Mapur Tribe Faces Water Crisis, Ancestral Forest Becomes Last Defense

In Dusun Pejem, Desa Gunung Pelawan, Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia, an elderly Mapur woman, Nek Aso (72), found herself in a quandary in her kitchen. She wished to offer tea or coffee to a few visitors, but only half a liter of clean water remained in a jerrycan for cooking. The visitors, mostly students from Pangkalpinang, understood the situation and politely declined, having brought their own drinking water. Nek Aso resides near the Bukit Tabun forbidden forest in Dusun Pejem. This 2-hectare forbidden zone is part of the larger Benak ancestral forest, spanning approximately 2,876 hectares, which belongs to the Mapur tribe. Besides Bukit Tabun, Benak also includes the 320-hectare Gunung Cundong forbidden forest. Currently, a significant portion of the Benak ancestral forest is occupied by palm oil and Industrial Timber Estate (HTI) plantations. The Indonesian government recognizes this area as production forest, but the Mapur tribe's customary land rights have not been officially acknowledged. Most of the Mapur community now farms or resides in parts of the Benak ancestral forest not yet converted into plantations. The Benak region has experienced no rainfall for over two months, leading to the drying up of several streams. Some village wells have been dry for half a month, forcing residents to rely on water carried by their children from afar for daily needs. According to Nek Aso, wells drying up in Benak is an extremely rare occurrence, with the last such event in 1997 lasting only a few days before rain returned. The community anxiously awaits the arrival of the rainy season in September or October. Source: Mongabay Indonesia