The roar of getek traditional boat engine and the scorching sunlight are parts of daily life for Aminah and five of her colleagues, the women in Lebung Itam Village. They regularly fish in the peat forest. Unknowingly, their habit has provided the last conservation resort for the peat, as well as becoming a symbol of their village’s resistance against corporate invasion towards their forest.

“In the past, fishing and searching for wood and even hunting could only be done by the men at close range. Now hunting is no longer possible, and to fish one must go deep into the rawang (the local’s way to call peat forest),” said Aminah.

Lebung Itam Village, Tulung Selapan District, Ogan Komering IIir (OKI) Regency, South Sumatra is a village with an area of 30,496 hectares, 80% of which is peat forest. Additionally, peat is one of the main tools to mitigate global climate change. Peat stores one-third of the world’s carbon stocks, which makes it important for controlling the impacts of climate change. Based on data from Global Wetlands, Indonesia has the second largest peatland area in the world after Brazil, amounting to 22.5 million hectares.

The locals faithfully maintain the village’s peat forest, with the help of fellow activists from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), they formed the Rawang Management Community Forum (FK MPR). They hope that with the existence of the union, the village community will be stronger in overcoming this issue.