Transformation of resource management in Upland East-Java, Indonesia - From directive power to social and institutional interactions

Until 1998 Indonesia was ruled by an authoritarian regime under which natural resources had been exploited excessively. Legal enforcement at the local level, especially in upland forests with fertile volcanic soils, was weak. Despite difficult conditions for agricultural cultivation, state enterprises, for instance the so called “PERHUTANI” which was concerned with forestry, moved to areas with steep slopes ignoring environmental risks from degradation and deforestation. Throughout the contemporary reform process with decentralization of power via local and regional autonomy, natural resources are no longer dominated by direct state power only, but by more actors at various levels of society. Legal enforcement in areas under conservation has been strengthened during the last five years. With this context in mind, the paper seeks to focus on the question of how regional demographic and cultural patterns in upland East Java influence the struggle over natural resources and their management by different stakeholders (i.e. government institutions, NGOs, village communities and households). The theoretical approach follows the concept of political ecology. The struggle over natural resources goes along with the political patterns of social interactions, including cooperation and competition. Three villages in the highland areas around the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (BTSNP) are selected for case studies due to their highly differentiated social-cultural settings. The analyses show how local stakeholders fight over natural resources in an ecologically sensitive environment. Based on a qualitative research (170 semi-structured interviews, 30 in-depth interviews with key informants, 5 focal group discussions) we found the following preliminary results: In the early stages of the reform era many actors demanded and gained unlimited access to the use of forests. In the mean time this concept has changed into a situation in which access to forest resources is the result of a negotiation among stakeholders. Intensified bargaining among different parties on the limits of consumption and selling of forest products can be observed. These conditions have encouraged the actors led by NGOs, National Park officials, and traditional institutions to discuss about restrictions of and sanctions on the land use by households (i.e. limitations on the exploitation of tree species, efficiency of water consumption). We show that public dialogue encourages power sharing in the system of the use of resources. Various local adaptations to environmental changes as well as varying sanctions which take the cultural backgrounds into consideration are found. Key words: Indonesia, resource management, political ecology, social interaction, public dialogue, power sharing.