26 May 2025
THROUGH OUR EYES: A VISUAL PERSPECTIVE OF LIVING IN A TIGER LANDSCAPE IN WESTERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
It’s late as the car driving Nayla, a Bataknese Indigenous photographer and facilitator, her assistant, and a small WWF team pulls into Lubuk Gadang Utara Village. In this pocket of western Sumatra, traditional communities share a close cultural connection to the forest and the wildlife that calls it home, particularly the tiger.
Nayla and her assistant, Galuh, are here to work with the community to explore their connection to the tiger, referred to as Inyiak in the ancestral language of the people here. Supported by Fendy, who is both a Community Facilitator in this village and WWF-Indonesia member of staff, Nayla will work closely with self-selected local volunteers from this village on a participatory photography project.
What is participatory photography?
In a nutshell, participatory photography is an approach to community engagement where volunteers are supported and encouraged to share their first-hand perspectives and experiences through photography. Participatory photography is about deepening community relationships by building trust and dialogue and using storytelling as a method of listening and learning, giving communities the opportunity to share their stories in a way they want to.
Through our eyes
Nayla’s approach to her work keeps communities at the heart of the project. After spending time getting to know the village Elders and receiving their approval to continue the project, Nayla held a short workshop with a group of self-selected volunteers. After learning about photography and storytelling, the volunteers then spent a week documenting how their cultural connection to tigers is woven into their day-to-day lives. Many communities see tigers as a vital part of their culture, which is changing over time as the world modernises. At the end of the week, Nayla worked with the volunteers to caption their images, bringing each of their stories to life. These photos and stories give a community perspective of living in a tiger landscape that is so rarely seen in conservation.
Meet the Community
Since he was a young man, Muhammad has worked as a farmer and owns nearly five hectares of farmland. Throughout his life, he has ventured into the forest to collect various resources and has lost count of how many times he has seen the Inyiak. Now, he is a respected Elder in their village.
Having been born and lived my entire life next to the forest, I have lost count of how many times I've heard the roar of our Inyiak. Seeing him is not a rare thing for me either. I have no fear as we live and co-exist together. Inyiak is our village guardian. As long as we hold compassion, then Inyiak will always protect us, but if we violate rules and bring damage to our environment, he will be our biggest enemy and punish us. This is our land, the Lubuk Gadang Utara Nagari forest, where we live side by side with the Inyiak.
Inyiak is the ancestor who protects our village. A wildlife relative, the Inyiak is our best friend that we can count on when needed. If we're lost and can't find our way out of the forest, then we just whisper to the air, “Inyiak, please help us, we are lost and can’t find our way out”. After that, the Inyiak will lead the way by marking the soil vertically to be followed and a horizontal line, which is a forbidden path.
(The mark in the soil was made by Muhammad to show what it should look like.)
Kasmawati, often called Kas, has lived next to the Indigenous forest of Lubuk Gadang Utara Nagari her whole life. From her father, she heard many stories related to their village protector, the Inyiak.
As a community member, I always work hard to provide a better life for my children. Our village is surrounded by amazing green hills. I was born in this village and have lived here all of my life. I built my home here and my small warung (small food corner) where I sell snacks and drinks to earn additional income for my family. Every day, when I look around my house and my warung area, I always see the forest. The forest and everything that lives in it are very close to our lives.
Many of our Indigenous practices and values are changing as time goes by. I remember when I was young, there were some practices of praying for the safety of our cattle stock. This was done by the community gathering, praying and sharing food together. We also believed that by doing so, Inyiak would see that we didn’t keep what we had for ourselves, and Inyiak wouldn't punish us by attacking our cattle. But the practice isn't done anymore.
Jasman is well known by his community and has dedicated himself to all things Inyiak-related, earning himself the name Pawang Harimau (Tiger Communicator). He's the first person called when the Inyiak visits their village.
I'm completely aware if Inyiak is around. I can tell from the particular scent around the trees, broken tree branches and footprints. If I look back to the 1990s, we would hear Inyiak stories and activities on a daily basis from people. However, now we rarely hear stories of Inyiak encounters. In 2024, we received a total of nine reports.
Wisnadeli, known as Wis, is a full-time mum with three boys while her husband works as a farmer.
As a person who lives in the village, we are far from having a luxurious life like the city people. However, I wouldn't have it the other way around. Here is a picture of my view every day from my front yard. This is our luxury, to be able to live with amazing nature with Inyiak as our protector.
This picture is probably just a plain picture for most people, but for us, this place has an important story. This is the Maliau Ketek River. Right here, one of my neighbours who was doing dishes here encountered the Inyiak. But then Inyiak walked away. I still remember that neighbour of mine, they cried when they told me this story. Most of the time, the place which often encounters stories with Inyiak is at this river spot.
Thank you to the community of Lubuk Gadang Utara Nagari for sharing your stories and experiences. Your stories are a moving insight into life in one of Indonesia's tiger landscapes and will continue to inspire and raise awareness for years to come.
There are fewer than 5,600 wild tigers left in the world. Endangered tigers need you. Join the people fighting for MORE ROAR - your gift could support vital conservation work to help them survive.
This project was conducted with the FPIC (Free, Prior, and Informed Consent) process and complied with safeguarding practices. All volunteers were self-selected and retain the copyright to their photos.