National Geographic Indonesia– In November 2006, on the Naususu hill in the North Molo area of South Central Timor, the sudden cold weather turned hot. Nine indigenous women sat on rocks that were about to be cut by mining company workers. These nine women, all of whom were housewives, refused to move when the workers began using heavy machinery to cut the rocks they were sitting on. They continued weaving cloth with their weaving tools while singing.

Drills and water hoses then started to cut the rocks. The nine mothers who were there did not move. Dust from the drilling machines flew around and began to cover their bodies. The workers continued to drill the rocks that were to be mined as if terrorizing. At that critical moment, Mama Aleta Baun arrived, shouting loudly to stop the drilling of the rocks.

She had to face the security forces and thugs paid by the mining company. Acts of violence occurred against the mothers who were protesting for the closure of the stone mining company. The conflict escalated, involving many residents in massive numbers against the company.

That was just one story of the conflict in indigenous territories between companies and the surrounding communities rooted in land ownership issues. According to Kasmita Widodo from the Participatory Mapping Network (JKPP), all of this happened because the rights of indigenous communities were being ignored. “The licensing process usually does not consider the indigenous community’s rights to their territories, and when project workers start working in the field, there will be resistance from the indigenous community.”

Indigenous communities are like guests in their own home
Since the Constitutional Court issued Decision Number 35/PUU-X/2012 stating that customary forests are no longer part of state forests under the control of the Ministry of Forestry, indigenous communities have become rights holders. On one hand, in the dynamics on the ground, many areas have overlapping ownership by various sectors: forestry, plantations, mining, and the general public or indigenous peoples. All of these lead to land ownership conflicts or agrarian conflicts.

“This is urgent; a data system must be provided because every institution has and manages its [land] data separately [sectorally],” explained Kaswita Widodo in her written interview with National Geographic Indonesia.

To help resolve agrarian conflict issues, Kasmita Widodo came up with the idea of developing the National Geodata System (GDN). “To answer how spatial data and information and narratives can be optimally used to resolve agrarian conflicts and their root causes,” she proposed.

Therefore, on July 30-31, 2013, a workshop was held to develop the National Geodata System. The end result was a map of the area with integrated data from all sectors including plantations, forestry, and indigenous communities.

For the past two years, an integrated map has been developed involving various institutions interested in the National Geodata System. The system includes spatial information data such as indicative maps of customary territories, tenurial situations in customary territories, customary forests and state forests, conflicts, and efforts to resolve them. Several organizations were involved in its development, such as HuMA, the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), the Consortium to Support Customary Forest Systems (KpSHK), Sawit Watch (SW), the Participatory Mapping Network (JKPP), the Mining Network (Mining Network), and several other organizations.

Their work is digitally based and can already be accessed by the general public at www.geodata-cso.org to know information about their land. So, communities can have access to all land information through this data system. By placing all data and information on one map, the profile of land ownership conflicts in that area will be visible.

“The benefit of this system is that we can show the land/territory ownership situation by various sectors in indigenous territories. This can be used as an advocacy tool by NGOs and as a warning to the government that there are indigenous rights that must be respected in development planning and licensing,” Kasmita Widodo explained.

This map is participatory, meaning it involves the community in its creation, both governmental and nongovernmental institutions. All data is included so that land ownership by each institution and community can be easily seen. If there are overlapping lands, it will be clearly visible, allowing potential conflict areas to be identified. This significantly aids in conflict