Indigenous Peoples and the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations wrote the Bali Declaration as a joint commitment for the sacred relationship between humans, ancestors, and the Earth. The submission of the declaration was carried out after the agenda of the Public Discussion on the Draft Law on Indigenous Peoples of the Bali Region at the Neo Hotel, Kota

Denpasar, on Friday (30/10/2025). A number of points in the declaration to accelerate the discussion of the Indigenous Peoples Bill. One of them urges the Central Government, especially the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) to accelerate the discussion of the bill which has been delayed for 15 years. in order to encourage the recognition and welfare of all Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia.

The following is the statement of the Bali declaration:

BALI DECLARATION

Urging the Ratification of the Indigenous Peoples Bill

We, Indigenous Peoples and Civil Society Organizations in Bali, uphold TlosoT Tri Hita Karana by placing a balance between parahyangan (spirituality), pawongan (social), and palemahan (environment) as a binder of values that must be maintained by Indigenous Peoples.

Currently, various regulations such as Regional Regulation on Customary Villages No. 4 of 2019 and Law No. 3 of 2014 replacing Law No. 6 of 2014 concerning Villages regulate the existence of Indigenous Peoples in Bali. However, there is no national legal framework that truly provides protection for the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples. Without the Indigenous Peoples Law, the position of indigenous peoples in Bali is still “dependent” on the intervention of local governments that often lose the interests of tourism investment and national strategic projects that do not pay attention to Balinese ecological and cultural values.

We declare:

1. Urging the Leadership of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia to immediately discuss and pass the Indigenous Peoples Bill.
2. Recognizing indigenous peoples as legal subjects and ensuring the living space of indigenous peoples in the reconstruction of development so that development no longer ignores customary rights to land, water, and culture.
3. The Indigenous Peoples Bill provides substantive recognition of knowledge, territory, rights with the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) or Consent on the Basis of Complete Information at the Beginning without Coercion.
4. Recognizing the collective rights of Indigenous Women in Caring for Rituals, Safeguarding, Maintaining Customs and Culture as well as Nature as a source of life.
5. Recognizing and Guaranteeing the rights of Youth, Children, and Persons with Indigenous Disabilities, so that they become the next generation who are empowered, culturally aware, and protected from discrimination and identity elimination.
6. The Indigenous Peoples Bill must be able to become a policy that restores Bali’s ecological balance through customary-based legal and institutional channels. As well as making Customary Villages not only guardians of traditions, but determinants of the direction of environmental sustainability. Customary Villages must be sovereign over their land, water, and living space, and become the vanguard in restoring the balance between humans and nature.

Thus, we convey this Declaration directly in the Public Discussion forum of the Balinese Indigenous Peoples Bill as a commitment to mutual support for the sacred relationship between humans, ancestors, and the Earth.

Disclaimer: This article was written in Indonesia and has been translated by Google Translate. In case of dispute or discrepancy, the original language of the article should prevail.