1 - Balancing Conservation and Community Welfare: Enhancing the Management of Marine Protected Areas in Indonesia

The Indonesian government has shown a commitment to protect marine and coastal areas. It can be seen from Indonesia’s achievement of fulfilling the Aichi target under the older Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and from the rapid growth of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) under the now operative regime of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper focuses on how the Indonesian policy of accelerating the establishment of MPAs affects inequality among the communities residing along the coastal areas near MPAs. Special attention is given to the dynamic of the livelihood of these poor communities before and after the establishment of the MPAs. The research that is the basis of this paper used sequential mixed methods, where quantitative analysis was used to elaborate the secondary statistical data from the national statistical office, while follow-up qualitative research was collected in three selected MPAs to dig deeper into the governance aspects of the MPAs. This paper argues that despite the fast growth of MPAs in Indonesia, the overall quality of its governance is still weak, and there is still limited attention paid to issues of inequality within and among the communities who live nearby MPAs, especially the livelihoods of the poor and the marginal people who are most affected by the existence of the MPAs.

Co-Author 1
Lia Amelia, The SMERU Research Institute

Co-Author 2
Made Anthony Iswara, The SMERU Research Institute