Partners in Conservation? Communities, Contestation

CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by ScholarBank@NUS PARTNERS IN CONSERVATION? COMMUNITIES, CONTESTATION AND CONFLICT IN KOMODO NATIONAL PARK, INDONESIA. HO SHU PING B.Soc Science (Hons.), NUS A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SOCIAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2006 Abstract With the failures of many large scale conservation projects, conservation sites have become sites of conflict over resources and discourses. This thesis looks at situation of Komodo National Park, in Flores, eastern Indonesia where an international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with a private company, has developed a 25 year Management Plan for the park amidst great opposition from local communities and local NGOs. I explore the bases for conflict and contestation of this plan and discuss how it fails to consider the real plight of park residents, penalising them instead and promoting the interests of the wealthy and powerful. Hajer puts forward the argument that environmental conflict provides a symbolic umbrella, an inclusionary device, that confines the political debate and ensuing discourse production to specific actors and institutions. Thus, the debate has become a discursive one, revolving around interpretation, rather than dealing with the physical nature of environmental problems. (Hajer 1995: 14). Despite the ensuing media attention due to the shooting of two fishermen in 2002 by patrol forces, I show how the use of multiple storylines continues to obscure the real issues of survival that continue to challenge park residents. i Acknowledgements This thesis could not have been completed or undertaken without the contributions of the following people and institutions. My supervisor, Associate Professor Maribeth Erb for her guidance, generosity and unflagging efforts to see this thesis through. Her kindness and friendship have extended far beyond the walls and office hours of NUS. The Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore, for their continued support and endorsement of my candidature, in particular, past department heads Professors Hing Ai Yun and Lian Kwen Fee, as well as present head Associate Professor Tong Chee Kiong. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Division of Graduate Studies for their funding of my fieldwork in 2003; my parents, for their sponsorship of my last year of candidature. I also gratefully acknowledge the generosity and kindness of the many respondents I have met in the course of research in Labuan Bajo and in Komodo National Park. My fieldwork was a profound learning experience, many times isolating and frightening, punctuated with laughter and joy. Thanks to Any and her wonderful extended family in Ruteng, Ohm Piher in Pulau Seraya Kecil, friends at Loh MBongi and most of all Bhiksu Bataona, who have always made me welcome in their homes and lives, providing respite from the occasional discomforts of research and much food for thought. A big thank you to friends such as Nor Baikah and Uncle ‘Reframe Your Mind’ How who have stood by me and cheered me on in the last arduous legs of writing. And lastly, my gratitude and affection goes to Kit, for his love, boundless faith and good humour that this thesis would get done. ii Figure 1: Map of Komodo National Park (Walpole and Goodwin 2000: 562) iii _____ Komo do Na tional Pa rk bo undary with p ropose d exte nsion Villag es wh ere fiel dwork w as ca rried ou t Figure 2: Villages in and around Komodo National Park where fieldwork was carried out (adapted from PKA and TNC 2000a: 14). iv Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………..……………….… i Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………. ii Figure 1: Map of Komodo National Park……………....………………….... iii Figure 2: Field sites in and around KNP………..…………………………... iv Chapter 1 ‘Storylines’: Unravelling the Politics of Conservation in the Komodo National Park……………………………………………….........…. 1 Introduction……………………....………………………………………….… 1 Dragons, Conservation and Tourism: The Formation of a National Park…....... 3 Research in the Park…………………………………………………………… 6 Communities within KNP……………………………………………………… 7 Methodology…………………………………………………………………… 8 Summary of Thesis…………………………………………………………….. 10 Chapter 2 Conservation and Community Story Lines…………………..….. 11 Introduction……………………...………………………………….………….. 11 What is Nature?................................................................................................... 11 Conservation Ideologies…………………….……………………………….… 15 Why and When does Conservation Fail?............................................................. 20 The case of Komodo National Park …………………………………………… 22 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….……….. 23 Chapter 3 Indonesia and Conservation……...………………………………. 25 Introduction: Political Change and Focus on the Environment………...……… 25 The creation of a protected areas programme in Indonesia……………………. 26 International funding climate……………………………………………...…… 28 Availability of money …………………………………………………………. 29 GEF and International NGOs …………………………………………………. 32 The Nature Conservancy: Saving the Last Great Places………………..……... 34 Local NGOs……………………………………………………………………. 36 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….. 38 Chapter 4 Communities in the Park…………………………………………. 39 Introduction…………………………………..………………………………… 39 “Communities” of the Park: History and traditional social organisations……... 43 Fishing in the park……………………...……………………………………… 52 Conclusion………………………………………………………...…………… 61 Chapter 5 TNC and Communities…..………………………………….……..63 TNC and Komodo National Park: Developing a Management Plan………...….63 Expansion of the Park and the Problem of Compensation……………………...70 Conflict, Violence and the Dragon Princess of Komodo……………………… 72 Chapter 6 Conclusion ………………………...……………………………… 82 Bibilography …………………..……………………………………………… 84 Chapter 1 ‘Storylines’: Unravelling the Politics of Conservation in the Komodo National Park Introduction The Komodo National Park (KNP), located in Eastern Indonesia, just west of the island of Flores, became the focus of media attention in Indonesia in late 2002, when two unarmed fishermen were shot dead by ranger patrols for allegedly fishing illegally within the park boundaries. At the centre of the storm was an American Non Governmental Organization (NGO), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), that had funded the patrol boats in the park. These patrol boats were just one of several measures, considered draconian by some, that limited park access and curtailed fishing activity in KNP. These various new measures, introduced by The Nature Conservancy were seen by opponents as indirectly leading to the shooting of the fisherman. Earlier in 2002, in the Komodo National Park, considerable concern had been raised because of the TNC’s proposed ‘joint venture’ with a private company (Putri Naga Komodo), to manage the Komodo National Park for twenty-five years (Dhume 2002, Borchers 2002, Erb 2005). Arriving in Labuan Bajo, the town on the western coast of Flores, where the Komodo National Park headquarters is located in early 2003, not long after the shootings, and still in the thick of considerable controversy over this incident, many people were reluctant to answer questions regarding The Nature Conservancy. Speaking to boat operators and tour guides, there seemed to be a climate of uncertainty about TNC’s future path of action in the face of the shooting of two unarmed fishermen. Respondents were unwilling to commit themselves to an opinion on TNC, short of saying that at that point in time, the TNC regulations had had little impact on their lives. Respondents did express concern about the heavy handed measures TNC had used against unarmed fishermen, and had some opinions as well as about the emergence of Putri Naga Komodo, and the management collaboration with TNC that might attempt to monopolise and regulate activities within the park. Because of my considerable interest in conservation, I was sympathetic to the TNC’s work, and wanted to unravel what were the problems that had been emerging in the Komodo National Park. Why had there been so much controversy surrounding the TNC? Why had there been particularly so much controversy surrounding this particular national park? As my research in the park unfolded over the subsequent months, I came to question whether or not this park could be considered a success or whether the considerable conservation efforts of the TNC itself, though often praised on the one hand, could actually either be said to be successful. Additionally, my research efforts uncovered many different agendas, as they were held by different members of the Labuan Bajo community. Many 1 people living in the national park, or in the town took the opportunity to oppose the TNC, but were their reasons for opposing the TNC simply because they saw them as being too heavy- handed in their enthusiasm to conserve the “Earth’s Last Great Places”? After awhile I found the cacophony of voices increasingly perplexing, and the motives of individuals increasingly opaque. In order to make sense of the conflicts that have occurred in the Komodo National Park, as well as the differing positions held by actors within and around the park, I have found that Maarten Hajer’s concept of “story-lines” (1995) has helped me to put the debates and conflicts into perspective. Hajer argues environmental conflict provides a symbolic umbrella, an inclusionary device, that confines the political debate and ensuing discourse production to specific actors and institutions.

Load more