Recognition of the Tenganan Village Indigenous Forest

Tenganan Pegringsingan Traditional Village is located in the eastern part of the island of Bali. Administratively, Tenganan Pegringsingan Traditional Village is part of Tenganan Village, Manggis District, Karangasem Regency, Bali Province. The area of the traditional village is 917.2 hectares, stretching north and south, from the hills to the coast and flanked by two hills, divided into:

• Rice field area: 840 hectares
• Forests and dry fields: 035 hectares
• Houses and other social facilities: 325 hectares

To keep the forests in sustainable, Tenganan Pegringsingan Traditional Village already has awig-awig (local law) that existed before this country existed to maintain and strengthen the forests to remain sustainable. The rules for forest areas are:

• What is meant by forests is land outside of houses area which is hilly land around the area of Tenganan Pegringsingan Traditional Village
• Land should not be sold or transferred to others outside Tenganan Pegringsingan people
• Land must be maintained and tree felling may be done if it is old or dead with the permission of the chief of traditional village

The forest area referred to by the community of Tenganan Pegringsingan is a forest area that is not only protected but also used as a plantation area or community moor and is mostly done by penyakap (cultivators). The forest area is 583,035 hectares, is land that is on a plateau higher than settlements and is a hill with an average slope of 40% so it is deemed necessary to be protected and used wisely. This forest area has been established since UUPA (Basic Agrarian Law), some of which have been certified by private owners and some are owned by the state which the Tenganan Pegringsingan people call as GG (Government Ground) land. Whereas in the past the land in Tenganan Pegringsingan was partly private property and partly belonged to a group that was distinguished from the village druwen (belonging to the traditional village), the temples, and the sekeha (group), all of which were indigenous lands under the authority of the traditional village and traditional law obligations.

Since November 2017, the indigenous people of Tenganan Village have submitted their traditional forests to be recognized by the state (the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry) based on the Agrarian Law (UUPA). In 2018, the Tenganan Village traditional forest was recognized by the government, video documentation about the recognized customary forest can be seen at: Knowing the Bali Aga Tradition by CNN.