THE MINANGKABAU TRADITIONAL LAND USE

Traditional land use is judicious utilizing of nature resources. This is the result of long-term experience of natural resources, natural indicators and the natural limits of human life. Thus they know how to deal with and treat the environment, where to live, which resources can be used and which resources must be preserved. They know what amount of resources can be harvested in certain time. This knowledge is passed from one generation to the next and it has become traditional wisdom. The land system of the Minangkabau is a community property system: they allow land use in cluster patterns. They build the nagari with housing as a centre, farmland surrounds the centre on flat areas and forestlands are situated at outer part on hilly areas. This system creates simple infrastructure development in a village. Concen-tration of housing provides the communities with easier social interaction. Farmland is situated close to the housing because rice fields need intensive planting and water management. Forestland and mixed cash crop land is situated on hilly areas because it is known that the soil fertility in those areas are unsuitable for annual plants and have a high risk of soil erosion. Farmlan