition

The Punan Batu Benau Sajau Indigenous Community is small and administratively located in Sajau Village, Tanjung Palas District, Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan Province. It is the last hunter-gatherer community in Kalimantan. The community resides along the upper reaches of the Sajau River and the forests around Mount Benau. Its main settlement locations are cave openings scattered across the Mount Benau forest area. The community consists of 35 households, totaling 106 individuals. Last year, the Bulungan Regency Government recognized the Punan Batu as an Indigenous Community.

Punan Batu: Sovereignty Over Customary Rights On June 2, 2023, the Bulungan Regency Government, North Kalimantan, officially issued a Decree of Recognition and Protection for the Punan Batu Indigenous Community residing in the Mount Batu Benau Forest area.
Photo Caption Representatives of the Punan Batu Benau Sajau Indigenous Community received the Kalpataru Award. © YKAN

Due to the shrinking of their territory, the existence of this community is increasingly threatened. Forest clearing for plantations is one of the threats. The Regent of Bulungan has proposed that the Punan Batu Benau Sajau Indigenous Community be granted legal rights to an 18,000-hectare forest as their customary forest. Since 2021, YKAN has supported the Bulungan Regency Government in protecting the Punan Batu community. We hope the Kalpataru Award will facilitate this process so that the Punan Batu can maintain access to and rights over their territory.

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