Recommendations for achieving community based conservation Tondano Watershed, Northern Sulawesi: Report on a rapid rural appraisal of six villages

KEYWORD: Community-based Natural Forest Management, Asia. Indonesia, Sulawesi, business management, environmental values, conservation, landscape ecology, watershed, institutions, training, community participation, customary rules, environmental education, project report, survey. SUMMARY: This report derives from surveys of six villages in the Tonando Watershed in northern Sulawesi, and gives recommendations to help achieve Community Based Conservation (CBC) there. The data is intended to be useful for villagers and policy makers. Fishing in Lake Tonando is key in the local culture, but the lake is becoming polluted, filled with water hyacinth and solid wastes, and the water level is decreasing. The demise of the lake is hurting tourism potential, health and subsistence, and damaging electricity production. The surveys focused on people's perceptions of the causes and effects of these changes, and their ability to protect this resource. There is a lack of understanding of the effects of upstream pollution caused by soil erosion and land management practices such as overfertilization. Awareness-raising activities are needed for issues related to the lake's environmental problems. For example, villagers have been told that run-off from upstream mining operations will not cause health problems, despite the presence of mercury in this effluent. Villagers have not been made aware that sewage and detergents are cause lake eutrophication and unwanted increases of hyacinth. There is also a need to consider the costs of conservation, as villagers made clear their interest in short-term profits more than future benefits of sustained watershed functioning. However, money shortages among the villagers often stemmed from a lack of training in financial management rather than lack of income. Decreases in the productivity of local natural resources have exacerbated the scarcity of capital. Recommendations follow two themes, 1) increase accountability of villagers as they use natural resources, and 2) increase transparency and bottom-up functioning of the government. Cultural beliefs can make or break motivation to accept responsibility in projects. Sensitivity to these norms, increased training of villagers, funding, government capacity building and research are recommended.