Kerinci’s Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi Wins Jambi Customary Forest Award

RRI.CO.ID, Kota Jambi - From the slopes of Mount Kerinci in West Sumatra, a community forest long valued for its water supply has won formal recognition and a provincial award. This milestone underscores the crucial conservation role played by local customary custodians.

Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi Lempur Customary Forest in Kerinci Regency was named the second-best customary forest manager in Jambi Province at the Jambi Customary Forest for a Sustainable Archipelago Festival.

The award was announced during a festival organized by Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI) Warsi, in cooperation with the Jambi Provincial Forestry Agency and supported by the Satunama, Wahana Mitra Mandiri, and Community Alliance for Pulp Paper Advocacy (CAPPA) foundations. It honored the community’s decades-long stewardship of a forest that functions as a critical watershed for local rice irrigation and a buffer for Kerinci Seblat National Park.

The festival aimed to accelerate recognition of indigenous communities and promote community-based sustainable forest management. The Kerinci administration welcomed the accolade, which is on World Environment Day, 8 June 2026, Deputy Regent H. Murison presented a certificate to Takaruddin, Chairperson of the Customary Forest Management Institution (LPHA), on behalf of the Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi community.

Deputy Chairperson of the Customary Forest Management team, Daswarsya, said the award reflects collective, intergenerational effort to keep the forest intact as both a living space and a source of water for Lempur residents.

“This award is not only for the customary forest managers, but for the entire Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi community who for decades have been committed to protecting the forest. This forest is the source of water for our rice fields and our lives. Therefore, protecting the forest means protecting the future of our grandchildren,” he said, as quoted by Antara.

The community’s protection of the area predates wider national recognition of customary forests, highlighted by a May 10, 1994, decree from the Kerinci Regency Administration designating 858.3 hectares as the Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi Customary Forest. This landmark decision was born of local resistance to proposed plantation expansion that threatened the forest’s vital ecological function.

Their efforts culminated in a 2018 ministerial decree, SK.4659/MENLHK-PSKL/PKTHA/PSL.1/7/2018, formally declaring 745 hectares as Hutan Adat Hulu Air Lempur Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi. That legal recognition strengthened the community’s position to manage and protect the area they have conserved for generations.

Today, villagers continue to develop customary forest governance through drafting a Forest Management Plan (RPHA), marking and patrolling boundaries, zoning, reinforcing customary rules, and building community enterprises that align with conservation goals. External support, such as funding from BPDLH-TerraFund for Community Forests (Terra CF) and technical assistance from KKI Warsi, has helped scale governance and livelihood efforts.

Program coordinator at KKI Warsi, Ade Candra, said Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi demonstrates the crucial conservation role of indigenous communities when given formal recognition and management space.

“This award proves that when communities are given space and recognition over their territories, they can manage forests extremely well. Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi shows how customary wisdom can go hand in hand with conservation and sustainable development,” he said.

Ade urged the Kerinci Regency to speed up the recognition of customary law communities (MHA) through stronger policies. He noted that several other indigenous communities in Kerinci are still in the process of seeking MHA recognition and official customary forest designation.

He also recommended local post-recognition funding schemes, similar to Merangin Regency’s affirmative use of Village Fund allocations. These schemes would support vital forest governance activities, such as patrols, boundary consolidation, economic development, and the protection of water sources.

Jambi Province has been a national pioneer in customary forest recognition, with 31 customary forest decrees issued across Kerinci, Merangin, Sarolangun, and Bungo regencies. Those milestones reflect long campaigns by indigenous communities, civil society organizations, and administration actors to strengthen indigenous rights over their customary territories.

The award for Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi serves as a reminder that effective forest protection relies not only on policy but on the enduring commitment of communities living alongside the forest. From the foot of Mount Kerinci, the people of Lekuk Limapuluh Tumbi are showing that protecting the forest preserves water sources, sustains culture, and secures a better future for coming generations. ***