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 Introduction

The human side of conservation is an area which in the past has been seriously neglected and given little attention in the designation and implementation of conservation initiatives world wide. There are numerous examples of ‘fortress conservation’ – where the emphasis has been placed solely on the preservation of natural resources and as a result local communities living adjacent to reserve borders have been completely excluded from protected areas and denied access to vital resources upon which they depend for their subsistence.

However, over the last decade there has been an increase in awareness of human rights, development needs and the role of local land use in creating and maintaining environments which are compatible with conservation aims. It has also been recognised that conservation initiatives do not function without the support of local communities. The result of these developments has been a shift from fortress type conservation to an emphasis on ‘community-based conservation’ which basically places more of an emphasis on local participation in projects – not just as passive recipients of revenues generated and compensation but playing a more active role in the management, decision making and implementation.

Aims

The aims of this project were to examine the conservation aims and objectives of the management of the reserve and the existing rules and regulations governing access to the forest by local communities:

• the conservation aims and objectives of the reserve
• why, how, when it was designated… by what process
• what are the existing rules and restrictions of access to the reserve
• How were theses decided upon/ and how are they implemented?
• Were local communities consulted during this process?

The project also sought to assess the attitudes of local communities towards the reserve, including issues such as:

• the environment and the need for conservation in the area
• the purpose of the reserve and the management goals and rules regarding access to the forest resources
• what according to local people are the benefits and costs of the reserve to local people/ tourists/ the indonesian government/ scientists etc…
• what are local priorities for action – what would they like to see happen in the future

The project was also focused on identifying possible strategies for the development of an effective framework for co- management of the reserve. These included identifying structures and institutions existing within local communities which could facilitate the involvement of local communities in programmes which could facilitate the distribution of information and education of people about the reserve.

The project also tried to identify ways in which the local people could actively benefit economically from the presence of the reserve through involvement with tourism and development of handicrafts based upon rattan and other non-timber forest products

Methodology

To gain as much information as possible about the reserve, from management to local level, semi-structured interviews composing a number of themes were conducted. This allowed a basic comparable structure to work with but also gave flexibility when questioning. Interviews were conducted at three levels – government officials from the Departments of Tourism and Forestry in Kendari, the Forest Ranger in Labundobundo and local people in three villages in the vicinity of the Kakenauwe Reserve. The interview with the Forestry Department official followed the themes of:

• the planning and designation of Protected Areas (PA’s), including where and how much land,
• conservation and PA’s in general, including the upgrading of PA’s,
• threats to PA’s, for example illegal logging, and
• human activities in PA’s, for example rattan and honey collection.

At the interview with the Tourism Official question themes included:

• main attractions in S. E. Sulawesi,
• the types of tourism they encourage, and how important PA’s are for tourism, and
• the potential for ecotourism.

When interviewing La Kapo, the ranger, the chosen themes included:

• his roles and responsibilities to both the reserve and the local communities,
• the difficulties he has in enforcement, in terms of staff levels and budget,
• the training he undertook, including when and what.

At the local level ten interviews were completed along the following themes:

• awareness and perceptions of the reserve, i.e. rules, boundaries and it’s importance,
• use of the forest resources, e.g. rattan, timber and honey,
• experience of rangers,
• consultation, from the ranger or the government, and who is consulted,
• the political structure and decision-making processes of the village,
• present and future agricultural requirements, and
• their opinions of transmigration and tourism, and what they could actively do to benefit from tourism.

In each village we also interviewed the Kepala Desa, gaining information such as population and types of employment.

Initial Results:

As yet it has not been possible to analyse any of the results, but preliminary findings indicate that:

• no management plan in existence for Kakenauwe and Lambusango Reserves,

• no effective enforcement due to lack of funds and resources,
• efforts to encourage tourism focussed on Wakatobi National Park,

• generally high level of awareness within local communities of the need for conservation of the forest, in terms of flood prevention and water supply,
• extremely low and infrequent levels of public consultation about the forest reserve,
• low level of knowledge about the reserve, including rules and regulations, boundaries, aims and objectives,
• high level of dependence on forest resources for subsistence and income,
• main products exploited include Rattan, timber, honey,
• local support for tourism, with a keen interest and willingness to learn new skills to benefit from an increase in tourism in the area.

Final report

The results of this project will be collated into a report entitled An assessment of the attitudes of surrounding communities to the Kakenauwe forest reserve will be produced by Karen Proudlock, University College London, David Fricker, Staffordshire University, Lauren Smith, University of Portsmouth and Jenny Spelling, University of Portsmouth.  This will be completed by May 2002.