Jakarta, IO – The chief of the Dayak Iban Sungai Utik indigenous community, Bandi Anak Ragai, popularly known as Apai Janggut, was awarded the 4th Gulbenkien Prize for Humanity from the Calouste Gulbenkien Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, last month. The award was given for his work with local communities to protect forests.
The award was personally conferred by the President of the Gulbenkian Foundation António Feijó and the Chair of the Jury for the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity Angela Merkel, and witnessed by the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Costa, per Kemlu.go.id, Thursday (3/8).
On this occasion, Apai Janggut stated that protecting the forest is part of the culture of the Dayak Iban Sungai Utik tribal community because it also means protecting life. He said he is proud that the commitment of indigenous peoples to protect the forest has been able to benefit the world.
“The forest is our source of life, which has been passed down by our ancestors long ago. Taking care of the forest is part of our culture. Because in the forest there are our fields, medicinal plants, rivers, the sacred graves of our ancestors that we must protect and take care. We are proud, our actions turned out to be beneficial to the world,” said Apai Janggut.
The prize, worth one million Euros, will be used to improve the welfare and education of the younger generation.
“This prize is very useful for us, we will use it to improve people’s welfare, prepare them to face the challenges ahead, to increase the capacity of our young generation, and prepare better education,” said Remang.
Apai Janggut together with the Dayak Iban Sungai Utik Indigenous people have also previously received the Kalpataru national award from the Indonesian government, and the UNDP Equator prize in 2019 for their efforts to protect an area of more than 9,000 hectares of customary forest from illegal logging, encroachment and land conversion by corporations.
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In addition, the people there have customary rules regarding restrictions on cutting down trees. Each family head is only allowed to cut down 30 trees per year.
They also respect the forest and their ancestors who are believed to be involved in ‘maintaining’ the forest. Thus, the Dayak Iban Sungai Utik people have a special ritual when they want to clear a plot of land. (bp)