Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2020): APRIL

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Protecting the Mbau Komodo in Riung, Flores: Local Adat, National Conservation and Ecotourism Developments

https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v4i1.7465
Halia Asriyani
Peasant School Network of PAYO-PAYO Maros, South Sulawesi
Bart Verheijen
- Universitas Hasanuddin, Forestry Faculty - Open Universiteit, Netherlands
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6687-3101

Corresponding Author(s) : Halia Asriyani

asriyanihalia@gmail.com

Forest and Society, Vol. 4 No. 1 (2020): APRIL

Abstract

The Komodo dragon is one of the most exotic animals of the Wallacea region. Conservation efforts aimed at protecting the Komodo dragon and the unique biodiversity in the region have created a particularly strained relationship between state interests, local livelihood and tourism developments. This article examines recent antagonisms between national agencies, local interests and livelihoods by describing a unique and relatively unknown case study: the Riung Subdistrict and Sambinasi Village and the protection of the Komodo dragons by the local Baar community. Based on information from 19 qualitative in-depth interviews, and the analysis of a recent local Adat meeting in March 2019, this article shows that the Baar were successful in reclaiming land from the national conservation agencies. Meanwhile, they simultaneously formulated new local customary rules on how to treat the Komodo dragon, hence reclaiming ownership over conservation rules and empowering local institutions. Recently, all parties have subscribed to a new ecotourism agenda for further development of the area. This agenda might reshape relations between national agencies and the local communities, as conservation is increasingly linked to new forces of global tourism.  

Keywords

Komodo dragon National Parks Adat national conservation ecotourism Wallacea region
Asriyani, H., & Verheijen, B. (2020). Protecting the Mbau Komodo in Riung, Flores: Local Adat, National Conservation and Ecotourism Developments. Forest and Society, 4(1), 20-34. https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v4i1.7465
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Adams, W. M., & Hutton, J. (2007). People, parks and poverty: political ecology and biodiversity conservation. Conservation and society, 5(2), 147-183.
  2. Ariefiandy, A., Purwandana, D., Natali, C., Imansyah, M. J., Surahman, M., Jessop, T.S., & Ciofi, C. (2015). Conservation of Komodo dragons Varanus komodoensis in the Wae Wuul nature reserve, Flores, Indonesia: a multidisciplinary approach. International Zoo Yearbook, 49(1), 67–80. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/izy.12072
  3. Borchers, H. (2008). Dragon Tourism Revisited: The Sustainability of Tourism Development in Komodo National Park. In M. Hitchcock (eds.), Tourism in Southeast Asia: Challenges and New Directions. Copenhagen: Nias Press, pp. 270-285.
  4. Borchers, H. (2005). Komodo Park; A future Jurassic tragedy, Jakarta Post, 12 August 2005, see: https://www.slideshare.net/h.borchers/jurassic-tragedy-presentation
  5. Borchers, H. (2002). Ecotourism as a conservation strategy in Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Conference Contesting Development: Pathways to Better Practice, 3rd Biennial Conference of the International Development Studies Network of Aotearoa New Zealand, Massey University, Palmerston North, pp. 3-5.
  6. Brandon, K. (1996). Ecotourism and Conservation: a review of key issues. Environment Department Paper, nr. 33. World Bank, Washington, D.C.
  7. Byczek, C. (2011). Blessings for All? Community-Based Ecotourism in Bali Between Global, National, and Local Interests – A Case Study. ASEAS: Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 4(1), 81-106. doi: https://doi.org/10.14764/10.ASEAS-4.1-5
  8. Dolezal, C., & Trupp, A. (2015). Tourism and Development in Southeast Asia. ASEAS: Austrian Journal of South - East Asian Studies, 8(2), 117-124. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.14764/10.ASEAS-2015.2-1
  9. Cochrane, J. (2013). Exit the Dragon? Collapse of Co-management at Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Tourism Recreation Research, 38(2), 127–143.
  10. Demos, T. J. (2016). Decolonizing Nature: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology. New York: Sternberg press.
  11. Erb, M. (2007). Adat revivalism in western Flores: Culture, religion, and land. In J. Davidson & D. Henley (eds.), The Revival of Tradition in Indonesian Politics. The Deployment of Adat from Colonialism to Indigenism. London: Routledge, pp. 247- 274.
  12. Fasseur, C. (2007). Colonial dilemma: Van Vollenhoven and the struggle between adat law and Western law in Indonesia. In J. Davidson & D. Henley (eds.), The Revival of Tradition in Indonesian Politics. The Deployment of Adat from Colonialism to Indigenism. London: Routledge, pp. 50-67.
  13. Fisher, M. R., Dhiaulhaq, A., & Sahide, M. A. K. (2019). The politics, economies, and ecologies of Indonesia’s third generation of social forestry: An introduction to the special section. Forest and Society, 3(1): 152-170. doi :http://dx.doi.org/10.24259/fs.v3i1.6348.
  14. Hakim, L., Kim, J.-E., and Hong, S.-K. (2009). Cultural Landscape and Ecotourism in Bali Island, Indonesia. Journal of Ecology and Environment. The Ecological Society of Korea, 32(1), pp. 1–8.
  15. Henley. D & Davidson, J. (2007). Introduction: radical conservatism- the protean politics of Adat. In J. Davidson & D. Henley (eds.), The Revival of Tradition in Indonesian Politics. The Deployment of Adat from Colonialism to Indigenism. London: Routledge.
  16. Henschke, R., & Wijaya, C. (n.d), ‘The fight for Dragon island’, BBC news https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/5bBE5791M9/The_fight_for_Dragon_Island [accessed 31 July 2019].
  17. Howkins, A., Orsi. J., & Fiege, M. (2016). Introduction. In idem (eds.), National Parks beyond the Nation: Global Perspectives on "America's Best Idea". Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
  18. Indonesia: The Nature Conservancy’s plans in Komodo National Park, Bulletin 80, 11 March 2004; [https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/indonesia-the-nature conservancys-plans-in-komodo-national-park/ [accessed on 10-01-2020]
  19. Kayat, K., Pudyatmoko, S., Imron, M. A., Maksum, M. (2017). Semi-Commercial and Traditional Hunting of Baar Tribe in Riung, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, J-PAL, Vol. 8(1).
  20. Krüger, O. (2005). The role of ecotourism in conservation: panacea or Pandora’s box? Biodiversity and Conservation, 14(3): 579–600. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-3917-4
  21. Sahide, M. A. K., Fisher, M. R., Maryudi, A., Dhiaulhaq, A., Wulandari, C., Kim, Y. S., & Giessen, L. (2018). Deadlock opportunism in contesting conservation areas in Indonesia. Land use policy, 77, pp. 412-424. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.05.020
  22. Schellhorn, M. (2010). Development for whom? Social justice and the business of ecotourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(1): 115-135. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669580903367229
  23. Moeliono, I., & Fisher, L. (2003). Research as mediation: linking participatory action research to environmental conflict management in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Natural resource conflict management case studies: an analysis of power, participation and protected areas, pp. 60-79.
  24. Rodriguez, S. (2016). Dragons or volcanoes? National parks and nature loving in new order Indonesia, c. 1980-1998. In A. Howkins, et. al, National Parks beyond the Nation: Global Perspectives on "America's Best Idea". Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
  25. Ross, S., & Wall, G. (2001). Wallace’s line, implications for conservation and ecotourism in Indonesia. In D. Harrison (eds.) Tourism and the Less Developed World: Issues and Case Studies. CABI: Wallingford, pp. 223-234.
  26. Scheyvens, R. (1999). Case Study: Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities. Tourism Management, 20(2), pp. 245-249. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(98)00069-7
  27. Sitorus, T. (2011). Linking conservation of biodiversity and community livelihood in Komodo national Park, Indonesia. In G. Baldacchino & D. Niles (eds.), Island Futures: Conservation and Development Across the Asia-Pacific Region. Springer: Tokyo, pp. 99-105. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53989-6_8
  28. Tsing, A. (2005). Friction. An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton University Press: Princeton.
  29. Walpole, M. J., Goodwin, H. J., & Ward, K. G. (2001). Pricing policy for tourism in protected areas: lessons from Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Conservation Biology, 15(1), pp. 218-227. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2001.99231.x
  30. Walpole, M. J. & Goodwin H. J. (2001). Local attitudes towards conservation and tourism around Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Environmental conservation, 28(2), pp. 160-166. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892901000169
  31. Wearing, S., & Neil, J. (2009). Ecotourism: Impacts, Potentials and Possibilities (2nd ed.). Routledge
  32. Websites:
  33. Flores tourism website: http://florestourism.com/districts/riung-17-islands/ [last accessed 10-01-2020]
  34. The international ecotourism society (TIES): https://ecotourism.org/ [last accessed 14-01-2020]
  35. Komodo Survival Program: http://komododragon.org/post/detail/32 [last accessed: 02-01-2020]
Read More

Author Biography

Bart Verheijen, - Universitas Hasanuddin, Forestry Faculty - Open Universiteit, Netherlands
I, Bart Verheijen (1985), completed a PhD in political and cultural history on the Napoleonic era (2017). During my studies in the Netherlands, Belgium and France I touched on a broad range of topics including the historical development of nationalism, colonialism and political culture. My publications include books and articles on culture and identity in the early nineteenth century and Dutch colonial history. My professional experience comes from teaching at different international university institutes and faculties. I taught courses in Yangon, Myanmar and currently. I am teaching in Makassar, Indonesia
Download this PDF file
PDF