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3.3.1 Umaq Paddy and Annual Crop Field
The Benuaq Dayak tribe’s primary agricultural activities are at the Umaq. The Umaq is an extensively cultivated, rain-fed agriculture plot planted with a variety of
semi-wild plants from the forest and surrounding areas. The Umaq contains the first sources of staple food for the tribe, such as paddy and sticky rice, maize, cassava, various
vegetables and sometimes fruits and fuel woods. The planting system has a typical cropping cycle of one year. The Umaq is usually cultivated for two to three years and
then it becomes fallow land, called Uratn, for about five years. 3.3.2 Uratn or Uraaq Fallowed Field
Uratn is the fallow area that used to be an Umaq. This area is cultivated at the end of the Umaq phase. The plants consist of certain fruit and timber trees and also wild
pioneer trees that are useful for fuel woods. After its fallow time, Uratn area will turn into Simpukng, Kebotn, or Bengkar area.
3.3.3 KebotnDukuh Fruit Garden around the House
Kebotn is the garden area located around the house planted with fruits, simple vegetables and medicinal plants. This area, to a certain extent, plays an important role as
the source of food and additional income for the household. It produces fruits and vegetables that can be sold at the local market.
3.3.4 Simpukng Agro-Forestry Field
The Simpukng is the area that has plants or trees that are five-years-old or more. It has many different fruit trees and other economically worthy tree species such as
rubber, pines, rattans and timber. The Simpukng is owned by an extended family in a long house consisting of at least five to ten nuclear families. The access to the Simpukng
68 area is not limited to the owner only, but it is open for people out side the village. They
may take as many of the fruits as they need without permission as long as they do not sell them. This area is designed for public services with certain limitations applied. At
present, the charity function has diminished because people tend to take more than they need in order to sell the fruits. However, people from other villages still have access to
the fruits with permission from the owner. 3.3.5 Bengkar Reserved Forest Area
The Bengkar is usually the area that is called forest. The Bengkar is owned by the village and managed in general under the village boards. The village board consists of a
village leader, village administrators and the customary leader ketua adat. The Bengkar is the main source of building materials e.g., timber, bamboo, and rattan, medicinal and
ritual plants, wild vegetables, and hunted animals e.g., wild pigs, birds, and deer for the village members.
The Benuaq Dayak way to manage natural resources is believed to be sustainable. Research has shown that the Benuaq Dayak tribe has maintained management practices
that can give them a variety and continuity of income. These activities included shifting cultivation, hunting and collecting various forest products, small-scale handicraft
productions and tourism activities NRMP-USAID, 1996. Dove 1988 found in his research in Kalimantan that the tribe could incorporate the swidden food crops and
smallholder export crops in their forest area management to meet their daily needs and consumer goods. The combination of subsistence and market-oriented agriculture has
proven successful and is an important contribution to the national income. Padoch 1992 found that the tribe not only slashed and burned, hunted, and harvested; but, that they also
69 manipulated and managed the animal population in subtle ways often invisible to the
scientist and traveler’s eye. Padoch and Peluso 1996 explained that the tribe has considerable variety and change in the economic activities of individual households, as
well as far richer and more dynamic “agrodiversity” on the island as a whole. Thus, the tribe increases biodiversity and provides diverse and continuous sources of income for
themselves and the nation. Their management involves sustenance of forest products, socio-cultural traditions, and environmentally friendly practices. In short, Benuaq Dayak
management is sustainable forest management because it maintains biodiversity and also continuous sources of income.
Unfortunately, the Banuaq Dayak way of management is difficult to measure in terms of economic value. The need to calculate this economic value is critical for the
Benuaq Dayak’s existence as it will help them to gain the respect of the government and other stakeholders related to natural resources management. This, in turn, will hopefully
lead to changes in policy that will permit continuation of the Dayak way of life.
3.4 Research Objectives
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