Changing Lifestyles in Converted Forests: The Impact of Logging Operations on the Orang Rimba, Jambi, Indonesia

Abstract

HIGHLIGHTS The social impact of logging operations can only be understood as the cumulative effect of a long range of interconnected land use changes. The Orang Rimba, the original forest dwellers of Central Sumatra, have been heavily influenced by extensive logging operations over the past few decades. Contrary to early predictions, they have survived mainly by adapting to the changing conditions but also by avoiding complete assimilation. Governmental efforts to bring the Orang Rimba into the national socio-economic mainstream have had limited success. The international discourse on Indigenous peoples has to a limited extent trickled down in Indonesia with some positive effects on the forest dwelling communities. SUMMARY The landscape of Central Sumatra has changed rapidly over the past few decades. Industrial logging and the subsequent conversion of the lowland rainforests into oil palm and rubber plantations, the establishment of transmigration sites and the ever-expanding road network have forced the forest dwelling communities of the Orang Rimba to adapt their traditional modes of subsistence. Traditional hunting, fishing and gathering simply did not yield enough food and forest products for exchange purposes anymore. In this contribution an overview will be given of the impact of large-scale logging and the processes of forest conversion that have taken place in the wake of the logging operations. The article covers a period of about four decades in which fieldwork by both authors has taken place at various periods. It will show the various ways the Orang Rimba have reacted to the challenges and the opportunities that emerged as a result of these operations. .