It’s Just a Matter of Saving a Way of Life
Bernard L. Krova, Jakarta Globe 21 May 09;
Last week at the World Oceans Conference, the government officially declared 3.5 million hectares of critical marine habitat in the Savu Sea for conservation. Though government representatives have assured that traditional whaling — which has been supporting the surrounding communities’ means of living — will not be banned in the area immediately outside the zone, concerns still remain.
Residents of Lefo Lamalera, a fishing community in East Nusa Tenggara with a population of more than 1,700, have hunted whales for centuries using traditional methods. In what was agreed upon during the formation of the conservation area, Lamalera residents will still be allowed to hunt whales, their primary source of livelihood.
The concern now is that outside parties will attempt to transform the village’s economy from subsistence whale-hunting to commercial whale-watching. This possibility has been mentioned in three separate reports by Apex Environmental written for The Nature Conservancy, as well as in a joint report by the World Wildlife Fund and TNC.
However, tourism based on whale-watching is not likely to provide a sustainable enough substitute for whale-hunting for two key reasons.
First is the remoteness of Lamalera from the tourist center of Bali.
Getting to Lamalera from Bali takes a minimum travel time of three days by air and land. If there are already whale-watching tours operating in Bali, which, being a popular tourist destination, offers way more amenities, why will tourists still hassle themselves to get to Lamalera? Besides, the hundred or so tourists who visit Lamalera each year do so to see a unique way of life, not to see whales.
The other reason is revenue generated by whale-watching won’t be sufficient to sustain Lamalera. The only people benefiting primarily from whale-watching have been some losmen operators in the village. The alternative is to the advantage of a few, but whale-hunting can feed an entire village.
Besides the reasons mentioned, outsiders must understand that there is more to Lamalera’s whale-hunting than it appears.
Before the beginning of the hunting season, Lamalera people carry out a traditional ceremony, requesting blessings from their ancestors and paying respects to those who have died at sea. The ceremony is held every May 1 which signals the beginning of the whale-hunting season. According to tradition, hunters are not allowed to seize whales during their breeding phase, as well as young whales and pregnant ones. Hunters also avoid killing specific species such as minke whales because according to belief, this particular whale once came to the village’s aid. If hunters break these strict rules, it is believed that the hunting season will turn out a failure.
In short, whaling in Lamalera is not some mere form of recreation or mere profit venture; it is a way of life. And transforming this way of life will prove costly to the people who depend on it.
With limited farmland that can be tilled to serve a whole village’s needs, residents of Lefo Lamalera like myself depend on marine resources. There is no doubt that we agonize as well at how whales appear when they are killed, but Lefo Lamalera has no choice.
When a whale is caught, it is first distributed to those holding a share-right in the boat. These include crewmen, craftsmen and members of the clan who own the boat. From a single boat, there may be 40 or more share-right holders. When two or more boats cooperate to catch a whale, as is common, the number becomes twice as large. Most residents of Lamalera enjoy the whale captured through a method of reciprocity known as bfene and lamma, or joy in sharing and trade. We also believe that a whale is sent to support the life of widows and the poor living around Mount Labalekan. This belief system has existed for a long time, even before our Indonesian founding fathers.
Also, the people of Lamalera aren’t the only ones who benefit from whale hunting, but also the residents of the interior areas of Lembata Island, Adonara Island and even parts of Flores Island.
Because Lamalera residents have very little agricultural land, they acquire products such as maize, bananas, manioc and other fruits and vegetables by trading with farmers from the interior areas. For these farmers, Lamalera’s whales supply them with a source of protein.
To add, recent research at the University of Indonesia has shown that without whale meat, the traditional barter market will collapse, with detrimental effects for both the whale hunters of Lamalera and farmers from interior land.
Lamalera is one of the last remaining Indonesian whaling communities; it is categorized by the International Whaling Commission as aboriginal whaling.
Under the terms of the 1986 moratorium on whaling, the IWC allows aboriginal groups to whale but only on the basis of subsistence. The WWF went to Lamalera to conduct a survey to determine that the limited hunting does not endanger the world whale population or other endangered species. The global population of sperm whales — the kind caught in Lamalera — has been estimated at 360,000. The average number of whales being caught each year in Lamalera in the past 30 years has been about 21. The highest number of whales captured? It is pegged at 59, which occurred in 1969.
The cessation of whaling in Lamalera, therefore, will affect thousands of people, not just in Lamalera but in neighboring villages as well. We do not believe that tourism hinged on whale-watching can provide a sustainable alternative to traditional whale hunting. It is our hope that outside parties will grasp the drastic change that will entail the people of South Lembata. We hope the rights of the people of Lamalera will be respected, a right to pursue a way of life they have maintained for centuries.
Bernard L. Krova is the coordinator of Save Lamalera.
