**1. Introduction**

Many indigenous societies that directly depend on natural resources have developed norms (e.g. values, beliefs, customs and institutions) that control the use of resources. Such norms include various resource use regulations such as a temporal ban on access to a certain area, a ban on using certain resources, rules restricting the amount of resources that can be harvested and rules regarding harvesting methods. The roles of these norms that local people regard (i.e. roles of the norms in an emic sense) vary from site to site, and they include the prevention of resource degradation, enhancing efficiency in resource harvests, avoiding conflicts among resource users, and soothing and reposing supernatural agents such as ancestors' spirits, natural spirits and deities [1]. Mechanisms that enforce people to obey the norms are also diverse. Some resource management practices are based on a social enforcement mechanism, where people living in the real world monitor other peoples' conducts and apply sanctions (e.g. punishment and moral blame) against those who break the rules, and the others are based on a supernatural enforcement mechanism, whereby people believe that supernatural agents such as ancestor spirits and natural spirits monitor human conduct and impose punishments on violators, promoting compliance with the rules [1].

In this paper, we use the term 'indigenous resource management (IRM)' for practices based on indigenous norms for establishing and maintaining order in the relationships among resource users, as well as between humans and resources for certain purposes such as that mentioned earlier.

Environmental sociological and anthropological studies on natural resource management have thematized IRM practices based on supernatural enforcement mechanisms. For example, an extensive literature review by Colding and Folke about social taboos guiding human behaviour to the natural environment compared resource and habitat taboos (RHTs) in many places around the world to contemporary measures of conservation [2]. It shows that some RHTs supported by supernatural enforcement mechanisms have functions similar to those of formal institutions for nature conservation. Hamilton classifies the cases where forest areas and certain trees are protected because those are believed to be sacred or have evil powers, and discusses how supernatural restrictions are important in biodiversity and local culture conservation [3]. Bhagwat and Rutte also show examples of traditional conservation practices at natural sacred sites in various parts of the world, and suggest that incorporating natural sacred sites into existing protected area networks is needed, focusing on current threats to sacred sites including legal ownership denying customary rights, population growth, increasing immigration and so on [4]. Verschuuren et al. compiled case studies on sacred natural sites covering a wide spread of both iconic and lesser known examples in the various parts of the world to make the case that sacred natural sites support high biodiversity values, document the losses of sacred natural sites and draw attention to the threats and pressures that many still face [5].

Several case studies of local resource management supported by the supernatural enforcement mechanism have also been published. For example, Byers et al. examined the role of traditional religious beliefs in conserving remnant patches of a unique type of dry forest in the northern part of Zimbabwe [6]. Virtanen studies the social-cultural backgrounds of sacred forest institutions which are continuously functioning at the juncture of changing state laws and customary laws based on a case study in Mozambique [7]. Saj et al. investigated how local taboos against hunting on monkeys contribute to complementing the formal conservation agenda [8]. Etiendem et al. who investigated the local beliefs related to the Cross-River gorilla and taboos of hunting and eating the gorilla in Cameroon discussed how effective it is to integrate such beliefs and practices into the conservation of the species [9].

**1. Introduction**

78 Indigenous People

mentioned earlier.

on violators, promoting compliance with the rules [1].

Many indigenous societies that directly depend on natural resources have developed norms (e.g. values, beliefs, customs and institutions) that control the use of resources. Such norms include various resource use regulations such as a temporal ban on access to a certain area, a ban on using certain resources, rules restricting the amount of resources that can be harvested and rules regarding harvesting methods. The roles of these norms that local people regard (i.e. roles of the norms in an emic sense) vary from site to site, and they include the prevention of resource degradation, enhancing efficiency in resource harvests, avoiding conflicts among resource users, and soothing and reposing supernatural agents such as ancestors' spirits, natural spirits and deities [1]. Mechanisms that enforce people to obey the norms are also diverse. Some resource management practices are based on a social enforcement mechanism, where people living in the real world monitor other peoples' conducts and apply sanctions (e.g. punishment and moral blame) against those who break the rules, and the others are based on a supernatural enforcement mechanism, whereby people believe that supernatural agents such as ancestor spirits and natural spirits monitor human conduct and impose punishments

In this paper, we use the term 'indigenous resource management (IRM)' for practices based on indigenous norms for establishing and maintaining order in the relationships among resource users, as well as between humans and resources for certain purposes such as that

Environmental sociological and anthropological studies on natural resource management have thematized IRM practices based on supernatural enforcement mechanisms. For example, an extensive literature review by Colding and Folke about social taboos guiding human behaviour to the natural environment compared resource and habitat taboos (RHTs) in many places around the world to contemporary measures of conservation [2]. It shows that some RHTs supported by supernatural enforcement mechanisms have functions similar to those of formal institutions for nature conservation. Hamilton classifies the cases where forest areas and certain trees are protected because those are believed to be sacred or have evil powers, and discusses how supernatural restrictions are important in biodiversity and local culture conservation [3]. Bhagwat and Rutte also show examples of traditional conservation practices at natural sacred sites in various parts of the world, and suggest that incorporating natural sacred sites into existing protected area networks is needed, focusing on current threats to sacred sites including legal ownership denying customary rights, population growth, increasing immigration and so on [4]. Verschuuren et al. compiled case studies on sacred natural sites covering a wide spread of both iconic and lesser known examples in the various parts of the world to make the case that sacred natural sites support high biodiversity values, document the losses of sacred natural sites and draw attention to the threats and pressures that many still face [5]. Several case studies of local resource management supported by the supernatural enforcement mechanism have also been published. For example, Byers et al. examined the role of traditional religious beliefs in conserving remnant patches of a unique type of dry forest in the northern part of Zimbabwe [6]. Virtanen studies the social-cultural backgrounds of sacred In Indonesia, some case studies focus on the interrelations between local belief in supernatural agents and wildlife and land protection such as given in Refs. [10, 11, 12].

In recent arguments in the governance of natural resource management, effectiveness and desirability of collaborative management among local people including indigenous people, state actors, NGOs, scholars and corporations has been recognized. In the context of Indonesia, the reformation movement, which has been taking place since the late 1998 after then-President Soeharto's fall, has stimulated the growth of a new perception of indigenous people's rights to their land in the country. Forestry Law 41/1999, which replaced the Basic Forestry Law in 1999, created a new forest category, hutan Adat or customary forests, defined as 'state forests located in traditional jurisdiction areas' [13]. This made an advance for recognition of indigenous rights to forest lands but Indonesian NGOs and indigenous communities have challenged the law, arguing that it failed to adequately recognize, secure and protect indigenous land rights, as required by articles in the Indonesian constitution.1 Reflecting on the arguments, in May 2013, the Indonesian Constitutional Court issued Decision 35/PUU-X/2012 which invalidated provisions of the Forestry Law under which the Indonesian central government had assumed ownership over forest land that indigenous communities had occupied and used for generations. Following the Constitutional Court Decision, governmental agencies issued regulations for resolving land claims and recognizing community land rights.2

Even though the land handed back to indigenous communities is still very small, and there are several challenges for promoting the recognition and protection of indigenous land rights, the recent transition presents a growing opportunity for indigenous people who live in nature-rich areas (national parks, etc.) to collaborate with 'outside stakeholders' such as governmental agencies, scholars and environmental NGOs in natural resource management.

In such situations, it is necessary to deeply understand the value of indigenous resource management practices to promote self-directed and effective resource management.

This chapter focuses on local forest resource management and its suitability in the local socialcultural context in central Seram, east Indonesia. Indigenous resource management practises

<sup>1</sup> For example, article 18B (2) in the constitution (the second amendment) states that 'The state recognizes and respects indigenous people and their traditional rights providing these still exist and are in accordance with the development of the people and the principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, which shall be regulated by law' [14]. 2 The minister of environment and forestry (KLHK) signed a Joint Ministerial Regulation 79/2014 which spells out the procedures Indonesian National land agency and several related ministries including KLHK will use in a joint effort to resolve land claims and provide secure forms within the forest zone. The minister of agrarian affaires and spatial planning and the head of the national land agency signed Regulation 9/2015 on Procedure for the Determination of Communal Rights on Customary Land and the Land of Communities in Special Regions, which is regarded as an important legal breakthrough in putting indigenous communities in a position to secure collective legal rights over their territories [14].

are closely related to and embedded in the social-cultural context of local communities [15]. However, few intensive case studies in Indonesia have addressed the relationship between the indigenous resource management practices based on supernatural enforce mechanism and the social-cultural context.

Therefore, we illustrate how the well-structured use of forest resources (wild games) is established and maintained through the indigenous resource management practices based on supernatural enforce mechanism. After that, we investigate what social-ecological roles the IRM in Amanioho has, and how IRM practices relate to the social-cultural context of an upland community in central Seram. Then, we discuss the possible future applications for achieving self-directed resource management by people who 'coexist' with supernatural agents.

There are a few precedent ethnographic studies referring to the indigenous resource use of the Seramese. Ellen carried out a descriptive analysis of land use and settlement patterns, seeking to uncover their socio-ecological processes and decision-making sequences [16]. He also analysed the relationship between animal words and animal categories, how these categories were constructed and the language of the classification [17]. Valeri re-examined the anthropological interpretation of taboo based on his intensive study of customary prohibition, makquwoli, in the Huaulu language of central Seram [18]. These studies, however, did not address the issue related to natural resource management. This chapter also aims to fill the current gap in the ethnographic literature on indigenous forest resource management in Seram.
