Socio-economic considerations for land use planning: The case of Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan

Shantiko B. et al., 'Socio-economic considerations for land use planning: The case of Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan', CIFOR Working Paper no. 120, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), 2013

Understanding the socio-economic conditions, the drivers for land use change and economic development, along with cultural and social characteristics, is essential to ensure that land use decisions are made that ensure positive economic and social outcomes are optimised. The CoLUPSIA socio-economic team researched the conditions facing communities and individual households across four pilot areas, each area representing different socio-economic and environmental/ bio-physical conditions. Household, village, key interview surveys and focus group discussions, were completed for 876 households, 22 villages, equivalent to approximately 7.2% of the total number of households and 10% of villages in Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan. The results highlight the challenges that face the communities and how these vary across the pilot sites. For example in Pilot 1 is located within the boundaries of two national parks, land is more restricted as communities face unclear boundaries, and Pilot 2 located to the east of Putussibau, the villagers are heavily dependent on natural resources, with relatively limited economic opportunities but gold mining which has environmental consequence and face a legality issues. In Pilot 3 and 4, exhibit case of communities are more dependent on diverse source of livelihoods such as rubber production, gold mining and paid employment. Oil palm plantations increasingly become an alternative employment as well as has potential negative impact to environment. The results of the socio-economic survey aim to provide a baseline that provides an understanding of the relationship between the communities in Kapuas Hulu regency and the natural resources use and non- use, coupled with the needs for economic development. The resulting challenges and opportunities are identified and can be used in the development of land use planning processes and where possibly in the development of Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES) schemes