A place of transit for departed souls
The region is also home to
Dayak tribes who rely on forests for subsistence. But there are also spiritual linkages: places such as Lumut Mountain are held sacred by Dayak communities who follow the Hindu Kaharingan religion.
The mountain is considered to be a place of transit for departed souls before they proceed to heaven
(nirwana) and ritual ceremonies are still held there.
A special status for a unique place
To ensure that these mountains continue to play their special ecological and religious and roles, WWF is working with NGO partners and advocating with governments to designate the areas as national parks.
The local government, along with concerned communities, has submitted an application to
UNESCO to designate the area as a
World Heritage Site. There is strong justification for this proposal. Research carried out by the has shown that Gunung Muller is an ecologically rich area that meets the criteria to be proposed as a World Heritage Site, and to be managed as a National Park or other alternative management unit.
Designating Muller as a national park
The next stage in the process requires the local government to submit a proposal to the Ministry of Forestry with an assessment of the ecosystem and a socio-economic overview of the region.
WWF commissioned the University of Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan) to undertake the socio-economic study, including an assessment on the stakeholders’ perception of the nomination of the proposed protected areas. The results showed that people are overwhelmingly in favour of the nomination.
