Leti Sundawati

Assessing economic preferences for biological diversity and ecosystem services at the Central Sulawesi rainforest margin — a choice experiment approach

Recognition of the importance of economically sound conservation strategies is one of the foundations of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Because of their exceptional contribution to global biological diversity, the conservation of the Central Sulawesi (Indonesia) rainforests is a particularly important case for a successful application of such strategies. One of the obstacles to the design and implementation of economically sound conservation strategies is the lack of knowledge on the economic value of non-market benefits generated by tropical forest ecosystems and the agricultural land use systems that replace them.

Experimental Biodiversity Enrichment in Oil-Palm-Dominated Landscapes in Indonesia

Tropical biodiversity is threatened by the expansion of oil-palm plantations. Reduced-impact farming systems such as agroforests, have been proposed to increase biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In regions where oil-palm plantations already dominate the landscape, this increase can only be achieved through systematic ecological restoration. However, our knowledge about the underlying ecological and socio-economic processes, constraints, and trade-offs of ecological restoration in oil-palm landscapes is very limited. To bridge this gap, we established a long-term biodiversity enrichment experiment. We established experimental tree islands in a conventional oil-palm plantation and systematically varied plot size, tree diversity, and tree species composition. Here, we describe the rationale and the design of the experiment, the ecosystem variables (soil, topography, canopy openness) and biotic characteristics (associated vegetation, invertebrates, birds) of the experimental site prior to the establishment of the experiment, and initial experimental effects on the fauna. Already one year after establishment of the experiment, tree plantings had an overall positive effect on the bird and invertebrate communities at the plantation scale. The diversity and abundance of invertebrates was positively affected by the size of the tree islands. Based on these results, we expect a further increase of biodiversity and associated ecological functions in the future. The long-term interdisciplinary monitoring of ecosystem variables, flora, fauna, and socio-economic aspects will allow us to evaluate the suitability of tree islands as a restoration measure. Thereof, guidelines for ecologically improved and socio-economically viable restoration and management concepts could be developed.

Strengthening social capital for propelling collective action in mangrove management

The concept of social capital has gained lots of attention as an important instrument to induce collective action on Common Pool Resources management. However, evidence demonstrated amply that social capital alone was not always enough to encourage collective action. There were other factors needed as a leverage to activate social capital but research regarding this issue is still limited. This research was intended to elucidate how to strengthen the role of social capital and the preconditions required to encourage community members to conduct collective action. The research was carried out using survey methods at the eastern coastal area of East Sinjai sub district, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The research results show that strong social capital, indicated by high value score of trust, norm and networking would not always engender collective action in natural resource management. In order to achieve collective action, social capital had to be activated to function optimally. This was done through the intervention of symbolic power which is inherent in role models to initiate and mobilize action in mangrove management. The process to convince people to perform collective action was a crucial one which had to be resolved and is known as common knowledge. External support from local governments could facilitate the emergence of symbolic power through provision of enabling conditions for leadership promotion.

Subjective Theories of Indonesian Agronomy and Biology Teacher Students on Environmental Commons Dilemmas.

Fostering the cognitive skills to analyse environmental “commons dilemmas” is an urgent task of environmental education globally. Commons dilemmas are characterised by structural incentives to overexploit a natural resource; their solution is particularly pressing in threatened biodiversity “hotspot” areas. Solutions to these dilemmas require local actors who command knowledge on the social, ecological, economic and institutional aspects of resource utilisation. This study investigates subjective theories that future Indonesian teachers and agricultural advisors bring to a representative local commons dilemma, the extraction of the non-timber forest product rattan. Based on 19 structured qualitative interviews, we identified prior knowledge concerning rattan extraction. University students expressed subjective theories on the ecological consequences of rattan extraction such as landslides or flooding. In addition to education, students mentioned more effective state administrations to conserve rattan stocks. The need to institutionally balance short-term individual exploitation profits with long-term interests in the preservation of a productive resource at community level, was hardly recognised. While Indonesia strives to include environmental education in its school curricula, the results highlight that future educators themselves are not well equipped to address pressing issues of resource and biodiversity loss.

KELEMBAGAAN DAN PERUBAHAN HAK AKSES MASYARAKAT DALAM PENGELOLAAN HUTAN MANGROVE DI SINJAI TIMUR, SULAWESI SELATAN -- Institution and Change on Community Access Right in Mangrove Forest Management in East Sinjai, South Sulawesi

ABSTRACT Mangrove forests in Tongke-tongke is an example of success story of natural resources self governing. The research aims to describe the dynamic of local institution development and its effectiveness in mangrove management growing on accretion land in Tongke-tongke village, East Sinjai, South Sulawesi. This is a qualitative research by using case study method. The results showed that even without government support, collective action in mangrove management can be realized through various rules and agreements formulated collectively by local institution. Achievement of its management was evaluated by using design principles of Ostrom. Norms and rules agreed by the community has functioned as guideline in mangrove management following enforcement of sanctions for noncompliance. Accretion land under Act No. 16 of 2004 is state property but due to late support and government attendance has caused state property status becomes illegitimate. Ambiguity in tenurial status causing property typology of mangrove forests in East Sinjai can not be classified strictly. This then instigate multilayer property status for different types of products and services produced impying changes in access right to mangrove forest. The success of communities to manage mangrove sustainably in Eastern Sinjai should be supported with the provision of legal access to the public. Keywords: acccess right, accreting land, institution, mangrove, property status, ABSTRAK Hutan mangrove di Tongke-tongke merupakan success story kemandirian masyarakat dalam melakukan pengelolaan sumberdaya alam secara lestari. Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk mendeskripsikan dinamika perkembangan serta efektivitas kelembagaan lokal dalam pengelolaan mangrove yang tumbuh pada tanah timbul di Desa Tongke-tongke, Sinjai Timur, Sulawesi Selatan. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan metode studi kasus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa walaupun tanpa dukungan pemerintah, aksi kolektif untuk menanam mangrove dapat diwujudkan melalui berbagai aturan dan kesepakatan yang dirumuskan secara kolektif melalui kelembagaan lokal yang dievaluasi menggunakan desain prinsip Ostrom. Norma dan aturan yang disepakati telah berperan menjadi patokan tindak masyarakat dalam menjaga tegakan mangrove berikut upaya penegakan sangsi bagi yang melanggar. Meskipun tanah timbul secara de jure menurut Undang-undang No 16 Tahun 2004 berstatus lahan negara (state property), namun negara yang terlambat hadir menyebabkan status state property menjadi tidak legitimate. Ambiguitas dalam status property menyebabkan tipologi property hutan mangrove di Sinjai Timur tidak dapat diklasifikasikan secara tegas sehingga menghasilkan status property yang berlapis (multilayer property) untuk berbagai jenis produk dan jasa yang dihasilkan yang kemudian berimplikasi pada perubahan hak akses masyarakat terhadap hutan mangrove. Keberhasilan masyarakat dalam mengelola mangrove secara lestari di Sinjai Timur perlu didukung dengan pemberian akses secara legal kepada masyarakat.. Kata kunci: hak akses, kelembagaan, mangrove, status property, tanah timbul

KONDISI SOSIAL EKONOMI MASYARAKAT DI SEKITAR TAMAN NASIONAL GUNUNG HALIMUN SALAK

Pengelolaan Taman Nasional Gunung Halimun Salak (TNGHS) menghadapi masalah degradasi sumberdaya alam dan lingkungan, rendahnya ekonomi masyarakat dan meningkatnya jumlah penduduk di dalam ka- wasan. Dukungan dan partisipasi masyarakat dalam menjaga kelestarian taman nasional sulit terwujud tanpa diimbangi upaya nyata yang dapat mengakomodir kepentingan ekonomi dan ekologi secara seimbang. Pene- litian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan informasi tentang karakteristik sosial ekonomi masyarakat sekitar TNGHS sebagai bahan masukan dalam pengeloaan taman nasional. Penelitian dilakukan pada bulan Oktober 2012 sampai dengan Mei 2013 dengan mewawancarai sebanyak 297 responden dari delapan desa yang dipi- lih secara sengaja ( purposive sampling ). Data penelitian dianalisis secara kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa masyarakat yang bertempat tinggal di dalam dan di sekitar TNGHS secara sosial relatif homogen. Seluruh responden beragama Islam dengan etnis Sunda, 88% tergolong usia pro- duktif, tingkat pendidikan formal tergolong rendah (86,9%), namun memiliki tingkat kesehatan yang baik (85,18%). Sebagian besar responden (87,9%) adalah penduduk asli. Rata-rata tingkat pendapatan responden sebesar Rp 1.155.000,-/bulan dan di bawah Upah Minimum Regional (UMR) baik menurut ketentuan Pro- vinsi Jawa Barat maupun Provinsi Banten. Rata-rata kontribusi pendapatan dari lahan TNGHS terhadap total pendapatan rumah tangga responden sebesar 38,65% termasuk kategori sedang

University Students’ Perceptions of Common-Resource Dilemmas – the Need for Adjusted Curriculum in Indonesia

Many of Indonesia’s forest resources are degraded by over-utilisation due to de facto resources that are common property in the open-access areas. Consequences include social, economic, ecological, cultural as well as worldwide repercussions on resource degradation. The purpose of this study is to examine the pre-concepts of Indonesian biology student teachers and agronomy students on local resource conservation issues – overexploited common-resource dilemmas in Central Sulawesi, especially of the non-timber forest product, rattan.