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Primate field projects are often under the direction of foreign researchers, who live and work alongside members of local communities. Here we discuss the impact of religion on orangutan research and conservation in Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia over the past 25 years. We demonstrate how our local staff integrates orangutan conservation with religious practices. This includes sharing Islamic prayers on the responsibility of humans to safeguard nature, and the breaking of the fast during Ramadan with villages that are our conservation partners. Islam prohibits the eating of orangutans (as well as forest pigs). In contrast, the indigenous Dayak communities of Borneo historically do hunt and eat orangutans. This impacts the current orangutan distribution. At the Cabang Panti Research Site we have been recording the presence of hunters within our trail system, as well as the number of gunshots heard, since 2008. We find that there is a significant association between these occurrences and the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. We discuss changing religious values and how increasingly conservative practices affect foreign researchers, particularly women. We also detail how social media can help researchers become better informed about important local issues. For example, through our data collection we became aware that local people may be consuming wild pig meat around religious holidays, potentially unknowingly. Social media made us aware that local communities were concerned about this issue, which also impacts wildlife conservation, and thus we can tailor our outreach efforts to meet this intersection between religion and conservation. Funders: NSF (BCS-1638823, BCS-0936199); National Geographic; USFish/Wildlife (F15AP00812, F13AP00920, 96200-0-G249, 96200-9-G110); Leakey; Disney Wildlife Conservation; Wenner-Gren; Nacey-Maggioncalda; Orangutan Conservancy; Conservation-Food-Health; Woodland Park Zoo; Holloman Price; AZA; Ocean Park Conservation; USAID; Arcus
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The Institutional Foundations of Religious Politics: Evidence from Indonesia*
Abstract This article explores the foundations of religious influence in politics and society. We show that an important Islamic institution fostered the entrenchment of Islamism at a critical juncture in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country. In the early 1960s, rural elites transferred large amounts of land into waqf—inalienable charitable trusts in Islamic law—to avoid expropriation by the state. Regions facing a greater threat of expropriation exhibit more prevalent waqf land and Islamic institutions endowed as such, including mosques and religious schools. These endowments provided conservative forces with the capital needed to promote Islamist ideology and mobilize against the secular state. We identify lasting effects of the transfers on the size of the religious sector, electoral support for Islamist parties, and the adoption of local sharia laws. These effects are shaped by greater demand for religion in government but not by greater piety among the electorate. Waqf assets also impose costs on the local economy, particularly in agriculture, where these endowments are associated with lower productivity. Overall, our findings shed new light on the origins and consequences of Islamism.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1942375
- PAR ID:
- 10212684
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Volume:
- 135
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0033-5533
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 845 to 911
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjz038
