Perceptions towards companies and forest conservation in two villages of Uut Murung, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Abstract
An increasing number of companies in industries such as mining or logging with forest conversion plans, are advancing into remote areas in the interior of Kalimantan. This study investigates attitudes of local villagers towards those companies. We conducted a two months expedition to two villages to the sub-district of Uut Murung, Murung Raya, Kalimantan, Indonesia, where the social science team completed questionnaires and semi structured interviews. Factors potentially influencing those attitudes towards companies were analysed using step-wise linear regression, as well as perceived benefits and disadvantages for respondent's livelihoods. In addition, perceptions of the importance of conservation were assessed. Our results show that gender, age, the belief in forest spirits and the number of advantages named, significantly influenced the attitude towards companies. We found communities generally highly receptive to economic development but hostile of environmental degradation, suggesting a difficult trade off between conservation and development. Communities desire the protection of livelihoods and sources of environmental income but also the investment and infrastructure development associated with extractive industries. To find a balance between economic interests from company investments and conservation of the area, we suggest a trans-disciplinary approach which includes different actors - academic and non academic - to be able to protect biodiversity and livelihoods by creating transformation knowledge.