Forest Clearing and Pepper Farming by Bugis Migrants in East Kalimantan: Antecedents and Impact

Abstract

The migration of Bugis farmers to the forests of East Kalimantan is a well-organized continuing process. Through it forested lands offering new opportunities are cleared quickly and at least temporarily settled, without the government providing the substantial and costly assistance in land clearing and settlement building to the migrants required under the official resettlement and transmigration programs. The research reported here was aimed at assessing the actual or potential impact of migrant Bugis farmers on the East Kalimantan forest, and involved examining the mobility of the Bugis in relation to their use of land and their impact on the environment. We considered not only the forest-clearing, land-opening, and land-use activities of the farmers but also the causes, magnitude, and organization of their migrations. We did this as part of a larger research program concerned with identifying the forces contributing to deforestation in East Kalimantan.