Can Community Forests Be Compatible With Biodiversity Conservation in Indonesia?

Author

Land 2017, 6(1), 21; doi:10.3390/land6010021

Author 

Agni Klintuni Boedhihartono ^1,2

¹

Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, Cairns Campus, Qld 4870, Australia

²

Tanah Air Beta, Batu Karu, Tabanan, Bali 82152, Indonesia

Academic Editors: Jeffrey Sayer and Chris Margules

Received: 19 January 2017 / Revised: 21 February 2017 / Accepted: 5 March 2017 / Published: 14 March 2017

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity in Locally Managed Lands)

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Abstract 

Forest lands in Indonesia are classified as state lands and subject to management under agreements allocated by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. There has been a long-standing tension between the ministry and local communities who argue that they have traditionally managed large areas of forest and should be allowed to continue to do so. A series of recent legal and administrative decisions are now paving the way for the allocation of forests to local communities. There is a hypothesis that the communities will protect the forests against industrial conversion and that they will also conserve biodiversity. This hypothesis needs to be closely examined. Conservation of biodiversity and management for local benefits are two different and potentially conflicting objectives. This paper reviews examples of forests managed by local communities in Indonesia and concludes that there is very limited information available on the conservation of natural biodiversity in these forests. I conclude that more information is needed on the status of biodiversity in community managed forests. When forests are allocated for local management, special measures need to be in place to ensure that biodiversity values are monitored and maintained. View Full-Text

Keywords: community forest management;  biodiversity conservation;  indigenous forest management;  community conservation; Indonesian forests

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