Collaborative Environmental Project in Indonesia

ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Community-Based Strategies for a Sustainable Lifestyle in the Coastal Environment

 A Focus on the Culture, Lifestyle and Related Activities of the Mola Villagers in WAKATOBI National Park, Indonesia

by: Bonnie M. Wiltshire

(e-mail address: bmwiltsh@yorku.ca)

Thesis for Master of Environmental Studies University of Waterloo, 1999

The regional focus of this research is Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, specifically the WAKATOBI National Park (WNP).  The Park covers an area of 1.39 million hectares (13,000 km²), and includes all coral reefs (karang), islands, and communities within its boundaries.  Its unique characteristic is the presence of culturally distinct fishing communities, the Sama-Bajo, unique to Southeast Asia, residing within the boundaries of the park.  The largest of them live in Mola village adjacent to Wangiwangi Island.  There is a need for community-specific solutions to assure a sustainable lifestyle for Mola villagers.  The goal of this study is therefore to examine the cultural and lifestyle characteristics of the Mola community’s interaction with the coastal environment.

General criteria applied to developing solutions for a sustainable lifestyle for the Mola community are that solutions be ecologically viable, socially acceptable, and economically feasible.  Findings of the research were that problems in the coastal areas of WNP include the use of fertilizer bombs and KCN in fishing activities, and coral mining by Mola villagers.  Additional concerns include the impacts of harvesting giant clams and boat activities on the coral reefs, and illegal fishing by outside groups.  While a system of reporting is in place to catch and process offenders, many obstacles prohibit effective action.  The perception of law enforcers is, however, that Mola villagers are largely responsible for most of the coastal area problems.

The traditional lifestyle of the Sama-Bajo ancestors has given way to a new way of co-existing with the coastal environment while maintaining core cultural characteristics.  Evidence of changes present themselves in the shift from living on leppa-leppa to living in houses including modern technologies and conveniences, and in Mola engagement in small and large-scale commercial fishing and marine harvesting activities driven by economic forces.  It is evident, however, that many Mola are still skilled in viable trades that have been part of their family tradition.  Important factors that influence the interactions of the Mola community in their environment include:  (1) Mola education, (2) culture and lifestyle, (3) language, (4) economic activities, and (5) issues of coastal area management and protection.  Influential driving forces relative to  Mola activity are environment, economics, politics, tourism and coral reef protection, and conservation and management trends.

This study concludes that there is a need for the Mola community to minimize the impacts of their interactions with their coastal environment using community-based solutions, and that a community-based strategy for lifestyle and resource management by the Mola community is ideal.  However, such strategies cannot facilitate, by themselves, a sustainable lifestyle for the Mola in the WNP, given the unique factors regarding their interaction with their environment and additional considerations such as the multiple users within the area.  As such, marine park managers and coastal area law enforcers should simultaneously employ holistic management strategies directed at marine resource conservation in the greater area of WNP.  Recommendations fall into the areas of (1) the organization of the Mola community into groups and cooperatives for the purpose of community maintenance and economic well-being, respectively; (2) NGO-facilitated education and promotion of awareness in the Mola community about the impacts of their non-sustainable activities on the marine environment; (3) NGO-facilitated community-based waste management regimes; and (4) the holistic assessment of marine resource use by all fishers in WNP and the deterrence of illegal outside fishers through active intervention.

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