Forest Land Tenure Rights on Indigenous Peoples in Honitetu Village West Seram District, Maluku

Abstract

Forest land tenure systems for indigenous peoples are always debated by various parties regarding the overlapping interests and rights of forest land. Objective of this study is to analyze the types of indigenous peoples' rights to strengthen forest land tenure systems in Honitetu Village, West Seram Regency. The research approach used is Participatory Action Research by building constructs of meaning between researchers and society repeatedly to obtain an understanding of the information discussed. Data were obtained through key informant interviews and focus group discussions conducted repeatedly. The analysis was carried out at each stage of the interview and discussion by making categorization of data to get an understanding of each data obtained. The results of study show that the system of forest land tenure in indigenous communities in Honite village includes control by the whole community (petuanan), control by clan groups (soa) and control by individuals (families). In these three systems, various types of rights are attached to managing and utilizing forest resources. The set of rights contained in indigenous peoples will be even stronger if it includes the linkage of longtime dimensions, the dimensions of space for the use of vertical or horizontal space, the dimensions of the subject with fixed ownership and the dimensions of the object include the results of forest land that provides full benefits. Key words: forest land tenure rights, indigenous people, forest management