Determination of conservation forest status using geographic information system (GIS) :: A case study in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan

AFIFUDIN, M, Dr. Michael Weir

2008 | Tesis | S2 Magister Perencanaan Kota dan Daerah

Based on the consensus system of forest land use, known as TGHK (Tata Guna Hutan Kesepakatan), Indonesian government classify forest into three categories based on their status and function, namely: Conservation Forest, Protected Forest, and Production Forest. In determining forest status, the approach only considers three physical factors (slope, soil, and rainfall). The forest status given by the government leads to uncertainty boundaries occurrence in the field. Conservation forests have the most overlapping boundaries with other land utilization. After the Indonesian government designated forest status as “conservation forest”, the local communities have been prohibited to conduct all activities in this area. This research evaluated the approach used by Ministry of Forestry (MoF) in determining status of conservation forest. This also found out and analyzed socio–economic condition of local communities, and especially examined the interactions and perceptions of forest communities towards conservation forest. The area selected for this research is Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP), in West Kalimantan. Three physical factors (slope, soil, and rainfall) from different sources were analyzed to produce two different TGHK maps. Those map sources are topographic map 1:250 000 for the first TGHK map and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and annual rainfall data for the second TGHK map. On the other side, to know the perception and interaction of local people toward GPNP, 180 respondents from six villages were asked a set of questions (personal information, perception, and interaction). Descriptive statistics were used to describe local community’s perceptions and interaction toward GPNP. The inferential statistic was used to analyze the differences in perceptions of among respondents in GPNP based on gender, age, education, occupations, and income level. For determining the relationship between two variables, frequency values will be analyzed using Chi-square (x2). Based on spatial analysis among three factors of TGHK, there are differences of TGHK classes between TGHK map and official map. According to the official map, the whole 90,000 hectares of GPNP are conservation forest. However, the resulted TGHK map shows that the GPNP should have 99,950 hectares with three TGHK classes (limited production forest, production forest and protection forest). Based on socio-economic aspects, the majority of local people who had poor attitude toward GPNP are those who still perform cutting wood, taking agriculture although they already knew those activities were not allowed inside GPNP. The people with low educational background, low income level, and as farmer had no awareness toward the GPNP. The predominant activity that conducted by local people inside GPNP is converting forest land for shifting agriculture (29%), followed by cutting wood (27%), collecting fruits (20%), collecting fire wood (6 %), hunting animals (6%), and other activities (3%). The whole areas of the GPNP had been threatened by people interaction. Around 4% of GPNP represent as very high risk forest, 18.5% as high risk forest, 39% as moderate high risk forest, and the rest about 38.5% as low risk forest. For each TGHK class, the high and very high risk areas in the limited production forests are around 59%, 10% of production forest (PF), and 12% of protection forest. The study also recommends that the Ministry of Forestry should create more clear criteria, not only considering the physical aspect, but also the ecological and social aspects and should pay more attention to increase educational facilities in order to improve the quality of GPNP.

Kata Kunci : Hutan konservasi,SIG,Persepsi,Masyarakat