The evolving role of tropical forests for local livelihoods in Indonesia
-
Upload
center-for-international-forestry-research-cifor -
Category
Technology
-
view
1.126 -
download
1
description
Transcript of The evolving role of tropical forests for local livelihoods in Indonesia
The evolving role of tropical forests for local livelihoods in Indonesia
Imam Basuki; Sheil, D; Padmanaba, M; Liswanti, N; Mulcahy, G; Wan, M International Conference of Indonesia Forestry Researchers – Bogor, 6 December 2011
Introduction
Forests, development and livelihoods
• Forests’ goods and services are important for millions of people across the tropics. (Byron & Arnold 1999; World Bank 2008; Kainer et al. 2009)
• Overall impacts of development are often unclear and large numbers of people living in forested areas remain poor. (Scherr et al. 2003; Dudley et al. 2008; Sunderlin et al. 2008)
• Forests, climate change and competition – can forests be sustainable and alleviate poverty?
Malinau: changes and uncertainty
• The monetary crisis of 1997 and reformation
• Palm oil and other commodities prospecting by private investors. (Sheil et al. 2006; Sandker et al. 2007; Dudley et al. 2008)
• Decentralisation increases local authority over timber and plantation concessions. (Barr et al. 2006; Moeliono 2006; Wollenberg 2006; Colfer et al. 2008; Wunder et al. 2008; Moeliono et al. 2009)
Researchers can ask local views to
highlight and characterize the +/- trends, and their impacts.
• To identify and explore key changes in the role of forests and local livelihoods.
• Identifying important trends/events as perceived by the people themselves.
• To examine and discuss what these changing perceptions imply for conservation and development
Objectives
Research Sites & Methods
Research site
The district covers 39,800 km2 — with < 3 person/ km2 in its mountainous topography. (Basuki & Sheil 2005; BPS Kaltim 2009) Over 90% of Malinau district remains forested, of which 19,000 km2 is production forests.
Research site
From 2004 to 2009, Malinau District’s economic growth from 1.24% to 8.96%. Ethnic groups: Merap, Kenyah and Punan (Kaskija 2002) Villagers living upstream and downstream of the Malinau River rely differently on forests. (Sheil et al. 2006) Source: BPS Kab. Malinau 2010
Methods
• Measuring change in forests’ importance • 26 groups from 7 villages • Scoring exercises on forest and other
landscapes
• Identifying trends/events and their impacts • Spider-gram exercises
• Exploring changes in livelihoods and forests
• Questionnaires: trends/events, impacts and people’s adaptation
Methods
Results & Discussion
Importance of forests
• The significance of forest is declining for all communities
• Most of the villagers, as in 1999, still considered forest as the most important land type
0 5
10 15 20 25 30
1999 2008
Events affecting livelihoods and forests
• There are five main influencing trends/events to forest and livelihood
• Others: resettlement, endemic human diseases, the monetary crisis of 1998, new democratic process, shifts in the seasons, conflicts etc.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Development projects
Companies activities
Floods Decreasing rice yield
Decreasing eaglewood
Others
Woman
Man
Development projects
• While the development projects improved village facilities, villagers perceived that this was at the expense of forest resources
Logging and mining
• Villagers explained that the companies’ activities brought tradeoffs:
• Livelihoods (+ income, skills, education)
• Forests and environmental degradation (- eaglewood, timber, rattan, bushmeat, access, and + pollution)
Floods
• Two major floods in 1999 and 2006 increased local people’s use of the forest for food and construction materials.
• Villagers upstream considered human disease as a more important impact because the village had no health facilities.
Decreasing rice yield
• Plant pests and diseases significantly affect crops.
• Upstream villagers adapt to forest food and products
Decreasing eaglewood
• Yields of eaglewood have been decreasing leading to a significant decrease in their income.
• Villagers compensate with selling rattan, bush meat and agriculture.
Implications
• Despite the many positive trends in livelihood most informants feel
• While local people are not anti-development, they are increasingly concerned about environmental impacts and long-term consequences
• This study suggests that local people will give more support to development projects that respect and maintain their access to forest
Implications
• A greater formal role in forest management would provide opportunities for the villagers to use their forest resources for their own development (Sheil et al. 2006).
• The extent and quality of forests are declining and local people, though concerned, have not been able to prevent this
• Funds and skills to support customary protected forests.
• Forest-cover as a desirable part of the long-term land-use plan, also in respect of the needs and aspirations of local people.
Conclusions
• Local people perceive forests as becoming less significant with the forest loss, degradation and problems of access
• Local knowledge, culture and livelihoods can be beneficially integrated with forest management
• With existing local and global support for forest conservation, decision makers still have opportunities to optimise the tradeoffs of conservation and development
~Thank you~