Beneath a leaking (legal) umbrella: an experiment in collaborative management of the TAHURA (Grand Forest Park) Nipa-Nipa

Abstract

In 1999, an area of 7877.5 ha located on the slopes above Kendari town, was designated as “Grand Forest Park” (Taman Hutan Raya or TAHURA) Nipa-Nipa (Ministrial decree No. 103/Kpts-II/1999), with the function to protect the town from landslides and floods and for biodiversity protection. However, although the area had been designated as forest since 1958, parts of the forest had been settled, mostly by migrants. Its declaration as a protection forest and conservation area in the 1980s did not consider these people and their local management; consequently leading to a long series of conflicts. Already in 1974, the provincial government started rehabilitation efforts and forcefully moved hundreds of people to Sambuli and Anduonohu villages in the area of Kecamatan Poasia, Kendari City. However, within a few years most of the families had returned to Nipa-Nipa and since then have resisted all efforts to relocate them. As in other conservation areas, efforts to ban people from ‘encroaching’ on the TAHURA area has met with little success, worsening relationships between local authorities and communities