COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN REHABILITATION, CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF MANGROVES: LESSONS FROM COASTAL AREAS OF SOUTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Abstract

Local people in Tongke Tongke of Sinjai District, located on southeast coast of South Sulawesi (Indonesia), began to rehabilitate the coastal condition through mangrove plantation following example of the Pangasa villagers. They extended plantation plots step by step by planting seedlings of Rhizophora mucronata and succeeded in establishing mangrove forests Nowadays, they can provide mangrove seedlings to other districts in South Sulawesi, such as Bulukumba, Maros and Bantaeng, through mangrove rehabilitation programs supported by the Department of Forestry. The study was carried out in areas where mangrove conservation and rehabilitation were initiated and promoted collaboratively by both local people and governmental institutions in order to clarify the role of community participation in utilization, conservation and management of mangroves. Since mangrove conservation requires long–term maintenance, the expectation of local people in terms of both short-term and long-term economic benefits to be obtained from mangrove rehabilitation should be taken into consideration.