ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING & ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology 2021, 22(1), 92–99 Received: 2020.12.11 https://doi.org/10.12912/27197050/132090 Accepted: 2020.12.28 ISSN 2719-7050, License CC-BY 4.0 Published: 2021.01.05 Species Richness of Yapen Island for Sustainable Living Benefit in Papua, Indonesia Anton Silas Sinery1,3, Jonni Marwa1, Agustinus Berth Aronggear2, Yohanes Yosep Rahawarin1, Wolfram Yahya Mofu1, Reinardus Liborius Cabuy1* 1 Department of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry, University of Papua, Jl. Gunung Salju Amban, Manokwari, West Papua Province, Indonesia 2 Papua Forestry and Conservation Service, Jl. Tanjung Ria, Jayapura Papua Province, Indonesia 3 Environmental Study Center, University of Papua, Jl. Gunung Salju Amban, Manokwari, West Papua Province, Indonesia * Corresponding author’s email: [email protected] ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to precisely identify the types of forest resources utilization in two local communi- ties. All forest plants used were identified and classified based on their types and classes during data collection. Semi-structural interviews through questionnaires were undertaken to obtain daily information. The results showed that there were a total of 64 forest plant life forms and categories extracted for various reasons. Most of the subject forest plants were found in the surrounding lowland tropical forest, the dominant categories were monocotyledons followed by dicotyledons, pteridophytes, and thallophytes. A strong positive correlation was determined between the frequency of species use and the benefit value that was gained (0.6453), while a strong negative correlation was observed between the value of plant’s benefit and the difficulty of access to those plants (-0.2646). Frequency of use and the future prospect of forest plant availability (-0.1405) also showed a negative correlation. Keywords: species richness, tropical forest, local communities, forest plant, edible plant INTRODUCTION current living in interdependency with forests (Cabuy et al., 2012). Papua Island is the largest land mass in the In- The support of the forest for relentless use of donesian archipelago with a total area of 416,129 plant sources is fundamentally important, not only km2 that constitutes millions of living organisms. for balancing the natural ecosystem, but more im- Several natural resources are still in pristine con- portantly, it has been sustainably providing multi- dition and these lands are abundantly covered by benefit incomes in the social aspects of people’s thousands of plant types. The island where one of lives. The people who live and frequently inter- the oldest tropical forests in Asia and the Pacific act with the forest have mostly benefited during is preserved, has the potential to support all liv- their lifetime (Ros-Tonen et al., 2003). Multiple ing activities (Takeuchi et al., 2003; Lekitoo et commodities were provided from the surrounding al., 2017). The fact that native people and tribes forest: staple foods, complementary foods and have benefited from the forest and environment beverages, medicine, housing construction mate- over many generations is the key element on how rials, clothes, and other daily components of the the forest’s support for living is tangible (Klute, local lifestyle. This phenomenon occurred due to 2008). More than 200 tribes and traditional com- a legacy of traditional belief in which forests and munities live in Papua, and most of them continue the whole set of natural components are a fun- to depend on the forest. This is in the portrait of damental heritage from ancestors and should be 92 Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology 2021, 22(1), 92–99 preserved as well as managed in appropriate and information, due to its pivotal contribution, is sustainable ways (Wollenberg and Ingles, 1998; considerably important to disseminate through an Morsello et al., 2012). However, the extraction academic publication. of forest commodities in Papua is varied and de- pends on a tribe’s background, living area, geo- graphical status, etc. Such different circumstances MATERIALS AND METHODS lead to different forest utilization patterns among tribes and forest communities, as well as their fu- Study area ture perspectives towards the long-term benefits The study area was situated in the low land of forests in Papua. tropical forest of Yapen Island in Indonesia New Therefore, the objective of this study was to Guinea which lies between -2°2,4’8,424” and identify the forest plants intended for main and -1°23,4’19,548” South latitude, and between complementary components of living in Natabui 134°56’21,708” and 137°4,2’20,592” East longi- and Papuma villages of Yapen Island in Indo- tude (Center of Statistics Agency, 2018). Two vil- nesian New Guinea. For clarity, the term forest lages, namely Papuma and Natabui were chosen plant used in this study describes all plant species to conduct this study with a duration of 2 months belonging to vascular and non-vascular plants, during the summer of 2011. In general, both pre- plant life forms and plant categories which were ferred study locations are in the same island of found during the field study. The study result will Yapen and close in terms of distance. Both lo- eventually provide a better understanding of for- cations had the same annual rainfall (1500 mm/ est plant distribution and how those plants con- year), temperature range (27–34 °C), relative hu- tributed to living in traditional communities in midity (75–87%). In terms of geographical land- Indonesian New Guinea. Although the data used scape, Natabui village is higher and relatively far were quite old, the significant impact of these from the coastal area, while Papuma is dominant data and the information on the use of forest veg- in the lower area and close to the coastal area. Be- etation in both areas will be very valuable at pres- sides, both areas are still considered to be forested ent since no study or research have been done so with the forest cover of more than 70%. The con- far in terms of identifying the forest benefits to dition then effected the forest vegetation which is the community. In addition, the data and analysis almost alike in both villages. results from this study will be a fundamental con- tribution for governments and related stakehold- ers to design a better management for the forest METHODS resources and manage a sustainable living benefit as a solution for the communities in the area. This Sample methods research outcome will provide a real solution from government to design forest and agro-based The descriptive method involving deep-in- diversification program such as agroforestry to terview and discussion was used in this study. support food availability as well as keep the for- Both deep-interview and discussion are based est ecosystem in the good shape. Moreover, re- on semi-structural questionnaires. In detail, there lated stakeholders such as NGO’s will be able to were four key questions: 1) How often do local determine specific food diversification practices communities interact with the surrounding forests for locals to be more sustainable with their edible and plant resources? 2) What is the benefit of the natural forest resources. plant resources from the forest? 3) How difficult In addition, the contribution of the study will is it to harvest the plant resource? and 4) What is promote high diversity of tropical plant species the future prospect of the availability of plant re- and its distribution based on the geographical sources, based on traditional perspectives in both area across the world. Therefore, it will reveal the villages? These questions were modified and de- tropical forest contribution towards traditional signed based on the previous study by Aronggear living benefit in Indonesian New Guinea which (2010) that were carried out in the both communi- is fundamental to set up a long-term program and ties regarding non-timber forest products as well policy toward the existence and benefit in both as other numerous semi-formal discussions that forest vegetation and communities. Hence, even related to the use of forest resources for fulfill- though the study was done in 2011, this study ing daily needs across several forest communities 93 Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology 2021, 22(1), 92–99 in Papua. These questions were determined based frequency, benefit, access, and sustainability of use on the most daily activities in the community and of forest plants in both villages, a correlation anal- pre-discussion responses that were carried out be- ysis was calculated and performed using corrplot fore the study was undertaken. From the all data package. These data were calculated using R statis- collected during the interviews and discussions tical program (R Development Core Team, 2018). were used to generate a trend of interaction in both villages. RESULTS Respondent preference Local people in both villages extracted 64 In order to obtain the questionnaire data, re- types of forest plants from 33 families. In terms spondents were selected based on the frequency of plant life form, these consisted of 8 palm spe- of interaction with the surrounding forest and their cies, 14 perennial herb species, 4 climbing herb socio-cultural role in the community. The authors species, 2 liana species, 17 tree species, 4 bam- decided to choose 20% from the total population boo species, 4 fern species, 3 shrub species, and of both villages. Sampling is quite effective when 8 mushroom species. In addition to the plant cat- dealing with a large ethnobotany study (Tongco, egory, these were classified as 36 monocotyledon 2007). Therefore, a total of 70 people (n = 70) species, 16 dicotyledon species, 4 pteridophyte (20% of the total population) were chosen to species, and 8 thallophyte species (Figure 3). be respondents from both villages. These par- Most of these plants were consumed daily as food ticipants were then classified as village’s leaders whereas some were used for traditional medicine, (10), religious leaders (4), or as zestfully active housing construction, and as food complements.