Community-based Bamboo Stands Management in the Kali Bekasi Watershed, Indonesia

Abstract

A high rate of vegetation clearing around the upper stream of Kali Bekasi watershed currently causes various environmental problems, such as floods. The impacts occur predominantly in downstream area, mostly affecting cities, due to a disruption of the ecosystem in the upper stream. The main function of the upper stream to humans is acting as a buffer to protect downstream areas from flooding, run-off, as well as biodiversity protection. To achieve this, many varieties of plant are grown including bamboo plantations, which serve as a buffer plants on critical land especially with steep contours. In this study we aim to provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of different bamboo stands buffering to improve information for making management recommendation. We examine different points along the stream by mapping bamboo distribution, analyzing bamboo and non-bamboo (tree) stands diversity and biomass, and provide recommendations for bamboo management based on combining our findings with local ecological knowledge. We implemented image classification analysis for classifying bamboo and non-bamboo land use cover. We also measured bamboo and non-bamboo diversity by using Shannon's-Wienner diversity index. Our results showed that bamboo occupies approximately 5,360.89 ha or 11.39% of total area with six bamboo species. The highest bamboo diversity index was in the upper part of the Kali Bekasi watershed (0.62). In contrary, the highest bamboo biomass index was found in the lower part of the upper stream of Kali Bekasi watershed (98.96 ton ha -1 ). We also discovered about 29 species of tree (230 trees) and 27 above-ground plant species in the surveyed area. As a result of our findings, we propose a shift towards bamboo agroforestry management in a mixed garden of talun form, where the community implement their local knowledge on bamboo cultivation and management to maintain the bamboo. This option could improve cooperation among farmers and the local community in order to conserve bamboo and tree species diversity in harmony to local wisdom.

A Model of Integrated Community-Based Bamboo Management for the Bamboo Industry in Ngada Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

“…Studies related to community-based bamboo management in Indonesia have been carried out, including management on the banks of rivers and catchment areas (upstream areas) [30]. Furthermore, community-based bamboo management, in general, uses a hybrid plant system (agroforestry) [31], which is usually combined with local knowledge gained for generations with local wisdom [32]. According to the economic analysis, once bamboo clumps mature, culms can be harvested all year.…”

The status of bamboo research and development for sustainable use in Indonesia: A systematic literature review

“…Other publications on bamboo research also covered the role of bamboo for environmental services, ecological function, and carbon sequestration. The ecological aspects of bamboo research covered the position of bamboo for riverbank protection, soil, and water conservation [121,122], land restoration [123], and post-mining revegetation [124]. Another role in environmental services was bamboo carbon research focuses on carbon stocks stored on bamboo stands in several regions in Indonesia [125,126].…”