In order to support the various activities of community groups, including women's groups, in an effort to preserve local wisdom and social values that relate to the management of natural resources, FORCLIME and the Lore Lindu Biosphere Reserve Coordination and Communication Forum recently facilitated the Ngata Toto Customary Women's Organization (OPANT) to document customary laws that specifically relate to the management and protection of natural resources. The Toro people follow a philosophy known as Hintuwu, which is closely intertwined with their social lives and regulates relations between humans. They also follow the philosophies of Katuwua, which regulates relations between humans and nature, and Petukua, which governs relations between humans and the Creator.

After the completion of various discussions and meetings with the goal of gathering information from Toro elders who still retain knowledge of this local wisdom, the Ngata Toro Customary Institution subsequently compiled these findings into a written document. This document sets out various practical customary laws that specifically relate to the management of natural resources and social values and that will be used to maintain ecological balance, particularly within Toro Village, Kulawi District, Sigi Regency. Ultimately, the document will help to preserve local wisdom so that it can be accessed by the entire Ngata Toro Customary Law community, including subsequent generations.

With the goal of improving this compiled customary law document, the Ngata Toro Customary Institution, supported by FORCLIME, held a workshop last October. This event, which was opened by Mrs. Rukmini P Toheke as the representative of the Ngata Toro Customary Institution, was attended by representatives of customary institutions from five hamlets located in Toro Village, as well as by the Ngata Toro Customary Youth and the Ngata Toro Customary Women's Organization (OPANT).

After the drafting of the Ngata Toro Customary Law document had been completed, a public consultation was held on 6 November 2024 to align perceptions regarding Ngata Toro Customary Law. The meeting, which was opened by the Head of Toro Village, Mulyanto Dharmawan Lagimpu, S.E., was attended by the Toro Village Government, the Ngata Toro Customary Institution, Ngata Toro Customary Youth, OPANT and various women's leaders from Toro Village.

Ngata Toro Customary Law is set out in a document that was drafted based on a mutual agreement between the Ngata Toro Customary Institution and the Toro Village Government. This document will now be ratified through a process of customary deliberation. Furthermore, this documentation of customary law will be used in order to update the various materials that are taught by the Ngata Toro Customary School (Hikola Ada Ngata Toro). This school was established in 2020 through an initiative that was organized by Mrs. Rukmini Toheke and (the late) Krispus Pelea and is being driven by a high sense of concern for the future of Ngata Toro’s younger generation, as well as the hope for life lived in harmony with nature.

For more information, please contact:
Arif Hidayat, Junior Forestry and Biodiversity Advisor
Ismet Khaeruddin, Senior Adviser for Biodiversity and Provincial Coordinator for Central Sulawesi