Ecosystem Approach: Ecological Functions of Forest in Human-Dominated Area

Abstract

Signing and ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity (UN-CBD) and its adoption into National Law have also affected the Indonesian Forestry sector. The Ministry of Forestry has gradually changed its policy from pure timber extraction to the globally required, so called ecosystem approach. This is to be seen as “a strategy for integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way” (www.cbd.int/ecosystem/). Accordingly, the current Law on Forestry No. 41/1999 enforces forest development and management through forest functions designation. Landscape ecology and context are the key issues which have to be considered in this respect. The forest administration in Indonesia shall not focus exclusively on isolated forest areas but involve the entire landscape with respect to all possible functions of forests. Likewise, the ecosystem approach requires a transformation from the traditional concept of segregated conservation in protected areas which disregards non-protected areas to integrated conservation measures in all type of land uses and from a sectoral approach to inter-sectoral collaboration. Consequently, forest management based on the ecosystem approach requires foresters’ competences with respect to all types of ecosystems. Thus, the array of responsibilities covers natural, rural, as well as urban areas. Integrated conservation and environmental protection relying on forest functions have to be coordinated with other sectors of development and need cooperation with any kind of land-ownership. These are the new challenges for the forestry sector and the foresters. This study does not only discuss how the ecosystem approach is interpreted and implemented by Indonesian Forest policy and administration. It also discusses how the UN-CBD’s ecosystem approach principles allow guiding forest development and cooperation in a broadened environmental context. The objectives of the study are as follows: 1) to study some cases from the forestry sector development’s policies and practices in Indonesia, focussing on ecological forest functions in the landscape context. 2) to evaluate the EsA principles as a concept that promotes conservation of biological diversity of forest ecosystems and the adjacent landscape; 3) to evaluate the meaning and consistency of the current forest function arrangement under respective Indonesian laws, as well as some examples of implementation in recent project development; 4) to identify the obstacles and opportunities for Indonesia’s current forest function management 5) to name the challenges and necessities and give recommendations for further forest management improvement The research approach includes both, desk and field case studies concerning the role and the inter-sector cooperation of the forest administration in the context of various development projects in the Solo River Basin / Java. The desk study has been conducted by reviewing respective literatures and reports and by exploring the legal basis of Indonesian forest function arrangement following the hierarchy of legislations and spatial responsibilities and looking at the relations and consistencies between them. The field work was carried out by visiting the case study areas, conducting key person interviews and collecting secondary data. Consequently, every study case area was visited several times which helped to get familiar with the specific situation and develop an own picture The analysis is structured into three main aspects, namely adaptive management issues; area and ecosystem structure, functions and integrity issues; and stakeholders and economic issues. The first part focuses on adaptive management issues, particularly related to organization and adaptive management. The results of the study show that the Indonesian forestry sector structurally has expanded its representation to the local level. However the guidelines provisions and mechanisms that have been provided so far, cannot assure biological diversity conservation and environmental protection. The current forestry provisions cannot cope with the rapid deforestation and urbanisation processes because they are restricted to designated forest areas. The second part is related to area and ecosystem structure, functions and integrity issues. All study cases show that indispensable principles for nature protection, like large representative areas, riparian areas, habitat connectivity, and integrated conservation objectives outside protected areas (in agricultural and urban areas) have failed in getting attention and support from the forestry sector at any level of management. The third part of the analysis focuses on stakeholders and economic issues. The results reveal that participation in the forestry sector is realized particularly in production and protective forests, namely under the social forestry and the community forestry scheme, including the cooperation between government sectors, business sectors and farmers. Focusing on economic instruments, the forestry sector recognizes only incentive mechanism; disincentive mechanisms and internalization of environmental costs and benefits which are enforced by the Environmental Protection and Management Law are not yet included. All in all the current forest management in Indonesia is still showing significant unconformity with a number of EsA principles, although policies and regulations have been improved significantly, providing fundamental preconditions for the realization of the ecosystem approach in forest management.