To Burn or Not To Burn

On an afternoon in mid-August, Hudi, a slender, gray-haired Dayak Iban man living in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, said soldiers showed up to his house in Sungai Utik Village with a warning: Stop burning land for ladang (dry rice) or face fines, even jail time.

Officials had been trying to transition Hudi's tribe, like dozens of others in the area, away from ladang and onto wet rice cultivation. But the promised paddy was not yet ready.

September 20, 2016

On an afternoon in mid-August, Hudi, a slender, gray-haired Dayak Iban man living in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, said soldiers showed up to his house in Sungai Utik Village with a warning: Stop burning land for ladang (dry rice) or face fines, even jail time.

Officials had been trying to transition Hudi's tribe, like dozens of others in the area, away from ladang and onto wet rice cultivation. But the promised paddy was not yet ready.

"We have to

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