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Protocols

Village guest book (Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo)

A guest book owned and managed by an elderly man in a village involved in a conservation scheme. The book is a material and symbolic manifestation of the guest-host relationship and associated environmental etiquette and the protocols that frame the interaction between conservation actors and local people. In this relationship, villagers host conservation guests and their initiatives. They provide food and shelter, and together with non-human beings grant the guests access to village grounds. In their role as guests, conservationists are expected to seek permission from human and non-human inhabitants and to conform to local norms and ways of doing things (adat). They are also expected to reciprocate local hospitality by returning something beneficial to the local community. This guestbook, containing entries from people all over the world, not only serves as evidence of local hospitality, but also gives the village, its forest, and people international connectivity and thus recognition.

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