Papuan women’s mangrove forest in Indonesia increasingly threatened by development and pollution

JAYAPURA – On the southeast coast of the city of Jayapura, Petronela Merauje walked from house to house in her floating village, inviting women to join her in the surrounding mangrove forests the next morning.

The women of Merauje and her village Enggros practice the tradition of Tonotwiyat, which literally means “working in the forest.” For six generations, women from the 700-strong Papuan population here have worked in the mangrove forests collecting clams, fishing and gathering firewood.

“The tradition and culture of Papuans, especially those of us living in Enggros village, is that women are not given space and space to speak in traditional meetings, so the tribal elders provide the mangrove forest as our land,” Merauje said. a place where they can get food, a place where women can tell stories, and women are active every day and earn a living every day.”

The forest is located a short 13 kilometers (8 miles) from downtown Jayapura, the capital of Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost province. It has been known as the women’s forest since 2016, when the leader of Enggros officially changed its name. Long before this, this was already a women’s-only area. However, while pollution, development and loss of biodiversity shrink the forests, villagers fear that a significant part of their traditions and livelihoods will be lost due to the decline of plant and animal life. Efforts to protect it from destruction have begun but are still relatively small.

Women have their own space, but it’s shrinking

Merauje and her 15-year-old daughter set out into the forest early one morning in a small motorboat. They stepped into Youtefa Bay, surrounded by mangrove trees, standing chest-deep in water with buckets in their hands, wiggling their feet in the mud to find bia noor, or soft-shelled clams. Women collect these, along with other fish, as food.

“The women’s forest is our kitchen,” said Berta Sanyi, another woman from Enggros village.

That morning, another woman joined the group searching for firewood and carried dry logs to her boat. And three more women joined the boat.

Women in the adjacent village of Tobati also have a women’s forest nearby. The two Indigenous villages are only 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) apart and are culturally similar; Enggros grew out of Tobati’s population decades ago. In the safety of the forest, the women of both villages talk to each other about their problems at home and share their troubles away from the ears of the rest of the village.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series on how tribes and Native communities are dealing with and combating climate change.

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Alfred Drunyi, leader of the Drunyi tribe in Enggros, said areas reserved for men and women were a big part of the village culture. Tribal fines are imposed if a man trespasses into the forest, and the amount depends on how guilty the community decides that person is.

“They should pay for it with traditional beads, which are our main treasure, and maybe some money. But punishments need to be given to women,” Drunyi said.

However, 65-year-old Sanyi, who has been working in the forest since the age of 17, states that threats to space come from elsewhere.

Development in the bay has turned acres of forest into major roads, including a 700-foot (2,300-foot) bridge to Jayapura that crosses Enggros’ wharf. Jayapura’s population has boomed in recent years, with around 400,000 people living in the city; the largest on the island.

In response, the forest shrank. About sixty years ago the mangrove forest in Youtefa Bay was approximately 514 hectares (1,270 acres). Estimates now say it’s less than half that.

“I feel very sad when I see the current state of the forest because this is where we live,” Sanyi said. he said. He said many residents, including his own children, started working in Jayapura instead of continuing the traditions.

Pollution puts traditions and health at risk

Youtefa Bay, where the brackish waters of the sea meet the five rivers of Papua, serves as a collection container for waste flowing from the rivers as they pass through Jayapura.

Plastic bottles, tarpaulins and pieces of wood can be seen stuck among the mangrove roots. The water around the mangrove forest is dirty and dark.

Sanyi, who has been able to feel the oysters in the bay with his feet for decades, said he now often has to feel for the garbage first. And when he removes the garbage and reaches the muddy soil where the oysters live, there are far fewer oysters than before.

Paula Hamadi, 53, said she has never seen the mangrove forest as bad as it is now. For years, he has been going into the forest almost every day in the morning at low tide to look for clams.

“It was different before,” Hamadi said. “I used to be able to pick up a box from 8:00am to 8:30am. But now I’m just picking up trash.”

Women used to be able to collect enough scallops to sell in the nearest village, but now their small hauls are left to eat with their families.

A 2020 study found high concentrations of lead from household and business waste in various parts of the bay. Lead can be toxic to humans and aquatic organisms, and the study suggests that lead has contaminated several species frequently consumed by the people of Youtefa Bay.

John Dominggus Kalor, a lecturer in fisheries and marine sciences at Cenderawasih University, said other studies also show shellfish and crab populations in the bay are declining.

“Heavy metal pollution, microplastics and threats to public health are high,” Kalor said. “It will also have an impact on health in the future.”

Some are trying to save the land

Some of the mangrove areas have been destroyed for development purposes, leading to degradation of the entire forest.

Mangroves can absorb the shocks of extreme weather events such as tsunamis and provide the environment for ecosystems to thrive. They also serve social and cultural functions for women, whose work is mostly done among the mangrove trees.

“In the future, people will say that there is a women’s forest here,” Kalor said, adding that this forest is being destroyed due to development and pollution.

Various efforts were made to preserve it, including by residents of the village of Enggros. Other women from Merauje and Enggros are trying to establish mangrove tree nurseries and, if possible, plant new mangrove trees in the forest area.

“We are planting new trees, replacing the ones that died, and we are also cleaning up the garbage around Youtefa Bay,” Merauje said. “I’m doing this with my friends to protect and sustain this forest.”

Beyond forest reforestation efforts, there also need to be guarantees that more of the forest will not be leveled for development in the future, Kalor said.

There are no regional regulations to protect Youtefa Bay, and especially the women’s forest, but Kalor thinks this will help prevent deforestation in the future.

“This should not be done in our gulf anymore,” he said.

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