PRACTICE OF FOREST AREA CLEARANCE IN KUBU DISTRICT, KARANGASEM, BALI Ida Gemawati Monda I Made Merta Sulistyawati Ni Made Wiasti Doctorate Study Program in Cultural Studies Postgraduate Program, Udayana University email: mondaidagemawati@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The phenomenon of forest clearance is a holistic problem which has caused a forest not to function optimally. The first consequence of forest clearance is felt by the people living around the forest. It can lead to fire, landslide and the disappearance of water source. It can also cause the micro climate to decrease. The theories used in the present study are the theory of power discourse and knowledge proposed by Foucault, the theory of hegemony proposed by Antonio Gramci, and the theory of communication action, proposed by Habermas. It was found that; first, those who cleared the trees growing in the forest area away come from the surrounding villages. The culture of such a forest clearance had been done from generation to generation. The closer they lived to the forest area, the more cattle they raised. They raised more or less four cattle without being supported with how to prepare the food they need. Second, the government had made many attempts to overcome the forest clearance at the Kubu Forest Management Resort “Resor Pengelolaan Hutan (RPH) Kubu”; however, the attempts which it had made was not well communicated. Third, the view of the people involved in the forest area clearance was different from the government’s policy. Fourth, if related to Tulamben Village as a tourist destination, the areas within and outside the forest had the potentials which could be developed as the solution to the forest area clearance. Keywords: forest area clearance, protected forest area, RPH production forest. INTRODUCTION The phenomenon of the forest area clearance has been one of the activities which can cause the forest to be degraded. It is a holistic problem as it involves the areas within and outside the forest. What is meant by the forest area clearance in the present study are the activities of clearing away the trees growing in the forest area in order to be able to grow elephant grass (wide-leaved grass), kaliandra, gamal, cashew fruit trees, and pineapple, and the activity of cutting the branches of the trees growing at RPH Kubu. Those who were involved in the forest area clearance come from the surrounding villages such as Dusun Batu Dawa Kaja, Tulamben Village; Dusun Batu Giling, Dukuh Village; Dusun Kubu, Juntal Village; Dusun Bantas, Baturinggit Village, Kubu District, Karangasem Regency. The study was conducted at RPH Kubu. It covers the protected forest with an area of 2,009.23 hectares, and the production forest area with an area of 204.11 hectares. The forest clearance, based on what is stated in Article 50 clause (3) letter b the Act No. 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry, refers to the attempt made to clear away the trees growing in the forest area without any permit from the government. The government, through the regency department of forestry and provincial department of forestry ‘Satuan Kerja Perangkat Daerah (SKPD)’, has done its best to give information and guidance. However, the forest area clearance still takes place. The problems of the present study are how the forest area clearance took place; what the government did ; what were the impact and meaning of such a forest area clearance. In general, this present study is aimed at understanding the forest area clearance; in particular, it is aimed at answering the three questions formulated above. In theory, it is expected that the result of the present study may give theoretical contribution to the development of higher education knowledge. In practice, it is expected that the result of the present study may give input as to how to overcome the forest area clearance in Kubu District, Karangasem Regency, Bali Province in particular and in the other areas in Bali in general. RESEARCH METHOD This present study is a study of cultural studies, and is qualitative in nature. The informants were purposively determined using the snow ball technique. The data collection was discontinued when the data were considered redundant (redundancy of information). The data were obtained through in depth interview. The other informants as well as key informants were also used. Apart from the qualitative method, participatory rapid appraisal technique (PRA) was also employed. PRA is a newly innovated method which can be used to improve accuracy and efficiency of the time needed for collecting data. DISCUSSION AND RESULT There were several things which led to the forest area clearance. First, the area of forestry was internally limited. Those who were involved in the forest area clearance came from the surrounding villages. Since 19 January 1990, the Ministry of Forestry had had the authority to control all the activities taking place within the forest area. On the other hand, the local people had developed their own system to develop the forest area. They had cleared the trees growing in the forest area away from generation to generation. Before the Act No. 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry was issued, the local people had not understood why the forest area clearance was illegal; they thought they had the right to clear the trees growing in the forest area away. They saw that the land within the forest area was fertile. The streets which are covered with asphalt and which are not covered with asphalt and the path available were easily used as the access by the local people to the forest area. They went to the forest area on foot and by motor. Some also went by riding their horses. Those who were involved in the forest area clearance were farmers; however, they could only cultivate their land during raining season. They also developed plantations and raised cattle. Some also developed gmelina and jati trees, and some others obtained sap from the palm trees. However, raising animals such as cattle, pigs, horses, goats and chicken were what they liked best. When they big enough, they were sold, and the money they earned was spent on the things they needed for performing religious rituals, building houses and for their daily needs. The closer they stayed to the forest area, the more livestock they raised, at least each family raised four cattle. They could have been able to grow the plants they needed for the livestock around their compounds. What they needed for their daily needs was planted in the land they had. The knowledge they had to make use of the land and rain water was insufficient. The local people cleared the trees growing in the forest area away in order to be able to fulfill their daily needs. According to Maslow, there are five stages of human needs. What the local people need still belongs to the stage of basic household needs (food, drinking water, sending children to school, and so forth). The limited information provided to those living around the forest area and there was not security around the forest area also contributed to the forest area clearance. Second, the limited knowledge in forestry was also another factor causing the trees growing in the forest area to be cleared away. The other factors included the governmental less firm regulation, the climate change, and the local regulation ‘awig-awig’ prevailing in one village was different from that prevailing in another village. The government had directly supervised the local people who were involved in the forest area clearance in regard to the matters pertaining to forestry. In addition, those who were supposed to give elucidation and the SKPD (the department) of forestry had provided elucidation until the level of banjar (the neighborhood under a traditional village). The Department of Forestry of Bali Province in general, and the Department of Forestry and Plantation of Karangasem Regency had involved the local people living around the forest area to take part in the reforestation program within and outside the forest area. The technological transfer and adoption programs had been realized by planting trees at all the villages around the forest area. Outside the area of forestry, the government had standardized the cashew fruit seedlings yielded by the mascot of plantation. To make the livestock food available, those who were responsible for giving elucidation and the department of forestry had trained the local people as to how to make the livestock food available. Priority should be given to the attempts which should be made to overcome the limited availability of water for which two man-made reservoirs ‘embung’ had been constructed. In addition, the assistance in the form of small-size water tanks had also been donated gradually. Apart from that, it had been planned to construct more reservoirs. As well, pipes had been installed for connecting the Tegal Waja reservoir with Kubu District. The impacts of the forest area clearance included erosion and fire. The forest area clearance had also led to political impact. The forest area clearance had economic, poverty, social and resistance meanings. The impact discussed in this present study was the negative impact. The forest fire had always taken place almost every year. The factors which had caused the forest fire to take place were the cigarette which was disposed of carelessly, the torch which still contained kerosene among the branches of the trees used by the local people in search for grasshopper-like animals and honey, and for burning grass as, to their opinion, the grass would grow when the wet season started. Then the fire, the path made, the branches which had been cut off and the farming activities caused erosion to take place within and outside the forest area. After the data were analyzed, there were four novelties in the present study. First, those who were involved in the forest area clearance came from the villages around the forest area. This had been done from generation to generation. The closer they stayed, the more cattle they raised (more or less four cattle). When the present study was initially conducted, the local people still cleared the trees growing in the forest area away stealthily and openly. Their insufficient knowledge and no partnership were responsible for this. Second, several attempts had been made by the government to overcome the forest area clearance at RPH Kubu; however, what it had done was not maximum yet, meaning that such a problem had not been holistically solved. Third, the local people’s view was different from the government’s policy. Fourth, there were several potentials which could have been developed both within and outside the forest area. The environmental services could be developed within the forest area, and the agricultural potential could be developed outside the forest area. Those should be integrated with the areas which were prescribed as the strategic areas by the regional government through the Act (Perda Provinsi Bali) No. 16 of 2009 concerning RTRW Bali from 2009 to 2019, in which Tulamben was prescribed as a tourist destination. In this way, the culture of managing the forest ecosystem could be established in accordance with the characteristic of the local area. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION The local people’s insufficient knowledge and no partnership in forestry and non forestry had caused the forest area clearance to take place continuously. The government had not optimally coped with the matter pertaining to the forest area clearance. The forest area clearance had caused erosion and fire to take place. It had also led to the political impact. In regard to its meanings, it had economic and poverty meanings, social meaning and resistance meaning. There were potentials which could be developed both inside and outside the forest area. It is suggested to the Government of Bali Province that the forest area should be managed as what had been planned in the village forest management, and the local people living around the forest area should be empowered to be holistically in charge of the forest management resort. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In this opportunity, the writer would like to thank Prof. Dr. Ing. Ir. I Made Merta as the Supervisor, Prof. Dr. Ir. Sulistyawati, M.S., M.M., M. Mis., D.Th. as Co-supervisor I, and Ni Made Wiasti, M.Hum. as Co-supervisor II, and the Government of Karangasem Regency in general, and the Government of Kubu District and the Government of Bali Province in particular. BIBLIOGRAPHY Barker, C. 2004. Cultural Studies Teori & Praktik. Terjemahan Nurhadi. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kreasi Baru. Cavallaro, Dani. 2004. Critical and Cultural Theori. Yogyakarta: Niagara. Foucault, Michael. 2002. Pengetahuan dan Metode, Karya-karya Penting Foucault 1954-1984. (Terjemahan). Yogyakarta: Jalasutra. Fiske, John. 2007. Oerder of Thing: Arceologi Ilmu-Ilmu Kemanusiaan. (terjemahan B. Priambodo dan Pradewa Boy) Yoguakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.