Community’s reliance on protected forest resources for livelihood: a case of villages in surrounding Sermo Wildlife Sanctuary

Abstract

Sermo Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) is a well-known protected area in Kulon Progo district, Indonesia that has unique plants, animals, and ecosystems. Different from common protected areas which usually have native plants, this area is mostly occupied by commercial trees such as teak (Tectona grandis) and Mahagony (Swietenia mahagony) since historically this area was a production forest. Although it was mostly covered by homogeneous forest, the area has rich biodiversity since it has become the habitat of various native animals such as brontok eagle (Spizaetus cirrhatus) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac). Therefore, in 2014 this area is officially appointed as a wildlife sanctuary with a total area of about 188.99 Ha. However, the change of forest status from production forest into the protected area has not been easily adopted by the local communities since they keep utilize forest resources inside the forest area. This research aims to assess the community’s reliance on the SWS resources for livelihood. We interviewed 174 respondents that were selected by the proportional purposive sampling technique to each hamlet in the two villages located near SWS namely Karangsari and Hargowilis villages. The result showed that only 11% of the total respondents have relied on forest resources in SWS with total of 16 respondents (9.2%) were at a low level of reliance and 4 respondents (2.3%) at a medium level of reliance. The main factors that influence the community’s reliance on forest resources in SWS consist of education level, activity frequency, and ages.