Assessing people's perceptions of forests in Danau Sentarum Wildlife reserve

Abstract

Previous research identified three important issues of relevance to forest peopleÕs roles in sustain- able forest management which we address here: the presence of a Òconservation ethicÓ, a feeling of closeness to the forest, and a significant forest-culture link. In this paper we examine a method (the Galileo), recently pre-tested for this purpose in West Kalimantan, which we hope can help us to assess such issues quickly, reliably and in a quantitative manner amenable to use by would-be assessors of various educational and experiential levels. We describe the method, suggest improve- ments for future tests, and present some of our findings from West Kalimantan. We conclude with questions that emerged during our pre-test, and others that remain for subsequent research.