Revised paper, 3 January 2011
IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ON
UPLAND POOR’S LIVELIHOODS :
CASES OF SOUTH KALIMANTAN (INDONESIA) AND SARAWAK
(MALAYSIA)[footnoteRef:2] [2: This exploratory paper is based on
the reports of the recently conducted two field studies, one in the
province of South Kalimantan (Indonesia) and another in the state
of Sarawak (Malaysia), as well as a limited literature study. The
one in South Kalimantan was conducted and reported by Haris
Fadillah, Ahmad Yunani, Gusti Fahmi Adliansyah, and Danang Adhinata
from Lambung Mangkurat University (UNLAM), Banjarmasin, South
Kalimantan; while the one in Sarawak, was by Wong Swee Kiong and
Ling How Kee from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Kota
Samarahan, Sarawak. This paper has also benefitted from the
comments made by Evi Nurvidya Arifin (Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies, Singapore) and the assistance of Chua Cheng Siew (National
University of Singapore).]
By: Aris Ananta, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies,
Singapore[footnoteRef:3] [3: Aris Ananta is Senior Research Fellow
at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. He can be
contacted at [email protected], and [email protected] . With
Richard Barichello, he edited the book Poverty, Food, and Global
Recession in Southeast Asia. Is the Crisis Over for the Poor?
Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, forthcoming
(2011).]
Background Paper for Conference on the “Environment of the
Poor”, 24-26 November 2010, New Delhi[footnoteRef:4] [4: For more
information, see the conference website:
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2010/Environments-Poor/default.asp]
SUMMARY
The poor have often been blamed for environmental degradation,
as being poor has caused them to destroy the environment. However,
this study concludes that poverty is not the sufficient condition
of the environmental degradation. It is only the necessary
condition. The sufficient condition is the existence of a third
party (big companies) that destroys the environment. The poor join
the big companies because they see an opportunity to sustain their
livelihood or even increase their income.
We recommend three policies to be implemented simultaneously, in
addition to the full enforcement of the laws against environmental
degradation. First is to create alternative employment
opportunities for the local people so that they do not depend on
activities which are harmful to their own environment. However, the
people, including those from outside their area, may continue
contributing to the environmental degradation. The people may not
be able to resist joining the big companies in the environmentally
harmful activities as long as their own income will rise. We cannot
expect them to have a long vision.
Therefore, we need the second policy, that is to create
employment opportunities which heavily depend on the bio-diversity
of the environment. By doing so, it is for the interest of the
local people to protect and enhance their environment. They will
protest and resist companies and developmental projects which
destroy their environment.
However, such a policy may not work well if those multi-national
companies offer incentives and other forms of compensation
(“bribery”) to the local people. Thus, we need the third policy,
that is to enlist all goods produced by companies which destroy the
environment. The list of the goods is then published and
disseminated to all over the world, through credible sources such
as international websites. The consumers have the right to know
whether the goods and services they consume are harmful to the
environment and/or are produced using environmentally harmful
activities. The strong campaign to increase the consumers’
awareness will greatly reduce the demand for such products and
consequently reduce profit of the companies. The decline in the
profit will reduce the companies’ motivation to destroy the
environment.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
The issues of poverty reduction and environmental conservations
are very closely related. Comim, Kumar, and Sirven (2009), for
example, even called the two issues as twin goals in economic
development. The poor depend so much on their natural resource base
and primary production sources that the degradation of the
environment will have a negative impact on their livelihoods.
However, the poor have often been blamed for environmental
degradation, as being poor has caused them to destroy the
environment. This issue of poverty and environment actually dates
back to the time of Malthus in the 18th century, with population
growth as the main villain, in his publications on “An Essay on the
Principles of Population”. Malthus argued that poverty and having
too many children had brought the poor surviving on livelihoods
that destroyed their own environment. As mentioned in United Nation
Environment Programme (1995), the people’s constraints (education,
information, health, and income) made them unable to make a long
term planning. Their choices are limited and they have no control
of their future.
Even, improvement in the environment may not be seen positively
by the local people, as they do not have better alternative
livelihoods. Because they benefit from the environmentally harmful
livelihoods, they may often resist environment rehabilitation
programs. For example, Cao et al (2010) found that farmers,
livestock grazers and forest workers were disadvantaged by the
“Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP)” in the dry-land areas
of Northern Shaanxi Province, China. The program had successfully
banned logging and grazing in the forest, and the people around the
forest had lost their income as logging and grazing were their main
livelihoods. This study also showed that the poorer the people, the
more they suffer from the forest conservation program. Therefore,
not surprisingly, the youngest and oldest population as well as the
women were those who suffered the most from the conservation
program. The study recommended that the government provide economic
assistance to compensate the loss of income due to the forest
conservation program.
Southeast Asia is a region where the timber logging industries
have contributed significantly to government revenues. For example,
rents from timber had become an important source for economic
growth, government revenue and fiscal capacity in Malaysia. A large
group of Japanese companies imported a very large volume of forest
and agricultural resources from Southeast Asia. About 90 per cent
of this import since 1970s came from Indonesia, East Malaysia
(Sarawak and Sabah), and the Philippines. They built a long chain
of business linkages to evade taxes and royalties through a
patron-client networks, to maintain the low prices, resulting in
destructive logging practices. This pattern is especially seen in
Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines (Daniel, Lebel, and Nan
2009)
Large areas of Southeast Asia’s forest has also been replaced
with oil-palm plantation, which has recently become the world’s
most highly demanded crop. On the other hand, oil palm plantation
has often destroyed the bio-diversity of the environment. It
results in habitat fragmentation and pollution, such as greenhouse
gas emissions. It can only support a smaller number of species
compared to the support from forest and other tree crops.
Therefore, oil-palm industries can only be continued only if they
can avoid their destruction on the bio-diversity of the forest.
(Fitzherbert et al 2008)
Southeast Asia is also a region where economic growth has been
side by side with over-exploitation of its environment. Economic
liberalization and FDI (foreign direct investment) have brought
negative externality, which is seldom taken into account in their
cost-benefit analyses. Southeast Asia has suffered from a crisis in
its social-ecological sub-system. As an illustration is the
over-exploitation of forest resources in this region by unwise,
often greedy and corrupt, logging industries, who moved from one
country to another to maintain their timber markets. On the other
hand, at the same time, the importing countries, such as Japan,
have worked hard to protect their own environment, including
forest. (Lebel 2009)
Another illustration is mining activities, which have changed
the use and degraded the quality of land. The soil fertility
declined and the soil eventually became infertile (Ghose 2004).
Salafsky and Wollenberg (2000) recommended alternative
employment opportunities for people living near to areas rich of
natural resources. An even better alternative is to create
employment opportunities that depend on the sustainability of the
environment. With this strategy, the micro view from the locals is
compatible with the macro view of the environmentalists. This
policy will is also aid in the conservation program of the natural
resources. Therefore, as mentioned in Comim, Kumar, and Sirven
(2009), any effective policy on poverty reduction should be based
on a full understanding on the very close relationship between the
environment and livelihoods of the poor.
This paper aims to have in-depth experience on the impact of
change in environment on the livelihoods of the communities,
particularly in the province of South Kalimantan (Indonesia) and
the state of Sarawak (Malaysia). It tries to suggest some policy
recommendations to protect and improve environment through
improving the livelihoods of the people. It is an exploratory study
which needs to be followed by deeper studies, to test the wider
applicability of the policy recommendations suggested in this
paper.
METHOD OF ANALYSIS
As an exploratory study, this paper does not intend to be
exhaustive on all impacts of environment on poverty through changes
in the poor’s livelihoods. It concentrates on the Island of Borneo,
the third largest island in the world, located south of the
Philippines. Politically, it comprises Brunei Darussalam, two
Malaysian states (Sarawak and Sabah), and four Indonesian provinces
(South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and West
Kalimantan). It has a very large rain forest, but its biodiversity
has been under serious threat from logging, palm-oil plantations,
and mining industries. The culture of the population in the whole
island is almost similar to each other.
In particular, we carried out in-depth interviews with people in
the province of South Kalimantan in the Southern Borneo and the
state of Sarawak in the Northern Borneo. The two selected areas
have something in common. Both have rich natural resources that
changed the pattern of livelihood of the communities. In South
Kalimantan mining and logging have become important sources of
livelihood and therefore welfare of the local community. In Sarawak
development projects and logging have also been significantly
contributing to the way local people earn their living.
We interviewed the people in these two areas to find out the
their perceptions on environmental degradation, improvement in
livelihoods, and their quality of life. The data collections were
mostly qualitative in nature, interviewing key-informants and
villagers. The field work in South Kalimantan was conducted in July
2010, interviewing 20 respondents, mostly aged between 30 and 40
years old. Almost two third of the respondents had primary school
education, and more than two third worked as farmers. Most earned
about Rp 2,000,000 (about US$220) a month. The field work in
Sarawak was carried out in September 2010 with 58 respondents,
mostly aged 41 to 60 years, working as farmers, and about a quarter
had no education at all. Around one third of the respondents earned
below RM500 (about US$160) a month. Readers, however, should
exercise caution in interpreting this statistics since these
statistics may not well represent these areas.
SOUTH KALIMANTAN
The province of South Kalimantan is the second largest producer
of coal in Indonesia, after the province of East Kalimantan, and
yet, provision of electricity is still a big problem in these two
provinces. Most of the coal was exported. Only the remainder was
available for domestic use in Indonesia, including in South
Kalimantan. In 2009 , mining and quarrying contributed 21.47 per
cent to the province’s GDP, after agriculture (24.63 per cent).
Most of the natural resources, forest, plantation, and mining are
in Meratus Mountains and at the foot of the mountains. Per capita
income was about US$1,613[footnoteRef:5] and poverty rate was 5.12
per cent. [5: Assuming that US$1 is equal to Rp 9,000.]
The mining industry has benefited much more to the betterment of
societies, and yet it has led environmental degradation suffered by
all societies. For example, surface mining is the preferred method
of mining but this method has often led to soil degradation and
forest cover destruction. (Fatah 2008)
The communities selected for the province of South Kalimantan
are those living in upland area, the Meratus Mountain Range. More
specifically, the field study was concentrated in three villages in
the regency of Banjar: the village of Paramasan Bawah (which is
very far from mining activities, but close to the forest), the
village of Rantau Bakula (very close to mining activities) and the
the village of Belimbing Lama (relatively far from mining
activities).
Actually, the regency of Banjar was not poor, with a poverty
rate at 4.24 per cent in 2007. The three villages were selected
simply for an exploratory comparison of effect of environment
degradation on livelihoods of the people and how the people reacted
to the environmental degradation.
Rantau Bakula Village
This village is very close, about 2 km, to the mining
activities. It is relatively better off, but its environment has
been polluted, and the soil fertility has been degraded. However,
the respondents perceived that the environmental degradation had
been over-compensated by the much improvement in their
livelihoods—through new employment opportunities and lucrative
compensation from the mining companies.
The people used to work primarily in subsistence agriculture.
They seldom sold the agriculture products. They used the output
mainly for their own consumption. The arrival of coal mining
activities have changed their livelihood and economic conditions.
Then, the local people worked mainly in the mining activities, and
some even sold their land for mining. They worked mostly as daily
workers, not contract workers. They could not work as contract
workers because of their low educational qualifications. They had
to be satisfied with working as daily workers. The contract workers
were mostly people from outside the areas. Yet, their salaries were
relatively high about 1.7 million rupiah (about US$200) a month,
living in a mountain. As a comparison, a fresh graduate from a
third tier university in Indonesia, working at a call centre in a
bank in Jakarta, earned only 1.6 million rupiah a month. Living
cost in Jakarta is much higher than that in the mountain.
The younger generation has improved their education, often
completing their senior high school education. The younger
generation wanted to work in the mining activities, while the older
people were more likely to continue working in agriculture The
young generations saw relatively wealthier migrants working in the
mining activities, and they wanted to attain that prosperity. The
head of the village even helped the companies to recruit and train
the local people.
The mining companies helped a lot in raising the standards of
living of the local people, by, for example, funding many
facilities such as for sport, mosque, and roads in the village. The
roads in the village are in good condition. Figure 1 shows a paved
road in the village.
Figure 1. A Paved Road in Rantau Bakula
Courtesy of Aris Ananta
The local people had been relatively richer, seen from the
appearance of their houses (mostly with concrete), ownership of
satellite TV dished, motor cycles, and cars. Figure 2 describes
some houses in the village. The village also has schools (from
primary school to senior high school), a mosque, and a community
health centre.
Nevertheless, the local people were also aware about the
negative impact of mining activities on their environment and
livelihood. In particular, the mining in this village is the
surface mining, which usually destroys a large area of land or
hills. Figure 3 shows some hills in Meratus mountain before being
flattened and mined. On the other hand, Figure 4 depicts other
hills which have been flattened, ready to be mined.
Figure 2. Houses in Rantau Bakula
Courtesy of Aris Ananta
Figure 3. Hills, Before Being Flattened
Courtesy of Gusti Fahmi Adliansyah
Figure 4: Hills, After Being Flattened
Courtesy of Aris Ananta
Coal mining was also a noisy process. They used grenade to
destroy the hills. The thunderous blast from this process was even
heard in a village about 10 km from the mining activities. It
rattled the houses of the villagers. The process also polluted the
environment with ashes, dirtied the fruits and food sold in some
eating stalls near the roads. The ashes were flown by trucks
shipping the coals from the mining areas.
The local people depended heavily on the river for their daily
need of water. But, the river was also then polluted, resulting in
the decline in the number of fish. The respondents were also aware
that the soil fertility would decline and even become infertile
after exposure to the mining activities.
In short, the surface mining usually eroded the soil, produced
dust and noise, as well as polluted the water. It also disturbed
the livelihood of the people, who depend heavily on river.
Therefore, in another village, bordering with the Rantau Bakula
Village, we found an under-ground mining activities, expected to
minimize the environmental degradation resulted from the coal
mining. The under-ground mining does not need to eliminate the
surface of a large area or a hill. The trees on the surface are not
disturbed. This is a China owned company which brings many workers
from China. However, the head of the village of Rantau Bakula is
worried about the social impact of this under-ground mining
activities. He said that the workers from China practiced a
different custom from the one which has been traditionally
performed by the local people. The workers from China had irritated
the local people. Their behavior is very different from that of the
people in the village of Rantau Bakula.
However, the people in the Rantau Bakula village did not seem to
care so much about this degradation of the environment, because
they perceived that they were better off compared to the time
before the arrival of mining activities. The effects of
environmental degradation would affect the local people in the long
term, but they are only concerned about the present and near
future. The absence of alternative employment and their low
education may have resulted in this ignorance.
Belimbing Lama Village
The village has a nice and peaceful environment, but the people
remained poor. They were not as “wealthy” as the people in Rantau
Bakula village. The village only had dirt, unpaved, roads, as shown
in Figure 5. Unlike the village of Rantau Bakula, this village is
located farther, about 8 km, from mining areas, but closer to the
forest. Some respondent also participated in mining activities, but
these were small scale traditional gold mining activities which did
not affect the environment significantly.
Figure 5: A Dirt Road in Belimbing Lama
Courtesy of Aris Ananta
The people had not received much influence from the outside.
Electricity was still minimal. They used river as the main source
of water (for all purposes: drinking, bathing, laundry, etc.) They
already had a primary school, a pesantren (Muslim school run by
religious leaders), and a community health centre, but their houses
were mostly still poor, as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6 Houses in Belimbing Lama
Courtesy of Aris Ananta
On the positive side, the environment had not been polluted. The
local people continued working as farmers and hunting/ gathering
forest products. They worked using a traditional rotational
cultivation system, with a regular cycle of clearing land. They
also used the forest products only for their own consumption.
Therefore, their activities did not disturb the bio-diversity of
the forest.
The people did not feel disturbed by the mining activities as
the activities were relatively far from them. The grenade blasts
from mining activities in the Rantau Bakula village was audible,
but they did not care. The mining companies did not compensate the
local people either.
An exception is a respondent who lived relatively close to the
mining activities. Mining companies was obliged to reclaim the soil
after being used for mining activities, so that the soil can be
used again for agriculture. He complained that the company did not
reclaim the area very well. The company only sowed the seed for
akasia trees[footnoteRef:6]. As a result, he could not use the soil
for other plantations, including rubber plantation. [6: Akasia
(acacia manggum) wood is very popular material to make
furniture.]
However, not everybody remained as farmers. The rising traffic
passing this village from migrants working in the mining activities
in the Rantau Bakula village has created a business opportunity for
a family in this village. Figure 7 shows a “warung”, something like
a “convenient store”, providing daily needs, including snacks, with
opening hours from early morning until late in the evening. The
warung was also used for residence and the owners opened the warung
as soon as they woke up and closed the store only when they went to
sleep. It was an entrepreneurial activity, tapping the market
opportunity arising from the arrival and mobility of workers in the
mining activities in the Rantau Bakula village.
Figure 7. “Warung” : an entrepreneur in Belimbing Lama
Courtesy of Aris Ananta
Paramasan Bawah Village
This village has both a nice, peaceful environment and rich
community. It is very far from mining activities but close to the
forest. The local people used to work on subsistence farming.
Additional income were earned from rotational plantations. While
waiting for the harvest, they also carried out small scale timber
logging activities and traditional gold mining. See Figure 8.
Figure 8 Traditional Gold Mining and Logging in Paramasan
Bawah
Courtesy of Gusti Fahmi Adliansyah
Changes happened after the existence of logging industries
(1980-1993), though the logging industries are no longer there now.
The logging industry brought outsiders to come and work in the
village. The villagers were very open and friendly to the migrants,
thus allowing the migrants to quickly integrate with the village
life The migrants have changed the way of life of the people in the
village. There were a lot of mixed marriages. The local people also
learned that employment opportunities were not limited to
farming.
The respondents said that economic conditions of the village
have been improving in the last decade. The local government has
helped with the improvement of the welfare of the people. It
provided electricity with diesel fuel and solar energy. It built a
community health centre, schools, a mosque, a weekly market, and a
traditional community hall (rumah adat). The houses equipped with a
satellite TV dish, shown in Figure 9, illustrates the wealth of the
people in the village.
In short, the people in this village were relatively better off,
though the houses were mostly made from wood. Some of them had
motor cycles.
Figure 9. Houses with a Satellite TV Dish in Paramasan Bawah
Courtesy of Gusti Fahmi Adliansyah
Nevertheless, the migrants seemed to be richer than the locals.
The migrants were more likely to work in trade, motor-cycle
workshop, as well as making window and door frames, while the
locals were still concentrated in the traditional employment,
farming and plantations as well as small scale gold mining. With
the arrival of logging industries, they also learned how to collect
forest products for sale. Though the formal logging industries have
ceased their operations, the local people continued collecting
forest products. Some products were used to build their own houses,
some were sold. Such activities were actually banned by the local
government, but they managed to bribe the officers.
The respondents did not say that the logging activities were
excessive. They even said that they took care the bio-diversity of
the forest when logging. Nevertheless, from the way they answered,
we guess that they did not reveal the whole truth. We guess that
they knew the logging activities were excessive, but these
activities were lucrative business and they knew how to elude the
rules and regulations. The village paved road, which connects the
village with other villages and the capital of the regency, has
facilitated the fast transportation of the products of illegal
logging.
Furthermore, as the village is far from mining activities, the
village’s environment did not suffer pollution from mining
activities. The village was s very scenic, though they started
polluting with “modern’ waste such as plastic, as shown in Figure
10.
Figure 10. Scenic Village of Paramasan Bawah, with “Modern”
Waste
Courtesy of Gusti Fahmi Adliansyah
The village is an illustration where non-environmentally
friendly mining activities in another village have resulted in
improvement in economic well being of another village without at
the same time suffering the negative externality from the
environmental degradation.
SARAWAK[footnoteRef:7] [7: The names of the respondents
mentioned below are not the real names.]
Sarawak is a Malaysian state endowed with rich natural
resources, particularly its forest. The forest has generated a
significant amount of revenue to the state through its production
of timber and timber-based/ wood-based products such as rattan and
wooden furniture. Sarawak is one of the largest exporters of
hard-woods and timber in the world. However, Sarawak is also one of
the regions which experienced deforestation, particularly because
of logging and development of rubber and oil palm plantations.
Sarawak used to be an agricultural-based economy. The local
people were accustomed to depend heavily on land and forest
products for their livelihoods. However, it has changed to rapid
industrialization in urban areas, particularly the wood-based
industries, petrochemical industries, and light to medium size
construction companies. In rural areas, the concentration was on
large scale plantation cultivations such as oil-palm, carried out
by private large plantation corporations. In 2009, the per capita
income was about RM 29,045 or US$8,623. “Mining and quarrying” and
“manufacturing” had become the two most important sectors to the
economy, with each contributing 24.8 per cent to the GDP. Forestry
contributed only 3.5 per cent to the GDP. However, large projects
such as the hydroelectric dam, oil palm plantation, and logging
activities have degraded the rainforest in Sarawak
significantly.[footnoteRef:8] [8: The degradation of the soil can
be seen from official statistics, satellite, and cartographic
data.]
Interestingly, the people had also been increasingly aware of
their human rights. They felt that they had become the victims of
development, particularly related to logging and plantation
activities. As reported by Thien (2005), the traditional
communities of Dayak Selako and Dayak Lara in Sarawak had lost
their native customary rights of lands to the state or private
agencies for the purpose of logging and plantation activities as
well as other development projects. Some of them had become active
in a growing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The study in the state of Sarawak is concentrated in an upland
area in Lundu/ Sematan, North-western part of Sarawak.
Specifically, the study was conducted in two Bidayuh-Selako
villages in the state of Sarawak, both at the foot of Pueh Mountain
Range. One is a relatively populated area, while the other is less
populated. Logging activities at Mount Pueh around the two villages
have been going on since early 1970s.
These two villages are selected because they are located very
close to the forest, which used to be the main source for the
livelihoods of the local people. They used to collect forest
products for both their own consumption and further production into
handicrafts for sale. They consume things such as wild vegetables,
herbs, fruits, wild boar, and fishery products (fish, prawn, and
crab). They also use the forest products to build their own houses.
Forest products were also used as raw materials for further
production, such as rattan mats, rattan basket, and decorative
items for sale.
Nevertheless, timber logging and development projects near these
villages have resulted in the deforestation, diminishing the forest
and fishery products. Some respondents complained that they lost of
their main source of income. A respondent, Billy, a married man
with lower secondary education aged 60 mentioned that logging
activities have reduced the source of food for the people in the
village. He also said that he got lesser and lesser forest pandan
(screw pine) and rattan from the forest. Animals such as wild boar
had also declined in number because they had migrated to other
areas. Figure 11 depicts one of the forests they heavily depended
for their livelihood.
Deforestation has also affected the livelihood of the people who
depended on the fish from the river. Figure 12 shows one of the
rivers.
The logging activities have also resulted in serious erosion and
shallower rivers in the villages because of mixture of sediments
and sands flown by the rain. These conditions made the soil
infertile and unsuitable for planting vegetables and other edible
crops. People who heavily depend on harvesting fishery products
could no longer get their food from the rivers like they used to.
Those who caught fish from the river and sold them for their
livelihood had suffered great of income. The local people suffered
economic loss because of the logging companies which destroyed
their livelihoods. There were even fighting incidents, where the
villagers fought with the workers of the logging companies. The
government took the sides with the companies and the villagers were
arrested.
Figure 11. Forest as the Source of Various Resources for
Villagers’ Livelihood
Courtesy of Wong Swee Kiong
Figure 12. River as the Water Source for the Villagers’
Livelihood
Courtesy of Mustafa Abdul Rahman
Agricultural development such as oil-palm plantation has also
destroyed the livelihood of the people by polluting the rivers, the
main source of livelihoods for the people
Hamdan, a 46 years old man with primary education, complained
that
“Pesticides, herbicide and insecticide used in oil palm estates
had actually polluted the rivers nearby the estates. A lot of fish
in the river have become extinct due to water pollution caused by
change in environment due to agricultural development projects”
Another serious problem faced by the villagers was the quality
of their rivers, which they had mainly relied on for their daily
activities. The quality of the water has been particularly affected
by timber logging.
Kolisa, a married women aged 40, with an upper secondary
education, shared
“Water pollution is the most serious problem to logging
activities. The trees that had been felled down had not been
replenished with replanted trees. Consequently, water at the
catchment area on the mountain would was polluted with mud and sand
each time it rained. This had made the water not safe for
consumption.”
Billy told us that
“The piped water became muddy and thus cannot be used for
drinking, taking bath and for cooking.”
Hamdan shared that
“The most significant effect of logging activities is water
pollution. Water pollution has caused water channelled to every
household to become so muddy each time after the rain. This has
caused the water unusable for drinking or for cooking purpose.”
Figure 13 shows a river, which became muddy after raining. It
could no longer be used for household uses.
Figure 13. A Muddy River (After Raining) Which Is Not Suitable
for Household Uses
Courtesy of Mustafa Abdul Rahman
However, some people benefit from agricultural development
projects such as oil palm plantation. However, they did not want to
work in the oil-palm plantation because they perceived the wages
were too low. They liked the oil-palm plantation because the
companies gave dividend to the people who allow the companies
worked on their land.
Mathew, aged 24, married, with lower secondary education said
that
“Oil palm plantation has less environmental effect to the
villagers as the plantation is rather far from the village. Indeed,
the developer utilized abandoned, unused, land to plant oil palm.
The villagers also receive dividends from the company.”
Another respondent, Simon, a man of 60 told that
“Development of oil palm plantation in the village has improved
the economic status of the villagers as the developer paid dividend
to the villagers who gave up their land for development purposes.
The oil palm projects have actually provided employment
opportunities to the villagers.”
Interestingly, Hamdan, who complained about the loss of
livelihoods from the polluted rivers, actually also benefited from
the oil-palm projects. He had a more stable larger income (through
the dividend paid by the companies) than from harvesting the
rivers. He also mentioned the improvement in village infrastructure
as another benefit of the oil-palm projects.
In short, the logging activities and oil palm plantation have
changed the livelihoods of the local people, from self-sufficiency
to market economy. Easier access to various basic facilities such
as health and educational services has also raised the literacy
rate among the villages. The villagers changed from heavy reliance
on forestry products to more viable forms of livelihoods. Some
switched to construction; some had their own farms to produce foods
for their own consumption and for sale to people outside the
village. Some even mentioned that they preferred the current
livelihood, rather than hunting and gathering forest products.
Though initially they did not like the destruction of the
environment, some eventually did not mind the environmental
degradation as they already became better off economically by
working in alternative employments.
Interestingly, some respondents had shown their strong
resistance to the negative impact of the development projects. They
said that there would have been more timber and other forest
products available for them and their children, if there had not
been any logging activities and development projects.
References and further reading may be available for this
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References and further reading may be available for this
article. To view references and further reading you must purchase
this article.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Macro (environmental) views are often contradicting the micro,
short run, views of the people. It is not fair, however, to force
the local, lowly educated, people to have a macro, long term view.
We cannot just expect the people to protect their environment for
the benefit of future generation, and that we all live in only one
planet, without providing them with alternative livelihoods. Their
immediate concern is their everyday lives during this present time.
They are still struggling for their daily necessities. They want to
climb the economic ladder to follow the consumption pattern of
those seen in television.
We have three policy recommendations which have to be
implemented simultaneously. The first policy is to provide
alternative employment opportunities for the people. Without
alternative employment, they will continue their only source of
livelihoods in environmentally harmful activities. The challenge is
that the alternative employment opportunity must provide earning
larger than their current earning, including the compensation (or
“bribe”) from the large companies to continue their environmentally
harmful livelihoods.
Nevertheless, this policy alone will not guarantee the stop of
the destruction of the environment. Other people may still be
recruited to work in the companies. Therefore, we need the second
policy, that is to create employment opportunities which depend
heavily on the bio-diversity of the environment. By doing so, they
will not have the incentives to destroy the environment.
Furthermore, they will work hard to protect their environment
because the protected bio-diversity of their environment will allow
them to climb their economic ladder faster. The local people will
blockade any attempt to have activities which destroy the
bio-diversity of their environment.
However, a large amount of compensation (or bribery) may still
work to placate them from protesting the destruction of the
environment. Therefore, we also need the third policy, that is to
enlist all goods produced by companies which destroy environment.
The list is then disseminated to all over the world through
credible sources such as international websites, mass media, and
other widely accessed publications. The consumers have the right to
know whether the goods and services they consume are harmful to the
environment and/or are produced using environmentally harmful
activities. By doing so, the demand for these products will
decline, resulting in the decline of the profit from the companies.
Eventually, there will be no incentive for the companies to invest
in the environmentally harmful businesses.
Finally, it should be remembered that these three policies
should be implemented along with the strong implementation of the
rules and regulations against any business which destroys the
environments.
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