Dynamics of Wetland Conversion and Its Implications for Socio-Cultural Aspects of Communities in Banjar District, Indonesia

Abstract

The massive conversion of wetlands has implications not only for social aspects but also for cultural aspects of society. This research aims to analyze the dynamics of wetland conversion and its implications for the socio-cultural aspects of society in Banjar Regency. The research method is a qualitative method with data collection methods through observation, literature studies, and in-depth interviews. The research results show that the process of changing the function of wetlands in Banjar Regency is carried out through hierarchy 1 which occurs in the first stage of wetland conversion, with characteristics that are still passive and social changes that emerge to the surface or are manifest only in the individual realm (not collective), and is closely related to the direct impact of spatial changes. Hierarchy 2 occurs when hierarchy 1 experiences a value addition process, namely the infiltration of capitalistic values into the socio-cultural values that exist in society. This process occurred when the private sector (companies the warehousing industry and housing developers) emerged as actors driving the conversion of wetland functions who made concrete efforts to encourage change. In hierarchical dynamics 2, a transformation process occurs in socio-cultural society, which is characterized by a process of internalizing a "new perspective" regarding employment status, or economic accumulation, and tends to ignore and even erase the "old perspective" namely the community's traditional life as farmers in a wetland environment.