The impacts of mangrove ecotourism management on the socio-economic conditions of people in kulonprogo regency

Abstract

Jangkaran Village is one of areas in the Special Region of Yogyakarta that has mangrove forests. Mangrove forests have unique characteristics and values of natural beauty so that they have the potential to be managed into mangrove ecotourism, particularly in Pasir Mendit and Pasir Kadilangu hamlets. Since mangrove ecotourism management also involves the surrounding communities the purpose of this present study was to assess the extent of community participation and mangrove ecotourism impacts on the socio-economic conditions of the surrounding communities. The study was conducted with survey methods using questionnaire instruments to collect the data. The research subjects were people who are involved or not involved in mangrove ecotourism management. The number of respondents sampled with quota sampling method was 40. The data were processed into frequency tables from scoring with Likert scale to determine the extent of community participation. The data were quantitative-descriptively analyzed with the Spearman Ranking Test to determine the relationship of internal factors with the level of community participation and the T-test to see the differences in the community conditions before and after the existence of the mangrove ecotourism and the differences between those people who are involved and not involved in the mangrove ecotourism management. The results showed that the levels of community participation in mangrove ecotourism management was moderate during the planning stage (3.05), very high during implementation and benefit taking (4.24 and 4.60, respectively), and high during evaluation (3.56); the impacts of mangrove forest ecotourism management to the community condition in the forms of additional income generating activities related to mangrove forests and social interaction in the form of voluntary works before and after the existence of mangrove ecotourism were similar, i.e. 47.5%; there was binding regulation that was moderate adhered (52.5% ) by the community, and; there were social conflicts (67.5%). The T- test statistics showed differences in the community incomes before and after the existence of mangrove tourism and between those who are involved and not involved in the mangrove ecotourism management.