THE TRANSITION OF CO-MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN AMARINE PROTECTED AREA: A VIEW FROM THE BAJAUSEAFARING NOMADIC COMMUNITY IN INDONESIAWengki Ariando, I. Wayan Veda Santiaji and Narumon ArunotaiAbstract Customary communities with nature-based livelihoods have ways of knowing and living withtheirenvironment that they are best situated to manage. One example of such a group that lives in coastal andsmall island areas is the semi-nomadic Bajau people. At present, most of them have been sedentary incoastal areas and several Marine Protected Areas (MPA) such as Wakatobi National Park(WNP). They arerarely incorporated into the MPA management system. This research aims to investigate thetransitionalpattern of co-management in MPA from the view of the Bajau as a maritime-oriented people. Thisethnographic study was carried out in five Bajau villages in WNP, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Interviewsand participatory mapping were employed as research methods among related stakeholders toexplore themany perspectives on these issues. WNP is starting to put the concept of co-management into practice, yetthey face several challenges. However, Bajau communities there face cultural degradation andinstitutionalcomplexities in inter- and intragroup relations, especially in promoting coastal and marinemanagement.The documented pillars of the Bajau community indicate socio-ecological constraints on theirinvolvementin the co-management transition of WNP. Administration, governance, sustainable resourcemanagement,capacity building, locality, and other issues can be addressed via a participatory model, butthere will bedifficulties to resolve on many levels for this model to prove optimally effective. To justify the need forWNP, Bajau sacred areas as part of traditional ecological knowledge have the prospect of being incorporatedinto marine co-management schemes. |