Customary land (Kaw) revitalization
Kaw is the Karen form of customary tenure, which is a combination of aquatic habitats, household agricultural lands, communal forests, and protected areas create a diverse ecosystem that allows biodiversity to continue to thrive in the inhabited landscape. This ecosystem in turn supports generations of Karen villagers living in harmony with their ancestral territories. KESAN is working closely with communities to revitalize these systems and legally protect it under KNU policies.
More about Kaw …
Kaw lands include the ancestral lands, forests, waters, and natural resources of Karen communities that are governed by local institutions rooted in each particular community’s history, cultural identity, and way of life. The Kaw typically have a number of different land use types, including sacred areas, protected forests, rotational upland agriculture, lowland permanent agricultural fields, forest gardens, household residences, etc. Each of these areas is managed through community-developed regulations and taboos, which are enforced by designated Kaw leaders/ committees.
Kaw are not limited to a single model or governance structure. For example, one Kaw can consist of a single community, or multiple communities that have agreed to cooperate to cultivate and protect their lands. Furthermore, not all Kaw and Kaw practices are overseen by animists believing communities- some Karen Christian and Buddhist communities have also incorporated traditional land managemesnt practices or taboos into their own worldviews and land regulations.
Finally, it is important to note that- according to the Karen communities who have been practicing Kaw traditions for many generations- these practices and systems are fluid and evolving. Kaw communities have adapted to changing social, environmental and economic factors over the years; and will continue to do so in the future.
For a more formal definition of Kaw, the following excerpt is taken from Article 1.4.2 of the Kawthoolei Land Policy (KLP):
(Kaw is) the Karen form of customary tenure. It encompasses lands that are used and governed under the communal stewardship and tenure arrangements of a particular village community. Kaw is constituted by:
- Collectively occupied and/or used land, forests, fisheries, water and related natural resources–such as community forests, grazing lands, village (residential area), community gardens, fisheries, and some “Ku”-upland rotational farming zones (including fallows), among other categories.
- Land, forests, fisheries, water, and related natural resources occupied and/or used by families or households–home lots, home gardens, “Ku”-upland rotational farming zones (including fallows), orchards, and lowland paddy, among other categories.
- Sacred sites such as traditional burial grounds
- Cultural heritage sites
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