The Livelihood Challenge of Forest Honey Bee Farmers amidst COVID-19 Pandemic in Mutis, Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected various sectors of the global communities, including those that depend on forests for honey products. Furthermore, the dynamics of production and availability are completely affected by government restrictions. This study focuses on the short-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the forestry sector. Specifically, it examines the pandemic effect on forest honey farmers in habitat management, harvesting, marketing, farmer institutions, and livelihoods. The study was conducted on forest honey bee farmers through field observations and structured and in-depth interviews. Data were collected using five variables and 30 indicators in Fatumnasi Subdistrict, South Central Timor Regency and analyzed using descriptive and quantitative analysis. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the socio-cultural and economic utilization of forest honey. Additionally, social restrictions have reduced habitat management performance, farmers institutions and livelihoods, harvesting, and marketing. This has increased pressure on the livelihoods of forest honey bee farmers than before the pandemic. Moreover, it has directly affected their lives and the ability to provide quality forest honey. Therefore, interventions are needed to strengthen marketing and institutional networks to face the changes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

PENGEMBANGAN KONSERVASI LINGKUNGAN PADA SISTEM KALIWU DI SUMBA TENGAH

Kaliwu is an indigenous agroforest model in Sumba island as a alternative solution facing the environmental degradation pressure which indicated with the degraded land rate of 6,000 ha/year. This research aimed to identify: (1) the characteristics of biophysical and social environment of Kaliwu as a communitybased natural resource management, (2) the role of Kaliwu management in supporting the conservational function of natural resources, (3) the role of Kaliwu on community revenue, (4) the potentials of Kaliwu management in supporting environmental conservation, and (5) the mutual-influencing correlation between the forming and formed component of Kaliwu management. Conducted in Sumba Tengah district, the research based on system approach to study the mutual-interactive correlation between bio-physical and social environment factors and its outputs. The research method included observatio

Incorporating Traditional Knowledge into Science-Based Sociotechnical Measures in Upper Watershed Management: Theoretical Framework, Existing Practices and the Way Forward

In Indonesia, 2145 watersheds currently need to be restored, where around 21 million people spread over ± 23,000 villages live below the poverty line with a high dependence on forests. This condition requires an integrated approach in watershed management, which is aimed at technically restoring environmental conditions and ensuring the welfare of the people in it. One of the strategic approaches that can be taken is to revive local wisdom and traditional knowledge (TK), which has been eroded and neglected, and integrate them with technical approaches based on modern science and knowledge. Based on the author’s research and literature studies, this paper discusses the theoretical framework and implementation practices in integrating traditional knowledge into a science-based sociotechnical system to manage upstream watersheds sustainably. Based on the empirical evidence, efforts to create good biophysical and socio-economic watershed conditions can only be achieved through the active participation of farmers in adopting and integrating scientific technology into their traditional knowledge. This integration is realized in designing and implementing watershed management technology by considering the principles of suitability, applicability, feasibility, and acceptability. In the long term, it is necessary to document TK, patent it, and transfer it to the next generation to ensure that indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ social, cultural, and economic interests are protected

Current Challenges and Prospects of Indonesian Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs): A Review

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) management can lead to various benefits for community livelihood and forest sustainability. However, such management has not been carried out optimally and sustainably in Indonesia, due to various limiting factors including ineffective policies, undeveloped cultivation technologies, and inadequate innovation in processing technologies. Further, the diversity of NTFPs species requires that policy-makers determine the priority species to be developed. Agarwood (Aquilaria spp. and Gyrinops spp.), benzoin (Styrax spp.), sandalwood (Santalum album L.), and cajuput (Melaleuca cajuputi Powell) are aromatic NTFPs species in Indonesia that forest-dwellers have utilized across generations. This paper reviews the current governance, cultivation systems, processing and valuation, and benefits and uses of these species. We also highlights the future challenges and prospects of these NTFPs species, which are expected to be useful in designing NTFPs governance, in order to maximize the associated benefits for the farmers and all related stakeholders

Mainstreaming Smart Agroforestry for Social Forestry Implementation to Support Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia: A Review

The increasing need for forest resources and cultivated land requires a solution in forest management to realize sustainable land use. Smart agroforestry (SAF) is a set of agriculture and silviculture knowledge and practices that is aimed at not only increasing profits and resilience for farmers but also improving environmental parameters, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity enhancement, and soil and water conservation, while assuring sustainable landscape management. SAF, a solution for land management systems to reduce the rate of deforestation, is a smart effort to overcome the food crisis and mitigate climate change that is prospectively applied mainly in the social forestry area. Optimized forest land utilization could be achieved by implementing SAF and applying silvicultural and crop cultivation techniques to optimize productivity and meet sustainability and adaptability goals. This paper reviews the existing conditions, opportunities, and challenges in the mainstreaming of SAF in social forestry implementation to support the Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia. Mainstreaming SAF should include policy innovation and regulation implementation, the use of appropriate technology, and compromises or trade-offs among benefits, risks, and resources. SAF is a strategy to revive the rural economy and community prosperity through the optimal use of local resources as well as a form of smart landscape and land-use management that has significant roles in soil and water conservation, bioenergy, climate change responses, and enhanced biodiversity conservation

Current Challenges and Prospects of Indonesian Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs): A Review

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) management can lead to various benefits for community livelihood and forest sustainability. However, such management has not been carried out optimally and sustainably in Indonesia, due to various limiting factors including ineffective policies, undeveloped cultivation technologies, and inadequate innovation in processing technologies. Further, the diversity of NTFPs species requires that policy-makers determine the priority species to be developed. Agarwood (Aquilaria spp. and Gyrinops spp.), benzoin (Styrax spp.), sandalwood (Santalum album L.), and cajuput (Melaleuca cajuputi Powell) are aromatic NTFPs species in Indonesia that forest-dwellers have utilized across generations. This paper reviews the current governance, cultivation systems, processing and valuation, and benefits and uses of these species. We also highlights the future challenges and prospects of these NTFPs species, which are expected to be useful in designing NTFPs governance, in order to maximize the associated benefits for the farmers and all related stakeholders

Analyzing residents’ preferences to ecotourism impacts using simple additive weighting: The case of Mount Rinjani National Park, Indonesia

Under the more current paradigm of protected area management, which takes a more integrated approach to conservation and development opportunities, residents are now seen as co-managers of protected areas. Through the Social Representation Theory, Rational Choice Theory, and Social Identity Theory, this study aims to identify the economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts of ecotourism perceived by the residents and their priorities/preferences in Mount Rinjani National Park (MNRP). This study employed the qualitative method (phase 1) and the quantitative method (phase 2). Phase 1 collected primary data through focus group discussion (FGD). The FGD was conducted with 7 participants who were chosen using judgment sampling. Data in the FGD were transcribed and analyzed with content analysis. Results of the analysis in phase 1 were utilized as the basis for analysis in phase 2. Phase 2 collected the data from a survey. Due to the homogeneity of the population, 30 respondents were chosen as the sample using purposive sampling. Data of the survey were analyzed with simple additive weighting. The results showed that the highest preference of the residents was economic impacts, followed by the social-cultural and environmental impacts. From the perspective of Social Representation Theory, it can explain how different people understand and respond to social issues in a community. From the perspective of Rational Choice Theory and Social Identity Theory, although economic impacts rank first, social interest comes first instead of individual interest. Finally, the results of this study can be used as a guide for both the national government (MNRP) and local government (the Culture and Tourism Board) regard to how residents behave towards ecotourism development.</p

A Chronicle of Indonesia’s Forest Management: A Long Step towards Environmental Sustainability and Community Welfare

Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world, with 17,000 islands of varying sizes and elevations, from lowlands to very high mountains, stretching more than 5000 km eastward from Sabang in Aceh to Merauke in Papua. Although occupying only 1.3% of the world’s land area, Indonesia possesses the third-largest rainforest and the second-highest level of biodiversity, with very high species diversity and endemism. However, during the last two decades, Indonesia has been known as a country with a high level of deforestation, a producer of smoke from burning forests and land, and a producer of carbon emissions. The aim of this paper is to review the environmental history and the long process of Indonesian forest management towards achieving environmental sustainability and community welfare. To do this, we analyze the milestones of Indonesian forest management history, present and future challenges, and provide strategic recommendations toward a viable Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) system. Our review showed that the history of forestry management in Indonesia has evolved through a long process, especially related to contestation over the control of natural resources and supporting policies and regulations. During the process, many efforts have been applied to reduce the deforestation rate, such as a moratorium on permitting primary natural forest and peat land, land rehabilitation and soil conservation, environmental protection, and other significant regulations. Therefore, these efforts should be maintained and improved continuously in the future due to their significant positive impacts on a variety of forest areas toward the achievement of viable SFM. Finally, we conclude that the Indonesian government has struggled to formulate sustainable forest management policies that balance economic, ecological, and social needs, among others, through developing and implementing social forestry instruments, developing and implementing human resource capacity, increasing community literacy, strengthening forest governance by eliminating ambiguity and overlapping regulations, simplification of bureaucracy, revitalization of traditional wisdom, and fair law enforcement