Geographical, cultural and social conditions greatly affect the leading economic sectors that are considered to have the potential to be developed.
By
SIWI NUGRAHENI
·5 minutes read
Since 2020, the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry has used the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a reference for village development. The village SDGs are used as general guidelines for the use of village funds.
SDGs and village SDGs cannot be separated from their roots, namely the concept of sustainable development. There are three pillars supporting sustainable development, namely economic progress, ecological sustainability and social justice. The village SDGs divide these into 18 goals and targets, but the big umbrella is still the three pillars of sustainable development that must be seen as a whole.
Each village has different challenges in achieving sustainable village development, including villages located around forests.
Geographical, cultural and social conditions greatly affect the leading economic sectors that are considered to have the potential to be developed. Each village has different challenges in achieving sustainable village development, including villages located around forests.
Village in forest areas
According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), there are 81,616 villages in Indonesia. The Environment and Forestry Ministry states that of that number, as many as 25,863 villages are located in and around forest areas. The livelihoods of the people in these villages are largely dependent on the forests.
From an economic perspective, forests are a source of wood, rattan, forest honey, as well as a source of land for plantations and other sectors. In terms of the environment, forests have various ecological functions, including as a water catchment area, as an oxygen producer, as a carbon sequestration are and as a source of biodiversity.
Unfortunately, the economic function of the forest often collides with the ecological function of the forest.
Logging and conversion of forest land into mining, agriculture and plantation areas are the main causes of deforestation in Indonesia, which has been seen as the beginning of the loss of the ecological function of forests.
In fact, these economic sectors not only provide income for the population and the state but also provide employment opportunities and sources of foreign exchange.
Oil palms are one example. With a plantation area of 15.98 million hectares (2021 data), Indonesia controls 58 percent of the world's crude palm oil (CPO) market.
In 2021, CPO contributed US$30 billion (about Rp 450 trillion) of foreign exchange for the country.
However, it must be admitted that some oil palm plantations have been developed by converting forest areas into monoculture plantations.
The palm oil sector is a source of livelihood for more than 7 million workers (not including family members). However, it must be admitted that some oil palm plantations have been developed by converting forest areas into monoculture plantations.
The mining sector that I discussed in this column (28 March 2022) is another example. As long as mining is carried out on forest land, deforestation is unavoidable. However, if it is agreed that it is important to maintain forest areas, it is necessary to issue several alternative policies that combine the objectives of achieving economic prosperity and a commitment to preserving the environment.
Economic-ecological integration
Various efforts have been taken to combine economic and ecological goals in order to achieve sustainable development in villages around forest areas.
Illegal logging that destroys forests can no longer be tolerated. The practice of agroforestry in production forest areas, which has long been done by state-owned forestry company Perhutani, needs to be disseminated, not only to reduce the negative impact of monoculture areas, but also to become a source of income for communities around forests. Monoculture areas may cause the loss (or reduction) of biodiversity.
The practice of agroforestry will complement efforts to achieve economic prosperity while conserving forests.
In the case of oil palm plantations, the Environment and Forestry Ministry still does not include oil palm as a forest plant. This means that the ecological function of the forest cannot be fully fulfilled by oil palm plantations. It is time to explore alternative vegetable oils derived from perennials that also function as conservation plants. The practice of agroforestry will complement efforts to achieve economic prosperity while conserving forests.
Several villages around forests have also managed to become tourist villages. By "selling" forests as tourist destinations, maintaining forest sustainability should be done voluntarily. The challenge is to attract tourists who can be a source of income for these villages and to ensure that these tourists allow residents better incomes than if the forests were managed in other, more destructive ways.
In the 1980s, there was actually a program entitled Integrated Conservation and Development Program as an effort to integrate conservation with improving the welfare of the people living around forests. The government, among other things, provided livestock to residents and hoped that they could divert their livelihoods from illegal logging activities to livestock. Many of these programs ended with the sale of government-given livestock and the population returning to being illegal loggers.
The latter are usually the owners of capital that provide loans to loggers, and for them, this is a shorter-term financial solution compared to raising livestock.
Apparently there is one important thing that has been forgotten. Efforts to unite forest conservation activities and local people's livelihoods do not exist in a vacuum, as if there are only two parties, namely residents and policymakers. The local people also interact with those who benefit from illegal logging. The latter are usually the owners of capital that provide loans to loggers, and for them, this is a shorter-term financial solution compared to raising livestock.
Applying the concept of sustainable development in village areas around forests faces a major challenge in the form of fulfilling the daily needs of the population from activities that support efforts to preserve forests. If the income obtained from these activities can exceed their income from managing the "forest" area in other ways, namely turning it into a monoculture garden, making it a source of wood or converting it into a mining area, sustainable development can be achieved.
FE UNPAR
Siwi Nugraheni
SIWI NUGRAHENI, lecturer at the School of Economics, Parahyangan Catholic University
(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).
