SUMATRA
INDONESIA
Menang Raya: tropical peatlands on the islands
Deep in the Pedamaran wetlands, in the southern part of Sumatra island, lies a place called Ogan Komering Ilir. Here, the people of Menang Raya live a life afloat— their village is on water.
They call these peatlands Tanah gambut (land of water). They inhabit these tropical wetlands within the delta’s fluvial system. They coexist with other species, embodying a traditional way of life that incorporates survival and companionship. Indonesia is made up of a group of islands, most of them peatlands or gambut. Each hydric terrain has a specific name and the dark waters are the invigorating stage in which the inhabitants immerse themselves in order to survive. Despite the predatory capitalist approach to intervene and alter the peatlands—a “progressive” agenda which emphasizes extractive agriculture and urbanization while destroying all biodiversity—the Menang Raya community lift their voices in favor of a life centered around ancestral knowledge in collaboration with other species within the ecosystem.
Wetlands are mysterious by nature. Peatlands are a labyrinth of land and water. The planet’s open and enigmatic history book, its pages marking the territory through which its rivers flow and converge.
When the peatland is drained for agricultural purposes it causes catastrophes such as wildfires with direct consequences that only get worse over time. Extractivist and unregulated monocultures in these territories drain and completely dry the fertile soil—transforming it into a desert.
Big companies own these plantations and are disengaged from the challenges they create for the local communities to face. As such, the people of Pedamaran, a floating village in the swamp, are demanding an end to river pollution (including water drainage) and a call-to-action for the public & political sectors to regulate the companies and protect the interests of the local communities who are the guardians and protectors of the peatlands. These guardians are deeply invested in the land and live in a power-with dynamic—a more harmonious relationship with all beings in the peatlands.
Rian Syaputra is a community leader with a fishers legacy. He shares how the peatlands’ dark waters contain vital food for the local community, including plants, animals, and (most importantly) fish. He works alongside his community to monitor and report the pollution and subsequent poisoning of rivers by big companies that not only directly affect them, but also affect the palm oil industry’s predatory development project.
As globalization and capitalism advances, and forms alliances with the local political sector, many locals become marginalized and displaced, having to relocate to a city and often becoming cheap labor for the same industries that devastate their home lands.
Everything in the tropical peatland's rainforest is an enigma that requires respectful attention.
You have to read and interpret the signs to survive. Just as the shapes and images made by the women who weave are then braided into the reeds and inscribed in the textiles (made of purun) reveal the stories of time.
Voices woven from reeds in the dark waters
Creating art with plants evokes a folkloric state, passed on through their mothers’ and grandmother’s teachings. In order to gather the pieces and prepare the materials, the plant weavers get together as a community. They hit the reeds and string-like bristles against their hands and bodies. The moves and rhythms that their bodies make, paired with their signing creates a musical composition & choreography that reflects ancient times.
Woven mats are a symbol of identity, culture, and ancestral wisdom. A symbol that shows another way of life—one more connected to the planet. The flowering of the peat occurs in this woven material, called purun, which is woven while it is submerged and floating. The sound of the jungle becomes more clear while witnessing these colorfully braided symbols—the murmurs and singing of the ones who weave and unite them.
The purun holds the memory of all of the people in Pedamaran
During this shared activity, the weaving of rugs, mats, hats, sandals, baskets and all sorts of tools for survival and self-care are made. Between mundane tasks and lullabies, they weave what they need to survive and create ancestral art. The purun holds the memory of all of the people in Pedamaran. The metaphysical quality of the peatland is woven in the relationships between the habitat itself, modern people, and the sustainability between all beings.
Their local craft is a legacy for the community and for the entire Earth, as is the biodiversity found in the peatlands. The practice of purun in the dark waters gives shape and meaning to life, the village, and the identity of the peatland guardians.
Their current leader and representative, Ryan, states that weaving is fundamental work, and without purun, the people lose their identity. He’s vocal about its preservation, hoping that it will incentivize local economies and gain governmental support to protect the endangered peatland’s biodiversity.
Aquatic Biodiversity
Rain droplets in this tropical weather create an enigma that travels through the air, between the waters, above and below, dancing between the sky and the peat. The stories are interlaced in that dance, sprouting between woven palm roofs, in a rhythmic jungle dance that embodies ancient languages.
Bastoni Brata is a scientist who studies the vast peatlands of Sumatra. He says that this ecosystem is a source of life and work for these communities. However, many endemic species are beginning to disappear as a result of drought due to deforestation and monoculture farming. i Brata is part of a research group in an international network that seeks to recuperate these lands that have become fragile due to the drainage systems. He stresses the need for global awareness about climate change and a strategic and consistent approach in accordance with these specific peatlands.
We can get a glimpse of what it takes to reestablish biodiversity, using concrete actions, thanks to ongoing rehydration and reforestation processes taking place in certain sectors. A comprehensive solution is fundamental in order to make this happen.
One that brings together the government and the communities, one that understands the peatlands not only as economic potential but as a source of knowledge.