Agro-ecological system and its significance to social security in small-island communities of the Central Maluku, Eastern Indonesia

Abstract

Local communities in central Maluku have constructed their agro-ecology, from settlement to forest, with particular plants and patterns. This terrestrial ecosystem has been gone along with a production of certain social institutions based on the understanding of their environment and resource use. This paper shows how the local agro-ecological system has been an effective strategy for ecological adaptation and environmental management of small island environment. The system of agro-ecology illustrates a significant temporal and spatial distribution of various forms of land use, reflecting the interconnectedness of natural resource management and local social security. Varied cultural rules and practices on system of agro-ecology demonstrate the role of different units that support local ecology as well as social security of kin-groups. The paper also shows how recent agricultural, socio-economic and cultural changes have shaped the adaptation and strategies, and how present trends of the ethno-ecological zones affect human-environment relations and community relations and livelihoods which in turn also affect local social security.