LOCAL COMMUNITY AND THEIR EXSISTENCE

LOCAL COMMUNITY AND THEIR EXISTENCE:

THE ENVIRONMENTAL WISDOM OF KASEPUHAN CCOMMUNITY 

AT CENGKUK VILLAGE, SUKABUMI DISTRICT, WEST JAVA[1]

By

Ary Sulistyo[2]

The research focused on the eternality of environmental preservation of indigenous Sunda Village of Kasepuhan Ciptagelar at Southern Halimun Mountain, Sukabumi District, West Java. The local community still exist with living heritage of the Sundaness tradition and culture. The study associated with the depreciation of land and population growth. Cengkuk Village was the one of several cluster villages that still practiced the tradition to manage the environment. Socio-culture approach on this research has focused into environmental wisdom values that occupied the forest land. The distribution of forest community depends on functions and utilization, that only leuweung tutupan have been used definitely. The functions of forest as ecosystem buffer have been used traditionally not only by main village but also the compose of several cluster villages.

Changes in natural forest on 1990-2010 reached an average area of 6-8% per year; originally 10.66 ha to 0.18 ha, and reduced by about 10.48 ha. Whereas the increase of the growth of local population and the faded of traditional values or local knowledge and external factors pressures like illegal logging would impact to the expanding of land subsistence production with deforestation as the result. The method that used is qualitative research with descriptive approach. The aggregation of databases was from literatures, survey, participant observation, and depth interview. Analysis of the processing database was descriptive approaches with qualitative design generalized for make conclusion from observed pattern and integrated that explain of the phenomena of environmental wisdom context. Social mapping shown that spatial pattern replace that sacred-profane settlements.

The result showed that Kasepuhan indigenous tradition is still practicing by community that protected the forestland (leuweung tutupan) at the south of the settlement only for their subsistence. Social-culture changes were occurring in the community with no agricultural activities in the forest (outer islands agriculture), but agricultural activities in the field (wet rice cultivation). Reduction in process and ceremonial activities also happened, which was originally held eight ceremonial outer island agriculture rituals into five ceremonial of wet rice cultivation. More profane activities were developing economic crops in kebun-talun. The spatial pattern in environmental aspect was still have position; mountains-settlement-rivers; the main village of Kasepuhan—and the compose of several cluster villages. Indigenous villages that were geographically higher usually have more stricted tradition than the lower one.

Keywords: community, kampong, environment, forest, tradition

Acknowledgement

I would like to thanks to Dr. Boedhihartono from Department of Anthropology, University of Indonesia for sharing valuable knowledge as my mentor, teacher, friend, even father to me. It’s truly honor for me, although my undergraduate background from Archaeology and Conservation which is deal with material culture, but he patiently guided me with his good scientific in anthropology and how to look society as unity in culture.

Maps

Location map of Kampung Cengkuk, Sukabumi, West Java

Map of landuse of Kampung Cengkuk, Sukabumi District, West Java

The Archaeological Site of ‘Megalith Culture’ at Kampung Cengkuk as one of tourism attraction

The Annual Seren Taun’s Ritual Gift to Mother-Earth (Dewi Sri) followed by Local Communities and gathering at the Centre of ‘Kampung’ Gede Kasepuhan Ciptagelar 

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[1] The original research title is Kelestarian Lingkungan Kampung Adat Sunda Kawasan Gunung Halimun Selatan: Studi Kearifan Lingkungan Masyarakat Adat Kasepuhan Kampung Cengkuk Sukabumi  (Enviromental Eternality of Indigenous Sunda Village at Southern Area of Halimun Mountain: Study of Environmental Wisdom on Local Community at Kasepuhan Kampung Cengkuk Sukabumi) and proposed as graduate thesis in the Department of Environmental Studies concentration in Human Ecology at University of Indonesia in January 2011.

[2] Guide at Unit Pengelola Kawasan Kotatua Jakarta. The author can be contacted at: sulistyo.ary26@gmail.com