A Glimmer of Hope for the Recognition of the Tanggedu Indigenous Law Community Achieved Through Deliberations on Customary Territory Boundaries

The efforts to recognize and protect the Tanggedu Indigenous Law Community (MHA) in East Sumba Regency have begun to show significant progress. The long process undertaken by the community together with civil society advocates is gradually paving the way for the recognition of the existence of the Tanggedu MHA, including customary territories, customary institutions, local knowledge, and traditional rights inherent in the community.

The recognition of the Indigenous Law Community is an important part of protecting the community's rights to their living space, managed territories, and natural resources that have been preserved for generations. For the Tanggedu MHA, this process is not only related to administrative status but also represents an important step to ensure that customary-based territorial management practices, local wisdom, and traditional knowledge have a place in regional policies.

The push for the recognition of the Tanggedu MHA is also closely related to the need to strengthen community protection in facing pressures on their living space. The customary territories that have long been places for the community to live, produce, perform rituals, preserve knowledge, and manage natural resources need legal certainty so they are not easily marginalized by development policies, licensing, or unilateral claims over the space.

In the process, the recognition of the MHA requires the fulfillment of a number of data and information, ranging from the history of the indigenous community, customary territories, customary law, customary institutions, to wealth and/or customary objects. This data serves as an important basis for local governments in identifying, verifying, validating, and determining the Indigenous Law Community in accordance with applicable regulations.

The involvement of the community in this recognition process shows that the recognition of the MHA cannot be done unilaterally. The community needs to be the main actor in explaining their history, territorial boundaries, institutional structures, customary rules, and their relationship with their living space. Thus, the recognition process not only results in formal documents but also strengthens the community's position as legal subjects and guardians of customary territories.

For WGII, the progress in recognizing the Tanggedu MHA is part of a broader agenda to promote rights-based conservation. The experience of the Tanggedu MHA shows that the protection of biodiversity cannot be separated from the recognition of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities as knowledge holders, territory managers, and key actors in maintaining ecosystems.

The recognition of the Tanggedu MHA is expected to be an initial step to strengthen the protection of community living spaces, ensure traditional rights are respected, and open up opportunities for more equitable, participatory, and sustainable natural resource management. This process also serves as a reminder that conservation and development policies must be based on respect for community rights, local knowledge, and community leadership at the grassroots level.