22 Chapter 3 | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ PERSPECTIVE OF LAND 3.13 Legal pluralism was basically through the incorporation of native customary laws into the Sabah Land Ordinance (SLO). The conflicting situation and concepts which remain a legacy today were captured in Section 15 of the SLO. Criteria on NCR (Section 15)20 3.14 Section 15 of the SLO 1930, which defines Native Customary Rights (NCR) to land was adopted from a standard British India land law and has not changed much over the years despite many attempts to redefine and reflect the actual meaning of customary land rights as elaborated earlier in the earlier section. 3.15 One contentious element in the definition of NCR is found under section 15 (b) and (c). They prescribe the number of fruit trees per hectare of land (section 15 (b)) and isolated fruit trees, and sago, rotan, or other plants of economic value (section 15 (c)) to be found when ascertaining NCR. Traditional native agriculture usually involves planting a diversified number of crops and useful plants using inter-cropping techniques in a particular area. This was done to ensure a steady supply of food for the family and for other purposes. Fruit trees may be interspersed with trees for firewood, medicines, crafts, or as building materials. As such, to specifically define NCR to cover only fruit trees and plants of economic value will not capture the actual customary land use. 3.16 In the definition of “customary tenure” in section 66 of the SLO,21 which is linked to section 15 (a), lawful possession of land by natives was deemed to be either through continuous occupation or cultivation for three or more consecutive years. Hill rice cultivation involves a cycle of one cultivation year followed by a fallow period of 3–10 years to restore soil fertility (see 3.4 above). NCR claims on hill rice fields are therefore not recognised as fallow period is not considered to part of the planting cycle, and do not fulfill the three consecutive years of continuous cultivation. 3.17 Communities recognise the importance of maintaining clean water supply not only for domestic use but also for irrigation and recreation, and would ensure that community water catchment within their NCR areas for gravity water supply are conserved. However, section 15 does not include this as a criterion for NCR. It is useful to note that the Water Resources Enactment 1998 under section 16 has a provision for private right to take, use and control, sufficient for household and subsistence agricultural purposes. 3.18 Another missing NCR criteria under section 15 is with respect to rivers and coastal areas within any native territory that are used and managed by the community. Rivers and coastal 20 Section 15: Definition of customary rights.   Native customary rights shall be held to be (a) land possessed by customary tenure; (b) land planted with fruit trees, when the number of fruit trees amounts to fifty and upwards to each hectare; (c) isolated fruit trees, and sago, rotan, or other plants of economic value, that the claimant can prove to the satisfaction of the Collector were planted or upkept and regularly enjoyed by him as his personal property; (d) grazing land that the claimant agrees to keep stocked with a sufficient number of cattle or horses to keep down the undergrowth; (e) land that has been cultivated or built on within three years; (f) burial grounds or shrines; (g) usual rights of way for men or animals from rivers, roads, or houses to any or all of the above. 21 Section 65: “Customary tenure” means the lawful possession of land by natives either by continuous occupation or cultivation for three or more consecutive years or by title under this Part. chapter 3_a4.indd 22 7/5/13 6:43 PM