Land degradation due to tourism gentrification in Tawangmangu, Karanganyar, Indonesia

Abstract

It is important to study the case of tourism gentrification which has an impact on human resources, ecosystem services and the role of actors who play planning and socio-economic development of the region. The mountainous landscape at the foot of Mount Lawu offers aesthetic views that other regions don’t offer. This has resulted in increased demands and pressures on the emergence of new cities, where the area that should be conservation land and recharge area becomes built up land. From these pressures and demands, an in-depth analysis of the right tools or policies in sustainable landscape management is needed. This study focuses on the problem of anthropogenic pressure caused by land use change taking into account socio-economic and political factors. The methodology used consists of making maps, calculating and analyzing indicators, linking geospatial and socio-economic data to explore landscape changes and identify the drivers of rapid development. The findings show that the urbanization of tourism at the foot of Mount Lawu is increasing, while the drivers and impacts are different. The development carried out by local communities who do not have permits is very rapid, while unsustainable regional planning and development policies will threaten the aesthetics of the existing natural landscape. In addition, the rapid development in the recharge area has resulted in an increase in surface runoff, which will threaten the iconic tourism, namely gerojogan sewu. To stop land degradation, it is necessary to have a policy that is synergized between socio-economic needs and the sustainability of ecosystem services