Political contestation,resource control and conservation in an era of decentralisation at Indonesia's Kerinci Seblat National Park

Since the fall of long‐time strongman Suharto and his authoritarian ‘New Order’ government in 1998, Indonesia has embarked upon a series of decentralisation and democratisation reforms. This new era of decentralised politics has come to be known as Reformasi and has significantly altered the political landscape of the archipelago as national and subnational levels of administration continue to contest the balance of power. Indonesia's national parks, which remain under the authority of the national government, have become arenas for negotiated encounters between local resource users, aspiring district elites and the national government. This essay explores three legacies of incomplete and unfinished decentralisation as they related to national‐park‐based conservation, using Sumatra's Kerinci Seblat National Park as a case study.     

The plot thickens: Land administration and policy in post‐New Order Indonesia

Abstract: The turbulent events in Indonesia during the closing years of the 20^th century prompted the reopening of public discussion on many longstanding issues of social and economic reform. Land reform is one of many agendas that have preoccupied policy makers, scholars and activists as the nation attempts to reinvent itself in the wake of the collapse of the 32‐year New Order government of ex‐President Suharto. This article examines some of the main debates swirling around the issue of land management and policy during the post‐Suharto ‘reformasi’ period, and provides illustrations of current problems and emerging trends. The article begins with a brief overview of land law and policy in Indonesia, followed by a discussion of its philosophical and ideological basis. This is followed by a discussion of government reform during the New Order period and beyond, and the social and environmental costs of Indonesia's development. The discussion then turns to efforts to decentralise government, and implications on land admin‐istration and policy. Case study examples are provided to illustrate the complex dynamic unfolding across the country.     

Place,memory and identity: Imagining ‘New Asia’

Abstract: The rapid transformation of Asian societies and landscapes, especially since the mid‐1990s, has engendered much conjecture of the ‘Asian renaissance’ and the rise of a ‘New Asia’. This Special Edition of Asia Pacific Viewpoint explores the intersecting themes of ‘urban place’, ‘social memory’ and ‘cultural identity’ in the articulation of and contestation towards New Asia. Specifically, the six articles here offer various interpretations of New Asia – as tourism marketing tool, political vision and social identity – and the politics involved in urban, tourism and cultural development. From colonial hotels in key South‐East Asian cities to the historic waterfront of Singapore; from festivals and rituals in Hong Kong, Hoi An (Vietnam) and Penang (Malaysia) to the clash of cultural values in Manggarai (Indonesia), ‘selective remembering’ and ‘ideological forgetting’ are central to the construction of New Asian identities. Ultimately, this Special Edition hopes to provoke continuing discussions on the rhetoric of New Asia and its imaginative and contested geographies, sociologies and histories.     

Urban poverty alleviation strategies in Yogyakarta,Indonesia: Contrasting opportunities for community development

A multidimensional understanding of poverty includes the access of poor groups to decision‐making processes based on their needs and aspirations. However, the realisation of this ‘right to make decisions’ faces multiple obstacles. Over the last 20 years in Indonesia, in a context of a more democratic political environment and policy decentralisation, poverty alleviation policies have followed institutional arrangements to provide communities with opportunities for greater participation in development projects. Poverty data show a clear improvement in the living conditions of urban poor citizens in Indonesia; however, it is unclear whether poor communities have become stronger and more independent from public grants and better able to make their own decisions. This research analysed two urban poor communities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and found that some communities working on participatory poverty alleviation strategies still face obstacles to becoming more independent and making their own decisions because they remain part of an historical legacy of top‐down approaches to poverty, highly dependent on government support and working only within ‘invited spaces’. Conversely, those communities with more limited access to government funding have been more innovative in their strategies and have created ‘invented spaces’ for collective action that allows them to be more independent and empowered.     

Negotiating ‘home’ and ‘national identity’: Chinese‐Malaysian transmigrants in Singapore

Abstract: Part of the globalisation phenomenon involves an increasing number of elite transmigrants traversing national boundaries in response to the global demand for skilled labour while maintaining multifaceted social ties astride political, geographic and cultural borders, linking home and host countries together. As transmigrants ‘live’ in several communities simultaneously, their identities, behaviour and values are often not limited by location. Thus, notions of ‘home’ and ‘national identity’ are also being reviewed given the discrepancies between these concepts and locality. In this context, this paper explores questions of ‘home’ and ‘national identity’ among skilled Chinese‐Malaysians working and residing in Singapore, portraying them as active participants of two (or more) countries. It focuses on their strategies and struggles in negotiating ideologies of ‘home’ and ‘national identities’ across borders in a setting of two neighbouring countries umbilically linked in a volatile political relationship. It further examines their degree of concern in the political affairs of both countries. Between ‘home’ and ‘host’, Chinese‐Malaysians redefine their practices of home(‐making) in relation to their national identity, drawing on the resources and resilience of familial ties, nostalgic memories and other practical lifecourse needs.     

From Sabang to Merauke: Nationalist secession movements in Indonesia

Abstract: Popular movements in Aceh and Papua seeking separation from Indonesia must be understood in the context of earlier nationalist movements in history, including Indonesia's own movement for independence from the Netherlands. Movements in Aceh and Papua have built a sense of identity, considering themselves to be ‘notion‐states’ even if they are not yet nation‐states. This process parallels Indonesian identity formation in the early twentieth century. Aceh originally combined local, Indonesian and Islamic identities, but intrusion by central government institutions sparked a defensive nationalist reaction, which was stimulated further by uneven economic development and by repressive tactics by the centre. Papua was incorporated into Indonesia by means that led local people to believe they had been denied their right to self‐determination, spurring a historical sense of grievance and a collective identity of shared suffering much like that in Aceh. By the end of Sukarno's Guided Democracy and Suharto's New Order, both territories had passed a point of no return in their nationalism. Repressive tactics have failed to contain aspirations for independence; a new approach based on dialogue is needed.     

The challenge of urban Maori: reconciling conceptions of indigeneity and social change

A massive demographic rural-urban shift has taken place within Maori society since the second world war. This demographic shift prompted changes in the structure of some Maori social institutions. Due to a number of factors these new social institutions have not been readily assimilated by Maori cultural practices. Recent battles over the allocation of pre-settlement Treaty assets have brought this issue to the fore, acting as catalysts in the struggle for recognition between evolutionary social change (represented by urban Maori) and the perceived static boundaries of indigenous culture (as represented by modern Iwi). This paper therefore addresses the problems of accommodating social change within ‘static’ cultural frameworks raised by the issue of asset allocation. The paper outlines the historical factors that have allowed incongruities between social structure and culture to emerge in New Zealand Maori society, and provides a number of options for consideration in the hope of resolving this issue.     

From free to forced adaptation: A political ecology of the ‘state‐society‐flood’ nexus in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

This paper investigates the adaptation processes with reference to the narrative analysis of human–environment interactions in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. From the political ecology perspective, it focuses on the discourses of the power relationships embedded within the ‘state‐society‐flood’ nexus over the course of its ‘opening‐up and closing‐off’ processes (e.g. excavating large‐scale canals for human settlements and agricultural expansion (opening‐up) and human interventions into natural systems through water control structures (closing‐off)). Drawing on empirical data gathered from 33 interviews and nine focus group discussions in three study areas and relevant literature, the paper argues that human interactions with the flood environments are intertwined with adjustments of adaptation patterns as evidenced through three periods: free adaptation (pre‐1975), transitional adaptation (1976–2010) and forced adaptation (after 2010). These processes have witnessed a gradual power shift in the ‘state‐society’ relations in manipulating floods, which moves from the top‐down towards a more collaborative fashion. By unravelling the political ecology of the ‘state‐society‐flood’ nexus, this paper exhibits the skewed development in the delta, which is largely bound to short‐term development planning to prioritise local socio‐economic and political objectives. The paper contributes important policy implications for achieving socially just and environmentally sustainable development in the delta.     

Positionality and protocol in field research: Undertaking community‐based investigations in Samoa

This article considers the experiences of a Samoan female geographer undertaking community‐based field research in her home country, and identifies some lessons for researchers working in similar circumstances. The paper suggests that ethical behaviour in research is ‘place‐specific’, and there is therefore a need to employ culturally sensitive and ‘location‐specific’ methodologies when undertaking community‐based research fieldwork. For the lead researcher, growing up in Samoa played a significant role in gaining an understanding of a set of robust and effective procedures to evaluate citizens' resilience to climatic and other environmental challenges. Fluency in everyday and more formal local languages, and awareness of local differences, each with multi‐layered connections to local communities, understanding cultural nuances and practising respect for va tapuia [sacred space or relationships] protocols, together facilitated the process of knowledge acquisition and helped to confirm the validity of the conclusions derived from the study.     

Understanding ‘resource’ conflicts in Papua New Guinea

Abstract: Papua New Guinea, with its heavy dependence on natural resources, limited economic development in the past two decades, poor record of governance and high‐profile separatist conflicts such as the Bougainville civil war, appears to be an exemplar of the ‘Resource Curse’ theory – the notion that natural resources actively undermine economic development. Using a number of examples from a range of scales, this paper argues that what appear to be ‘resource’ conflicts in Papua New Guinea are actually better conceived as conflicts around identity and social relationships. The very different conceptualisation of natural resources in most Melanesian societies – as elements of the social world as much as any external environmental sphere – means that resources become a conduit for local social and political agendas and tensions to be expressed. The nature of traditional conflict in Melanesian societies is discussed as a guide to the better management and resolution of what appear to be ‘resource’ conflicts in Papua New Guinea.     

Recreating place,replacing memory: Creative destruction at the Singapore River

Abstract: The transformation of urban landscapes is as much a physical process as it is a symbolic one. Material changes in the form of demolition and redevelopment are often accompanied by changes in the image and identity of places, as well as the personal and collective memories associated with these places. Focusing on the Singapore River, we explore how waterfront redevelopment has rendered certain activities, people and place memories invisible, to be replaced by other landscape elements and their associative identities. Through ‘creative destruction’ and ‘destructive creation,’ the waterfront's transformation is evident in three areas: its built environment (‘builtscapes’), activities and events (‘eventscapes’) and displays of public art (‘artscapes’). We contend that landscapes reflect the tensions between ‘remembering to forget’ and ‘forgetting to remember’ in ‘New Asia‐Singapore,’ a city attempting to blend modern Asian dynamism with tradition and heritage.     

Social movements,environment, and technology in Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry

This paper examines community, environmental, and human rights activists’ influence on adoption of environmentally-friendly technologies in Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry. The story begins with conflict over the development of an export pulp mill in North Sumatra in the 1980s and continues with the adoption of environmental technologies in Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry in the 1990s. Organising around a number of specific events associated with pulp industry development, activists drew attention to the industry which led to a strengthening of government environmental regulation and enforcement, and hastened the adoption of cleaner production technologies.     

Resettling,disconnecting or displacing? Attending to local sociality,culture and history in disaster settings

In many disaster settings, top‐down responses emphasise ‘expert‐led’ solutions that often involve relocating disaster‐affected communities. While the intention might be to move people from harm's way and facilitate recovery, failure to attend to local pre‐disaster circumstances as well as the interplay between power, resilience and vulnerability within and around affected communities often sees resettlement reconfigure as displacement or disconnection. This oversight may even usher in a new phase of dispossession and disadvantage for marginalised groups (particularly in colonial settings). This paper explores experiences in Australia, Japan and Taiwan to reflect on what issues of local sociality, local culture and local resilience need to be attended to in framing ‘better’ disaster responses.     

Sites of infrastructure,apprenticeship and possibilities for self: Locating Indonesia's missing women in representative politics

Women are under-represented in Indonesian legislatures, and those women who are elected are disproportionately from ‘elite’ backgrounds. This research sought to understand the conditions for women to succeed in politics in conditions of patriarchy and clientelist politics. Research in North Sumatera, Indonesia, revealed that many women did not make the conscious decision not to enter politics, but rather found that they had not established the required preconditions earlier enough in life. Patriarchal social norms and a transactional political culture frustrate women's ability to acquire these conditions, yet they are also subject to change. Interviews with women elected representatives and women who had never contested an election revealed three sites that are critical to women either acquiring the preconditions to contest elections, or frustrating that pathway: the household, the ‘community’ and religious/ethnic associations. We demonstrate how women's actions in these sites transform the conditions to make them more conducive to women's political participation.     

Identification and validation of an over‐dominant QTL controlling soybean seed weight using populations derived from Glycine max × Glycine soja

Heterosis, or hybrid vigour, has been used to improve seed yield in several important crops for decades and it has potential applications in soybean. The discovery of over‐dominant quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying yield‐related traits, such as seed weight, will facilitate hybrid soybean breeding via marker‐assisted selection. In this study, F₂ and F_2 : 3 populations derived from the crosses of ‘Jidou 12’ (Glycine max) × ‘ZYD2738’ (Glycine soja) and ‘Jidou 9’ (G. max) × ‘ZYD2738’ were used to identify over‐dominant QTL associated with seed weight. A total of seven QTL were identified. Among them, qSWT_13_1, mapped on chromosome 13 and linked with Satt114, showed an over‐dominant effect in two populations for two successive generations. This over‐dominant effect was further examined by six subpopulations derived from ‘Jidou12’ × ‘ZYD2738’. The seed weight for heterozygous individuals was 1.1‐ to 1.6‐fold higher than that of homozygous individuals among the six validation populations examined in different locations and years. Therefore, qSWT_13_1 may be a useful locus to improve the yield of hybrid soybean and to understand the molecular mechanism of heterosis in soybean.     

Vakavanua,vakamatanitū: discourses of development in Fiji

Discourses about development have contributed to profound socio-economic transformation in all parts of the world. This paper examines the development debate in Fiji with particular reference to two distinctive approaches: state-led developmentalism (vakamatanitū) and a discourse about custom-led development (vakavanua). Political and economic dimensions of these alternative discourses are reviewed with particular reference to land tenure systems in Fiji. Challenges to both vakamatanitū and vakavanua from an emerging literature on globalism will shift the focus of debate from ‘intentional’ to ‘immanent’ development in Fiji.     

Researching ‘sustainable consumption’ in Asia‐Pacific cities

Abstract: Asia‐Pacific cities are experiencing substantial environmental problems, which require innovative policy approaches. One newly emergent policy strand is that of ‘sustainable consumption’. This approach aims to reduce environmental degradation by encouraging all consumers to adopt more environmentally friendly modes of behaviour, especially those living in congested and environmentally degraded urban areas. Although a promising initiative, significant conceptual and practical problems exist with sustainable consumption's current policy framework. However, rather than abandon the idea completely, consumption should become central to researching environmental issues in Asia‐Pacific cities. Here, a ‘political ecology’ approach frames all forms of consumption as revealing political, economic and cultural practices and modes of distributions that give rise to current unsustainable outcomes. Through in‐depth examinations of current forms of consumption, this approach aims to offer a challenging perspective for future research into Asia‐Pacific urban environmental problems.     

Southeast Asia's transboundary haze pollution: Unravelling the inconvenient truth

This paper examines the political intricacies inherent in the management of Southeast Asia's transboundary haze pollution. It argues for a scalar perspective in understanding the complexities of the haze problem. The so‐called ‘inconvenient truth’ is unravelled by teasing out some issues in the national and regional political ecologies, and the challenges of synchronising co‐operation at the national, regional and global scales. Discussion shows that the ‘environment’ takes on different meanings at each scale, and both Indonesia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) need to recognise this in order to engage more effectively with the transboundary environmental issue. Specifically, inadequate management of forest resources in Indonesia, ASEAN's principle of ‘non‐interference’ and a lack of a holistic ecosystem perspective are amongst some of the interconnected issues addressed. The paper calls for a greater awareness of structural weaknesses in the management of forest resources and a change in ASEAN's environmental paradigm to a more holistic ecosystem perspective that prioritises not just environmental and human health, but also a healthy and sustainable ecosystem.     

Identification and characterization of new S‐alleles associated with self‐incompatibility in almond

Almond is a highly heterozygous species with a high number of S‐alleles controlling its gametophytic self‐incompatibility system (GSI). In this work, we have analysed 14 Spanish local almond cultivars for S‐RNase allele diversity. Five new S‐RNase alleles were identified by cloning and sequencing, S₃₁ (804 bp) in ‘Pou de Felanitx’ and ‘Totsol’, S₃₂ (855 bp) in ‘Taiatona’, S₃₃ (1165 bp) in ‘Pou d’Establiments’ and ‘Muel’, S₃₄ (1663 bp) in ‘Pané‐Barquets’ and S₃₅ (1658 bp) in ‘Planeta de les Garrigues’. Additionally, seven already known almond alleles could be recognized in the local cultivars studied. The high number of new alleles identified reveals the wide diversity of almond germplasm still existing and requiring characterization, and points to the possibility of new findings by a wider study focusing on other provenances. The almond S‐RNases have been compared to those of other Prunus species, showing a high identity and confirming that the S‐RNase gene in this genus presents a probable common ancestor.     

Performing ‘Chinese‐ness’ in Singkawang: Diasporic moorings,festivals and tourism

Through an examination of two festivals – Qing Ming and Cap Go Meh – in the town of Singkawang in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), we show how Singkawang‐bound Chinese Indonesian tourists and their Singkawang‐based relatives produce a diasporic heritage network through ‘moorings’ generated by both transnational and internal migration. Instead of returning to a singular ‘homeland’ in distant China, these tourists return to Chinese‐majority Singkawang as a result of their personal genealogical roots and of their broader cultural allegiance with a kind of Chinese‐ness that Singkawang has come to represent within a post‐Suharto Indonesia. Through these two festivals, we demonstrate how personal heritage practices like ‘roots tourism’ and visiting friends and relatives are intimately bound up with identity and developmental politics at local, national and international scales. In so doing, we identify a range of ways in which migratory and tourism flows by Chinese Indonesian internal migrants shape relations to their ancestral hometowns and cultural ‘homelands’ in Indonesia within the context of membership to and participation in a broader transnational diaspora.