Undoing 'marginality': The islands of the Mahakam Delta, East Kalimantan (Indonesia)

Abstract

The islands in the delta of the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan have for a very long time been of little interest to anybody. It was a hostile environment for human settlement, exploitable resources were limited and nobody could think of options for alternative forms of land use. The area was classified as ‘marginal or empty land'. Things started to change dramatically in the 1990's when the development of shrimp ponds became an attractive option. Land covered with forests of nipa palms and mangrove trees could be converted into highly profitable shrimp ponds. The demand for shrimps was booming and the delta was a kind of new frontier without any government control. Buginese fishermen and investors started to convert the landscape into extensive shrimp ponds. The financial crisis in Southeast Asia at the end of the 1990's made the export of shrimps in dollars from Indonesia even more profitable because of the enormous inflation of the country's currency. Over the years new settlements were constructed and informal forms of land rights were established. The spirit of ‘regional autonomy' after the fall of President Suharto in 1998 contributed to this development. The discovery in the delta of new fields full of oil and natural gas brought new and powerful actors into the area. As a result of competing claims over land and resources, the formerly ‘marginal and empty lands' became highly contested. At present the provincial government is trying to take control over the delta islands but the gap between formal and informal forms of management is not easy to overcome. The article is based on recent field research in the area as part of the East Kalimantan Project within the framework of research collaboration between Indonesia and the Netherlands.Global Challenges (FSW