Signboard indicating protected area at Ohoiren
Village, Kei Island, Southeast Moluccas,
Indonesia. Photo: Cliff Marlessy

In Eastern Indonesia, the practice of placing seasonal or temporary restrictions to regulate the use of a specific natural resource is known as Sasisen - or Sasi for short. The basic concept of sasi is to close the area for several months and then open it for harvesting. Traditionally, sasisen had been implemented for land use, such as coconut and betel nuts plantations. However, not all community members respect the tradition. Clemens Iraria, Head of the Community Council in Saba Village, 50 kilometers east of Biak, explains why.

“Local institutions have lost power and authority. Since the enforcement of national law on village government, the practice of sasisen has increasingly lost its ability to aid conservation. Even when it is practiced, sasi is now mostly regarded as a cultural ceremonial event; few use sasi as a tool for improving ecological conditions and/or increasing the income of the community."

Despite the difficulties, sasi systems do allow for sustainable use of resources, and the challenge now is to modernize it into a present-day conservation system. Given modern threats such as bomb fishing and cyanide use, it is difficult for communities to benefit by continuing with the original concept of short-term closure. To gain benefit from the sasi system today, sites should be closed for a long period of time, at least 1 or 2 years.

Drying sea cucumbers, Indonesia.
Photo: Cliff Marlessy

Marking the hawear, or sasi area at Ohoiren Village,
Kei Island, Southeast Moluccas, Indonesia.
Photo: Cliff Marlessy

When LMMA work started in Eastern Indonesia, this traditional tool was used to develop the closed areas within the LMMAs. Throughout Eastern Indonesia, sasi has different local names. For example, in the villages of Demoikisi, Tablanusu, and Tablasupa in the Depapre Bay-Jayapura Focal Area, it is called tyaitekete, while it is called Hawear in Ohoiren Village on Kei Island in the Southeast Moluccas, Yot in Big Kei Island, and Yutut in Small Kei Island.

For more information on Indonesia LMMA activities, see Where we Work.