We studied human perceptions on the management of bamboo-tree gardens in two villages with contrasting agroecological conditions in the upper Citarum basin. We undertook interviews to reveal perceptions on the tenure, function, and management strategies of multi-layered agroforest. Owners in a village located lower in the basin perceived the gardens more positively than those in an upland village, where market pressures were felt more keenly and for a longer period. There was not always a direct correlation between perceptions and behavior with respect to bamboo-tree garden management. However, we concluded that an understanding of human perceptions could provide valuable insight to the process of formulating strategies that might be effective in minimizing the conversion of bamboo-tree gardens to more intensive and less ecologically diverse agricultural systems. Specifically, since the villagers retained a strong cultural perception of the heritage value of the bamboo-tree gardens, they would likely be responsive to conservation efforts that increased the economic value of the gardens and reduced the opportunity cost of not converting them to production that is more intensive or other land uses.
Human activities are the primary drivers of dynamic agricultural systems, which in turn determine the structure and function of agroecosystems. Human activities in agroecosystems are the result of attitudes derived from a combination of ideas, motivations, and experiences [
Achieving sustainable agroecosystems often depends on curtailing or managing human actions that either sustain or degrade the desired agroecosystems. Therefore, the human component of agricultural systems is central to their sustainability, and one of the most important aspects of the human component is perceptions of circumstances and environment. In other words, the human-agroecosystems relationship is influenced by the human worldview―a person’s perception of the world and their place in it. Human perceptions shape the decision-making processes that lead to the actions that affect agroecosystems [
The structure and function of agroecosystems are closely linked to human perception. However, the relationship between perception and behavior is not always linear [
There has been insufficient research performed to reveal how traditional and modern societies exert their perceptions and values upon the ecosystems they live in and how they manage to practice sustainable environmental management. Yet, understanding the relationship between human and ecological phenomena is essential.
The evolutionary development of agroecosystems through the process of species introduction, selection, and substitution depend on how the rural people living within the system perceive their environment. To fulfill their daily basic needs, these people make use of almost any natural resources found in their surroundings. Whereas beneficial species and varieties will be maintained and promoted, less beneficial ones from human perspective will be neglected and replaced by more beneficial introduced species or varieties. The processes of introduction, selection, and substitution are likely to occur at a broad scale as well as a local scale. Consequently, anthropogenic forests are gradually transformed into more productive agricultural systems with lower biodiversity [
In Indonesia, agroecosystems play a crucial role in the national production system and are generally dominated by either wetland (paddy) or dryland agriculture. In the case of West Java, bamboo-tree gardens are among the most common traditional dryland agroecosystem. Bamboo-tree gardens are locally known as kebon tatangkalan [
In most cases, studies on the bamboo-tree garden system have focused on biophysical aspects of this element of the agricultural landscape [
This paper describes the perceptions of bamboo-tree garden owners in two villages of contrasting agroecological conditions within the upper Citarum basin with regard to the management of this traditional agricultural system. Perceptions relating to bamboo-tree garden management are important to the future sustainability of this socioeconomically and ecologically important traditional system. Parikesit et al. [
We expect that the results of the study described in this paper could and should be used to guide policies on the conservation of bamboo-tree gardens in the upper Citarum basin. Conservation efforts are necessary not only because this landscape element has an important ecological role and high biodiversity [
We selected two villages with contrasting agroecological characteristics in the upper Citarum basin: Wangisagara and Sukapura. Both villages are on the Citarum River that runs approximately 350 km from its source on Mount Wayang north to the Java Sea (north of Jakarta). The river is a major water resource in the region and three large reservoirs have been constructed along it.
Wangisagara village is located on gentle slopes that range in altitude from 800 to 850 m above sea level (asl), whereas Sukapura village is on steeper land ranging in altitude between 950 and 1250 m asl. The difference in altitude results in a considerable difference in climate between the two villages. The mean annual rainfall in Wangisagara ranged from 1500 to 2500 mm with minimum daily temperature in December and January between 20˚C - 25˚C and maximum between 25˚C - 30˚C. In Sukapura, the mean annual rainfall was considerably greater at 2000 to 3000 mm, and the daily minimum temperature in December and January was lower at 15˚C - 20˚C with the maximum ranging from 22˚C to 28˚C (data obtained from the Regional Office of Meteorology and Geophysics). Other general characteristics of the study villages are summarized in
Prior to the selection of respondents for the interview survey, a full census of bamboo-tree garden owners in both villages undertaken at the rukun tetangga (RT) level was analyzed, since there were no formal records on bamboo-tree garden ownership. An RT headed by an elected chief is the smallest administrative unit within village administration. Each RT usually consists of 30 to 40 households, depending on the total number of households and the area of the village. The census revealed that only a small percentage of the households owned bamboo-tree gardens. Only 68 households owned bamboo-tree gardens in Wangisagara (3.30%) and 52 households in Sukapura (2.46%), the bamboo-tree owners in the two villages were all men.
The required number of respondents was determined by the following formula [
where n = number of respondents, N = number of households in each study village, Z = the value of the normal distribution (1.96) for a reliability level of 0.95, p = the highest possible proportion (0.5), and d = the sampling error (0.1).
Using the above formula, 36 households in Wangisagara and 30 households in Sukapura were randomly selected. In addition to the present owners, interviews were also carried out with former owners if they were identified. Unfortunately, there was no formal record of ownership change, so only nine previous owners were interviewed in Sukapura and five in Wangisagara.
The data were collected based on structured interviews with randomly selected bamboo-tree garden owners in the two villages. To determine the owners’ perceptions of their gardens, we asked them 56 questions using the semantic differential technique based on arguments as follows:
・ Similar socio-cultural background of owners in the two villages;
・ Same (local) knowledge with regard to bamboo-tree garden cultivation practices;
Description | Wangisagara | Sukapura |
---|---|---|
Distance from major urban centers (km) | ||
From subdistrict capital | 4 | 7 |
From district capital | 31 | 39 |
From province capital | 41 | 52 |
Population data | ||
Number of inhabitants | 13,344 | 13,332 |
Number of households | 3795 | 4290 |
Agricultural land area (ha) | ||
Rice field | 129.5 | 15.0 |
Upland field | 48.5 | 205.1 |
Settlement (including homegardens) | 46.5 | 294.0 |
Income source activities (%) | ||
On-farm | 42.6 | 81.6 |
Off-farm | 57.4 | 18.4 |
Education status (%) | ||
No formal education | 13.7 | 6.1 |
Elementary school | 44.5 | 80.4 |
Junior high school | 33.5 | 9.0 |
High school | 7.2 | 3.7 |
Higher education | 1.1 | 0.8 |
・ Individual preference with regard to decision making process in bamboo-tree garden management.
For each question, the answer was scored from 1 to 7, ranging from very negative (1) to very positive perception (7). The score for every answer inevitably contained an element of subjectivity on the part of interviewers. Therefore, a probing questioning technique was used during the interviews. Where doubtful scoring occurred, the interviewer had to return to the respondent to clarify ambiguous answers. A single interview could last more than 2.5 hours. Information on agricultural land ownership and social parameters such as education level and main occupation were also collected.
The questionnaire was divided into several categories related to the owner’s perceptions of their bamboo-tree garden or, in some questions, bamboo tree-gardens in the village (
Semi-structured interviews were also carried out with former owners and other relevant informants, such as the village leader, local farmers, and fuelwood gatherers, to cross check the answers given to particular questions by bamboo-tree garden owners. Secondary data were collected from various sources including previous
Category | Contents | Number of Questions |
---|---|---|
A. Perceptions on the general meaning of owning a bamboo-tree garden | 5 | |
A1 | Socioeconomic status of the owners considered as rich (A1-1) and respected (A1-2) | 2 |
A2 | Importance of maintaining culture/tradition as an inherited family asset (A2-1) and as inheritance to descendants (A2-2) | 2 |
A3 | Economic benefit obtained by selling products | 1 |
B. Perceptions on the functions of bamboo-tree gardens | 9 | |
B1 | Economic functions as source of income (B1-1), family savings (B1-2), and asset to leave as inheritance (B1-3) | 3 |
B2 | Social functions of providing free fuelwood to other villagers in form of dead trees (B2-1) and branches (B2-2) | 2 |
B3 | Ecological functions as providing wildlife habitat (B3-1), recharging and storing water (B3-2), preventing soil erosion (B3-3), and a place for tree growing (B3-4) | 4 |
C. Perceptions on bamboo-tree garden management | 9 | |
C1 | Frequency of actual management activities such as fertilizer application (C1-1), control of diseases and pests (C1-2), pesticide input (C1-3), manual weeding (C1-4), maintaining and regenerating trees (C1-5), and making terraces (C1-6) | 6 |
C2 | Knowledge of management techniques for improving the productivity of the garden itself | 1 |
C3 | Maintenance requirements as financial (C3-1) and time (C3-2) costs | 2 |
D. Perceptions on bamboo-tree garden decline and causal factors | 5 | |
D0 | Recognition that the area of bamboo-tree gardens in the village is declining | 1 |
D1 | Perceived reason for land conversion is to create cash-crop gardens (D1-1) or settlements and home gardens (D1-2) | 2 |
D2 | Perceived cause of conversion is the economic benefit of land conversion to other uses | 1 |
D3 | Perceived cause of conversion is the lack of government concern and support | 1 |
E. Perceptions on the importance of bamboo-tree gardens and ways of preserving them | 5 | |
E0 | Willingness to preserve bamboo-tree gardens in the village | 1 |
E1 | Necessity of economic improvement by more intensive management (E1-1) and increasing the market value of products (E1-2) | 2 |
E2 | Necessity of supporting programs such as providing suitable tree seeds/seedlings (E2-1) and reducing land tax (E2-2) | 2 |
studies conducted at the present study sites. Data on the general characteristics of the villages were obtained from the village office.
We performed principle components analysis (PCA) of the perception scores. Eight respondents from Wangisagara did not answer all of the questions, so the answers of 58 respondents (28 in Wangisagara and 30 in Sukapura) were available for analysis. The respondents’ scores on each PCA axis were correlated with external factors such as the area of agricultural land owned and education level obtained to determine causal relationships between perceptual rankings and external factors. Kendalltau rank correlations, a nonparametric measure of the degree of correspondence between rankings, were also calculated.
The trends in respondents’ perceptions obtained from the PCA differed between Wangisagara and Sukapura. We tested differences in perceptions of the bamboo-tree garden owners between the two villages using the Mann-Whitney U-test on the responses to the 33 major questions as well as to some of the supporting questions. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 10.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA).
There was no significant difference in the size of bamboo-tree gardens between Wangisagara and Sukapura (Ta- ble 3). The number of owners and size of upland fields of vegetable cash-crop fields and kebun palawija, which is a mixed cropping system of inter-planting a number of annual crops in the same field at the same time, and usually consisted of maize, cassava, sweet potato, and peanut, were higher in Sukapura (P < 0.01), whereas Wangisagara has more owners and greater area of paddy fields (P < 0.01).
The principle components analysis (PCA) on the data set with 33 variables and 58 samples yielded five principle components or axes that had eigenvalues > 2. The eigenvalues for the first to the fifth axis, in order, were 5.25, 4.31, 2.90, 2.41, and 2.23 (
Correlations between the five principle component scores and agricultural landownership are shown in
Type of agricultural land (m2) | Villages | Statistical significance (Mann-Whitney U-test) | |
---|---|---|---|
Wangisagara (n = 36) | Sukapura (n = 30) | ||
Bamboo-tree garden | |||
Average of all respondents | 1346 | 1595 | N.S. |
Range | 140 - 7000 | 56 - 8400 | - |
Upland fields | |||
Average of all respondents | 107 | 2402 | ** |
Range | 0 - 2100 | 0 - 30,000 | - |
Average of owners only | 2450 (n = 3) | 5542 (n = 13) | ** |
Paddy field | |||
Average of all respondents | 3766 | 1866 | ** |
Range | 0 - 20,000 | 0 - 16,800 | - |
Average of owners only | 4237 (n = 32) | 2800 (n= 20) | ** |
Home garden | |||
Average of all respondents | 290 | 505 | ** |
Range | 0 - 1400 | 0 - 2100 | - |
Average of owners only | 299 (n = 35) | 541 (n = 28) | ** |
**P < 0.01; N.S. indicates no significant difference; - indicates no test performed.
Variablea | Factor loadings of each PCA axis (eigenvalue of each axis) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PCA 1 (5.25) | PCA 2 (4.31) | PCA 3 (2.90) | PCA 4 (2.41) | PCA 5 (2.23) | |
A1-1 | 0.25 | −0.51 | −0.55 | −0.06 | −0.23 |
A1-2 | 0.33 | −0.50 | −0.55 | −0.06 | −0.31 |
A2-1 | 0.33 | 0.08 | 0.32 | 0.25 | −0.42 |
A2-2 | 0.30 | 0.10 | 0.05 | −0.02 | −0.40 |
A3 | 0.44 | −0.01 | −0.49 | −0.19 | 0.17 |
B1-1 | 0.44 | 0.33 | −0.24 | −0.24 | 0.07 |
B1-2 | 0.67 | −0.13 | 0.44 | −0.22 | 0.15 |
B1-3 | 0.33 | −0.07 | −0.40 | 0.21 | 0.14 |
B2-1 | 0.05 | 0.62 | 0.23 | −0.30 | −0.31 |
B2-2 | 0.12 | 0.61 | 0.25 | −0.32 | −0.33 |
B3-1 | 0.37 | −0.28 | 0.12 | −0.25 | 0.39 |
B3-2 | 0.58 | −0.02 | −0.07 | −0.56 | 0.03 |
B3-3 | 0.56 | −0.13 | −0.12 | −0.37 | 0.08 |
B3-4 | 0.54 | −0.15 | 0.25 | 0.26 | 0.34 |
C1-1 | 0.54 | 0.07 | −0.12 | 0.34 | −0.28 |
C1-2 | 0.46 | 0.13 | −0.21 | 0.29 | −0.18 |
C1-3 | 0.37 | 0.58 | 0.03 | 0.39 | −0.03 |
C1-4 | 0.44 | 0.54 | 0.01 | 0.20 | 0.03 |
C1-5 | 0.34 | 0.43 | −0.02 | 0.51 | 0.15 |
C1-6 | −0.14 | 0.14 | −0.15 | 0.18 | 0.28 |
C2 | 0.58 | 0.38 | −0.27 | 0.16 | −0.11 |
C3-1 | 0.08 | −0.40 | −0.20 | 0.52 | −0.18 |
C3-2 | 0.45 | 0.67 | 0.03 | −0.04 | −0.12 |
D0 | 0.11 | −0.26 | 0.34 | −0.29 | −0.50 |
D1-1 | −0.27 | 0.59 | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.35 |
D1-2 | 0.07 | −0.17 | 0.24 | 0.23 | −0.23 |
D2 | −0.19 | 0.33 | −0.22 | −0.01 | 0.50 |
D3 | 0.30 | −0.08 | 0.41 | −0.14 | 0.28 |
E0 | 0.48 | 0.07 | 0.21 | −0.19 | 0.21 |
E1-1 | 0.61 | −0.08 | −0.39 | −0.12 | 0.26 |
E1-2 | 0.52 | −0.51 | 0.39 | 0.17 | 0.03 |
E2-1 | 0.47 | −0.41 | 0.58 | 0.18 | 0.15 |
E2-2 | 0.07 | −0.44 | 0.25 | 0.33 | 0.15 |
aSee
(i) | (ii) | (iii) | (iv) | (v) | (vi) | (vii) | (viii) | (ix) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PCA axis 1 (i) | 1.000 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
PCA axis 2 (ii) | 0.028 | 1.000 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
PCA axis 3 (iii) | −0.080 | 0.049 | 1.000 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
PCA axis 4 (iv) | 0.027 | 0.045 | −0.049 | 1.000 | - | - | - | - | - |
PCA axis 5 (v) | 0.003 | 0.041 | 0.016 | 0.066 | 1.000 | - | - | - | - |
Area of bamboo-tree gardens (vi) | 0.203* | 0.177 | −0.201* | 0.108 | 0.048 | 1.000 | - | − | - |
Area of upland arable lands (vii) | −0.033 | 0.170 | 0.012 | 0.084 | 0.262* | −0.104 | 1.000 | - | - |
Area of paddy fields (viii) | 0.239* | −0.217** | −0.113 | −0.043 | −0.133 | 0.268** | −0.282** | 1.000 | - |
Area of home gardens (ix) | −0.100 | 0.136 | 0.023 | −0.095 | 0.125 | 0.122 | 0.140 | −0.036 | 1.000 |
*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.
with the second axis. The area of paddy fields was significantly positively correlated with the area of bamboo-tree gardens and negatively correlated with the area of upland fields. The latter correlation is understandable because respondents who owned paddy fields were predominantly in Wangisagara where there were relatively few upland fields (
Although the difference in the scores of the two villages for the first axis was not significant (P = 0.054), the scores of Wangisagara tended to be higher, and there was a significant difference between the villages for the second axis (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences for the third and fourth axes (P = 0.99 and 0.84, respectively), but the fifth axis was correlated with the size of upland fields, where Sukapura had higher scores (P < 0.01).
Regarding the relationship between social parameters (such as main occupation and educational level) and principle component scores for each respondent, there was no significant relationship for the three educational levels: no education, completed primary school only, and completed higher school (U-test with Bonferroni corrections).
The PCA scores of respondents whose main occupation was farmer were significantly higher on the second PCA axis than those whose main occupation was non-farmer (P < 0.01). Since all seven non-farmers belonged to the village of Wangisagara, we compared the relationship between the scores of the second axis with occupations of respondents of that village only; there was no difference. This means that the perceptions of respondents were not influenced by either educational level or main occupation.
Along the first axis of correlation with the area of bamboo-tree gardens, perceptual categories such as economic and ecological functions of the gardens (B1 and B3), management knowledge to improve productivity of the gardens (C2), and willingness to preserve the gardens, especially with economic improvements (E0 and E1), had higher values (
Regarding the second axis, perceptual categories having higher values were those that referred to management frequency, especially of the more intensive activities such as pesticide input, weeding, and tree management (C1-3, C1-4, and C1-5). Other categories with higher scores included the amount of time spent on maintenance (C3-2), social functions (B2), and awareness of the decline in the garden through conversion to cash crops (D1-1). Scores with lower values were for socioeconomic status of the garden’s owner (A1), maintenance cost
(C3-1), need for marketing support to increase produce values (E1-2), and need for governmental support programs (E2) (
For the third axis, which was significantly negatively correlated with the area of bamboo-tree garden, the questions with the five highest factor loadings were E2-1, B1-2, D3, E1-2, and D0, whereas the five lowest were A1-1, A1-2, A3, B1-3, and E1-1 (
The association of perceived garden decline with positive perceptions on frequent management activities or with positive perceptions on social and ecological functions could indicate a perceptual contrast between whether the garden is seen as a part of nature or a part of the agricultural system. Finally for the fifth axis, which was significantly positively correlated with the area of upland fields, the five highest perceptual categories were D2, B3-1, D1-1, B3-4, and D3, whereas the five lowest were D0, A2-1, A2-2, B2-2, and B2-1 (
Considering that the respondents of Sukapura had significantly higher scores on this axis than Wangisagara, it would appear to explain a perceptual difference. The farmers in Sukapura appear to recognize and accept a general garden decline for economic reasons, whereas those in Wangisagara appear to be alarmed by the decline because of the gardens’ longstanding role for subsistence and particular social functions.
The responses to the two questions probing the self-perception of wealth and social status of bamboo-tree garden owners had consistent factor loadings on each axis (
From the perspective of traditional and cultural perceptual categories, respondents in both villages had strong positive perceptions of the bamboo-tree garden as an important family asset inherited from their ancestors (A2-1) and that they in turn should leave as an inheritance to their descendants (A2-2). On the latter question, the score was higher in Wangisagara (P < 0.05; A2-1 in
The income from the gardens in both villages was not large enough for most respondents to accumulate savings. Despite this, owners in both villages still had positive perceptions about the economic benefits of their
bamboo-tree gardens (A3 in
Although Sukapura respondents ranked the importance of the garden as an income source higher (B1-1), the difference between the villages was not significant (
Respondents also displayed positive perceptions about the social functions provided by their own garden. Although there was no significant difference between the two villages in the perceptual rankings of allowing other villagers to collect dead trees and branches for fuelwood (questions B2-1 and B2-2;
primarily on the garden for income viewed the provision of free fuelwood to other villagers as detrimental to their own incomes. This tendency was not observed in Sukapura. That the respondents of Wangisagara rejected their garden’s social function of providing fuelwood for others was noteworthy since they also perceived that the owners of gardens hold positions of respect within the village community.
Most respondents in both villages performed some management activities (C1-1 to C1-6 in
Regarding the more intensive management activities of using pesticides (C1-3), weeding (C1-4), and maintaining trees (C1-5), the respondents of Sukapura tended to apply them more frequently than those of Wangisagara (
Question C2 dealt with technical knowledge to improve productivity of the gardens. Most respondents in both villages answered very negatively, and there was no significant difference between the answers from villages, indicating that they believed the garden could not be as productive as other agricultural land like rice field and vegetable garden (
The two questions about management costs also reflected perceptual differences between the two villages. Question C3-1 asked whether the cost, including taxes, of managing the garden is too high, and C3-2 asked whether the owners had adequate time available to maintain the garden. The answers from Wangisagara respondents were significantly higher to C3-1 (P < 0.05;
The respondents of both villages indicated that they perceived the area of gardens in the village to be decreasing (D-0), and this perception was significantly stronger in Wangisagara (P < 0.01;
The key informants in Sukapura indicated that the decline was caused by the rapid adoption of modern agricultural practices that provided farmers with the opportunity to gain higher crop yields and income. Various extension programs by government agencies and the introduction of high yielding varieties resulted in a high rate of conversion of bamboo-tree gardens to cash-crop gardens. Sukapura respondents believed that land conversion
had been to cash-crop gardens (D1-1) more than to settlements (D1-2;
In Wangisagara, the respondents perceived that the gardens were converted to settlements rather than to cash-crop gardens (D1-2 in
As seen in the responses to question D2, the main perceived causes of the decline in bamboo-tree gardens in the study areas were economic. The respondents of both Wangisagara and Sukapura strongly perceived that they could obtain greater economic benefit from converting their gardens to other agricultural systems or selling them for non-farm uses (
The respondents in both villages strongly perceived a lack of concern and support from government agencies as a cause of garden decline (D3 in
Respondents in both villages exhibited strongly positive perceptions that bamboo-tree gardens were still needed (E0 in
Almost all respondents perceived that improving economic returns from the garden, particularly by increasing the market value of the products (E1-2), was a very important step for the future existence of bamboo-tree gardens. However, the intensity of the perception was higher in Wangisagara (P < 0.01;
would be crucial to improve economic returns (E2-1 and E2-2), and the intensity of these two perceptions was again significantly higher in Wangisagara (P < 0.01 for E2-1 and P < 0.05 for E2-2;
Overall, bamboo-tree garden owners in the two study villages have positive perceptions of the socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological roles of the bamboo-tree garden as an element of the landscape. Differences in the intensity of perceptions are influenced by the frame of reference for the perception, such as factual knowledge and emotional experiences [
The respondents in Sukapura perceived their bamboo-tree gardens as an asset that indicated socioeconomic status but not as a primary source of income. The perceived value of the bamboo-tree garden derives from the land itself or its potential to be converted to a more productive vegetable garden.
The difference in perception intensities between the two villages with regard to the social function of bamboo-tree gardens is presumably related to the local dynamics in livelihoods experienced by the people in the two villages. Although the people in Sukapura are likely to be more market oriented, since capital-intensive agricultural activity is more predominant there than in Wangisagara, they still allow other villagers to freely collect branches, medicinal plants, or raw vegetables for their own use. It is therefore not necessarily the case that engagement in a market-oriented livelihood overrides perceptions of the social function an owner’s bamboo-tree garden. Our finding was concomitant to other studies which were carried out by Okubo et al. [
The respondents in Sukapura who practice capital-intensive agriculture still retain a sense of community sharing. This finding contrasts with the condition in capital-intensive agricultural practices in developed countries, e.g. Petrzelka [
Respondents in the two study villages exhibited a more or less similar positive perception to the ecological functions of their bamboo-tree garden. Nevertheless, there was some inconsistency between what they perceived to be important and what was actually happening. Despite their perception about the ecological importance of the bamboo-tree garden for the village, such as preventing soil erosion, storing water, and providing habitat for wildlife, the conversion of this land-use type to less environmentally desirable systems was still occurring.
Although no quantitative data estimates have been made on the rate of conversion bamboo-tree gardens, our interviews and visual observations clearly indicate that such conversions continue unabated up to the present time. This suggests that positive perceptions do not always correlate with positive behavior (see also Jackson- Smith and Buttel) [
In many cases, farmers’ practices diverge from their perceptions because the way individual farmers act is not only influenced by their own perceptions but also by cultural and socioeconomic forces and the suitability of the bio-physical environment (see also Mekoya et al.; Muhamad et al.) [
The perceptions of owners of the ecological functions of their bamboo-tree gardens were somewhat in concordance with a study of bird communities in fragmented bamboo-tree gardens reported by Erawan et al. [
Therefore, ecological concern exhibited by bamboo-tree garden owners is an encouraging sign for conservation efforts. Unfortunately, no other studies concerning the ecological functions of bamboo-tree gardens in the upper Citarum basin have been carried out. It would be important to investigate the role of bamboo-tree gardens as a filter or sink for soil nutrients exported from neighboring cultivated land in the changing agricultural landscape of the Citarum basin. The role of this land-use type in relation to pest outbreaks and predator-prey interactions in vegetable crop gardens are other challenging topics that need to be addressed.
Compared with other types of agricultural land (rice fields, vegetable gardens, kebun palawija), bamboo-tree gardens receive the lowest levels of management inputs for production purposes [
Management of bamboo-tree gardens without high external energy inputs as practiced by the owners in the two study villages is an example of traditional subsistence agriculture that was presumably predominant in the upper Citarum basin prior to the introduction of capital-intensive agricultural practices in the 1970s.
There has been an obvious decline in this element in the landscape over the last few decades due to rapid development of modern agricultural practices, particularly in the upper part of the basin (see Parikesit et al.) [
The underlying cause of the decline in bamboo-tree gardens in the upper Citarum basin is clearly economics. Land conversion, population pressure, population growth, and lack of serious effort from the government to conserve bamboo-tree gardens appear to be some by products of these underlying factors. Economic forces are increasingly determining the structure and function of bamboo-tree gardens. When asked to explain certain practices, most respondents focused on pragmatic considerations and concerns about profitability, which were often the overriding factor in decisions regarding land use.
Thus, as pointed out by Corselius et al. [
Farmers responding to market demand and obtaining short-term benefits through such behavior has not come without environmental cost within the agricultural landscape of the upper Citarum basin. The decline in bamboo-tree gardens due to land conversion to capital-intensive agriculture has changed the landscape structure [
The conversion of bamboo-tree gardens to vegetable gardens has undoubtedly caused a loss of habitat for various wild animals that use bamboo-tree gardens but not vegetable gardens. The conversion will ultimately cause a homogenization of the landscape structure [
The perception of owners that continuing economic pressure threatens the future existence of bamboo-tree garden is entirely rational. The results of our study show that the economic pressures are clearly leading to conversion of bamboo-tree gardens to other land uses, whereas we are not aware of any concerted efforts to preserve this traditional agricultural system. Various levels of government emphasize on production rather than searching for a balance between production and conservation of traditional agroecosystems [
The finding that there is not always a direct correlation between human perception and action is in line with that of Mekoya et al. [
The tradition of maintaining bamboo-tree gardens as an important family asset offers opportunities with respect to the objectives of conserving biodiversity and maintaining the socioeconomic role of this land-use type in the local production system. The owners certainly exhibit some desire to maintain the existing bamboo-tree garden patches in the study area, but this alone does not assure the future existence of bamboo-tree gardens in the upper Citarum basin. Support from government and other agencies through incentive-oriented programs that can act against pure market economic forces are needed. An example of such incentives might be to make payments to the owners of bamboo-tree gardens for the environmental services provided by maintaining this land use [
Ideally, efforts to conserve bamboo-tree gardens should be undertaken throughout the entire upper Citarum basin. However, the present study indicates that conservation efforts are likely to be much more challenging in the uppermost part of the basin in villages such as Sukapura. In this area, the local people, bamboo-tree garden owners in particular, have long been subject to a market-oriented livelihood (i.e. capital-intensive agricultural practices). Therefore, conservation efforts need to be directed toward improving the economic value of bamboo- tree garden products and at the same time improving the ecological function of this landuse type.
1) The owners of bamboo-tree gardens in the two study villages perceive that the gardens still represent an important symbol of their socioeconomic status and are associated with a tradition of inheritance.
2) In general, the owners in Wangisagara exhibit more positive perceptions of bamboo-tree garden management and conservation than those in Sukapura.
3) Although there is not always a direct correlation between perception and behavior in relation to bamboo- tree garden management, an understanding of human perceptions in this area provides insight into the likely success of any initiatives that can be taken to revitalize or conserve bamboo-tree gardens. The clearest example of this is that because the villagers retain a strong cultural perception of the heritage value of the bamboo- tree gardens, they will likely be very responsive to conservation efforts that increase the economic value of the gardens and reduce the opportunity cost of not converting them to more intensive production or other land uses.
4) Efforts to conserve bamboo-tree gardens will be more challenging in Sukapura than in Wangisagara due to stronger market-oriented sources of livelihood in Sukapura.
5) If improvement of the economic conditions surrounding bamboo-tree gardens does not occur, the eventual disappearance of this agroecosystem element from the upper Citarum basin is almost inevitable.
This study was funded by the Institute of Ecology, Padjadjaran University. Additional data was funded by the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Padjadjaran University. The principle author thanks his students for their assistance during the fieldwork.
Oekan S.Abdoellah, Parikesit,SatoruOkubo,SusantiWithaningsih,KazuhikoTakeuchi,KosukeMizuno, (2015) Perceptions of Owners on the Roles and Future of Bamboo-Tree Gardens in the Agricultural Landscape of the Upper Citarum Basin, West Java-Indonesia. Agricultural Sciences,06,1333-1351. doi: 10.4236/as.2015.611128