Ecological Footprint-Study of Kampung Naga, West Java, Indonesia: A Study of Spiritual Beliefs for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Sustainability means living within our means, treading lightly on the earth. This is plainly not a concept that persists in human society today. The indicators of this can be seen in the deleterious effects humankind is having on the planet as a result of resource scarcity, climate change, and environmental degradation.

The biggest cause of this is the use of resources at a rate greater than which the Earth can replenish them. The driver of this increasing consumption is the system mankind has created called “the growth focussed economy”. Looking back into the past, the ecological footprint of mankind was much lighter. So the thinking and philosophy behind what was done in the past is worth examining and testing to see if what was done then offers a blueprint for a more sustainable world.

A traditional community called the Sanaga is living within the ecological limits in the village of Kampung Naga, in West Java, Indonesia. As a contemporary example of an apparently self-sufficient economy that was commonly found in ancient times, a detailed assessment of the ecological impact of their living activities has been applied to consider the contribution of their traditional way of life and behaviour to the conservation of energy and natural resources.

Given that the overall unique behaviour in Kampung Naga has been retained in the light of their respect for their Great Ancestor and the Rice Goddess Dewi Sri, it is relevant to examine the possible role of their spiritual beliefs in these mythical or semi-mythical figures in setting the limits of their resource consumption. The readings on mythology in this research aim to clarify an appropriate vocabulary to discuss the sources of traditional beliefs and practices held by this community in terms of living their specific social and agricultural lifestyle.

To accomplish the aim of this research, a particular method of work has been developed. The approach to study of the published materials of Kampung Naga and Sundanese mythology is essentially dialectical. The materials being studied are the major documents in the Old Sundanese literature related to Kampung Naga and also recent publications in cultural anthropology studies of the particular ethnic group. Most of them have been written by Indonesian scholars and a few Dutch philologists from the beginning of the twentieth century. Although philosophical ideas in the course of the last four centuries are discussed in this study, they are deliberately viewed as if they were all contemporary in order to develop or defend another possibility in regard to the idea of progress.

Instead of the teachings of religious speculations which are beyond the reach of reason and empirical verification, what has been found in these works of old Sundanese literature was practical instruction from a nobleman regarding how to live a noble life according to several branches of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy combined with local beliefs. One particular facet that is relevant in the current period of accelerating global consumption is the possible role of these teachings in terms of acknowledgment of materialism and more importantly its ethical and ecological implications.