Chapter 14
For Kin, God and Other Beings:
Mixtures of Conservation Practice
in Raja Ampat, West Papua
Ian N. Parker
Abstract This chapter describes the emergence of hybrid conservation practices in
the Raja Ampat islands of Indonesian New Guinea in the context of significant socioeconomic and ecological change. On West Papua’s coast fringe, different values
motivate different types of geographic resource management systems with varying
stakes for the people who support them. Here, a patchwork of interlinked regimes of
land and sea-based resource governance have contributed to a composite approach to
adaptive governance, rather than an inherently conflicting set of practices or norms.
I describe how resident Beteo and Ma’ya people revived a limited type of seasonal
harvest prohibition and taboo called sasi to incorporate Christian ethics and the
significance of ancestral sites of nonhuman spirits. On Waigeo island, a center point
of international conservation programs and ecotourism, two distinct forms of sasi are
currently practiced: sasi gereja, a type of Christian village-based resource protection
and sasi mon, a set of clan-mediated rules for areas beyond villages inhabited by
ancestors or nonhuman spirit beings. In the past decade, the practices have become
formalized through engagement of West Papuan communities with international nongovernmental organizations. The varieties of conservation practices in coastal West
Papua reflect distinct but perhaps commensurable ethical norms and values. Engagements with valued places highlights how conservation in Raja Ampat is consequential to people’s understanding of themselves and others, amidst ongoing resource
degradation, the denial of Christian social virtue or economic marginalization.
Introduction
As with societies elsewhere, Pacific Island communities have incorporated beliefs,
adapted values, and engaged across boundaries of social difference in times of socioeconomic and ecological change. Interdisciplinary research on climate change adaptation has identified how cultural values shape human–environment relations, particularly how religious or spiritual practices provide mechanisms to support cultural
I. N. Parker (B)
Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla,
CA 0532, USA
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. M. Luetz and P. D. Nunn (eds.), Beyond Belief, Climate Change Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67602-5_14
267
For Kin, God and Other Beings:
Mixtures of Conservation Practice
in Raja Ampat, West Papua
Ian N. Parker
Abstract This chapter describes the emergence of hybrid conservation practices in
the Raja Ampat islands of Indonesian New Guinea in the context of significant socioeconomic and ecological change. On West Papua’s coast fringe, different values
motivate different types of geographic resource management systems with varying
stakes for the people who support them. Here, a patchwork of interlinked regimes of
land and sea-based resource governance have contributed to a composite approach to
adaptive governance, rather than an inherently conflicting set of practices or norms.
I describe how resident Beteo and Ma’ya people revived a limited type of seasonal
harvest prohibition and taboo called sasi to incorporate Christian ethics and the
significance of ancestral sites of nonhuman spirits. On Waigeo island, a center point
of international conservation programs and ecotourism, two distinct forms of sasi are
currently practiced: sasi gereja, a type of Christian village-based resource protection
and sasi mon, a set of clan-mediated rules for areas beyond villages inhabited by
ancestors or nonhuman spirit beings. In the past decade, the practices have become
formalized through engagement of West Papuan communities with international nongovernmental organizations. The varieties of conservation practices in coastal West
Papua reflect distinct but perhaps commensurable ethical norms and values. Engagements with valued places highlights how conservation in Raja Ampat is consequential to people’s understanding of themselves and others, amidst ongoing resource
degradation, the denial of Christian social virtue or economic marginalization.
Introduction
As with societies elsewhere, Pacific Island communities have incorporated beliefs,
adapted values, and engaged across boundaries of social difference in times of socioeconomic and ecological change. Interdisciplinary research on climate change adaptation has identified how cultural values shape human–environment relations, particularly how religious or spiritual practices provide mechanisms to support cultural
I. N. Parker (B)
Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla,
CA 0532, USA
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. M. Luetz and P. D. Nunn (eds.), Beyond Belief, Climate Change Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67602-5_14
267