Traditional Agroforestry and Ecological, Social, and Economic Sustainability on Small Tropical ...

322 Pages·2001·16.81 MB·English

Traditional Agroforestry and
Ecological, Social, and Economic Sustainability on
Small Tropical Islands
A Dynamic Land-use System and its Potentials for Community-based
Development in Tioor and Rhun, Central Maluku, Indonesia
vorgelegt von
Diplom-Geograph
Stefan Stubenvoll
aus München
Vom Fachbereich 7 – Umwelt und Gesellschaft
der Technischen Universität Berlin
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
Doktor der Philosophie
- Dr. phil. -
genehmigte Dissertation
Promotionsausschuß:
Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. H. Kenneweg
Berichter: Prof. Dr. J. Küchler
Berichter: PD Dr. A. Faensen-Thiebes
Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache: 20. Dezember 2000
Berlin 2001
D 83
Acknowledgements
The research for this thesis was sponsored by Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI), Jakarta,
and Pusat Penelitian Pengembangan Kehutanan, Bogor. The federal state of Berlin, the Deutscher
Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), Bonn and the International Centre for Research in
Agroforestry (ICRAF), Bogor have provided financial, logistical and administrative support.
The field work, the subsequent analysis of data and the writing of this thesis would not have been
possible without the considerable support of a number of individuals, and it is a pleasure to
acknowledge their assistance:
- The people of Rhun Island (Pulau Rhun) and Tioor Island (Pulau Tioor) whom I would like to
thank for their hospitality and patience during my stay for eight and nine months, respectively.
Most of the field work was carried out in both island communities, so that a great part of the
results is based on knowledge and information of the Rhun and Tioor people. Especially, thanks to
Bapak Adam, Bapak Dos and Bapak Otner and their families who allowed me to stay in their
households;
- Bapak Labudi, Bapak Dos, Bapak Edo, Bapak Wim and Bapak Christianus selflessly helped me in
data collection relating to Map 3 on Tioor Island;
- Roberth Liang provided data of his soil analysis on Tioor Island for this thesis;
- Conradinus Ufie supported me and Roberth Liang in organising the soil survey on Tioor Island;
- The staff of the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Bogor, especially
Dennis Garrity, Josephine Prasetyo, Geneviève Michon, Hubert de Foresta, Thomas Tomich and
Meine van Nordwijk, all provided important logistical and administrative support, as well as
scientific supervision and inspiration;
- Christa Cocciole and Cliff Jones reviewed an earlier draft of this thesis;
- Marie Antoinette Willemsen and Robert Vacher helped with translations of Dutch documents;
- Wolfgang Straub helped me to digitalise this thesis and to solve all related software problems;
- My advisor Johannes Küchler, along with Roem Topatimasang, Nus Ukru, the staff of Baileo
Maluku and Birdlife International in Ambon, Fred Scholz, Bernd Bierbaum, Christoph Beier,
Andreas Kapphan, Silvia Werner, Frank Momberg, Sven von der Ohe, Inga Keller, Thomas
Meier, Sascha Öhler, Craig Thorburn, Peter Lape, Vincent Loth, Phil Winn, all provided helpful
information and support along the way;
- My family has provided encouragement and strategic infusions of cash from the beginning.
I am grateful to all.
1
Zusammenfassung
Obwohl sie viele Gemeinsamkeiten mit kontinentalen, peripheren Landschaften der Tropen aufweisen,
sind kleine tropische Inseln mit zusätzlichen, spezifischen Umwelt- und Entwicklungsproblemen
belastet. Für die menschliche Nutzung stehen auf diesen kleinsten Landeinheiten nur sehr begrenzte
Ressourcen – wie z.B. Süßwasser, Vegetation und Land – zur Verfügung. Darüber hinaus werden die
fragilen, auf engem Raum vernetzten terrrestrischen und marinen Ökosysteme durch unangepaßtes
Ressourcenmanagement nachhaltig und z.T. irreversibel gestört. So hat vielerorts die Praxis der
Rodung von Wäldern zur Urbarmachung von Ackerland zu Bodenerosion und zu Sedimentation
geführt – mit nachteiligen Folgen für die Landwirtschaft sowie für die subsistenzorientierte Fischerei
im Küstenbereich, welche zur Deckung des Proteinbedarfs der lokalen Bevölkerung von Bedeutung
ist. Aufgrund der Bindung von Kohlendioxid durch die Karbonatbildung der sie umgebenden
Korallenriffe spielen kleine tropische Inseln zudem eine wichtige Rolle im globalen Klimahaushalt.
Die Arbeit hat zum Ziel, traditionelle Land- und Ressourcennutzung auf kleinen tropischen Inseln
anhand zweier Inseln im östlichen Indonesien zu analysieren, deren Stärken zu identifizieren sowie
diese, zusammen mit Verbesserungspotentialen hinsichtlich ihrer Schwächen, in auszuarbeitende und
von der Dorfgemeinschaft getragene (d.h. kommunale) Land- und Ressourcennutzungspläne
einzubringen. Damit soll ein Beitrag zu der Frage geleistet werden, ob und unter welchen
Bedingungen nachhaltige, ländliche Entwicklung auf kleinen tropischen Inseln erreicht werden kann.
Über ein induktives Verfahren – mit Methoden der qualitativen Sozialforschung, des RRA und PRA,
und der Kartierung, sowie mit der Erhebung von boden- und vegetationskundlichen Daten und der
Auswertung von Sekundärquellen – wird gezeigt, daß die in beiden Inseln praktizierte traditionelle
Agroforstwirtschaft sowohl den Bedürfnissen und Möglichkeiten der Bevölkerung weitgehend
entgegenkommt, als auch ökologisch nachhaltig ist (Bodenschutz, Küstenschutz, Stabilisierung des
Wasserhaushalts). Allerdings stößt die Erweiterung der Agroforstwirtschaft auf Hindernisse, u.a. weil
andere Landnutzungssysteme (z.B. Brandrodungs-Wanderfeldbau, permanenter Trockenfeldbau) mit
ihr konkurrieren. Deshalb wird analog der FAO ‚Guidelines For Land-use Planning‘ (1993) ein
Planungsverfahren vorgestellt, mit dem Agroforstwirtschaft auf kommunaler Basis ausgeweitet
werden kann. Des weiteren werden die Nutzung der Küstengewässer (mit ‚sea-use planning‘,
verstanden als Erweiterung des FAO-Ansatzes) und institutionelle Gesichtspunkte (z.B. Landrecht,
Regelungen, traditionelle Institutionen) bei der Entwicklung von kommunalen Landnutzungsplänen
berücksichtigt.
Die Studie kommt zur Schlußfolgerung, daß nachhaltige Entwicklung auf kleinen tropischen Inseln
nur über kommunale Landnutzungsplanung, mit der gleichzeitigen Sicherung der exklusiven
Nutzungsrechte von Ressourcen in traditionellem Dorfterritorium einschließlich der Küstengewässer,
erreichbar ist. Mit partizipativer Planung können lokal spezifische Problemlösungsmöglichkeiten
identifiziert werden, weil einerseits indigenes Wissen eingebracht wird, und andererseits die lokale
Bevölkerung Zugang zu externem Wissen erhält. Außerdem wird mit Partizipation die Akzeptanz der
Bevölkerung für eine veränderte, nachhaltige Land- und Ressourcennutzung erhöht.
2
Abstract
Although small tropical islands share many characteristics with continental, peripheral landscapes of
the tropics, they are confronted with additional, specific environmental and development constraints.
On these smallest land units only very limited resources – such as fresh water, vegetation and land –
are present to draw on for human utilisation. Furthermore, their fragile, interdependent terrestrial and
marine ecosystems, that are co-existing in a limited area, will be severely, and partly irreversibly
disturbed by unsuitable resource management. In many places, the usual practice of clearing forests to
reclaim arable land has caused soil erosion and sedimentation – with adverse impacts on both
agriculture and subsistence-oriented fisheries in coastal waters, which is important for islanders as
these resources are the major source of proteins. Moreover, small tropical islands have a significant
function for global climate as carbon dioxide is being fixed in the calcium carbonate of the islands’
coral reefs.
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse traditional land and resource utilisation on small tropical
islands with the help of two island case studies in East Indonesia. Furthermore, merits of traditional
resource management as well as potentials to deal with its shortcomings are identified and discussed
concerning its inclusion in community-based land and resource management plans. Thus, it is intended
to contribute to a clarification of the question, if and under which conditions sustainable rural
development on small tropical islands can be achieved.
For this purpose an inductive approach is chosen, which includes methods of qualitative social
research, RRA and PRA, as well as the collection of soil and vegetation data and the evaluation of
secondary sources. It is shown that traditional agroforestry is practised on both islands. These land-use
systems are adapted to the needs and capacities of the local population, while being ecologically
sustainable (soil conservation, coastal protection, protection of freshwater resources). However, the
extension of agroforestry runs into difficulties, also because other land-use practices (e.g., shifting
cultivation, permanent dry field agriculture) are competing with it. Therefore, a planning process,
derived from the FAO’s Guidelines for Land-use Planning (1993), is presented, by which agroforestry
can be extended on a community level. Additionally, the utilisation of coastal waters (with ‘sea-use
planning’, understood as an extension of the FAO’s approach) and institutional aspects (land tenure,
regulations, traditional institutions) are discussed and considered for the development of community-
based land-use plans.
The study concludes that sustainable development on small tropical islands can only be achieved with
community-based land-use planning, along with the islanders’ exclusive access to resources in
customary territory including coastal waters. With community participation in planning, locally
specific conditions and possibilities to tackle problems are easier to be identified: On the hand
indigenous knowledge can be tapped by local participation, and on the other hand the local population
gets access to external knowledge. Furthermore, locals’ acceptability of modified, sustainable land and
resource management is increased by participation.
3
CONTENTS
1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY ................................................ 9
2. SMALL TROPICAL ISLANDS AND AGROFORESTRY ............................................ 12
2.1 What is a small tropical island? ................................................................................................ 12
2.2 “Island matters – islands matter” ........................................................................................... 13
2.3 Man-environment relationships on small tropical islands ................................................... 14
2.3.1 A geological typology ..................................................................................................... 15
2.3.2 Scale, space and ecosystems ............................................................................................ 16
2.3.3 Economic and socio-cultural considerations .................................................................. 22
2.3.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 24
2.4 Agroforestry for sustainable land use .................................................................................... 25
2.5 Summary and conclusion ........................................................................................................ 30
3. RESEARCH PROGRESS AND METHODOLOGY .................................................... 31
3.1 Research progress and involved organisations ...................................................................... 31
3.2 Methodology and methods ...................................................................................................... 32
3.3 Scientific criteria and restrictions ........................................................................................... 36
4. PHYSICAL OVERVIEW OF TIOOR AND RHUN .................................................... 38
4.1 Geographical position .............................................................................................................. 38
4.2 Biophysical environment ......................................................................................................... 40
4.2.1 Geology and geomorphology .......................................................................................... 40
4.2.2 Climate and fresh water .................................................................................................. 43
4.2.3 Soils ................................................................................................................................ 44
4.2.4 Natural vegetation ........................................................................................................... 46
4.2.5 The coastal environment ................................................................................................. 47
4.3 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 48
5. THE COMMUNITIES OF TIOOR AND RHUN........................................................ 49
5.1 Historical introduction .................................................................................................. 49
5.2 Settlements, village administration and infrastructure ........................................................ 53
5.3 Social organisation ................................................................................................................... 56
5.4 Traditional law (adat) .............................................................................................................. 57
5.4.1 What is adat? .................................................................................................................. 57
5.4.2 Traditional organisations and institutions ....................................................................... 58
5.4.3 Land tenure ..................................................................................................................... 64
5.5 Socio-economy .......................................................................................................................... 73
5.5.1 Property structure ............................................................................................................ 73
5.5.2 Off-farm economic activities and resource utilisation .................................................... 78
5.6 Summary and conclusion ........................................................................................................ 86
6. SYSTEMS AND THE DYNAMICS OF LAND USE .................................................... 87
6.1 Historical land-use systems ..................................................................................................... 87
6.1.1 The nutmeg tree and its cultivation in the Banda Islands ............................................... 87
6.1.2 Historical land use in Tioor ............................................................................................ 90
6.2 Overview about present land use ............................................................................................ 91
6.2.1 Tioor ................................................................................................................................ 91
6.2.2 Rhun ................................................................................................................................ 93
6.3 Structures, practices and functions of farming systems ....................................................... 97
6.3.1 Succession stages and importance of land-use types ...................................................... 98
6.3.2 Dry field agriculture ........................................................................................................ 92
6.3.3 Tree gardens ................................................................................................................... 115
6.3.4 Mixed gardens ................................................................................................................ 135
6.3.5 Animal husbandry ........................................................................................................... 139
6.3.6 Forestry, gathering and hunting ...................................................................................... 140
6.3.7 Functional diversity and economic results ..................................................................... 147
4
6.4 Factors and effects of land-use change ................................................................................... 152
6.4.1 Peasant strategies ............................................................................................................ 153
6.4.2 Explanatory factors ......................................................................................................... 154
6.4.3 Effects and problems ...................................................................................................... 156
6.4.4 The islanders’ perceptions of problems .......................................................................... 160
6.5 Case studies of peasant households ........................................................................................ 162
6.5.1 Rhun: Mixed garden dominated land use ....................................................................... 162
6.5.2 Tioor: Tumpangsari dominated land use ........................................................................ 169
6.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 172
7. CRITERIA FOR TRADITIONAL AGROFORESTRY .................................................174
7.1 Potentials and limits of traditional agroforestry ................................................................... 174
7.1.1 Ecological sustainability ................................................................................................. 175
7.1.2 Economic productivity and stability ............................................................................... 177
7.1.3 Social acceptability and adaptability .............................................................................. 182
7.1.4 Relevance of constraints for tree planting ...................................................................... 184
7.2 Future prospects of traditional agroforestry ......................................................................... 186
8. AGROFORESTRY FOR COMMUNITY-BASED DEVELOPMENT .............................188
8.1 Participatory land-use planning ............................................................................................. 188
8.2 Community-based resource management plans (CRMPs) .................................................. 191
8.2.1 Goals and principles ....................................................................................................... 191
8.2.2 Steps and methods .......................................................................................................... 193
8.2.3 Results ............................................................................................................................ 199
8.2.4 Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 202
8.3 Requirements of implementing CRMPs ................................................................................ 209
8.3.1 Furtherance of agroforestry and improvement of agricultural practices ........................ 209
8.3.2 Alternative income generation and valorisation of commercialised products ............... 213
8.3.3 Acceptance by the Government and decision-makers .................................................... 216
9. IMPLICATIONS FOR SMALL TROPICAL ISLAND COMMUNITIES ........................220
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 227
MAPS ....................................................................................................................... 245
1. Sketched Map of Tioor Island ................................................................................................. 245
2. Sketched Map of Rhun Island ................................................................................................ 246
3. Tioor Island, Maluku, Indonesia: Land Use and Forest Cover in 1998 inside of back cover
4. Rhun Island – Sample Survey of Household Laida (HH 1)
Legend of Maps 4.1, and of Parts of Map 4.2 and Map 4.3 ............................................. 247
4.1 Horizontal structures of land use in household’s fields (1992) ...................................... 248
4.1.1 (a) Tanjung Walo-Walo 1, (b) Tanjung Walo-Walo 2; and (c) Lobang Angin .............. 248
4.1.2 (d) Batu Lawa-Lawa, (e) Tanjung Walo-Walo 3, (f) Parigi;
(g) Belakang Perek ........................................................................................................ 249
4.2 Major changes in land use in household’s fields (until 1997) ........................................ 250
4.2.1 Tanjung Walo-Walo (1 and 2) and Lobang Angin ........................................................ 250
4.2.2 Belakang Perek .............................................................................................................. 251
4.3 Land and tree tenure of extended family in Tanjung Walo-Walo (1 and 2)
and Lobang Angin ............................................................................................................ 252
5. Tioor Island – Sample Survey of Household Paulus (HH 27)
Legend of Maps 5.1 and of Parts of Map 5.2 ......................................................................... 253
5.1 Land use in household’s fields (1997) ............................................................................. 254
5.1.1 Urit Aliminy .................................................................................................................. 254
5.1.2 Kabtukun Wony ............................................................................................................. 255
5.2 Clearing activities to ‘struggle for land’ in Kabtukun Wony and Urit Aliminy ............. 255
5
6. Sketched Maps of Settlements – Building Material of Houses
Legend of Maps 6.1 to 6.5 ....................................................................................................... 256
6.1 Tioor Village: Communities of Rumoi and Rumalusi .................................................... 257
6.2 Tioor Village: Community of Wermaftengah –
Jawa, Wermaf, Baru and Mamur settlements .................................................................... 258
6.3 Tioor Village: Community of Wermaftengah –
Tengah and Lapang settlements ...................................................................................... 259
6.4 Tioor Village: Community of Kelvow ............................................................................ 260
6.5 Tioor Village: Community of Kerkar ............................................................................. 261
6.6 Rhun Village .................................................................................................................... 262
7. Community-based Resource Management Plans ..................................................................263
7.1 Tioor Island ..................................................................................................................... 263
7.1.1 Autochthonous names of locations ................................................................................ 263
7.1.2 Upper watershed and primary forest zoning ..................................................................264
7.1.3 Sea territory and sasi for fishing nets .............................................................................265
7.2 Rhun Island ..................................................................................................................... 266
7.2.1 Autochthonous names of location units .........................................................................266
7.2.2 Land evaluation: Inclination of slopes ...........................................................................267
7.2.3 Land evaluation: Soil fertility ........................................................................................ 268
7.2.4 Land evaluation: Tree cover .......................................................................................... 269
7.2.5 Land units .......................................................................................................................270
7.2.6 Field area proportion of the production of annuals ........................................................271
7.2.7 Field area proportion of the production of perennial cash crops ................................... 272
7.2.8 Field area proportion of tree cultivation for protection purposes .................................. 273
7.2.9 Land suitability classification – Nutmeg cultivation with protection trees ................... 274
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... 275
1. Plants and Marine Resources ................................................................................................. 275
1.1 Identified plant species in Tioor and Rhun .......................................................................275
1.2 Unidentified plant species in Tioor ...................................................................................281
1.3 Unidentified plant species in Rhun ...................................................................................282
1.4 Number of identified and unidentified plant species in Tioor and Rhun ......................... 283
1.5 Timber trees in Tioor and Rhun – a selection ...................................................................284
1.6 Medicinal plants in Tioor ................................................................................................. 286
1.7 Nutritional properties of selected agricultural products ................................................... 289
1.8 Economic marine species in Tioor ................................................................................... 291
2. Data of Soil Analysis and Precipitation .................................................................................. 296
2.1 Results of soil analysis ......................................................................................................296
2.2 Results of preliminary soil analysis during field survey.................................................... 296
2.3 Results of qualitative soil analysis during field survey .................................................... 297
2.4 Precipitation during field survey ...................................................................................... 297
3. Data of Farming System and Land Use ................................................................................. 298
3.1 The farming system of 22 interviewed households ...........................................................298
3.2 Land-use types and areas in Tioor (evaluation of Map 3) ................................................. 299
4. Community-based Resource Management Plans .................................................................. 300
4.1 Community-based resource management plan of Rhun Island
(TGDK Pulau Rhun) ....................................................................................................... 300
4.2 Community-based resource management plan of Tioor Island
(TGDLK Pulau Tioor) ...................................................................................................... 306
5. Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 313
5.1 Concepts of questionnaires ............................................................................................... 313
5.2 Evaluation and interpretation of data ................................................................................315
5.3 Remarks on data collection relating to Map 3.................................................................... 315
6. Glossary ..................................................................................................................................... 316
7. Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ 319
Tabellarischer Lebenslauf ...............................................................................................................320
6
FIGURES
2.1 Analytical framework of man-environment relationships on small tropical islands ............... 15
2.2 Resource management and sectors on small tropical islands ................................................. 24
4.1 Sketched map of Central and Southeast Maluku ................................................................... 38
4.2 Sketched maps of the Banda Islands, and the Watubela Islands ............................................. 39
4.3 Plate tectonics in Southern Maluku ........................................................................................ 41
4.4 Geology of Tioor Island ......................................................................................................... 42
4.5 Mean monthly precipitation in Tual and Banda,
and monthly precipitation in Banda in 1987 and 1989 ........................................................... 44
5.1 Traditional territory (petuanan) of Tioor ............................................................................... 66
5.2 Clan’s land (tanah dati) in Rumoi community ...................................................................... 67
5.3 Manga ras fields of Mamur settlement .................................................................................. 69
5.4 Combined area of fields [in hectare; 22 households] .............................................................. 74
5.5 Annual income and income sources of interviewed households in Tioor ............................. 76
5.6 Annual income and income sources of interviewed households in Rhun .............................. 77
5.7 Harvest of selected marine resources in the littoral and the adjacent pelagic ......................... 80
6.1 Myristica fragrans Houtt. ........................................................................................................ 88
6.2 Cross-section of a colonial nutmeg plantation on the Banda Islands ..................................... 89
6.3 Tioor: Cross-section of the landscape and land-use types ...................................................... 95
6.4 Rhun: Cross-sections of the landscape and land-use types ..................................................... 96
6.5 The peasant household – goals, influencing factors, and strategies ...................................... 97
6.6 Succession stages of land-use types ....................................................................................... 99
6.7 Time calendar for most common cultivation patterns in a new ladang plot .......................... 103
6.8 Typical seasonal calendar of agricultural labour input in dry fields ..................................... 115
6.9 Horizontal structures of a coconut agroforest in Tioor – Kerker location ............................ 118
6.10 Horizontal structures of a nutmeg tree garden in Tioor – Werkar location .......................... 121
6.11 Horizontal structures of a mixed garden in Tioor – Kovnan Batbotan location ................... 136
6.12 Primary and secondary uses of 182 identified plant species ................................................. 149
6.13 An integrative approach to factors and effects of land-use change ....................................... 159
6.14 Farmers’ perception of problems related to land use ............................................................. 161
8.1 Steps in land-use planning and approach for sustainable development
on the islands of Tioor and Rhun............................................................................................. 189
8.2 Principles of a community-based resource management plan ............................................... 192
8.3 Procedure of determining priorities in the selection of tree species ...................................... 210
TABLES
4.1 Soil types in Tioor .................................................................................................................. 45
5.1 Communities of Tioor village, and origin of their inhabitants .............................................. 53
5.2 Traditional organisations and selected traditional institutions in Tioor and Rhun ................ 64
5.3 Methods of land acquisition in Tioor ..................................................................................... 68
5.4 Field area classes [65 interviewed households] ...................................................................... 75
5.5 Income classes [65 interviewed households] .......................................................................... 75
5.6 Major commercialised marine species ................................................................................... 81
6.1 Land-use and vegetation types in Tioor ................................................................................. 93
6.2 Landscape and land-use types in Rhun .................................................................................. 94
6.3 Areas of present land-use types in Tioor and Rhun ............................................................... 100
6.4 First clearing and present type of fields [65 interviewed households] ...................................106
6.5 Crops of dry field agriculture in Tioor and Rhun – a selection ............................................. 111
6.6 Labour input and labour arrangements in a dry field (0.3 ha) ............................................... 114
6.7 Perennials in garden cultivation in Tioor and Rhun – a selection ......................................... 127
6.8 Distribution of coconut tree gardens in Tioor ....................................................................... 132
6.9 Number of productive nutmeg and clove trees in Tioor [40 households] ............................. 132
6.10 Sago cultivators and non-cultivators in Tioor’s communities ............................................... 133
6.11 Common plant species in mixed gardens in Rhun ................................................................ 138
6.12 Animal husbandry in Tioor and Rhun ................................................................................... 140
6.13 Approximate annual yields of selected agricultural products ................................................ 150
6.14 Market-range and prices of selected agricultural products in Tioor ...................................... 152
6.15 Land tenure of the family of Laeba ....................................................................................... 164
7
6.16 Land area of agroforestry components in fields of Laida (1992 and 1997) .......................... 166
6.17 Land use in fields of Paulus (1997) ........................................................................................ 170
7.1 Principal economic benefits and costs of agroforestry .......................................................... 177
7.2 Beneficial and obstructive factors of tenure in traditional agroforestry ................................ 183
7.3 Summary of qualitative evaluation of traditional agroforestry .............................................. 185
8.1 Minor tree species with potential in agroforestry extension .................................................. 211
8.2 Income generation and valorisation of commercialised products – a selection .................... 213
8.3 Promotion of traditional fishery ............................................................................................ 215
8.4 Promotion of mariculture ...................................................................................................... 215
8
Background and objectives of the study
1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
In the past decades, the globally occurring overexploitation of natural resources (e.g., soil, fresh water,
forests, and fishery) has contributed greatly to: ecological problems, increasing conflicts over their
utilisation, and processes of impoverishment and marginalisation of communities. This trend parti-
cularly affects the so-called developing world, as well as resource-poor regions to which most small
tropical islands can be counted. Although these islands share issues with continental landscapes, they
are further exposed to specific constraints. Especially: their small land area, the network of different
fragile ecosystems, the limited and precarious freshwater resources, and their isolation are emphasised
at this point. Furthermore, locally caused ecological problems take effect on the spot rather than being
transferred into other regions.
One central issue is land use. The usual practice of clearing forests to reclaim arable land reaches its
ecological limits in much of the tropical world including small islands. Degradation and erosion of
soil, hydrological disturbances, and a weakened buffer function of dwindling forests are the most
serious ecological effects. Additionally, coral reefs of coastal areas and small islands may be badly
disturbed by sedimentation of eroded soil material. In combination with overexploitation of marine
resources or on account of destructive fishing methods, the coral reef quickly comes across the verge
of collapse. This ultimately would threaten the subsistence of coastal communities depending on
inshore fishing. Moreover, the carbon dioxide fixing coral reefs play a significant role in global
climate. Thus, the management of coastal waters is a second issue, with high relevance for small
tropical island communities.
However, there are also positive examples showing that land and coastal waters can be managed in a
way without endangering the ecological base in the long run. Examples include traditional
agroforestry systems developed by tropical farmers, as well as customary institutions, such as sasi in
the Moluccas, with the purpose of sustainable management of marine and terrestrial resources.
At a closer look, however, both of these strategies are also confronted with shortcomings, which may
complicate or even prevent their enhancement in-situ, or their transfer to other places, for instance by
development projects. Issues such as the construction of institutional arrangements in communal
resource management, diverging interests and entitlements of individuals and groups, economic
feasibility and an optimal management of woody perennials, land and tree tenure, and the acceptability
of the concerned communities have a decisive influence on success – or failure – of any project. It is
not enough to simply transfer positive examples, experiences and derived theoretical reflections and
assumptions to other regions. Rather, specific local features will have to be taken into consideration to
successfully establish or promote sustainable resource management at a larger scale. This is a simple,
but central demand to land-use planning. The inclusion of participatory, target group-oriented
approaches in planning (and research as well) is therefore regarded as a necessary measure to
effectively avoid shortcomings of – and often negative experiences with – technically oriented top-
down approaches. In this context, community-based resource management planning, integrated into
regional development plans, may be a possible and useful way: If indigenous knowledge of local
people could be tapped for planning, their acceptability of strategies towards sustainable resource
management could be increased.
9