Enhancing Community Welfare Through the Educational Forest Program: A Case Study in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province
Keywords:
Educational Forest Program, Forest Edge Communities, Sustainable Development, East Flores Regency, Community WelfareAbstract
This research examines the impact of the Educational Forest Program on the welfare of forest edge communities in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province. Forest conservation and community welfare are intertwined aspects of sustainable development, particularly in regions where forests are vital resources for local livelihoods and environmental stability. Through a mixed-methods approach, incorporating quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, the study assesses the program's effectiveness in fostering economic empowerment, environmental conservation, social cohesion, and community resilience. Findings reveal significant improvements in income levels, livelihood opportunities, and environmental conservation practices among program participants. Economic empowerment initiatives, such as alternative livelihood training and value-added enterprises, have led to increased household incomes and reduced dependency on forest resources. Environmental conservation efforts, including reforestation and sustainable land management, have enhanced forest cover and biodiversity. Moreover, the program has strengthened social cohesion and community resilience by promoting participatory decision-making processes and access to social services. Challenges remain, including limited funding and institutional support, but opportunities exist for enhancing the program's effectiveness and sustainability through strengthened community participation, integration of traditional knowledge, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Overall, the Educational Forest Program represents a promising model for promoting the welfare of forest edge communities and supporting sustainable forest management in East Flores Regency and beyond.
Downloads
References
Ananta, A., Arifin, E. N., Hasbullah, M. S., Handayani, N. B., & Pramono, A. (2014). A New Classification of Indonesia’s. Ethnic Groups (Based on the 2010 Population Census. ISEAS Working Paper# 1.
Aryanti, T. (2013). Breaking the wall, preserving the Barrier: gender, space, and power in contemporary mosque architecture in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Charnley, S., Fischer, A. P., & Jones, E. T. (2007). Integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into forest biodiversity conservation in the Pacific Northwest. Forest Ecology and Management, 246(1), 14–28.
Coulibaly-Lingani, P., Savadogo, P., Tigabu, M., & Oden, P.-C. (2011). Factors influencing people’s participation in the forest management program in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Forest Policy and Economics, 13(4), 292–302.
Doucet, T. C., Duinker, P. N., Charles, J. D., Steenberg, J. W. N., & Zurba, M. (2024). Characterizing non-governmental organizations and local government collaborations in urban forest management across Canada. Environmental Management, 73(1), 231–242.
Dzurik, A. A. (2003). Water resources planning. Rowman & Littlefield.
Fiqa, A. P., Budiharta, S., Siahaan, F. A., & Rindyastuti, R. (2020). Population structure of Gyrinops versteegii within floristic community in Nggalak Protection Forest, Flores Island, Indonesia. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 21(4).
Iswandono, E., Zuhud, E. A. M., Hikmat, A., & Kosmaryandi, N. (2015). Integrating local culture into forest conservation: A case study of the Manggarai Tribe in Ruteng Mountains, Indonesia. Jurnal Manajemen Hutan Tropika, 21(2), 55–64.
Kahn, R. (2008). Towards ecopedagogy: Weaving a broad-based pedagogy of liberation for animals, nature, and the oppressed people of the earth. The Critical Pedagogy Reader, 2, 522–540.
Keenan, R. J. (2015). Climate change impacts and adaptation in forest management: a review. Annals of Forest Science, 72, 145–167.
Lal, R., Monger, C., Nave, L., & Smith, P. (2021). The role of soil in regulation of climate. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 376(1834), 20210084.
Laurance, W. F., & Bierregaard, R. O. (1997). Tropical forest remnants: ecology, management, and conservation of fragmented communities. University of Chicago Press.
Malino, A. C. P., Ginting, N. M., Fachrizal, R., Darma, R., Betaubun, P., & Arief, A. A. (2021). Socio-economic conditions of small-scale traditional fishermen: a case study in Payum Village, Merauke District, Papua, Indonesia. Jurnal Ilmiah Pertanian, 18(1), 20–28.
Matlack, G. R., & Litvaitis, J. A. (1999). Forest edges. Maintaining Biodiversity in Forest Ecosystems, 210, 233.
Molnar, A., Liddle, M., Bracer, C., Khare, A., White, A., & Bull, J. (2007). Community-based forest enterprises in tropical forest countries: status and potential. RRI, Washington DC.
Monk, K., & De Fretes, Y. (2012). Ecology of Nusa Tenggara. Tuttle Publishing.
Mustika, P. L. K. (2006). Marine mammals in the Savu Sea (Indonesia): Indigenous knowledge, threat analysis and management options. James Cook University.
Nunes, L. J. R., Meireles, C. I. R., Pinto Gomes, C. J., & Almeida Ribeiro, N. M. C. (2020). Forest contribution to climate change mitigation: Management oriented to carbon capture and storage. Climate, 8(2), 21.
Poerwoningsih, D., Tutut Subadyo, A., Wahjutami, E. L., Santoso, I., & Winansih, E. (2022). Bioregion Concept for the Landscape of Traditional Village in West Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. In Conserving Biocultural Landscapes in Malaysia and Indonesia for Sustainable Development (pp. 33–50). Springer.
Pretty, J., & Smith, D. (2004). Social capital in biodiversity conservation and management. Conservation Biology, 18(3), 631–638.
Rahman, L. M. (2016). Forest Resources. Bangladesh National Conservation Strategy, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2–13.
Riggs, R. A., Achdiawan, R., Adiwinata, A., Boedhihartono, A. K., Kastanya, A., Langston, J. D., Priyadi, H., Ruiz-Pérez, M., Sayer, J., & Tjiu, A. (2021). Governing the landscape: potential and challenges of integrated approaches to landscape sustainability in Indonesia. Landscape Ecology, 36, 2409–2426.
Sharma, N., & Rowe, R. (1992). Managing the world’s forests. Finance and Development, 29(2), 31.
Shiferaw, B., & Bantilan, M. C. S. (2004). Agriculture, rural poverty and natural resource management in less favored environments: Revisiting challenges and conceptual issues. Food, Agriculture and Environment, 2(1), 328–339.
Shyamsundar, P., Sauls, L. A., Cheek, J. Z., Sullivan-Wiley, K., Erbaugh, J. T., & Krishnapriya, P. P. (2021). Global forces of change: Implications for forest-poverty dynamics. Forest Policy and Economics, 133, 102607.
Thompson, I., Mackey, B., McNulty, S., & Mosseler, A. (2009). Forest resilience, biodiversity, and climate change. A Synthesis of the Biodiversity/Resilience/Stability Relationship in Forest Ecosystems. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal. Technical Series, 43(1), 1–67.
Wali, A., Alvira, D., Tallman, P. S., Ravikumar, A., & Macedo, M. O. (2017). A new approach to conservation: using community empowerment for sustainable well-being. Ecology & Society, 22(4).
Wells, M. (1999). Investing in biodiversity: a review of Indonesia’s integrated conservation and development projects.
Zikargae, M. H., Woldearegay, A. G., & Skjerdal, T. (2022). Empowering rural society through non-formal environmental education: An empirical study of environment and forest development community projects in Ethiopia. Heliyon, 8(3).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Andino Chliston, Akerina, Deay Famas
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
