Customary forests as models of traditional agroforestry: ethnobotany of wild edible plants in the Dayak Sisang forest, Indonesia

Abstract

Customary forests in Indonesia are often treated simply as “forest” land cover, yet many function as bioculturally managed, tree-based mosaics that resemble traditional agroforestry in both structure and provisioning. In the Dayak Sisang customary territory (West Kalimantan), wild edible plants (WEP) constitute a key provisioning service linking biodiversity, food security, and customary governance; however, land-use conversion and socio-economic pressures threaten WEP resources and local botanical knowledge. This study documents WEP diversity and examines how WEP provisioning helps sustain customary forest landscapes as living models of traditional agroforestry. We employed an ethnographic design combined with ethnobotanical methods, including in-depth interviews with 53 key informants and participatory forest walks to collect WEP specimens. We recorded 103 WEP species from 48 families, dominated by Arecaceae (8.74%), Moraceae (7.77%), Sapindaceae (7.77%), and Zingiberaceae (5.83%). Fruits were the most frequently used plant part (46.60%), and whole-plant foods were mostly consumed raw (63.10%). Trees were the dominant growth form (~ 50%). Spatially, WEP richness was concentrated in sacred forest (69/103 species; 66.99%), complemented by mixed gardens (21 species; 20.39%), homegardens (12 species; 11.65%), and shifting cultivation areas (1 species; 0.97%). These patterns indicate a customary management logic that combines core habitat protection with access-oriented distribution across managed spaces—features consistent with forest-like agroforestry rooted in long-lived woody components. Framing WEP provisioning within customary governance advances agroforestry research by clarifying how customary institutions sustain provisioning services while conserving forest structure and biocultural values.