The role of the adat instution in forest conservation :: A case study of-Manekat adat institution in Amarasi Sub-District Kupang Regency Indonesia
WIDARYATI, Anindya, Ir. Bakti Setiawan, M.A.,Ph.D
2009 | Tesis | S2 MPKDMasyarakat Adat di Indonesia mempunyai kearifan lokal dalam menjaga lingkungan sebagai bagian dari sosial budaya mereka selama berabad-abad. Lembaga Adat sendiri merupakan organisasi sosial masyarakat Adat yang mempunyai tujuan untuk menjaga dan mengembangkan sosial budaya masyarakat Adat berdasarkan sejarah atau asal mulanya. Manekat, sebuah lembaga Adat yang berada di wilayah Tahura Prof. Ir. Herman Yohanes di Kabupaten Kupang, NTT mempunyai kearifan lokal dalam mengelola hutan. Tahura ini berfungsi sebagai hutan lindung dan konservasi yang mempunyai peranan vital bagi wilayah sekitarnya yaitu sebagai penyuplai air untuk sungaisungai bawah tanah, bendungan dan daerah pertanian. Sejak runtuhnya Orde Baru, perusakan Tahura semakin meningkat dan mencapai puncaknya di masa Reformasi. Tesis ini mencoba mengetahui masalah dan penyebab dari perusakan Tahura; keefektifan dari peranan Lembaga Adat Manekat untuk menjaga hutan dan menganalisa seberapa jauh peranan Lembaga Adat tersebut di masa yang akan datang untuk menjaga hutan. Data diperoleh dari interview, kuesioner dan pengamatan lapangan. Data sekunder diperoleh melalui desk study. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) kerusakan hutan pada masa Reformasi didominasi oleh penebangan liar, pembalakan lahan, penggembalaan ternak dan kebakaran hutan. Hal ini disebabkan karena ketidakhadiran polisi hutan untuk mengontrol hutan karena perubahan internal organisasi Dinas Kehutanan dan tidak adanya pengakuan akan peranan Lembaga Adat; (2) setelah pembentukan kembali Lembaga Adat Manekat, perusakan hutan berkurang dan kondisi hutan stabil. Lembaga Adat terbukti efektif dalam mengelola hutan secara berkesinambungan melalui ketaatan masyarakat terhadap aturan adat dan sangsinya; partisipasi yang baik dari masyarakat dalam pertemuan dan aktifitas adat; sistem pengontrolan hutan yang efektif melalui pemantauan rutin dan rantai informasi; pemecahan masalah-masalah kehutanan melalui Adat dan pengakuan dari pemerintah akan hak-hak masyarakat adat untuk mengelola hutan Adat sebagai bagian dari kehidupan mereka.
The Adat communities, a specific indigenous peoples living in Indonesia, have their own knowledge system, socio-culture, language and institution and most of them were be able to keep the nature for long time. The Adat Institution refers to a social organization which has objectives to conserve and to develop the Adat culture based on its history or its derivation. Manekat, an Adat Institution which is located in the Grand Forest Park Prof. Ir. Herman Yohanes in Kupang Regency, has it’s own local knowledge to manage and protect the forest. The forest is a protected and conservation forest which has important functions for the surrounding area and Kupang City i.e. water supplier to underground rivers and Tilong Dam which serve the City and water suplier to the agriculture area Oesao. There were increasing rate of deforestation since the fall of Suharto Regime (1998) and achieved the highest level of deforestation in the Reformation Era (1998-1999). This thesis looked into the problems and the causes of deforestation; the effectiveness of the role of the Adat institution to cope these problems; and the future of the Adat institution and the forest based on the role of the Adat institution itself. This research is a descriptive exploratory research to explore and describe the effectiveness of the role of the Adat institution in forest conservation using a mix of a case study and survey strategy to an Adat institution named –Manekat- in Amarasi Sub District, Kupang Regency, Indonesia. The fieldwork was done for one month from the end of July to the end of August 2008 in Amarasi Sub District, Kupang Regency, Indonesia. The research instruments were a combination of in depth interviews to 12 interviewees and open ended questionnaires to 50 respondents from the Adat community members who were taken by purposive random sampling. The main findings of the research are that (1) the problems in the forest i.e. illegal logging; land occupation for agriculture and settlement; cattle grazing and forest fire were caused by absence of government agencies to control the forest caused by the changing in forest management in forestry body and no recognition to the role of the Adat Institution in forest conservation which was happened during the Reformation Era; (2) after re-establishment of Manekat – the Adat Institution, the forest has been in stable condition. the Adat instution has been proven effective in managing and governing the forest through the people’s knowledgeable of the rules; loyalty of the community to the tradition; the Adat community participation in the Adat meeting and activities related to forest protection; effective forest monitoring system; power of sanctions; problem solving and the rights to organize. The recommendations which are arising from this study are that the ability of the Adat communities in managing and governing the common should be considered as positive aspects in protecting the nature. The involvement of the Adat communities in the development of the area are important. For the future, support from the authorities is needed such as buiding infrastructure and facilities and mapping the area. Further, some tourism potential aspects can be developed to increase local economic growth through involving the Adat community members
Kata Kunci : Lembaga adat,Aturan dan sangsi,Partisipasi,Sistem monitoring,Konservasi hutan, The Adat institution, rules and sanctions, participation, monitoring system, forest conservation.
