Oriental Nature, its Friends and its Enemies: Conservation of Nature in Late-Colonial Indonesia, 1889-1949

Jul 6, 2026

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Conservation of nature in late-colonial Indonesia (1889–1949) traces how deforestation in Java became a recognized problem from around 1850, leading to a colonial Forest Service and, from the c.1890s onward, the creation of protected forests. Colonial personnel also shaped organized conservation from the 1910s, prompting legislative protection and the establishment of nature and wildlife reserves. The movement—largely Dutch and distinctly colonial—came too late for major losses, yet it preserved elements of nature and provided a framework still used today.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages37

Reading Time1 h 33 min

Summary

Introduction

Background

Oriental Nature

Hunting

Oriental Nature,its Friends and its Enemies:Conservation of Nature in Late-Colonial Indonesia,1889-1949 Author(s):PETER BOOMGAARD Source:Environment and History,Vol.5,No.3(October 1999),pp.257-292 Published by:White Horse Press Stable URL:https://www.jstor.org/stable/20723109 Accessed:23-10-201909:39 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars,researchers,and students discover,use,and build upon a widerange of content in a trusted digital archive.We use information technology and tools to increase productivity andfacilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR,please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms &Conditions of Use,available athttps://about.jstor.org/terms White Horse Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access toEnvironment and History Oriental Nature,its Friends and its Enemies: # Conservation of Nature in Late-Colonial Indonesia,1889-1949 PETER BOOMGAARD Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology(KITLV)PO Box 9515,2300 RA Leiden,the Netherlands ## SUMMARY Deforestation of mountain slopes in Java began to be perceived as a problemaround 1850.This led to the establishment of a colonial Forest Service and,from c.1890 onwards,to the creation of protected forests.Forest Service personnelwere also heavily involved in the organised conservation movement dating fromthe 1910s.This organisation,in turn,urged the colonial government to takelegislative action regarding the protection of nature,thus stimulating the creationof nature and wildlife reserves.Although the conservation movement wasalmost entirely a Dutch affair,its character was,not surprisingly,'Orientalist'and colonial,and therefore quite different from the movement in the Nether-lands.Too little was done too late,but the measures taken preserved some‘nature'thatotherwise would have been lost,and createda framework that is stillbeing used today. ## INTRODUCTION The forest fires which raged in Indonesia in 1997,destroying perhaps over amillion hectares of forest cover,have led to a heightened concern for conserva-tion of nature.Neither the fires,nor this concern are without precedent.Droughtsand forest fires have hit the Indonesian Archipelago frequently during the lastfour centuries,the period for which we have fairly reliable written and printedrecords.In this article,however,I deal mainly with nature conservation.Droughts and fires,though,function as a counterpoint to the description andanalysis of early attempts,dating from the late-colonial period,to preserve(elements of)the ‘natural'environment of the area. After familiarising the reader briefly with the differences in populationdensity and forest cover in the Indonesian Archipelago,I deal with hunting andforest use prior to the late nineteenth century,trying to establish whether somekind of nature conservation avant la lettre might be encountered.Two sections Environment and History5(1999):257-292◎1999 The White Horse Press,Cambridge,UK. PETER BOOMGAARD on colonial legislation are presented,followed by a discussion of the conserva-tion movementin the Archipelago.In separate sections on reserves and protected(or unprotected)plants and animals,typical features of late-colonial conserva-tion measures are highlighted. ## BACKGROUND Around1910,the Netherlands Indies government finally succeededinestablish-ing its authority over the area of present-day Indonesia.It now held sway overa collection of islands large and small with enormous differences in populationdensities.Dutch presence on the islands was more or less proportional to thesedensities,with a high concentration of Europeans in heavily populated Java andnegligible numbers in ‘empty'Borneo [Kalimantan]and Dutch New Guinea[Irian Jaya]. These differences in Dutch presence and population densities also roughlycorresponded to proportions of the total surface area of the islands taken up byfo

FAQs

What problem in Indonesia helped drive late-colonial nature conservation policies?

Deforestation of mountain slopes in Java was increasingly perceived as a problem from around 1850, which helped motivate the creation of a colonial Forest Service and protected forests.

How did the colonial conservation movement influence government action?

Forest Service personnel were involved in organized conservation from the 1910s, which then urged the colonial government to take legislative steps for protecting nature, leading to nature and wildlife reserves.

Why is the conservation movement described as distinct from similar efforts in the Netherlands?

Because it was almost entirely a Dutch affair, its character was also Orientalist and colonial, making it notably different from the movement in the Netherlands.

Jul 6, 2026

Upload by Levi