IN MT. HALIMUN AREA OF WEST JAVA
INDONESIA
Kusnaka Adimihardja 1
Introduction
Surrounding Mt. Halimun, there are social groups who still follow a traditional way of life. They are called the kasepuhan2 and belong to the Sundanese ethnic group. They live in small groups in the southern areas of Banten, Bogor, and Sukabumi on the slopes of Mt. Halimun. Mt. Halimun is a complex of mountain ranges consisting of Mt. Kendeng, Pangkulahan, Perbakti, Sanggabuana, Halimun, Sangiang, Bengbreng, Beser, Suren, Talaga, Putri, Bodas, Kasur, Bancet, Surandil, and Herang . The elevation of these mountain ranges is between 600-1992 m. The size of the area is around 122,000 hectares, consisting of a conservation forest of 82,000 hectares, and a natural preserve "National Park" of 40,000 hectares. The natural preserve in the Mt. Halimun region is the largest in West Java and was established by the Ministry of Forests in 1979.
The kasepuhan people earn their living by collecting forest products, gardening, and rice planting both in wet rice fields, sawah, and in dry swidden fields, huma or ladang. This still constitutes their main method of livelihood today. To understand why the swidden fields form the most important agriculture pattern for the kasepuhan people, it seem that it should trace back to the legend of the
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1Kusnaka Adimihardja is Professor of Social Anthropology Dept. of Anthropology, Faculty of Social and Political Science and Director of Indonesian Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge- INRIK Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia.
2Kasepuhan comes from the word sepuh meaning "old." Kasepuhan thus refer to a community or social group in which all the members or the goup base their social activities on old or traditional customs.
originality of plants, which are properly planted in swidden fields. Where swidden fields is the oldest pattern of agriculture known among the Sundanese people, which is at present still practiced by kasepuhan people. For centuries the kasepuhan people have lived and farmed on the hills and in the valleys of this forested region. So, for the kasepuhan people agriculture is still the dominant way of life. Each generation has passed on their knowledge of agricultural practices and traditions gained from living and working so closely with nature. It is form experiences of an earlier time that their cosmology evolved, as a product of their efforts to understand the essence of the universe.
Kasepuhan: Cosmovision
For the kasepuhan people, the universe will continue to exist as long as its laws of regularity and equilibrium, controlled by its cosmic centre, can keep the universe’s elements in balance. This belief influences all aspects of the lives of the kasepuhan people. The agricultural system practiced by kasepuhan people is rooted in their cosmology and their ancestor’s beliefs, called tatali paranti karuhun, "the ancestors way of life." The kasepuhan believe that in the universe physical elements and social systems are intimately connected. The kasepuhan vision of the universe is reflected in their original belief systems "animism-dynamism," influenced by Hinduism and Islam.
Rambo (1984) theorized about ways of understanding the relationship between social systems and ecosystems. Through their political systems, economic systems, ideological systems, belief systems and, knowledge systems the kasepuhan affect and are affected by the surrounding ecosystems. Rambo (1986:46) suggested that within an agro-ecosystem, for example, social systems and ecosystems interact with each other through the exchange of energy, material, and information. The relationship is illustrated in Figure 1.
The kasepuhan believe that disturbing the regularity of various physical or non-physical components, which are alive in the universe, can cause disaster for human life. Therefore, the main duty of people is to maintain the balanced relationships, which exist between the various components. These efforts are manifested in various ceremonies and in the way the health of local ecosystems are taken into account in day-to-day activities.
According to the kasepuhan, these beliefs originated from the source called pancer pangawinan, or heredity; they say kami mah turunan pancer pangawinan "we are coming from the hereditary of pancer pangawinan." The Sundanese word pancer means lulugu, or asal usul or sumber in Indonesia, or "source" or "origin" in English. According to Riggs (1862:210), the word pangawinan is from pangawin, which means "to carry spears in procession." According to folklore from South Banten, Sukabumi, and Bogor, when the sovereign Siliwangi were victorious they had under their control special troops called Bareusan Pangawinan, and it is believed that these special troops carried spears as weapons. For the kasepuhan, the habit of carrying a spear in various cultural ceremonies is the continuation of their ancestoral tradition, and it is their acknowledgment that they are direct descendants of what they call pancer pangawin.
In the community, a ceremony called helaran or carnival is conducted at the time of sunatan; they also call it nyalametkeun, the "circumcision ceremony." The procession is led by dukun sunat, the native medical man who does the circumcisions; he carries a spear in his left hand and in his right hand a metal bowl filled with sasajen or ritual offerings for the spirits. The procession also includes children who will be circumcised, village leaders and the children’s parents. People following the procession play various kinds of musical instruments. The purpose of helaran festival is to ward off evil that might possibly disturb the circumcision activity the following day.
The word pangawin also means tempat ngawinkeun, "the place of wedding." The literal meaning is derived from kawin "wedding" or "marriage" with prefix pa- and suffix -an. For the kasepuhan, the word kawin has extensive meanings. It has not only literal meaning but also symbolic meaning. In both Indonesian and Sundanese, the word kawin means to unite a man and a woman into a family. But also means the willingness of a man and a woman to unite two different souls and two different opinions into one soul and one opinion with feeling and one aim, to build a harmonious family both materially and spiritually. The essence of the term is captured in the expression ka cai jadi sa leuwi, ka darat jadi sa lebak, meaning "to build hand in hand a harmonic life in a family unit." For the kasepuhan, the word kawin also means to unite day to day life with spiritual life, to unite Dewi Sri "the goddess of rice" with soil, to unite earth with heaven. It also means to unite the micro-cosmos with the macro-cosmos in order to reach what they call rasa manunggal, "the one unity of life." For the kasepuhan people, this is expressed with the words tilu sapamilu, dua sakarupa, hiji eta keneh, "three types, two kinds, but in oneness." The expression means that although people have various wishes, postures and characteristics, they all come from "the One," the Almighty.
The word pangawin, mentioned above, also means the place to unite something related to real life and spiritual life in order to attain a feeling of harmonious union or rasa manunggal. People who follow these beliefs call themselves the ancestors of pancer pangawin. There is a kind of doctrine for the kasepuhan which they believe is a wangsit, " divine inspiration from the ancestoral order," expressed as cing saha nu bisa ngawinkeun langit jeung bumi, manusa jeung kamanusaanna, eta nu disebut pancer pangawin, "Anyone who is able to unite earth and heaven, human and humanity, is called pancer pangawin."
To obtain the united feeling, the kasepuhan people developed a doctrine or morale concept that they call ngaji diri. The doctrine is known as mawas diri, "self introspection" and also incorporates koreksi diri "self correction." The doctrine is guide for the kasepuhan people in an effort to help people overcome bad attitudes and to avoid trangressions of the ancestoral order. One attitude that must be avoided is sirik pidik, iren pinastren, "feelings of jealousy and hate."
The way to overcome bad attitudes is through samadi or tafakur or nyepi "meditation" or "comtemplation." Samadi is undertaken to evaluate one’s obligations in daily life, in social groups, and as guardian of the ancestoral customs and traditions, in their words: tatali paranti karuhun. Through these activities a harmony can be reached between daily life and life in the universe as a provision for life in the world hereafter.
In order to reach a state in life of harmony, order, safety and peacefulness, ucap jeung lampah "statement and action" must be in balance, not in opposition to each other. This notion is stated in the words : mipit kudu amit, ngala kudu menta, nganggo kudu suci, dahar kudu halal, kalawan ucap kudu sabenerna, mupakat kudu sarerea, ngahulu ka hukum, nyanghunjar ka nagara. The words mipit kudu amit, ngala kudu menta mean that each member of the kasepuhan people must get permission from the karuhun "supernatural." By this way, the kasepuhan hope to avoid various dangers. Therefore, every social activity undertaken by the kasepuhan must be preceded by a prayer called doa amit "prayer for permission" to karuhun "ancestors," "Goddesses and the Almighty." Doa amit usually recited by sesepuh girang or sesepuh kampung "foremost leader" or "village leader" of the kasepuhan at the beginning of every social activity involving all the members of the kasepuhan. Sesepuh Girang together with his assistants make a devotional visit once a year to the graves of their ancestors in South Bogor and South Banten. At the gravesites Sesepuh Girang recites the following words:
"Pun ampun ka luhur ka sang rumuhun
ka handap ka sang batara,
ka para dewa dewi,
ka siluman ka sileman,
ka dewa kalakay salembar,
anu nyicingan ieu bumi."
("I ask forgiveness from the ruler of heaven and earth,
and from the ruler of the underground,
from the Gods and Goddesses,
from the evil and good spirits,
from a falling leaf,
who occupy this earth.")
"Ema, Bapa,
abdi neda widi titip Nyi Sri,
ulah aya nu ngaganggu ngaguna sika,
berkah doa salametanna kalawan rahayu sadayana"
("Mother, Father,
I entrust Nyi Sri (The Goddess of Rice) to your authority,
to watch for the disturber and destroyer
and to provide us with blessing and welfare")
The doa amit "prayer for permission" is recited by sesepuh girang before the rice planting and rice harvesting in the paddy fields and dry lands. After the praying, a ceremony is held in the house of sesepuh girang attended by cultural figures and all the "sesepuh kampung," formal and informal leaders of the village. At the gathering, the time for planting and harvesting the dry land and paddy fields is determined for several villages of the kasepuhan region in the Mt. Halimun area.
Furthermore, the words nganggo kudu suci mean, "all attitudes should be based on honesty;" the words dahar kudu halal mean "everything we eat or receive should be legally justified and based on kasepuhan custom or rules; " the words kalawan ucap kudu sabenerna mean, "never tell a lie." The words ngahulu kudu ka hukum, nyanghunjar ka nagara mean "we have to obey and follow the existing laws and be under the protection of the state or government."
However, it does not mean that the kasepuhan do not deviate from their traditional customs. As an ideal, the morale concepts help people to learn and to maintain the customary social attitudes that they call tatali paranti karuhun "ancestor’s manners." They do believe however that every violation to the rule or law of tatali paranti karuhun will cause disaster, in their language kabendon, and disaster will not only to happen to those who violate the law but also to the entire community.
The words described above are to help the kasepuhan people to
understand their duty and responsibility to create a safe, regular and
harmonious life in effort to achieve rasa manunggal, "the united
feeling." In other words, the condition of rasa manunggal can be
created and achieved when the people have learned to synchronize contradictory
elements of their emotions, such as good-bad, happy-sad, rough-fine. When
balance is found, a person will be able to achieve the feelings of peacefulness
and harmony in their heart and thoughts, and in their social relationships
with other people in this universe, as a provision for life hereafter.
Kasepuhan: Guidance for Living
Within the kasepuhan circle there are guiding principles life which are in accordance with the belief of basic, ngaji diri "self introspection" to achieve rasa manunggal "unity feeling," their are guides to life. These guiding principles help focus effort to achieve a feeling of peace in daily life. If this can be accomplished people will avoid the punishment or kabendon for deviating from their ancestors’ manners.
One of the guiding expressions is saur kedah diukur, nyabda kedah diuger "to be always careful when talking of something in order to avoid misunderstanding." Every word in a conversation with family members, relatives and others should be expressed in a polite way, as expressed with the words: sing alus catur ka dulur, sing hade carek ka saderek. It is believed this approach will garner sympathy and help foster friendship wherever people may go. This attitude is expressed with the word ka lembur loba batur, ka kota loba baraya, "we meet many relatives in the village, we meet many family in the city."
In their daily lives, every member of the kasepuhan people is expected to do good deeds, carry out their responsibilities, and be able to fulfill promises made. Such behavior is reflected in their expression nganjuk kudu naur, ngahutang kudu mayar, nginjeum kudu mulangkeun, leungit kudu daek ngaganti, sontakna kudu daek nambal, "Borrowing should be returned, Owing should be paid, Debt should be paid off, Loosing should be replaced, Breaking should be fixed or repaired." Members of kasepuhan people are encouraged to help others. This is reflected in their expression kudu nulung ka nu butuh, nalang ka nu susah, mere ka nu daek, nganteur ka nu sieun, sing mere maweh ka saderek, "Helping and assisting the poor; Giving to those in need, Accompanying those who are afraid, Offering our surplus to others."
Members of the kasepuhan people also have another guiding principle, which expresses an attitude about seeking balance in one’s life. It is expressed with their words hareup teuing bisi ti jongklok, tukang teuing bisi ti jengkang, "Do not stand too front it will fall ahead, do not stand too behind it will stretch out." They believe that the best position for them is in the "middle," siger tengah or sinagar tengah in Sundanesse terms. This concept is not, however, only found amongst the kasepuhan people but also was an attitude for living found in the manuscript of Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian (Warnaen, 1986: 12): dahar tamba lapar, nginum tamba hanaang, a Sundanese expression which means "Eat just whenever it feels hungry, Drink just whenever it feels thirsty." For the kasepuhan these expressions are interpreted as the attitudes or the action one should have taken in order to achieve proper and balanced manners. Of course, it depends also on the individual perception on how he looks upon a certain position. It is natural image, such as for a son of a king to wish to be a king, but it is an overreaction when the wish comes from the common people (ibid, 1986: 12). Such a perception is commonly exercised among the Sundanese, which is still practiced by the members of the kasepuhan people. The pattern of attitudes, acts, rules and norms described in the sub-section above originated from rules and norms practiced by Sundanesse people in the past prior to the influence of the Islamic religion in West Java.
Kasepuhan: Perception of the Forests
According to the kasepuhan belief system, the surrounding forests are the source of life. They recognize three forest types, the basis of their way of forest conservation, as follow:
In the early opening process of land utilization around the sampalan forests by the kasepuhan people who live in the village of Sirnarasa in south Sukabumi, as follows: The kasepuhan people traditionally cultivate dry land as they call huma or ladang The main species planted were rice seed (pare gede or cere and angsana variety) mixed with millet (kunyit: Panicum viride L.), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.), sesame (wijen: Sesamun orientale L.), and job’s tears (Hanjeli: Coix lacryma jobi L.) as a boundary around the huma or ladang.
To enrich various kinds of food, they also cultivated various kinds of wild plants. Nowadays they use as cultivation plants, such as arbila (roay: Dolichos lablab L.), cucumber (mentimun: Cucumis sativus L.), cucurbitous plant or a climbing plant (emes: Luffa acutangula), a kind of plant with very hard pea or bean (jaat: Phaseolus tetragonolobus), pumpkin (waluh or labu: Cucurbita moschata), egg-plant (terong: Solanum melongena), cayenne pepper (cengek or cabai rawit: Capsium frutescens L.), red pepper (cabe beureum or cabai merah: Capsicum annuum), corn (jagong or jagung: Zea mays L.), its fruits is like roes of fish (turubus or trubus: Saccharum edule Hassk.), yam (boled or ubi jalar:Ipomoea batatas L), cassava (sampeu or singkong: Manihot escullena Cranzt.).
A recently abandoned huma or ladang is called jami and can be developed in to mixed-gardens, gardens or wet-rice field or sawah. A mixed-garden is an area planted with various species. It is a distance from the village and the cultivation is not intensive. Reuma is a jami area, which has become covered in bushes, and is planted with seasonal trees. Most of them are fruit trees, such as a tree which produces flat beans with an offensive odor or stinky beans (peuteuy or petai:Parkia speciosa Hassk.), edible but malodorous fruit (jengkol: Pithecelobium jeringa), fruit with pungent smell and taste (kadu or durian or duren: Durio zibethinus Murr.), mango (buah or mangga: Mangifera indica L.), banana (tjau or pisang: Musa paradisiaca L.), coffee (kopi: Coffea canephora Prierre ex Frolhner), clove (cengkeh or cengkih: Syzygium aromaticum (L) Merr and Perry).
Establishing the trees is a sign the land was cultivated by someone. If someone else re-opens the land for huma, the products remain the property of the previous farmer. The integration of wild plants and cultivated ones forms a mixed garden. A jami area not far redundant from the village that they cultivate intensively with dominant plants for food, medicine and sale usually is called a kebon or kebun "garden." According to an expression of the kasepuhan of Sirnarasa village, undeureun keur deungeun sangu, "a garden is a place for picking vegetables to make food-tasty."
Sawah or wet-rice fields can be developed when there is an adequate supply of water flowing to the fields. The kasepuhan people also cultivate fish in the wet rice fields during the three month-interval after harvest. Also found in the sawah are wild plants that can be eaten as vegetables, such as genjer (Limnocharis flava (L) Buchenau), eceng (Monochoria vaginalis), gelang (Portulaca oleracea). Whereas on the edge of the sawah farmers, may plant such species arbila (Dolichos lablab L.), kacang panjang or string bean (Vigna sinensis), mentimun or cucumber ( Cucumis sativus L.). Various kinds of plants found in the swidden agriculture, garden and the wet rice field are shown in Table 1.
When people come and stay in the area of the jami, and establish a new settlement, it is called ngababakan "pioneer settlement." And if more people come and stay in these new settlements then it may develop into a new village or kampung. Sampalan forestland use leading to settlements, garden, mixed-garden, and wet rice-fields and swidden fields is shown in Figure 2.
Kasepuhan: Polyculture Strategy
The kasepuhan people perform various ceremonies to do with different aspects of cultivation in swidden fields, especially with regard to rice, which is considered a holy plant. Rice and other plants, which are usually planted in swidden fields, are believed to have originated from the cemetery of Dewi Sri, later known as the goddess of rice. According to a Sundanese legend, Dewi Sri was born from an egg belonging to Dewa or god Anta, the holder of power on the earth. This egg was presented to Dewa Batara Guru who lives in heaven. His role is to teach and guide people to live within the bounds of the traditional customs. Dewi Uma cared for Dewi Sri during her childhood until she was grown up. On the order of Dewa Sanghyang Wenang, who holds the power in the universe, Dewi Sri was killed after eating the kuldi apple from the Garden of Eden. Dewa Sanghyang Wenang was worried that Dewa Batara Guru had fallen in love with Dewi Sri, his adopted daughter. Ki Bagawan Sakti, a respective man, who has supernatural power, and lives on the earth as the assistant of Dewa Batara Guru, buried the corpse. A week later, plants and some other trees began to grow on the cemetery of Dewi Sri. From her head grew several varieties of coconut trees. From her eyes grew several varieties of rice. From her midriff grew several varieties of sticky rice. From her legs grew several varieties of bamboos. From her tendons grew several varieties of spreading plants. From her hair grew several varieties of grasses, and from her vagina grew arrenga trees. Dewa Batara Guru presented all these plants to Prabu Siliwangi, a wise king of the Padjadjaran Kingdom, so that Prabu Siliwangi could plant and cultivate them throughout Java.
According to a traditional Sundanese belief, all the plants growing throughout the world originated from the cemetery of Dewi Sri. The cemetery of Dewi Sri thus was believed to be the "centre" for the first varieties of plants available to support human lives. The cemetery, according to tradition, is also believed to be the "centre" of the macro and micro cosmos. The kasepuhan still believe that the centre of the huma, dry field, constitutes the manifestation of the cemetery of Dewi Sri. Locating a centre in the huma is also symbolic of the belief that the beginning and the ending of lives are manifested from the "centre" of the macro and micro cosmos. Following from these beliefs, farmers start their planting and harvesting in the centre of the huma. Before planting and harvesting, farmers offer a prayer called doa amit, followed by brief ceremonies to honor Dewi Sri. The centre of the huma among the kasepuhan people is called pupuhunan. It comes from the root word puhu (n) meaning, "centre."
The legend of "the killing" of Dewi Sri is to be comprehended as a symbol of the importance keeping "order" within the life of a community. It would have been "taboo" had Batara Guru fell in love with Dewi Sri, his adopted daughter. The death of Dewi Sri, it is believed, was "a sacrifice" to help increase the people’s prosperity, symbolized by the growth of varieties of plants in the cemetery. Coincidentally in the Islamic tradition, there is also a "sacrifice" in the form of killing of a goat as a symbol of the Prophet Ibrahim’s faithfulness to God the Almighty who ordered him to kill his son, the Prophet Ismail. Just before he was to be killed Ismail changed into a goat. For the kasepuhan people, "death" is "destiny"; they believe in a concept called pasrah, namely to offer oneself to destiny and accept whatever comes. Learning to accept destiny is part of the "self evaluation", and task that they believe every man who lives in the world must undergo. In their daily farming activities, all plant varieties, especially those grown in huma, are treated as they have human qualities. Rice it is believed is the manifestation of Dewi Sri. Therefore, before planting and harvesting, the kasepuhan undertake various ceremonies to pay respect to Dewi Sri, as well as all their ancestors. The wide variety of plants growing on the cemetery of Dewi Sri is a symbol for the kasepuhan farmers of the importance of maintaining diversity in their farming activities.
This happened because the traditional Sundanese lived in a forest ecosystem, which was still wild. The traditional farming pattern of the kasepuhan, involving the cultivation of multiple crops on dry land is known as huma "swidden agriculture." Today, this pattern of farming and its related ceremonies are still practiced by the kasepuhan at Mt. Halimun in accordance with their belief systems and customs. By following their traditions, they hope the ancestors will protect them from a failed harvest. The kasepuhan do not live in isolation from the outside world. Their traditional values and traditional management practices have been challenged by many outside influences, such as outside agricultural technology introduced by extension programs, better education, Islamic teachings, sales people from outside the village, and radio and television programs. These influences have had impacts on the local socioeconomic, the sociocultural systems and surrounding forest ecosystems. However, the basic traditional values of the kasepuhan, are so far still being followed, as revealed by continuance of traditional ceremonies and agricultural practices in the Mt. Halimun area.
Several groups, namely the Perhutani, the PHPA, and the local people, will determine the future of the Mt. Halimun ecosystem. A mutual understanding between forestry government officials and the kasepuhan people about forestry management practices is very important for the conservation of the Mt. Halimun forest ecosystem. Forestry officials have begun to change the forestry management system, which has existed since colonial times. A system based on the notion that "the forest is only for the lives of flora and fauna." This perception is, of course, not shared by the kasepuhan who live around Mt.Halimun. In the past, the differences in perception between the forestry officials and the local people resulted in conflicts.
Nowadays, forestry officials have started trying to understand the belief systems and customs of the kasepuhan people. Both groups are starting to work cooperatively to maintain the integrity of the forests through the development of a program to repair degraded forest using a practice called tumpangsari or "inter-cropping". The forestry officials are trying to mobilize the kasepuhan people to intensify their farming in keeping with the sociocultural, economic, and environmental values of their social group. In this way, "inter-cropping" can still practice swidden agriculture. The mixing of subsistence rice and commodity production is more likely to extend the basis of farmer’s productivity (Evers, 1988: 173; Adimihardja and Iskandar, 1993). As well, the forest officials with the support of a local NGO have offered support to improve the quality of the local handicrafts, and to supply young plants for the regreening programs.
Maintenance of the swidden system is very important for the kasepuhan people. The farming activities in the swidden system are bound up in a system of beliefs with an orientation toward traditional values. All their traditional ceremonies are based on the growing of rice in the swidden systems. These ceremonies are the traditional way to maintain a balanced relationship between man, nature and God the Almighty. In order to continue to live and survive, the kasepuhan recognize that the forest must be sustained and preserved. For them, the practice of swidden agriculture and the forest form a unity. The kasepuhan interpret the word huma or uma (h) as imah or "home." According to this perception, this "home" is not only for sleeping but also serves as the main source for their spiritual and physical life. The destruction of the forest means destroying their homes, and this means a destruction of the kasepuhan as a social group. For the kasepuhan, swidden agriculture in the present day is not just a continuation of their tatali paranti karuhun, "ancestral traditions" it is also a form of survival of the kasepuhan in which a particular social organization has been identified as the basis for living of the community.
Cooperative activities between the forestry officials and the kasepuhan people may help develop a common view about the management of land areas around Mt. Halimun. As well these activities can be viewed as an effort to support the kasepuhan’s role in maintaining the integrity of the local ecosystems. The dynamic activities of the local people are a form of social energy (Soedjatmoko, 1986; Adimihardja, 1993). This social energy has the potential to develop the rational creative action which grow through the process of change of the management as a social learning process. In this context, the interaction between man, culture, and environment can be perceived as a progressive contextualization process (Vadya, 1969; Purbo, 1986; Adimihardja, 1993).
In order to maintain their livelihoods without destroying the environment, the kasepuhan people continue to develop plants as part of a polyculture strategy in accordance with their ancestors’ order. They cultivate various kinds of plants to support their daily needs, and also cultivate several seasonal plants and vegetables, which have a high economic value, such as clove, coffee, bananas, red chili. These efforts bring cash into the community, and help conserve the forest by maximizing the returns from their existing agricultural land. Their efforts to enhance agrodiversity has brought them economic and social benefits, and helped protect the environment of the forest. The kasepuhan are supporting the regreening program of the surrounding up land forest area in accordance with the guidance of their ancestor teachings and as reflected in their cosmology.
Conclusion
The cultural and spiritual values of the forest people of Mt. Halimun
are most relevant to the region since they have been regulating the use,
management and conservation of the agricultural and natural resources of
Mt. Halimun over generations in a sustainable and conservational way. These
values and beliefs are embedded in their cosmology, and have recently shown
to be rather adaptive to processes of development and change in area. During
the past years, research has sought to approach the "invisible" but yet
strong influence of the local people’s cosmology from one of the principles
of the ethnosystems methodology, that is the participant’s view in order
to understand and explain the underlying perceptions of nature, humans
and the cosmos (Leakey & Slikkerveer, 1991).
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