In 1999, the Great Dayak Chiefs gathered in the Krayan Highlands. They came from eleven indigenous territories deep in the northwestern tip of North Kalimantan, Indonesia, bordering Sarawak and Sabah. The meeting was the end of a two-year participatory mapping process in an effort to document ancestral territories and customary rights to land and natural resources. At the meeting, the Great Indigenous Chiefs agreed to build a collective voice to be stronger in fighting for the recognition of their customary rights, values and practices. Most of their customary territories overlap with the Kayan Mentarang National Park conservation area. This reality raises concerns about the possibility of restrictions and prohibitions by national park managers for indigenous peoples to access and utilize forest resources, where the forest is a living space and part of socio-cultural life.

This was the beginning of the initiative of the Kayan Mentarang National Park Indigenous Peoples Consultative Forum (FoMMA), an organization of indigenous peoples that was officially established on October 7, 2000 as a forum for communication and coordination for all indigenous communities in and around the National Park. FoMMA carries an advocacy mission to obtain recognition of indigenous peoples' rights through government engagement by promoting open dialogue and negotiation for all stakeholders equally.

Of its 20-year journey, FoMMA has pioneered participatory mapping of more than two million hectares of indigenous territories, including natural and social assets, and traditionally protected areas of high biodiversity (ICCAs). FoMMA also pushed for a co-governance scheme in the management of Kayan Mentarang National Park (TNKM) which eventually became the first national park in Indonesia decided by the government to be managed under collaborative management. Supported by various partners at the local, national, and regional levels, FoMMA has helped transform the Park's governance to accommodate customary territories managed and maintained by indigenous communities by upholding traditions.

Over time, many FoMMA members have become new indigenous leaders in their respective communities, or local government officials, and members of the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD). They continue to push for nature-based and customary solutions where communities become sustainable stewards of the lands, forests and rivers in their territories, based on traditional values such as solidarity, care and a balanced relationship with nature.

FoMMA members have become new indigenous leaders in their respective communities, or local government officials and local legislators.

WWF-Indonesia congratulates FoMMA on being awarded the Equator Prize, and recognizes that the strength and resilience of this initiative is rooted in the wisdom of the elders and Great Chiefs who, years ago, had a vision for the indigenous peoples of the Kayan Mentarang region and encouraged young people to safeguard traditions and territories as the determinants of its sustainable future.