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 GunawanPadjadjaran University

International Conference on Sustainability Science in Asia 2011

2-4 March 2011

Introduction

Community-based natural resource management(CBNRM) :

Considered as an appropriate institutionalarrangement for promoting sustainable use of theresources

Rural development strategy in the Third Worldcountries

Its practical implementation frequently falls short ofexpectations

Involvement and agreement of communities areindispensable to develop succeed CBNRM.

Introduction

Based on studies in two villages located in the upper partof a degraded watershed in West Java, the Citarumwatershed, this presentation discusses:

the socio-ecological dimension of resourcedegradation and,

the potential for establishment of CBNRM

This is about micro level implication for macro level policyin 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.

Citarum River

Figure 1. Map of the study area

Java Sea

Cibeet

Majalaya

Cimahi

Padalarang

Pangalengan

Citarum River

SagulingReservoir

Cirata Reservoir

KARAWANG

PURWAKARTA

BANDUNG

CIANJUR

Bandung

Java Sea

WEST JAVABANTEN

= Citarum Water she d

N

CITARUM WATERSHED

0 10 25 Km

Jatiluhur

Reservoir

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.

Citarum River

Figure 1. Map of the study area

Java Sea

Cibeet

Majalaya

Cimahi

Padalarang

Pangalengan

Citarum River

SagulingReservoir

Cirata Reservoir

KARAWANG

PURWAKARTA

BANDUNG

CIANJUR

Bandung

Java Sea

WEST JAVABANTEN

= Citarum Water she d

N

CITARUM WATERSHED

0 10 25 Km

Jatiluhur

Reservoir

Study Villages:

1. Taruma Jaya Village

2. Pangauban Village1

2

Statistics for Taruma Jaya Village, 2000 and 2010

Total area 2743 Ha

State forest 1035 Ha

State and private tea plantations 1580 ha

Agricultural land 89 ha

Settlement 17 ha

Others 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 533.99 ha

Cropland/dryland* 164.83 ha

Rice field 175.00 ha

Village’s land 20.32 ha

Settlement 14.84 ha

Others 37.95 ha

Forest 141.05 ha

Population 9555 persons

Population density 1725 persons/km2

Relative population density

2314 persons/km2

*Including bamboo gardens. Bamboo gardens were not specifically denoted in the village’s monograph

Taruma Jaya Pangauban

Resource utilization and Dependency on the resource

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.

• 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/constraints 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

Summary of the resources utilization and management

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).

107o40’17.05” E, 7o07’40.42” S

107o41’23.14” E, 7o08’19.00” S

0 300 m

Bamboo garden, 2003

Number indicates number of owners

Cash-crop fields, rice-fields, others;

1919-2003

Patches of Bamboo garden in Sukamaju, Pangauban Village overlaid on panchromatic Quick Bird image of July 2003 (includesmaterial © 2005 Digital Globe, Inc.) and area of Bamboo garden in 1919 (Source: 1:50000 topographic map Dutch SurveyDivision, available from online data base on “Dutch Colonial Maps” in Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands.

Area of bamboo garden, 1919;

cash-crop fields and rice fields, 2003.

Settlement, 2003

3

16

17

158

2

1815 13

8

6

5

2

5

Bamboo dominated garden

Secondary crops and cash-crops

Mixed garden/multistoriedInterculture of perennial andaanual/biennial crops

Monoculturetree-garden

Settlement area/homegardens

Horticulture cultivation(cash-crops)

Ricefields

Mixed garden/shelterbelt

Dominant process Less-dominant process Rotation

Schematic of structural change of bamboo garden

Conversion from bamboo gardens (a) and (b) to rice fields (c), cropland (d), andsettlement/home garden (e) was common in Sukamaju. In a limited numberconversion to multi-storied interculture of perennial annual/biennial crops (f),shelterbelt (g), and monoculture tree garden (h) was also occurring.

Taruma Jaya (Forest) Pangauban (Agroforest)

Perceptions of environmental/ resource degradation

Erosion in the forestland was considered critical.

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

Summary of the resources utilization and management

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) andcollective action.

The forest was state property but de facto open access.

The forest resource users were unlikely to utilize theresource in unsustainable manner because they had notenure security.

Bamboo gardens were private property but the ownersintended to convert such garden to a more vulnerable landusetype, e.g. cropland.

The case of forest and agroforest management indicates thattenure security is important but it is not enough for effectiveand sustainable management of the resources.

Institutional issues

Collective action in both cases was not existent among theusers.

The forest cultivators might not be motivated to collectivelymanaged the resource due to lack of effective management.

The bamboo garden owners were not collectively managedtheir gardens because they had different interest or otherreasons such as the limited area of the owned gardens andineffectiveness of practicing rotation system from viewpointof economic benefits.

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

Characteristics of natural resource management practices

Provision of tenure rights and development of collective action

The case of forest management indicates that localcommunities can not be sidelined from natural resourcemanagement.

Involvement of local community is a condition for betterresource management.

In relation to this, communities should be provided withclear and well-defined property rights to utilize andmanage the resources.

Provision of tenure rights and development of collective action

The communities should also be encouraged to practicecollective action.

The high dependency of the communities on theresources would stimulate members of the communitiesto collectively and properly manage the resources.

Reorientation of conservation and management system

The two cases imply that it is not only natural ecosystem suchas forest that keeps maintaining the health of watershed butalso man-made ecosystem such as bamboo gardens.

This suggests that policy on environmental managementshould be reoriented to focus on rehabilitating the degradedresources and conserving the non-degraded resources of bothnatural as well as man-made ecosystems.

Maintaining and conserving the non-degraded resources suchas bamboo gardens are equally important with rehabilitatingthe degraded environment such as critical forestlands.

Thank you for your attentionbudhi_gunawan@unpad.ac.id