The Form of Local Wisdom of Society in Maintaining the

Sustainability of Forest Ecosystems in Lake Toba Region

Siti Latifah

, Agus Purwoko

, Ridahati Rambey

, Risa Handayani Tarigan

Forestry Faculty, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Local wisdom, Lake Toba, society, forest.

Abstract: The management of forest resources is heavily influenced by local wisdom owned by local society to

prevent various adverse impacts on the forest and the water quality present in the lake. This research was

conducted to determine the extent to which form and role of local wisdom possessed by society maintaining

forest ecosystem area and water quality at local area. The research was conducted in Tuktuk Siadong

Village and Tomok Parsaoran Village, Simanindo District. The method used was survey by using

questionnaire as well as direct observation. Data were processed by qualitative descriptive method. The

results show that local wisdom owned by society has reduced the impact of forest degradation and lakes

management, although forest destruction continues throughout the year. Forms of local wisdom that can

support forest management are in the form of belief, in the form of the implementation of traditional

ceremonies. Ethics and rules of cutting have local beliefs. Techniques and technologies used, among others,

do not use explosives, do not cut trees with a machete / ax randomly and close the floating net cages at the

edge of Lake Toba, and do not dispose of waste in the lake. The results of the research provide input for the

government to continue to provide assistance and counselling for the society for local wisdom owned

continues to grow.

1 INTRODUCTION

Local wisdom is a form of environmental wisdom

that places natural wealth for the community in a

sustainable manner in social life in a place or region

(Lisdiyono, 2017).

All forms of local wisdom are

lived, practiced, taught and passed down from

generation to generation as well as shaping patterns

of human behavior towards fellow human beings.

Local wisdom has an important role in maintaining

and building social integrity, preventing social

integrity and becoming social glue in society (Chao,

2012). Local wisdom becomes important and useful

only when local societies who inherit the knowledge

system accept and claim it as part of their lives. Each

part of the life of the local society is wisely directed

based on their knowledge system, which is useful

not only in daily activities and interactions with

others, but also in unexpected situations such as

sudden disasters.

The value of local wisdom in the area around

Lake Toba has begun to wear off; for example, the

values of local wisdom of the Batak ethnic culture in

making the function of Lake Toba as the source of

living water began to decline. Previously Lake Toba

is known as the king of all lakes so that the society

respects and maintains the quality of the water while

now it is rarely done or may even have been lost and

the cause is unclear. In 1996, fishery business in the

waters of Lake Toba began to develop in the form of

Floating Net Cages (KJA). Currently its development

reaches an area of ± 440 ha. Although the area under

water only reached 0.4% of the width and allowed

1% of Lake Toba's waters, the behaviour of the

society and the business community disposes of

domestic waste and wastewater. (Environment

Agency of North Sumatra Province, 2015).

Lake Toba region itself, when viewed by naked

eye, has become a degraded area, especially the

occurrence of deforestation in some places in the

lake Toba including on the island of Samosir. The

water quality of Lake Toba is influenced by various

factors such as domestic waste or settlement,

agriculture, fishery, industry, sailing and tourism,

both from land (land based) and from lake

activities.The main problem faced by the Lake Toba

ecosystem is mainly the decline in quality as a result

Latifah, S., Purwoko, A., Rambey, R. and Tarigan, R.

The Form of Local Wisdom of Society in Maintaining the Sustainability of Forest Ecosystems in Lake Toba Region.

DOI: 10.5220/0010073200140019

In Proceedings of the International Conference of Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental and Ramiﬁcation Researches (ICOSTEERR 2018) - Research in Industry 4.0, pages

14-19

ISBN: 978-989-758-449-7

of the various waste discharged into the lake causing

pollution. In contrast, Lake Toba is also used as a

place to dispose of various types of waste generated

from agricultural activities around the Lake Toba

area, nutritional waste from the remaining fish feed

that is not consumed by fish that are cultivated

domestic waste from settlements and hotels, and

waste from industry and tourism water.

Reforestation in the mountainous/hilly areas of Lake

Toba serves as a water reservoir, water system,

water impregnation and environmental balance and

natural surroundings Based on the results of field

surveys, it is known that the society has no way to

maintain the local wisdom of the area around Lake

Toba so as to maintain the preservation of Lake

Toba area. Therefore, research related to local

wisdom around Lake Toba area needs to be done.

2 METHODOLOGY

2.1 Time and Location

This activity was held in April-May 2017 in both of

Tomok Parsaroan and Tuktuk Siadong Villages

located in Simanindo District, Samosir Regency, and

North Sumatra Province.

2.2 Tools and Material

The tools in this research were cameras for

documenting, and computers or laptops for

compiling and processing data and stationery. The

materials used in the research were in the form of

questionnaires to collect primary data and secondary

data as well as the results of previous research and

literature study sources as research supporting data.

2.3 Population and Sample

The population of the subjects interviewed from

Tuktuk Siadong and Tomok Parsaoran villages were

50 respondents respectively so that the total

respondents were 100 people.

2.4 Data Collection

Data collection was done through interview and field

observation. The research data taken was primary

data and secondary data. Primary data collection was

done by:

(i) Participatory observation which is data collection

method used to collect research data through

observation and sensing. The participatory

observation method is well suited to find out to what

extent the local wisdom of the society can sustain the

development of Lake Toba resource management in

the society (Soehartono, I. 2005).

(ii). Deep Interview

Deep Interview or oral questionnaire is a dialogue

conducted by the researcher towards the research

informant. The draft question aims to ask questions

that will be structured and minimize unnecessary

questions in the research.

(iii). Questionnaire

The questionnaire is a structured question that is

filled in by the respondent or filled by the

interviewer who reads the question and then records

the answer given (Sugiyono. 2007). Secondary data

collection is obtained through reading sources such

as books, magazines, newspapers, documents and

research reports relating to research topics deemed

relevant and valid to the issues researched.

2.5 Data Analysis

Descriptive analysis is used to know and analyze the

data collected from the results of questionnaires,

deep interviews, observations and literature studies

that have been done. The local wisdom to be seen in

this research is the beliefs related to the type of

beliefs and the abstinence exercised by the society;

ethics and rules relating to the way that the society

has; techniques and technologies related to public

knowledge; and practices/traditions of forest/land

management related to society knowledge in

utilizing medicinal plants.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 General Condition of Research

Sites

Tuktuk Siadong Village is one of the parts of

Simanindo District, Samosir Regency. Tuktuk

Siadong village is located at an altitude of 904-2157

m above sea level. The average temperature ranges

between 18° - 24° C and the land area of Tuktuk

Siadong Village is 340 Ha with the lake area of 410

Ha while Tomok Parsaoran Village is located on the

east side of Samosir Island just like Tuktuk Siadong

Village.

Tomok Parsaoran Village is a traditional village

known as the gateway and the introduction of

Samosir Island. Similar to Tuktuk Village, Tomok

Parsaoran Village is also included in Simanindo

District, Samosir Regency which has the altitude of

810-2.157 m above sea level and its temperature

The Form of Local Wisdom of Society in Maintaining the Sustainability of Forest Ecosystems in Lake Toba Region

ranges between 18° - 24° C and the area of Tomok

Parsaoran Village is 300 Ha. Tuktuk Siadong

village, Simanindo district, lies in geographical

position between 2⁰30 'and 2⁰45 LU and 98⁰45' and

98⁰55 'BT, with altitude above sea level is 931 m.

The land area is 198.20, with a percentage of the

total area of Samosir Regency at 13.72%. Tomok

Parsaoran Village located in Simanindo District has

geographical location at 20 32- 20 45'LU and 98

50'BT so that Tomok Parsaoran is the gate located

beside the east of Samosir Island (Regional

Regulation of Toba Samosir Regency, 2001)

3.2 Population Composition

The people living in Tomok Parsaoran Village has

an area of approximately 8 KM

of the population

living in this village is 1,399 people from 292 HH

with details of 682 men and 717 women with a

population density of 174 persons/Km

. The

population living in the village of Tuktuk Siadong

has an area of about 9.3 Km2. There are 1941 people

living in this village from 367 HH with details of

960 men and 1001 women with a population density

of 265 people/Km

3.3 Form of Local Wisdom

3.3.1 Belief and/or Abstinence

Tradition and belief are the traditions and beliefs of

Batak Toba. It can be seen from the behavior and

attitude of Tuktuk Siadong and Tomok Parsaoran

Village villagers by speaking Batak Toba in

everyday life and customs applied. Religions

adopted by the people are Protestant, Catholic, and

Islam. The tradition that is still run by Tuktuk

Siadong and Tomok Parsaoran villages up to now is

in the form of certain traditional ceremonies that are

still performed at certain times or periods with

certain purposes such as ceremonies of death,

marriage and thanksgiving of crops and religious

ceremonies.Several custom and religious ceremonies

are also held in Tuktuk Siadong Village and Tomok

Parsaoran Village by looking at Table 1.

From Table 1 it can be seen that there are 4

traditional ceremonies that are still carried out by the

people in TuktukSiadong Village and

TomokParsaoran Village namely Manulangi

ceremony, Mambosuri Boru, Marhajabuan and

Hamatean. Manulangi ceremony is especially done

to the parents when they step on the age of the

elderly or enter a critical period in a disease. The

purpose of the ceremony is to strengthen family

relationships between families.

The ceremony of mambosuriboru is a traditional

ceremony that is still held until now. The ceremony

is believed to keep a woman who is pregnant from

all things that are not good and the child who was

conceived will be born safely. Marhajabuan is a

traditional ceremony involving all villagers and

close relatives. Society involvement is a mirror

which states that the nature of society cannot be

separated from one another. The high level of

society dependence with each other is still a good

picture because the attitude of mutual cooperation or

togetherness still exists even though it is not as tight

as in the days of the ancestors. Marhajabuan is a

traditional ceremony held to celebrate marriage

between women and men as well as paying

customary debt. Hamatean is the most often

performed traditional ceremony because this

ceremony is a ceremony for death. Batak custom

ceremony is tailored to the family whether made

with a drum or in a simple way.

Table 1. Table of Traditional Ceremonies

Traditional

Ceremon

Society

Involvement

Time Purpose

1 Manulangi All family Elderly

A ceremony that the society

acknowledges with their children and

grandchildren feed theirfavorite food in

the hope that they will always be health

2 MambosuriBoru Close Family

When a woman is 7

months pregnant

So that children born later can be healthy.

3 Mangharoan All family

2 weeks after the

irth of the bab

A traditional ceremony to welcome the

4 Marhajabuan

All society and

family

When someone is

going to start a new

househol

A ceremony that is expected for both

bride and groom to be happy

5 Hamatean

All society and

famil

When someone dies

A traditional ceremony made if someone

aurmatua, sarimatua.

ICOSTEERR 2018 - International Conference of Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental and Ramiﬁcation Researches

3.3.2 Society Dependency on Forests

The distance between Tuktuk Siadong and Tomok

Parsaoran villages with forests is about 1-3 Km

making the people live around the forest have a

dependence on forests. Forests as natural resources

become a place of dependence to fulfill basic needs

and survive for generations for people live within or

adjacent to the forest. Several studies show that

forest products contribute significantly to rural

household income, including poverty alleviation.

(Angelsen, 2014

). Several studies (Central Bureau

of Statistics of Samosir Regency, 2010), (Aung,

2014), (Chao, 2012

) highlight the significant

contributions of forest products to the income of

rural households, including the alleviation of

poverty. This has made Tuktuk Siadong and Tomok

Parsaoran villagers become very dependent on local

agricultural produce, trade etc. Due to the very high

dependence of the society on agricultural land, the

societmust also pay attention to the sustainability

aspects of forests to continue to obtain non-timber

and timber forest products such as frankincense,

teak, honey and other local timber.

Utilization of forest products is by a board or

broti to build a house or cottage. At present

Indonesia must be able to see its forest potential

through a different perspective which implies that

the forest does not only provide wood. Intangible

benefits in the form of forest environmental services

provide such as, protection of agricultural land and

live stock from their effects weather or carbon

seques traction, watershed control, social and

cultural benefits obtained from production these

goods and services (Latifa, 2011). Other forest

products utilized by the society are humus,

medicinal plants, firewood, wild pigs, bamboo, and

rattan. The most common types of forest products

are humus and bamboo. Bamboo taken is used to

make crafts such as baskets and souvenirs.

3.3.3 Ethics and Rules

The level of dependence of the people around the

forest is very high on life both in economic and

ecological terms. This will obviously encourage

villagers to keep the forest down until it declines.

Villages have customary restrictions on forests that

allow society to safeguard their forests. Societies are

well aware that logging activities not only damage

the environment, but also affect their acquisition of

forest products and Lake Tabatha hereditary hunting

activity is still done in the forest area, but the society

still pays attention to the applicable environmental

ethics. Ethics that apply is not to hunt all types of

animals that exist in the forest but the main animal

being hunted is the animal that becomes the main

pest for agriculture like wild boar and monkey.

Villagers realize that catching fish around Danu

Toba area by poisoning or using bombs is not the

right way. Societies are aware that it will damage the

environment and will be detrimental to their lives

over a long period of time. Local knowledge owned

by TuktukSiadong and TomokParsaoran villages

indirectly has a positive impact on the existence of

forests and their environment. Many places around

the world where people are very dependent on

ecosystem services for their livelihoods and welfare

are areas of biodiversity in the tropics, where the

livelihood strategies of the poor include several

activities (Johannesen. 2006).

Sardjono argues that studying local wisdom can

give us insight into how indigenous peoples living in

adjacent forest areas treat available forest resources

and be able to act in accordance with their local

knowledge so that forest sustainability can continue

to be utilized until future generations (Sardjono,

2004)

The migrant society in Lake Toba area pays

more attention to the surrounding area, either from

the water quality, the local forest ecology or the

environment. Migrant societies are more aware of

the cleanliness, ecological conditions and social and

economic functions of the local area than the

indigenous peoples. It is the migrants who invite and

give examples for indigenous peoples to pay

attention to the condition and function of Lake Toba

Area from water quality and its forest function.

3.3.4 Techniques and Technology

Most societies have livelihoods as Farmers, Traders

and Guides, both indigenous and immigrant

societies. The techniques undertaken by indigenous

people for the sustainability of the area around Lake

Toba are still relatively low and not satisfactory

because the local society does not really understand

the importance of the sustainability of Lake Toba, in

contrast to the immigrant societies in Tuktuk

Siadong Village and Tomok Parsaoran Village.

Immigrants and the government shut down all

floating net cages in the waters of Lake Toba

although this has left some local people lost their

jobs and livelihoods but it is indispensable to make

Lake Toba one of the largest tourism destinations.

Indigenous people maintain the area of Lake Toba as

reported to the Environment Agency in the event of

contamination such as the existence of black leech

The Form of Local Wisdom of Society in Maintaining the Sustainability of Forest Ecosystems in Lake Toba Region

waste makes the area smell unpleasant, the reduction

of fish catch and the number of people who throw

garbage carelessly. (Sundawati and Lanudin. 2009)

3.4 Practices and Traditions for

Maintaining Lake Toba Area

Native societies more often do not maintain the

water quality of Lake Toba. It is seen with the

amount of garbage that is in the edge of Lake Toba

whether it is organic waste or non-organic waste,

while the immigrant society knows a lot about the

positive impacts and negative impacts of Lake

Toba.Some of the migrant society respondents have

knowledge that Lake Toba water is very good for

Hydrilla as aquatic vegetation species that can keep

Lake Toba area, water catchment area for area

conservation, for water needs and as an international

tourism destination.

3.5 Impact of Implementing Local

Knowledge

Local knowledge of the society has an impact on the

economic, social, and environmental aspects.

Viewed from the economic aspect, the livelihoods in

Tuktuk Siadong and Tomok Parsaoran villages are

trading, but the livelihood is mostly as a farmer with

291 people and Private Employment is the second

largest work (287 people). Farmers in this area

usually grows rice, corn, vegetables and beans in

their fields. The plant is grown in a medium number

and usually only in own consumption and the rest is

sold to neighbors or traditional markets.

Local knowledge owned by the society also has a

positive impact on the social aspects of society.

Local knowledge of the society encourages

awareness of the sustainability of the forest and

Lake Toba area related to the sustainable use of

natural resources. In the current era of

modernization with the entry of various knowledge

and western technologies such as television, satellite

dish and even cellular phone makes the outer

information flow cannot be prevented.

The introduction of various external information

resulted in changes in the lifestyles of the society

seen from some homes that are no longer

characterized by traditional houses with bamboo

walls and roofed fibers, but the influence of the

modernization of houses have begun to use concrete

walls and roofed tile. There is a belief that they call

"Mulajadi Na Bolon". Mulajadi Na bolon or also

called the village guard is the ancestral spirit in the

form of a stone that is respected by the people of

Tuktuk Siadong Village and Tomok Parsaoran

Village.

Local knowledge of the society about medicinal

plants also affects the social life of the society.

Based on the results of interviews conducted, people

who are smart to make traditional medicine are still

needed in the village. Because medicinal plants that

have very efficacious properties, the potential to be

passed on to future generations is greater. Local

knowledge of the society regarding the use of forest

resources, in addition to having a positive impact on

forests, also has a negative impact. Positive impact

is society encouragement to keep the forest

sustainability. However, due to the lack of

awareness of some of the indigenous people on the

importance of forest functions and the high

economic demands make some people clear forest

land into agricultural land. This certainly has an

adverse impact on the balance of the environment so

it is very important to do counseling.

4 CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Conclusions

Forms of local wisdom still exist in Tuktuk Siadong

Village and Tomok Parsaoran Village in maintaining

forest area and Lake Toba. This is evident from the

beliefs that are undertaken every year, the existence

of ethics and rules that are still in the form of a

restriction on logging from protected forests, the

existence of techniques and technologies such as

prohibition not to dispose of waste arbitrarily, and

practices and traditions to maintain the area of Lake

Toba. The application of local knowledge applied by

indigenous societies and migrants influences social

aspects, economic aspects and interrelated

environmental aspects.

The community has the role of local wisdom in

safeguarding forest ecosystems is the diversity of

patterns of adaptation to the environment that exists

in Indonesian society bequeathed from generation to

generation to guide the use of natural resources.

Public awareness to conserve the environment can

effectively grow through local knowledge and

cultural approaches.

The level of awareness of migrant societies in the

economic, social and cultural aspects is more

concerned with the environment and the natural

environment than the indigenous people.

ICOSTEERR 2018 - International Conference of Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental and Ramiﬁcation Researches

4.2 Suggestions

This study suggests that training activities and

extension programs such as tree-based intercropping

as agroforestry with multipurpose tree species

because the community prefers. Local wisdom plays

an important role in forest management so that local

wisdom owned by the people of Tuktuk Siadong

Village and Tomok Parsaoran Village so it is very

necessary to be maintained and developed but it also

requires assistance from the government

The government should build customary

institutions that are tasked to regulate and control

forest and limit excessive society interaction to

forests

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, we would like to thank respondents who had

been incredibly supporting us during this study.

Gratitude is also extended to Universitas Sumatera

Utara for supported the publication.

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The Form of Local Wisdom of Society in Maintaining the Sustainability of Forest Ecosystems in Lake Toba Region