Customary leadership and sustainable development: The role of Niniok Mamak Nan 20 in village governance and cultural preservation in Kampar, Indonesia

This study examines how the customary leadership institution of Niniok Mamak Nan 20 supports cultural preservation and locally grounded sustainable development in Kanagarian Kuok , Kampar, Riau, Indonesia. It addresses three questions: how the institution is structured and legitimized, how adat -based authority is exercised in village governance, and how these practices relate to SDG-oriented governance processes at the local level. The study used a qualitative ethnographic design, with fieldwork conducted in Kuok District over nine months, from March to November 2022. Data were generated through three semi-structured in-depth interviews with customary elites, each lasting approximately three to 7 h, together with direct observations of customary activities and leadership interactions and a review of local administrative and customary documents. The corpus was coded manually through iterative reading, inductive and deductive coding, category formation, and triangulation across interviews, observations, and documents. The findings show that Niniok Mamak Nan 20 functions as a custodian of adat (custom) values, a steward of ulayat (customary rights or claims) land and customary forests, a mediator in deliberation and dispute resolution, and a regulator of resource use through customary rules and sanctions. The SDG relevance identified here is process-oriented - participation, mediation, social accountability, and locally legitimate stewardship - rather than evidence of measured development outcomes. Closer coordination between customary institutions and village government can support culturally legitimate, participatory, and locally owned pathways for sustainable development in Kampar.