Oral Environmental Governance in a Small Island Context: Indigenous Ecological Regulation amid Extractive Development in Eastern Indonesia

In the context of small, resource-rich islands, environmental governance is often dominated by state-corporate regimes that marginalize indigenous knowledge systems. This article examines Tyarka , an indigenous oral tradition on Masela Island, Eastern Indonesia, as a form of community-based environmental governance. Using the frameworks of political ecology and indigenous governance, the study analyzes how Tyarka functions as a normative ecological system that regulates human-nature relations through moral authority, ritual performance, and collective memory. Based on ethnographic fieldwork involving participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with indigenous leaders and local communities, the findings indicate that Tyarka operates as an oral environmental governance mechanism that articulates ecological ethics, enforces social control, and legitimizes community-based conservation practices. However, the expansion of the Masela LNG extraction project has created a power imbalance that undermines the recognition of oral governance systems, resulting in knowledge exclusion and environmental injustice. This article argues that recognizing oral traditions as environmental governance is crucial for addressing sustainability challenges in resource-rich small island regions. By conceptualizing Tyarka as oral environmental governance, this study contributes to political ecology debates on indigenous power, knowledge, and resistance, while offering policy-relevant insights for integrating indigenous governance into environmental decision-making.