Thirty-nine participants attended the Plenary Meeting on the Recognition and Protection of Paking and Punan Semolon Customary Communities on January 17, 2025, at the Meeting Room of Malinau District Environment Office, North Kalimantan. This event was facilitated by the SASHI Foundation with support from the Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) as part of the process toward obtaining the Malinau Regent’s Decree about the Recognition and Protection of Paking and Punan Semolon Customary Communities. In addition, this meeting was also discussed recognition of the Kelapis Customary Community which passed verification on January 16, 2025. Dr. Ir. Dolvina Damus, M.Si., the Head of the Customary Community Affair Management Agency (Badan Pengelola Urusan Masyarakat Adat – BPUMA), chaired the plenary meeting and discussed the completeness of the recognition documents, including the summary profile of each customary community, historical narratives, the use of local languages, heirlooms, and existing cultural heritage.
After the discussions and reviews, it was agreed that the Customary Communities of Paking, Punan Semolon, and Kelapis were eligible to be recognized and protected. However, the documents need to be improved within 30 days from January 17, 2025. The SASHI Foundation provided technical support to all customary communities in revising their documents and submitted them to BPUMA. They also sent shapefile (*shp) data of the customary land boundaries of Paking and Punan Semolon Customary Communities to the Public Works and Housing Office (Dinas Pekerjaan Umum, Perumahan, dan Kawasan Permukiman – PUPR Perkim) as legal requirement.
