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Journal : Forest and Society

Community and conservation in Wallacea: Making the case for the region, a methodological framework, and research trends Micah R. Fisher; Bart Verheijen; Muhammad Alif K. Sahide
Forest and Society Vol. 4 No. 1 (2020): APRIL
Publisher : Forestry Faculty, Universitas Hasanuddin

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | Full PDF (2658.934 KB) | DOI: 10.24259/fs.v4i1.9569

Abstract

This introduction provides a review of articles published in the special section on community conservation in the Wallacea region. As editors to the special section, we worked with contributors over a series of workshops to reflexively identify challenges to conducting research on community and conservation in this important and often overlooked region. The challenges are attributable to the dynamism and remoteness of the region, as well as its peripheral position relative to the center of government in Indonesia. We begin this article by making the case for a concerted field of study for the Wallacea region. Next, we draw on empirical research and continued engagement from across Wallacea to propose a framework that helps make better sense of the often perplexing trends involving communities and conservation in the region. We call the framework ASLi, which addresses the key institutions that negotiate conservation and development, including Adat and adaptive local institutions and the State. We situate these institutions within the dimensions of Livelihoods and their relations with natural resources. In testing out the framework with research groups and practitioners from across the region, we found that each of the aspects of the framework are fundamental for better understanding and facilitating policy discussions involving communities and conservation. In the second part of the article we shift our attention to assessing the empirical contributions from the special section. The empirical examples include eight articles from across the provinces of Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and North Maluku. The issues range from topics that include: illegal species trade; human environment relations around charismatic species (e.g. komodo-community relations); watersheds, lakes, and landscapes; ecotourism; policy analysis; conservation management and planning; and, community participation and collaborative governance. There is much that remains misunderstood and misinterpreted about the Wallacea region. This initial set of consolidated and rich empirical material, combined with an organizing framework for continuing to study these issues, charts new horizons for future research.
Commoning the State Forest: Crafting Commons through an Indonesian Social Forestry Program Haudec Herrawan; Nurhady Sirimorok; Munajat Nursaputra; Emban Ibnurusyd Mas'ud; Fatwa Faturachmat; Andi Sadapotto; Supratman Supratman; Yusran Yusran; Muhammad Alif K. Sahide
Forest and Society Vol. 6 No. 1 (2022): APRIL
Publisher : Forestry Faculty, Universitas Hasanuddin

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.24259/fs.v6i1.10680

Abstract

Studies of the commons grew out of responses to Hardin's bleak prediction of “tragedy of the commons,” that without state intervention or privatization, any commons will eventually be destroyed by allegedly self-interested users. As such, the commons studies traditionally tend to demonstrate cases where common pool resources (CPR) can be sustainably managed by groups of people beyond the state and market interventions. This paper shows a case from Sulawesi, Indonesia, where a state social forestry program can create a space for the program beneficiaries to build a commons. Through fieldwork that involves participant observation and in-depth interviews with program extension workers and beneficiaries in two social forestry farmer groups, this study found that the program can stimulate beneficiary groups to build collective action in managing the state forest plots admitted to them and that the two groups are the only successful ones among 14 neighboring groups that are involved in the same program. The study also shows that the management of the state-sponsored commons requires extension workers with deep knowledge about local people and landscape, economic incentives, and the flexibility of the local state agency in bending the rules based on bottom-up demands. Therefore, the case study shows that, on the one hand, the state program can actually stimulate the creation of the commons. On the other hand, commoning seems to be the only way to ensure a successful social forestry program.