Local Environmental Governance and Cultural Practices in the Karampuang Indigenous Community

Abstract

This study examined how the Karampuang indigenous community in South Sulawesi structured local environmental governance through culturally embedded norms, customary institutions, and collective ecological practices.Despite increasing pressures from modernization, changes in land use, and regional development policies, the community has maintained a resilient governance system that regulates access to land, forests, and water through ritualized decision-making, intergenerational knowledge transmission, and clearly defined customary roles.Drawing on qualitative fieldwork including in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation of cultural practices, this research investigated how local governance mechanisms were organized, negotiated, and reproduced within daily social life.The study addressed two core questions: (1) How do cultural values and customary authority shape environmental governance in Karampuang? and (2) In what ways do these practices contribute to ecological sustainability and community cohesion?The findings revealed that customary governance operated as a socio-ecological framework that integrated territorial boundaries, communal resource management, and social obligations, which minimizes ecological degradation and reinforces collective responsibility.This paper contributed to broader debates in environmental anthropology, indigenous studies, and community-based resource management by demonstrating how local cultural systems functioned as effective environmental governance regimes.The Karampuang case highlights the continuing relevance of indigenous institutions for addressing sustainability challenges in the contemporary era.

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