April 10, 2026 | 03:44 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - For centuries, six customary territories in Malinau Regency, North Kalimantan, have stood united. The ancestors of the Dayak Kenyah—the oldest tribe in the Apo Da'a highlands in Pujungan District—had long developed the tana' ulen system. The Dayak Kenyah Indigenous community existed long before the government designated Kayan Mentarang National Park in 1980.
"The tana' ulen system strictly regulates protected forests through customary rules," said Dolvina Damus, chair of the Kayan Mentarang Indigenous Peoples Forum, on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Tana' ulen contains customary structures and detailed prohibitions against forest destruction. Dolvina said the system has, over generations, preserved the natural forests around Pujungan and Bahau Hulu districts.
But they gradually lost rights and access to customary forests when the government initiated Kayan Mentarang National Park (TNKM) between 1980 and 1996. A joint government team first surveyed the Kayan and Bahau river basins in 1977, aiming to cancel plans for forest concessions.
The survey led to the designation of a 1.36 million hectare nature reserve managed by the East Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency since 1980. Nearly two decades later, the area's status was upgraded to Kayan Mentarang National Park.
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