In 2018, the Lore Lindu National Park revised its working zones in order to accommodate a traditional zone of 25,229.6 hectares as a conservation partnership space to be run in cooperation with local communities. The traditional zone is part of a conservation area that has been designated for communities that are dependent upon natural resources, such as food (traditional cultivation) and non-timber forest products, trades which they have engaged in for many generations. After the zoning revision had been completed, the Lore Lindu National Park (Balai Besar TNLL) established a conservation partnership with villages around its area through the Village Conservation Management Institute (LPKD), which was formed by the village head. The conservation partnership is an arrangement that grants the right of access to communities located around the Lore Lindu National Park in relation to the utilisation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), traditional cultivation and the use of environmental services in order to support the life of the community. As of 2021, the Lore Lindu National Park had already established conservation partnerships with 56 villages. Seven of these villages lie in the Regency of Sigi, specifically: North Pakuli, Pakuli, Simoro, Omu, Tuva, Lawua and Toro.
The collaborative activities that are outlined in the Community Conservation Agreement (KKM) stipulate various rights and obligations that apply to the national park and partnering communities. Communities that are involved in conservation partnership cooperation are obliged, in conjunction with the TNLL Center, to maintain the national park area and must also fulfill a number of other requirements that are set out within the cooperation agreement, including increasing human resources in order to support the management of the Lore Lindu National Park and efforts towards biodiversity conservation, maintaining facilitation in order to support the utilization of non-timber forest products, traditional cultivation, the utilisation of aquatic resources in relation to unprotected species and limited natural tourism.
At the present time, the National Park is required to provide direction to and supervise various technical activities, as well as carry out monitoring and evaluations in relation to the activities that are listed under the cooperation agreement. Monitoring processes should aim to determine development and progress, as well as identify problems and formulate solutions in relation to the implementation of community conservation partnerships. As a part of this monitoring regime, the management of the Lore Lindu National Park organized a recent evaluation meeting in order to assess the progress of the community conservation agreement. This meeting was held in the Regency of Sigi in Central Sulawesi between 2 - 3 June 2022.
The evaluation was carried out over a period of two days and the results revealed that the management of the LPKD, though still very much operational, was not currently as active as it had been when assistance had previously been provided. In this regard, management changes had been made to the LPKD in North Pakuli, Simoro and Lawua. Moreover, while some of the equipment possessed by the LPKD was still being used, the condition of others was unknown. In addition, some of the nurseries had been damaged and had not functioned since the seeds had originally been distributed to LPKD members and other communities. However, one success story is the Cinta Lingkungan LPKD, which is located in the village of Simoro and which has planted various types of forestry plants along with seasonal crops as part of its LPKD-related operations.
Ultimately, several recommendations were made in addition to the extension of several PKS that had come to an end, including: improving coordination and cooperation with various parties in order to promote products/multi-businesses and their marketing; Meanwhile, more meetings are required as part of the mentoring of the managements of several businesses, as well as to strengthen the capacities of LPKD members and their institutions while improving access and infrastructure in order to support multi-business activities.
The results of the evaluation will be reported to the Head of the Lore Lindu National Park Office and will be used as a reference during the drawing up of a community empowerment master plan for the area lying around the Lore Lindu National Park in accordance with Regulation of the Director-General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Number P.6/KSDAE/SET/Kum.1/ 6/2018 on Technical Guidelines for Conservation Partnerships in Nature Reserves and Nature Conservation Areas.
For more information, please contact:
Fikty Aprilinayati, Advisor for Sustainable Forest Management and Biosphere Reserve Management
Ismet Khaeruddin, Senior Advisor for the Biodiversity Focal Point for the KFW Forest Program 3 and Provincial Coordinator for Central Sulawesi
