Engaging Sustainable Reforestation and Forest Protection in the Wallacea Line, Indonesia

The Wallacea region of Indonesia has high biodiversity and highly unique and endangered species. Its terrestrial ecosystems have unique flora and fauna found nowhere else. Nevertheless, the strategy for protecting and conserving the Wallacea ecosystem is like that in other parts of Indonesia, since it refers to the national forest and environmental regulations. The uniqueness of the Wallacea ecosystem does not reflect the extraordinary efforts of protecting and conserving the region's pristine ecosystem. The continuing decline of the forestland and expansions of agricultural lands have indicated the need for a more fundamental and integrative approach to conserving and protecting the Wallacea ecosystem, particularly forestlands. We use the actor-centered power (ACP) approach or ideas and use the Wallacea Line to highlight how this idea is contested and confronted with the dynamics of complex societies and ecosystems. The ACP approach is the most widely used one in the implementation of the community forest (CF) program in Indonesia. The CF program is one of Indonesia's community-based forest management schemes that empowers local communities to manage state forests sustainably. We chose two national parks established in the Wallacea region, Mutis on Timor Island and Matalawa on Sumba Island, to elaborate further on the development, conservation, and changes that occurred within that landscape. The ACP approach, in line with the spirit of the decentralization era, has mixed consequences for forest management and the biodiversity of the Wallacea region. Regarding the specific characteristics of the Wallacea region and lessons learned from the ACP approach implementation in the CF program, we then propose a sustainable model of reforestation and forest protection that applies the principle of "unity in diversity," where all actors involved have space for the growth of creativity and positive contributions to sustainable forest protection.