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Sustainable Tourism in Indonesia
Running head: SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN INDONESIA
Is Operation Wallacea’s Eco-tourism in Indonesia sustainable?
Emily McIntyre
3378148
TREN 3P90
John Middleton
September 20, 2007
Table of Contents:
1.0 Introduction 3
1.1Background 4
1.2 Rationale 5
1.3 Purpose 5
1.4 Objectives 6
1.5 Methodology 7
2.0 Sustainable Tourism Application 8
2.1 Socio-cultural Context 8
2.2 Economic Context 11
2.3 Environmental Context 13
2.4 Transportation 16
3.0 Findings 17
3.1 Barriers, Gaps and Implications 18
3.2 Recommendations for future 19
3.3. Limitations 23
3.4 Conclusion 24
4.0 References 25
5.0 Appendix 34
1.0 Introduction:
According to Ormsby and Mannle 2006, eco-tourism is defined as environmentally responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features – both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations.
This is going to be discussed through the case study of Operation Wallacea’s conservation project in Indonesia. This research is going to explore the ways they have applied sustainable principles into practice through their research based eco-tourism projects.
This paper intends to explore the core components of sustainability: social, economic and environment as shown in the diagram below.
(Centre for Regional Sustainability of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 2007)
According to the WTO 2007, if all aspects of sustainability are encompassed it has the potential to reduce poverty, foster human development and provide great opportunities for empowerment alongside certain environmental benefits of tourism.
1.1 Background:
In 1996, Operation Wallacea recognized that the Wakatobi National Park is the second largest marine park and one of the most biologically diverse marine parks in the world (Operation Wallacea, 2007). Therefore Operation Wallacea recognized the need to conserve the reefs and to use them for research and publications ranging from ecology to best practices of conservation management (Operation Wallacea, 2007). Operation Wallacea has managed to do this by bringing paying tourists to conduct research or scuba dive at the Wakatobi National Park. Their tourism has continued to grow in popularity at this site despite the political uncertainty and bad international press that Indonesia has been faced with (Elliot, Mitchell, Wiltshire, Manan and Wismer, 2001), including the Bali bombing in 2002 at a popular nightclub in Kuta Bay by a radical Islam group aimed at the Western-led tourist destination (Hollinshed, 2003).
According to Operation Wallacea 2007, their conservation project in Indonesia has developed to the fourth and final stage of its development growing from an assessment of ecosystem diversity and function to establishing and monitoring the effectiveness of conservation management programmes (See Appendix A for a complete description of each stage).
1.2 Rationale:
Through field research, I wanted to gain an informative, exciting and rich personal experience that allowed me to seek understanding about sustainable tourism through observation in a natural setting (Kazdin 2000). This is important because eco-tourism is a booming industry. Through spending time in this remote setting and gaining firsthand knowledge, it was my goal to determine alternatives to overcome barriers as well as recommendations for the future.
1.3 General Purpose of Field Research:
This study aims to evaluate the viability of sustainable tourism at Kaledupa, which is inclusive of Sampela (a sea-based community on the coast of the island) and Hoga (a small island just off Kaledupa).
(Operation Wallacea, 2007)
This research will be through personal observations of Operation Wallacea’s village tourism and marine-based activities from a sustainable tourism and development standpoint but did not include any formal interviews or surveys, as no permission or clearance had been applied for.
1.4 Main Objectives:
1. To observe whether Operation Wallacea is an agent for socio-cultural and economic development.
2. To observe human consumption patterns and environmental practices through on-site behaviour.
3. To accumulate literary knowledge and in field observations to determine benefits, barriers, implications and recommendations for the future.
1.5 Methodology:
This study will be done through personal observations and lectures at Kaledupa, Samenella and Hoga. Participant observation is a way to seek understanding through qualitative methods by conducting research in natural settings involving social interaction between the researcher and the informants (Kazdin 2000). The goal of this qualitative research is to examine sustainable tourism through different vantage points, where each stakeholder is equally important (Kazdin 2000). Personal observations were based on how tourists behave in an Indonesian context and how the local culture and environment responds to their behaviour. This study is also inclusive to a literature review of Operation Wallacea and other worldly case studies that was done prior to my research to determine various benefits to sustainable and volunteer tourism.
The study was conducted over a two-week period, which involved one week in Kaledupa living amongst the local residents and one week on Hoga an island beside the national marine park. No formal interviews or surveys were made.
Research Design:
Sample Frame: I was able to personally observe tourists and staff members as well as the locals in Ambeua, Kaledupa, one of the seventeen villages. There were also visits to two villages to attend lectures and to witness traditional activities and a visit to the Bajo community of Sampela, where there was lecture by the Shaman. During the stay, I was immersed directly into the culture through a home stay with an Indonesian woman.
The second week was at Hoga where I participated in an open water scuba dive course. This enabled me to observe the instructors and fellow divers behaviour.
Sample Population: The key players in these observations were local and western staff, landlords, student volunteers, local stakeholders on Kaledupa and the Bajo community.
Based on this, I was able to make comparisons of the practices that are in place. This study is limited as it cannot gain a holistic understanding of sustainable tourism on Kaledupa as it is mainly based in one village, Ambeua and because there were no formal interviews or surveys. Although there were visits to two other villages and the Bajo community there was not a substantial amount of time spent there. More emphasis on observing the locals who were not directly involved with Operation Wallacea would have yielded important additional information.
2.0 Sustainable Tourism Application:
More then 80% of the population of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore live within 50 km of the coast, giving high reliance on the coastal zone not only for food but other livelihoods (World Resources 2001). Therefore a balance needs to be determined on Kaledupa to deal with the local and tourist needs. A balance for long-term needs must also be determined as there is a heavy reliance on the marine life, natural resources as well as social and economic considerations.
2.1 Socio-Cultural Context:
This is a very important facet of tourism that Operation Wallacea has to consider in all aspects of their management plan particularly their strategies and operations. By working to understand their traditional knowledge and cultural variables, Operation Wallacea can adopt raised awareness towards a culturally sensitive management regime.
In recent years, there has been a shift from a science-based focus to incorporate social science-based volunteers to help determine tourism’s effect on culture (Operation Wallacea, 2007). According to Sofield (2002), identity is rooted in the complex interconnections between people, the resources for which they have rights and responsibilities, knowledge of the laws, and possession of the traditional ecological knowledge associated with all these elements. Operation Wallacea has worked alongside the locals to develop this destination by teaching them English, providing them information about conservation and the fundamentals of tourism. The local consumption patterns have been largely adopted by Operation Wallacea in order to not heavily stress their supplies (See Environmental Context for more details). Operation Wallacea has put forth an effort to make the island publicly aware about their presence through making radio announcements. This has helped to clear confusion about their presence as well as inform the locals on conservation issues. Operation Wallacea’s work is also pushing towards traditional Kaledupan practices such as traditional fishing by informing them of the consequences of practices such as fish bombing and the damage that is done to the reefs.
Operation Wallacea has helped to raise awareness by working closely with a non-profit organization on Kaledupa known as FORKANI (standing for Forum and Kani, memories of the past, with the intentions to bring them to the future), showing that they want future generations to thrive off the same resources as they used to live and support their economy. FORKANI is inclusive to members of the Bajo community, which also portrays an important step in working together with other communities to maintain their resources. This organization was developed because to create ways of involving Kaledupans in conservation initiatives to help put an end to the illegal fishing boats, fish bombs and other issues that occur on their reefs.
Operation Wallacea has provided them with the knowledge of sustainable fisheries and the critical need to conserve the coral reefs and sustainably develop Kaledupa. At present, their group only encompasses Kaledupa, but intends to work together in the future with representatives in all of the Wakatobi National Park (FORKANI Representative, 2007). According to Bramwell and Lane 2000, the co-operative approach that FORKANI plans to adopt can offer a broad range of benefits such as sharing of research, information, funding, labour, and/or expertise. Commitment to other formalised planning activities such as regional planning and environmental impact assessment are also potential activities that could be integrated (Bramwell and Lane, 2000).
Women:
Remote and rural destinations are likely to have traditionally structured communities (Fennell 1999). This is applicable to Kaledupa, which still comprises of very traditional villages with women accustomed to very established roles. Therefore, women’s work only consists of working in the markets, selling sarongs and working as a housewife. According to Mas 1999, as quoted by Scheyvens 2000, a village in Bali has a sustainable tourism initiative established and managed by a woman, where each guest pays US $1 per day to the village. This money supports the upkeep of the village, is used for temple festivities and provides a hardship fund for locals who face difficulties such as illness (Scheyvens, 2000). This would be a great recommendation for a local woman to become involved and to ensure the money is going directly into the community.
Operation Wallacea has granted the opportunity to offer jobs to a number of women in areas such as laundry, cooking, participating in the home stay as well as supporting other businesses they are involved with such as the markets and the purchasing of sarongs.
Local Empowerment:
Operation Wallacea has found ways of facilitating local empowerment of both men and women to help them gain a sense of pride and awareness of the importance of their natural resources and control over their own development (Scheyvens, 2000). At present, the communities are accepting and enthusiastic with Operation Wallacea’s presence as it allows them to feel a sense of pride provides them with an opportunity to learn English, converse with Westerners and learn how to conserve their reefs (Clifton and Benson, 2006). The excitement among the Bajo community seemed to be particularly enthusiastic as there were smiles from everyone and the huge crowd surrounding the Westerners at all times when we made our visit. It seems that experience has been a great teacher for them and they have not only seized the opportunity for economical reasons, but social and cultural reasons as well.
2.2 Economic Context:
This is arguably the most important facet of Operation Wallacea’s presence on Kaledupa as it is a great tool for development in such a struggling economy. Through tourism many positive economic benefits can be generated such as alleviating poverty, unemployment, inequality and self-reliance (Wall 1997). This is a great way for Kaledupans to differentiate their economy from fishing as well as to help support local markets and other local craftsmanship. It is crucial that Operation Wallacea has emphasized long-term needs and has attempted to balance the environmental, economic and social needs of the society.
A major shortcoming is the heavy involvement in Ambeua, Kaledupa and not the other sixteen villages. The local residents in this neighbourhood are the ones who are involved with local government or who are fishermen in Malaysia and are not in dire financial need as seen through the comfortable living in the home stay experience. The main reason that Operation Wallacea is based in this village is because the office was built near the police and so the volunteers could have a more comfortable living amidst their home stay. The Westerners have already completely away from their comfort zone and have proven to be prepared for that sort of adventure, and so living in a poverty-struck neighbourhood is just another way to heighten their experience.
In order to keep this small-scale eco-tourism approach it would be beyond the scope of Operation Wallacea to encompass all the villages in their operations. Therefore the company has put forth an effort to spread their income to different villages on Kaledupa. This is done in various ways such as taking the volunteers on local village trips, encouraging visits to other markets and paying stakeholders for lectures and interviews. Research students are also encouraged to work in other villages, where interviewees are paid. For such a small-scale tourism operation that operates for only 3 months of the year, it is hard to make a huge economic difference (See 3.2 Recommendations for the future on ideas to help tackle this problem).
Another limitation in trying to equalize the economic impact is that to be a part of Operation Wallacea, you need to have a certain skill such as speaking English, or be able to offer something such as a boat or land. Therefore many locals do not have the ability to contribute. Another initiative Operation Wallacea should offer is training programs to help expand the population of locals that can partake in their operation. This form of training has shown to be an effective eco-tourism benefit at the Masoala National Park in Madagascar another area in which has rough living condition, lack of accessibility, infrequent flight availability and extreme weather conditions (Ormsby and Mannle 2006). Those who are already working for Operation Wallacea need continual learning on conservation and sustainable tourism so eventually a community-led management can occur.