Sacred forest, hunting, and conservation in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

In a number of places, sacred forest sites play an important role in conservation andlocal livelihoods. This paper examines how Iban hunters and animals alike use sacredforest in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. To determine the relative importance of differentsites in hunting, it compares hunting effort, animal species and their numbersencountered by hunters, and encounters and captures in a variety of forest sitesincluding sacred groves. The authors relate the results to the role of such sites in theoverall Iban agroforestry system and in the conservation of forest habitat thatprofessional conservationists deem precious. Such land use practices, while havingsocial and religious origins, may be important for local economic purposes, but theymay also be valuable in promoting and enhancing the more global goals of biodiversityconservation.