Sylvia Ebersberger:
Forest Utilization and Conversion in Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia: Challenges to Community-Based Conservation Strategies

SYLVIA EBERSBERGER
University of Kassel, Institute for Socio-cultural and Socio-economic Studies (ISOS), Germany

The designation of protected areas is a central policy means to conserve the high biodiversity of tropical rainforests in South-East Asia. Recent studies hold that this is a viable strategy only if local forest dependent communities are actively involved in the designation and management of these areas.

This study explores the interplay of the implementation of national law and local regulations for forest utilization in four villages in the vicinity of Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

It is shown that the local population depends on a relatively small number of forest products (mainly timber, rattan and firewood). This is mirrored in an equally small number of local rules for forest utilization. While the access to forest produce is important, a by far greater value is assigned to having sufficient areas of forest left that can be transformed into arable land. This perception of forest as a land reserve is especially prominent in communities that have faced a rapid population increase due to migration. As the demand for agricultural land and its price increase, some autochthon families are prompted to open more forest and thereby establish ownership rights. In these villages (two out of four research sites) arable land and forest outside the protected area has become already scarce in the perception of the local community.

It is concluded that in these villages community based management might not be a promising option. Clearly conflicting priorities of forest conservation (by the state) and conversion (by local communities) call for the provision of bigger financial resources, if the objective of long term conservation of biodiversity is upheld. The latter might be achieved only if the people bearing the costs of nature protection are compensated and are provided with better extension services and income opportunities outside agriculture.

Keywords: Community-based management, deforestation, Indonesia tropical rainforest, national parks

Footnotes

...P

Contact Address: Sylvia Ebersberger, University of Kassel, Institute for Socio-cultural and Socio-economic Studies (ISOS), Steinstraße 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany, e-mail: ebersberwiz.uni-kassel.de