Sebubus

Village Profile

Sebubus Village is located in Paloh Subdistrict, Sambas Regency, West Kalimantan Province, with an area of 326.21 km² (32,621 ha). To the north, Sebubus Village shares a border with Temajuk Village (Paloh Subdistrict); to the east, it shares a border with Sungai Bening Village (Sajingan Besar Subdistrict); to the south, it shares a border with Nibung Village (Paloh Subdistrict); and to the west, it shares a border with the South China Sea. The village has a population of 10,958 people with 2,096 households. Sebubus is divided into 11 sub-villages, namely Sebuluh Sub-village, Serumpun Sub-village, Melati Sub-village, Jeruju Sub-village, North Jeruju Sub-village, Setingga Asin Sub-village, Setingga Tawar Sub-village, Merbau Sub-village, Sungai Dungun Sub-village, Cermai Sub-village, and Sungai Tengah Sub-village.
Sebubus Village was formerly known as “Benua Sebubus”. The name Sebubus comes from the name of the first person who entered Sebubus and settled there. In 1930, it officially became a traditional village and was led by a traditional leader or village elder (there are no historical records regarding the name of the first traditional leader).
The village of Sebubus then automatically became a village when Indonesia gained independence, with Jiban as its first village head. Jiban was initially appointed as kampong's chief in 1941 and then became Head of Sebubus Village in 1945 (when Indonesia gained its independence) until 1962. The village of Sebubus has no exact records of when land clearing began in the village area, nor of the important people who played a significant role in land clearing. Based on data from several informants, in Sebubus, if a group of people wanted to clear land in an area, they would ask the village administration for permission to be given a Land Clearing Permit and determine the size of the land they would clear/cultivate. They were given three months by the village to clear the land. If three months passed, the group was given two six-month extensions to complete the land clearing process. If, within that period, the group had not completely cleared the land as specified, the remaining untouched land would be returned to the village administration.
In the 1930s, the forests in Sebubus were cleared for settlements and the cultivation of daily food crops, such as sticky rice, corn and vegetables. Later on, new land was cleared for planting coconuts and rubber, as these were the most marketable commodities at the time. In addition, rice fields were also opened and secondary crops such as pepper were also planted by Sebubus residents on their land. Then, in 2008, a resident named Haji Badul began planting oil palms on his land, having heard stories from other areas about the opportunities and prices of oil palms on the market. Then, the majority of the community followed Haji Badul's lead by clearing their land to plant oil palms, and some even cut down the rubber trees on their land and replaced them with oil palms.

Indigenous People & Local Communities

Village Forest Management Institution