Migration and ethnicity as cultural impact factors on land use change in the rainforest margins of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Human activity endangers tropical forests in different parts of the world. The conflicting interests of nature conservation on the one hand, and the livelihood of farmers living at the forest margins, on the other, clash noticeably in so-called hotspots of biodiversity, such as the Lore Lindu region of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversity generally decreases along a land use gradient from natural forest to agroforestry and annual crop systems. Thus, before solutions for a sustainable balance between conservation and the needs of people living at the forest margins can be sought, changing land use strategies and the factors that influence them must be analyzed. While similar studies often concentrate on economic indicators of land use change only, this chapter highlights the importance of two cultural realities, namely migration and ethnicity. We will demonstrate the great influence of these two factors on land use decisions and on the accessibility of land in the Lore Lindu region. Based on results from previous qualitative studies, we selected three upland villages, which represent a continuum that leads, in terms of migration history, from a pre-transition village, to a transitional village, to a post-transition village. We used quantitative and qualitative methods for our analysis. The results show a general land use change in the region, ranging from a strategy that places food first (e.g., rice) to one that places cash first, especially by the cultivation of cacao. This change cannot be observed to the same extent in the study region as a whole. It varies from village to village, depending on the share of households belonging to the Bugis migrants. Bugis as an ethnic group and as migrants have an enormous effect on the land use decisions of local ethnic groups in their respective villages. Strong ethnic networks among Bugis migrants play an important role not only with respect to their village preferences, but also with respect to the transfer of knowledge regarding agricultural management. A lack of interaction between local and migrant ethnic groups results in differences in the efficiency of cacao cultivation. While the Bugis migrants mainly buy their agricultural land from local farmers or, depending on the village’s migration history, from other Bugis households, members of the autochthonous ethnic group usually clear the primary forest. The findings of the present study reveal that an analysis of migration and ethnicity is a crucial precondition to finding sustainable solutions for ensuring that the margins of the rainforest in the Lore Lindu region remain stable. This chapter will emphasize that, in addition to economic considerations, an analysis of the cultural forces that influence land use changes cannot be neglected.