Socio-ecological Dimension of Human-Nature Relation and Potential for Developing a Community-based Natural Resource Management System: a Case in a Degraded Watershed of West Java, Indonesia Budhi Gunawan Padjadjaran University International Conference on Sustainability Science in Asia 2011 2-4 March 2011
Introduction Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) : Considered as an appropriate institutional arrangement for promoting sustainable use of the resources Rural development strategy in the Third World countries Its practical implementation frequently falls short of expectations Involvement and agreement of communities are indispensable to develop succeed CBNRM.
Introduction Based on studies in two villages located in the upper part of a degraded watershed in West Java, the Citarum watershed, this presentation discusses: the socio-ecological dimension of resource degradation and, the potential for establishment of CBNRM This is about micro level implication for macro level policy in environmental management.
Watershed context Based on facts that many natural resource management problems relate to movements of water and soil within a landscape such as watershed. In many cases, watershed projects often ended with poor achievement due to several factors. For successful project implementation, economic, social, political, and institutional considerations are paramount. The needs, constraints, and practices of local people should be taken into account.
Java Sea N CITARUM WATERSHED 0 10 25 Km Citarum River Java Sea Cibeet KARAWANG BANTEN WEST JAVA Ban du n g Jatiluhur Reservoir PURWAKARTA = Citarum Watershed CIANJUR Cirata Reservoir Saguling Reservoir Padalarang Cimahi BANDUNG Citarum River Majalaya Pangalengan Figure 1. Map of the study area
The Citarum watershed One of the 26 critical watersheds in Java. Severe erosion rate related to the rapid land use changes, including illegal expansion to the forestlands for cultivation (in many areas >250 ton/ha/year). By 1999: 15,475 ha forestland was illegally occupied by 41,435 cultivators. Flooding that affected as wide as 10,000 ha.
Java Sea N CITARUM WATERSHED 0 10 25 Km Citarum River Java Sea Cibeet KARAWANG BANTEN WEST JAVA Ban du n g Jatiluhur Reservoir PURWAKARTA = Citarum Watershed CIANJUR Cirata Reservoir Saguling Reservoir Padalarang Cimahi BANDUNG Citarum River Majalaya Pangalengan 2 1 Study Villages: 1. Taruma Jaya Village 2. Pangauban Village Figure 1. Map of the study area
Statistics for Taruma Jaya Village, 2000 and 2010 Total area State forest State and private tea plantations Agricultural land Settlement Others 2743 Ha 1035 Ha 1580 ha 89 ha 17 ha 22 ha Year 2000 2010 Population (persons) 11545 13986 Population density (persons/km2) 421 510 Relative population density (persons/km2) 10892 13194
Statistics for Pangauban Village, 2003 Total area Cropland/dryland* Rice field Village s land Settlement Others Forest Population Population density 533.99 ha 164.83 ha 175.00 ha 20.32 ha 14.84 ha 37.95 ha 141.05 ha 9555 persons 1725 persons/km2 Relative population density 2314 persons/km2 *Including bamboo gardens. Bamboo gardens were not specifically denoted in the village s monograph
Summary of the resources utilization and management Resource utilization and Dependency on the resource Taruma Jaya Illegal crops cultivation, fuel wood collection, fodder collection, other non timber forest products. Dependency of local people on the forestland for cultivation land, fuel wood, and fodder increased significantly after monetary crisis in 1998. Pangauban Bamboo garden has ecological and social functions. Bamboo for construction material and agricultural purposes, timber, fruits and crops, and fuel wood Majority of the bamboo garden owners relied on bamboo gardens and other land uses such as home gardens for fuel wood and additional income Problem/constra ints related to resource utilization No conservation measures applied by the farmers in illegal forestland cultivation. Fuel wood was collected without any effort to re-plant. Grass was also collected for free. Illegal crop cultivation was blamed for causing severe erosion. It also caused disturbance to fuel wood and fodder collection. Bamboo gardens was individually managed. The space beneath the bamboo canopy could not be optimized. Rotation system could not be practiced due to bio-physical condition and the limited area of the individual gardens. Only a few practiced rotation system. A significant number of bamboo garden owners considered to convert bamboo gardens to croplands
Severe erosion in the upper Citarum watershed
The figure shows a tree that has lost bottom part of its trunk taken for fuel wood. Photographs were taken in Taruma Jaya in 2000 (left) and 2004 (right).
107 o 40 17.05 E, 7 o 07 40.42 S 18 15 13 17 8 3 16 2 2 5 5 6 8 15 107 o 41 23.14 E, 7 o 08 19.00 S Bamboo garden, 2003 Number indicates number of owners Cash-crop fields, rice-fields, others; 1919-2003 Settlement, 2003 Area of bamboo garden, 1919; cash-crop fields and rice fields, 2003. 0 300 m Patches of Bamboo garden in Sukamaju, Pangauban Village overlaid on panchromatic Quick Bird image of July 2003 (includes material 2005 Digital Globe, Inc.) and area of Bamboo garden in 1919 (Source: 1:50000 topographic map Dutch Survey Division, available from online data base on Dutch Colonial Maps in Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands.
Schematic of structural change of bamboo garden Horticulture cultivation (cash-crops) Ricefields Bamboo dominated garden Settlement area/ homegardens Mixed garden/ shelterbelt Secondary crops and cash-crops Monoculture tree-garden Mixed garden/multistoried Interculture of perennial and aanual/biennial crops Dominant process Less-dominant process Rotation
Conversion from bamboo gardens (a) and (b) to rice fields (c), cropland (d), and settlement/home garden (e) was common in Sukamaju. In a limited number conversion to multi-storied interculture of perennial annual/biennial crops (f), shelterbelt (g), and monoculture tree garden (h) was also occurring.
Summary of the resources utilization and management Perceptions of environmental/ resource degradation Taruma Jaya (Forest) Erosion in the forestland was considered critical. Pangauban (Agroforest) Conversion of the gardens to croplands was considered to have contributed to the problem soil erosion. But, conversion of the forestland to cropland was considered to be the major cause of environmental degradation in the upstream area Response to environmental/ resource degradation Reforestation should be applied through a program that allow the landless to get benefit from the forest resource. The PHBM program (a kind of joint forest management) was considered as a co-management system which may benefit them with long-term income. It has been implemented since 2004. A significant number of owner intended to preserve and or modify bamboo gardens. Mixed garden was considered as an economically and ecologically good type of land use. However, modification to mixed garden was considered costly and required good seed of trees and crops
Cultivation in the forestland under supervision of the State Forest Corporation supervision (1997-8) 2000 2004 2011
The PHBM program (2004 ~ present): coffee and grass were planted in between row of trees (photograps were taken in 2011).
Institutional issues Two institutional issues: property rights (tenure security) and collective action. The forest was state property but de facto open access. The forest resource users were unlikely to utilize the resource in unsustainable manner because they had no tenure security. Bamboo gardens were private property but the owners intended to convert such garden to a more vulnerable landuse type, e.g. cropland. The case of forest and agroforest management indicates that tenure security is important but it is not enough for effective and sustainable management of the resources.
Institutional issues Collective action in both cases was not existent among the users. The forest cultivators might not be motivated to collectively managed the resource due to lack of effective management. The bamboo garden owners were not collectively managed their gardens because they had different interest or other reasons such as the limited area of the owned gardens and ineffectiveness of practicing rotation system from viewpoint of economic benefits.
Characteristics of natural resource management practices Case study Property Regime Tenure Security Collective action Forest (Taruma Jaya) State property Low/weak Non-existent Agroforest/bamboo garden (Pangauban) Private property High/strong Non-existent
Provision of tenure rights and development of collective action The case of forest management indicates that local communities can not be sidelined from natural resource management. Involvement of local community is a condition for better resource management. In relation to this, communities should be provided with clear and well-defined property rights to utilize and manage the resources.
Provision of tenure rights and development of collective action The communities should also be encouraged to practice collective action. The high dependency of the communities on the resources would stimulate members of the communities to collectively and properly manage the resources.
Reorientation of conservation and management system The two cases imply that it is not only natural ecosystem such as forest that keeps maintaining the health of watershed but also man-made ecosystem such as bamboo gardens. This suggests that policy on environmental management should be reoriented to focus on rehabilitating the degraded resources and conserving the non-degraded resources of both natural as well as man-made ecosystems. Maintaining and conserving the non-degraded resources such as bamboo gardens are equally important with rehabilitating the degraded environment such as critical forestlands.
Thank you for your attention budhi_gunawan@unpad.ac.id