Local people’s dependency on forest and its implication for rehabilitation of Paliyan Wildlife Reserve

Paliyan Wildlife Reserve (PWR) is located in the karst ecosystem in Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta which has degraded since it was first designated in 2000 as a conservation area. Since then, rehabilitation has been carried out to improve the ecological functions of PWR. Local communities surrounding PWR have been depending on the existence of forest to support their daily life. This paper aimed to present the forest dependency of local people surrounding PWR and elucidate how that reliance affected rehabilitation. Data were collected through interviews with local people and forest management, observing local people, mapping the vegetation cover, ground checking, and observing forest conditions. The findings showed that PWR was mainly covered by low-dense forest (66,07%) which was classified as mixed dryland agriculture. Despite PWR’s position as a conservation area, the local population nonetheless engaged in a high level of agricultural activities. The necessity for land for agriculture and cattle feed is where the locals’ greatest reliance on PWR was shown. The primary source of income for the locals was agriculture, however, there was little land ownership. As a result, PWR was under strain since the local people still heavily depended on PWR property to maintain communal agriculture. Livestock also had a strong reliance on forage crops, particularly during the dry season when feed was scarce and PWR vegetation could provide the crops. During the dry season, PWR was primarily responsible for the fodder crop. Disruption of plant growth, a slowdown in the change of land cover, disturbance of forest regeneration, conflict between people and wildlife, and a decline in biodiversity were all consequences of this reliance on the restoration process. The high level of PWR dependence in the area hampered the success of rehabilitation. Therefore, it was necessary to reduce the local population’s reliance on PWR to maximize the goals of rehabilitation.