The ecological philosophy of the Dayak Iban and its transmission through social studies ecopedagogy

This dissertation examines the ecological philosophy of the Dayak Iban in Sungai Utik, West Kalimantan, through an ethnographic approach. The findings show that Dayak Iban ecological wisdom is not merely a set of environmental practices, but a cultural system rooted in adat, spirituality, and collective obligations to protect the ancestral forest. The forest is understood as the father, the land as the mother, and water as blood, expressing a cosmology in which human life depends on a balance between nature, community, and the unseen world. These values are sustained through ritual practice, shifting cultivation, customary forest governance, and intergenerational transmission in the longhouse. This dissertation argues that Dayak Iban ecological philosophy constitutes a living environmental ethic that shapes identity, social solidarity, and conservation practice. Its main contribution is to connect ethnographic research on indigenous ecological knowledge with social studies ecopedagogy, showing that local wisdom can provide a culturally grounded foundation for sustainability education more broadly.