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Collaborative Environmental Project in Indonesia ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT |
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Social
Impacts During Project Anticipation in Molas, Indonesia and The Role of
Social Impact Assessment. by:
Jennifer L. Walker (e-mail
address: jl.walker@home.com) Thesis
for Master of Environmental Studies University of Waterloo, 1998 The purpose of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is to measure and evaluate social impacts introduced by development projects, usually over the peak periods of development activity: site preparation, construction, operation, and (if applicable) decommissioning and abandonment. However, evidence suggests that social impacts begin before physical development takes place, even as soon as development plans are announced. The purpose of this research is to examine how and why project anticipation can create social impacts, and to make recommendations regarding the role which SIA could play during project anticipation. A
case study involving tourism development in Molas village, North Sulawesi,
Indonesia was used in order to establish (1) activities and actions which
have taken place during anticipation of tourism development, and (2) how
and why village residents were responding to the anticipated development.
A longitudinal, grounded research approach was used through which
the evolution of livelihood strategies was traced in order to establish
how changes in biophysical, political/legal, economic, social, cultural
and psychological variables caused beliefs, practices, goals and
aspirations to evolve. Participatory,
flexible, informal, rapid and varied methods were used to ensure research
flexibility, that locals were able to participate and identify information
to include in the research, and that results reflected their opinions of
the changes taking place during project anticipation. The
research documented that, in Molas, changes had been introduced to each of
the valued components of the human environment as a result of activities
and actions which had taken place during project anticipation.
Altered access to resources and anticipated change to land cover
altered the biophysical component. Transfer
of decision-making power and promotion of a favorable attitude toward
tourism altered the political/legal component.
Land speculation and the altered economic orientation of the
village changed the economic component.
Incorporation into the Kotamadya Manado, alterations to
social cohesion, patterns of interaction and stability, and the
anticipated social decline through tourism altered the social component.
Incorporation into the Kotamadya Manado, and the altered
cultural environment changed the cultural component.
Finally, pressures to conform to the dominant attitude of tourism,
and fear, anxiety and uncertainty altered the psychological component. Key
social impacts which had emerged in response to historical changes in
valued components were: altered orientation, stability and productivity of
the biophysical environment; decreased economic security and increased
multiple job holdings; transfers of political power and promotion of
ideology; decline of cultural strength and significance; increased
emphasis on education and social change in the younger generation; and the
adoption of valued, goals and aspirations based on ‘modernization’.
These changes had caused villagers to create new livelihood
strategies. As a result,
villagers identified short-term and long-term opportunities and threats
associated with the changes which had taken place to components of the
human environment. While
villagers were making livelihood strategy and long-term adaptation
decisions regarding tourism development during the project anticipation
stage, they were generally unprepared for the opportunities and negative
impacts which tourism would introduce. Based
on this research, it is recommended that SIA begin as soon as development
plans are announced, that SIA practitioners ensure full communication of
the opportunities and threats inherent in a proposed development to host
communities during project anticipation, and that SIA be employed during
project anticipation to assess and address community needs in order to
enable them to more fully benefit from development opportunities. |
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