Senin, 31 Maret 2008
By Kristianus Atok and Jeff Fox
Abstract
The Government of Indonesia has good data on forest cover and good data on the human population, but it does not have good data on the size of the population in the forest. The objective of this study was to assess the extent of this deficiency and to develop a methodology for overcoming it --based on field research in the province of West Kalimantan. The project retrieved and combined government data on forest and people, analyzed their significance in terms of numbers of forest-dwelling people, and compared these results with government estimates and an empirical field-check. The product of the project is a methodology for a larger-scale study.
Introduction
Indonesia can be divided into two major areas: “Inner Indonesia” (Java, Madura and Bali) and “Outer Indonesia” (Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi, West Irian, and the remaining Sunda islands). The Outer Islands account for 38 percent of the nation’s population, 93 percent of its land mass, and 98 percent of its forest; 78 percent of the land mass of these islands is classified state-forest lands.
The forests contain some of the most biologically rich ecosystems in the world, encompass more than half of the rain forest remaining in tropical Asia, and their current exploitation for timber, non-timber products, and shifting-cultivation makes a major contribution to the Indonesian economy.
Despite the importance of this forest resource, however, little is known about how many people live in the forest. Because accurate demographic data are vital to the formation and implementation of forest manage policies, this project sought to demonstrate a methodology for using census and other data collected by the Government of Indonesia to determine the number of people living on state-owned lands.
In 1985 the Indonesian Department of Forest estimated that about 1.2 million swidden agriculturalists, approximately six million people , were using an area of 9.3 to 11 million hectares of forest lands. A study funded by British ODA estimated that as of 1991 there were 1,199,970 families of swidden agriculturalists (about 24 million people) were using 35.4 million hectares of forest land. Likewise Poffenberger estimated approximately 30 to 40 million people living in and near 143 million hectares of forest lands in the Outer Islands.
Confusion regarding the number of forest dwellers exists at local level as well. In Bulungan District, East Kalimantan, for example, a research team from Gajah Mada University estimated a population density of 148 people per square kilometer. Whatever the correct figures, it is clear that there are serious problems with the government’s official estimate of the forest population.
In Indonesia the total forest area is about 143 million ha or approximately 74 % of the total land mass. The Indonesian Department of Forest classifies this land as protection forest (30 million ha), nature reserves (19 million ha), limited production forests (31 million ha), permanent production forest (33 million ha), and conversion forest (19 million ha).
In West Kalimantan, total forest cover is 9.2 million hectares or 63% of the land mass in the province. And the human population is 1992 was approximately 3,410,100 people. Logging concessions have rights to approximately 74 percent of this land or 47 percent of the land mass (Alqadrie, 1992). At the least, government plans for use over such a large extent of the land mass can be expected to conflict with, and thus be opposed by, those of the local population. The lack of data on forest-dwelling populations ensures that development planning for both the human population and the natural resource will continually be disrupted be the unexamined nexus between them. This project sought to use existing data sources to shed light on this dilemma.
Methods
This project sought to determine the official boundaries of state forests for the province of West Kalimantan, determine if census data collected by provincial, kabupaten (regency) or kecamatan (district) governments can be combined with forest department data on boundaries to determine--within the accuracy of the data set--how many people live in these areas; and finally conduct an empirical field-count of several samples sites in order to assess the accuracy of official estimates (e.g. from local governments.)
The field study was conducted in Sengah Temila District, Pontianak Regency, and Simpang Hulu District, Ketapang Regency (Figure 1).
These districts were chosen because they were small enough to contain a manageable number of settlements, yet large enough to possess ecological, land use and other kinds of diversity. More importantly, Sengah Temila district was chosen as representative of heavily populated districts close to the provincial capital. Simpang Hulu district, on the other hand, was chosen as representative of rural district with low population densities. Several hamlets within each of these districts were surveyed to determine current populations. These data were compared to census data collected from regency and district level governments. The villages in each district were then located on the 1:50,000 maps. Finally, forest department maps of these areas were located and a geographic information system (GIS) database built to store, maintain and analyze village location, and state-claimed forest cover in a spatial format.
For the purpose of the population survey, members of a household were considered to be all people living in the household, whether they were present or absent during the survey. Members of a household who were absent for six months or more were not counted. Visitors, even those living in the house for more than six months, were also not included. The population survey used government census forms and all households in a village were surveyed in the same month.
Two sets of forest cover maps were acquired. The first were the Indonesian Forest Department forest-planning maps, i.e. TGHK at 1:500,000 scale. The second were the maps developed by the Regional Physical Planning Programme for Transmigration (RePPProt) (1:250,000;1990). While the RePPProt maps are generally considered to be the most accurate (Sirait 1995), they are not officially recognized by the Indonesian Forest Department. The study also acquired 1: 50,000 topographic maps of the surveyed districts.
Results
Accuracy of government population statistics
At the provincial level village level population statistics have been collected for three regencies,(i.e. Pontianak, Sambas, and Sanggau). An analysis of these data (see Table 1) indicate that approximately 9 percent of the population of these three regencies live on state-claimed forest lands. We still have, however, a number of gaps in the database including both areas for which we have not yet acquired maps showing the village locations, and villages named in the census data which we cannot find in the maps.
Table 2 shows the results of the population surveys for the two villages (eight hamlets in Saham village, and 4 hamlets in Mekaraya village). The results show that the government’s population data is highly consistent with the population data of the survey. This means that for the purpose of this analysis we still use population data from the Office of Statistics (Kantor Statistik) at either the regency or provincial level.
Table 2. Comparison of government data and population survey
Village Hamlet Government Data
July 1994 Survey Data
August 1994
Saham 3,075 3,097
Saham 439 496
Bingge 423 427
Palanyo 291 294
Po’ok 152 154
Nangka 486 489
Kase 318 318
Pate 377 379
Padakng 535 540
Mekaraya 1,651 1,672
Banjur-Karab 438 445
Merangin 411 417
Baya 259 261
Kembera 543 549
Forest dweller demographics
Sengah Temila District, Pontianak Regency
The district of Sengah Temila (Figure 1) comprises one of the 19 districts in the Pontianak Regency. According to the 1990 census, the population of the district was 59,115 people, of this we estimate approximately 47, 622 are Dayak Kanayatn (81%), the indigenous people of the area. Sengah Temila is the fourth most populous district in the regency.
Figure 2 shows Sengah Temila District, the location of its 96 hamlets, and state-claimed forests. Based on the official forest planning map of the Indonesian Forest Department (TGHK), 44 hamlets are located on state forests, and within 2 kilometers of state forests are located another 20 hamlets. The population of people living on forest lands in this district is approximately 15,295 people, and 22,243 people live either on forest lands or within 2 kilometers of forest lands.Thus approximately 38% of the population of the district lives on or within 2 kilometers of state forests. Forest-dweller density is approximately 36 people per square kilometer, the same as the average for the entire district. The density of people living in or within a 2 kilometers of the forest is approximately 53 people per square kilometer (greater than the average for entire regency).
Simpang Hulu, Ketapang Regency
The district of Simpang Hulu (Figure 1.) comprises one of 14 districts in the regency. According to the 1990 census, the population of the district was 23,943 (Kantor Statistik Kal-Bar 1991 b) people. The district is comprised of 3,338 square kilometers for an average population density of 7 people per square kilometer. The TGHK maps indicate that the entire district (100%) is covered by state-claimed forests. The population of forest dwellers is thus 100% of the district population, 24,600 people in September 1994 (Kantor Statistik Kec. Simpang Hulu).
Methodology for a larger-scale study
The methodology developed in this project is based on several conclusions. First, we concluded from a small sample of hamlets where we conducted population census counts, that government populations counts are accurate at the hamlet and village levels. This means that we can use government census statistics as accurate representations of human population. In addition we found that census statistics are collected at the village level and that these data are compiled and published at the regency level (e.g. Penduduk Kabupaten Sanggau: Hasil Pencacahan Lengkap Sensus Penduduk 1990 published by the Kantor Statistik Kabupaten Sanggau, Sanggau, West Kalimantan). We can use these statistics to identify the number of people living in each village in the province.
Second, we demonstrated that the 1:50,000 scale topographical maps of West Kalimantan (Bakosurtanal) correctly identify the name and location of the villages listed in the village level population census reports. We conclude that we can use these maps to determine the location of most villages in the province.
Third, we demonstrated that the Indonesian Forest Department forest -planning maps (TGHK) and the RePPProt maps show similar lands as state-claimed forests throughout the province. We can use either set of maps as base maps for delineating state-claimed forests. Because the RePPProt maps , are at larger scale (1:250,000 as opposed to 1:500,000), and include regency boundaries, we feel the make better maps.
Finally, the project demonstrated that GIS technology can be used to integrate the data from these various sources. Using GIS we can develop maps that show the location and population of villages throughout the province, and we can integrate these population maps with state-claimed forest cover maps. In this manner we can develop a database for estimating with a high degree of accuracy the number of people who live on state-claimed forests in the province of West Kalimantan.
Whether we can use this methodology in other provinces is not yet known. Most likely, both the sources of data and their accuracy will vary by province. Thus it may be necessary to develop methods for estimating forest-dweller populations on a province-by province basis.
Conclusion
This project demonstrated that in a highly populated district close to the provincial capital the population density on state-claimed forests was approximately 36 people per square kilometer (see Table 3). In a sparsely populated district completed covered with state-claimed forests population density was approximately 7 people per square kilometer. We hypothesize that the average population density on state-claimed forest lands in West Kalimantan lies somewhere between these two figures. If only 11 people per square kilometer live on state-claimed forests, then approximately 1,000,000 people (30% of the province’s population) lives on state-claimed forests.
These results clearly have policy significance for the Indonesia Forest Department in that they enhance the department’s ability to estimate the number of forest dwellers on lands that it manages. These results also have policy significance for the Census Bureau in that they indicate that their data can be used for estimating forest dweller populations. Finally, these results have policy significance policy-making throughout Asia in that they shed new light on the problematic of forest-dweller demographics.
Table 3: Population density of forest dwellers on state-claimed forest lands--various studies
Area People/kilometer2
Sengah Temila District (densely populated area ) 36
Simpang Hulu District (sparsely populated area) 7
Villages mapped in this study
Bukang (432 people/33km2, Simpang Hulu district) 13
Selantak (126 people/13 km2, Simpang Hulu district) 10
Sekucing (126 people/13km2, Simpang Hulu district) 1
Sidas Daya (337 people/10.7 km2, Sengah Temila district) 31
SFDP Sanggau Regency (17,000 people/1000km2) 17
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