National Park Management in Local Autonomy National Park Management in Local Autonomy: from The Viepoint of Political Conservation in Biology: A Case Study of Tanjung Puting- Central Kalimantan Herman Hidayat Researcher at Research Center for Society and Culture (PMB), Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). ABSTRAK Pengelolaan Taman Nasional dalam Era Otonomi Daerah Dilihat dari Perspektif Politik Konservasi Biology: Studi Kasus Tanjung Puting -Kalimantan Tengah. Paper ini menganalisis pengelolaan taman nasional dilihat dari perspektif politik ekologi yang menekankan atas peran dan persepsi ‘stakeholders’. Peran taman nasional adalah sangat penting sebagai benteng terakhir dalam menjaga keberadaan hutan alam. Tetapi, kondisi riil Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting sekarang ini menghadapi suatu ancaman, karena dua faktor penting yakni adanya praktek aktivitas illegal logging dan penggalian untuk usaha tambang, yang dilakukan oleh para pedagang kayu dan investor lokal dari luar dengan menyuruh masyarakat lokal untuk memotong pohon dan menggali tanah. Dengan demikian, untuk mengantisipasi masalah yang kritis tersebut, diperlukan aksi afirmatif seperti pengelolaan kolaborasi dengan berbagai stakeholders (pemerintah daerah baik propinsi dan kabupaten, LSM, masyarakat lokal) atas program reboisasi berbagai pohon, penegakkan hukum, sanksi yang keras, dan pemberdayaan ekonomi dan sosial bagi masyarakat lokal. Terjadi juga konflik kepentingan antara pemerintah pusat dan daerah dalam pengelolaan sumber daya hutan, khususnya taman nasional. Pemerintah pusat berpendapat, berdasarkan UU No.5/1990, pasal 14, yang menekankan ‘taman nasional sebagai sarana preservasi hutan alam yang memilki kehidupan ekosistem yang unik dan dikelola berdasarkan sistem zonasi (inti, rimba dan riset). Kewenangan pengelolaan taman nasional tersebut diberikan kepada pemerintah pusat, karena misi utamanya ialah ialah untuk menjaga keanekaragaman hayati, memproteksi dan mengembangkannya. Sebaliknya pemerintah daerah (Propinsi dan Kabupaten) berpendapat, bahwa keberadaan taman nasional di daerahnya, dapat digunakan sebagai income PAD (Pendapatan Asli Daerah), untuk membangun infrastruktur daerah dan meningkatkan kesejahteraan masyarakat, khususnya dalam masa Otda. Sejalan dengan misi pemerintah daerah, masyarakat lokal juga melihat ‘taman nasional’ dari keuntungan nilai ekonomi langsung, sehingga sering terjadi praktek aktivitas illegal lgging dan tambang di kawasan taman nasional Tanjung Puting yang pada akhirnya berakibat terhadap rusaknya hutan. Dalam konteks ini, baik kepentingan konflik antara dua aktor stakeholders yang utama baik pemerintah pusat dan daerah sangat menarik untuk dikaji. Kata kunci: Pengelolaan taman nasional, kolaborasi, stakeholders, kepentingan konflik pemerintah pusat dan daerah. 135 Herman Hidayat Introduction in this Summit meeting. Although countries adopted Agenda 21, which Forest is one of the renewable called actions to prevent ‘world natural resources that could provide deforestation’, and the Forest Principles, elements for human being to produce and the Earth Summit failed to conclude with consume. Yet, forest has limited the creation of a Forest Convention. Af- regeneration ability and limited assimila- ter the Earth Summit, a number of tion. However during its exploitation international initiatives emerged, such as under the limited assimilation, forest the Intergovernmental Panel on Forest resources could be utilized on sustainable. (IPF), the World Commission of Forests In contrast, if it is exceeded, forest and Sustainable development (WCFSD), resources could be degraded and forest and others; in order to find ways to halt resources’ function as production and worldwide deforestation and degradation consumption factors will be threaten of all types of forestlands. And its (Soemarwoto 2001: 59). Therefore as development at the Special Session of the potential resources, forest are important, General Assembly of the United Nations not just for the production of the timber, to Review and Appraise the but also for many social and ecological Implementation of Agenda 21, in June functions such as conservation of 1997, was agreed that work should be biodiversity, the supply of water, and the continued in order to reach an prevention of global warming (M.Inoue international consensus on forest & H.Isozaki 2003). On the other hand, conservation. forest resources often become a capital Obviously, in the past, most debates that could be utilized for national regarding various aspects of forests development in any country, as done for tended to focus on the forest sector and timber industries (plywood, sawn wood, the direct causes of deforestation and pulp and paper, etc.) in New Order forest degradation and not on the cross- (Soeharto regime) period and became the sectoral aspects of the underlying causes second largest foreign exchange earnings linked to them, such as the connection after of oil boom in 1980s-1990s. between forests and societies. However, National parks in Indonesia which after the UN Special Session, non- are currently (2007) accounted more than governmental organizations took the fifty units (at least 23,5 million hectares) initiative on one of the most pressing is one of the last resort for forest agendas and started researching the conservation to prevent forest degrada- underlying causes of deforestation and tion and to keep sustainable natural forest forest degradation. which their specific ecosystem and In recent years, the world’s forests biodiversity on flora and fauna. have been affected by over exploitation, It was well-known in Earth Summit over harvesting, over grazing, pests and June, 1992 in Rio de Janeiro that ‘forest diseases, climate changes, global conservation’ was one of the key issues warming, floods, soil erosion, droughts, 136 National Park Management in Local Autonomy storms, air pollution, forest fires, as well (Figure 1).1 Now we must clarify, what as economic crisis in Asia and other political ecology means. Many scientists regions-all leading to an overall decrease (Paterson 2000; Bryant 1992; Vayda on world’s forest cover. Forestry in Asia, 1983; Blaikie & Brookfield 1987; Abe particularly in Southeast Asia which Ken-ichi 2003) define it differently. traditionally as timber supply to forest Paterson (2000) notes that “political industries in Japan and others, have been ecology as an approach that combines strongly impacted. A number of initiatives the concerns of ecology and political have suggested forest policy reforms, economy to represent an ever-changing reforestation program, against illegal dynamic tension between ecology logging actors, and the need for the biological and human change, and sustainable managements of forest has between diverse groups within society at been widely recognized and encouraged. scales from the local individual to But since implementation of reforms at transnational as a whole.” Other the local level has been insufficient, it is scientists define it as, “political ecology” imperative that local people begin to a framework to understand the complex effectively participate in forest planning interrelations between local people, and management as well as in protected- national and global political economies, area management. and ecosystems” (Blaikie & Brookfield This paper discusses the role of 1987). The concept has been adapted in Tanjung Puting National Park in Central a various of ways, such as Third-World Kalimantan from political ecology political ecology, where (Bryant, 1992) biology perspective which emphasizes notes that: “political ecology may be the role stakeholders/actors in the defined as the attempt to understand the collaborative management and its political sources, conditions and implication on various biological issues. ramifications of environmental change.” This paper also will analyze conflict of Most current political ecology tends to interest between central and local overlook ecological dynamics and focus government on the policies of natural upon the structure of human systems forest resources particularly on national (Rocheleau et al. 1996). Abe Ken-ichi park management. (2003) defines political ecology, as “a collective name for all intellectual efforts Theoretical Review to analyze critically the problems of This study uses “political ecology” natural resource appropriation and as an analytical framework which political economic origins of resource emphasizes on stakeholders movement degradation, be they for the purpose of 1 See Bryant, R & Bailey, S (1997). Third World Political Ecology. London: Routledge Press. Further the implementation for political Ecology concept, see Yoshiki Seki, “The Political Ecology of the Philippine Restoration Program: ODA, Government, and Local People”, in Philippine Political Science Journal, Vol 22, Number 45, 2001, pp. 79-93. 1 Abe, Kei-ichi (et.al). The Political Ecology of Tropical Forests in Southeast Asia ; Historical Perspectives, Kyoto University Press, Japan, 2003, pp. 3-4 137 Herman Hidayat academic study or practical applica- management for three decades. Second, tions”.2 In other words, political ecology the implication of political and economic is concerned with the political dimensions pressure upon ‘biological’ perspective of natural resource use and subtleties of was ignoring by forestry bureaucrats, those politics. Apparently, the scope of which subsequently affect into forest political ecology has been referred to as degradation and deforestation. ‘ a method of analysis’, rather