MANAGEMENT OF ECOSYSTEM REHABILITATION AND LIVELIHOOD RECOVERY

8.1. MANAGEMENT OF ECOSYSTEM REHABILITATION AND LIVELIHOOD RECOVERY

a. Provision of a technical guide for rehabilitation and livelihood activities

A technical guide to the implementation of activities is badly needed in the field. This technical guide should, at the least, provide adequate information and guidelines on how to manage the activities, both for ecosystem rehabilitation and livelihood recovery. To make it easier for local partners to understand, the technical guide should be simple and based on the stages of each activity. These should be given in the correct sequence, complete with the procedure for implementing each stage. In addition to these stages, several rules also need to be laid down to ensure that the activities carried out in the field are consistent with the basic principles of Green Coast.

b. Establishment of a base line prior to implementing activity

Green Coast should be capable of measuring the impact of its activities in the field. From the point of view of community welfare, the project’s impact was concerned more with how much economic gain the community had obtained through the various economic activities that they conducted. From the point of view of the environment, meanwhile, its impact was concerned more with the extent to which the ecosystems hit by the Tsunami had recovered as a result of the coastal rehabilitation activities. However, the absence of any baseline to describe the economic and environmental conditions (prior to the start of the project) made it difficult for the project to measure these impacts. For future projects, it is strongly recommended that each project should collect baseline data before the project begins.

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was below optimum. Monitoring also indicated that a relatively limited number of group members were in fact active in the rehabilitation activities. A large proportion of members tended to be passive. Ironically, all members (both active and non-active) received the same benefit from the project. Several steps could be taken to improve group members’ performance now, including the following:

• Oblige every member to attend and participate in every activity •

Apply a reward and punishment mechanism to members. For example, if a member is absent from a meeting more than 4 times, they will be expelled from the group.

• Conduct a periodic evaluation of members For the future, a group membership selection mechanism must be prepared and then applied

in the field. This mechanism must fulfil the principles of transparency, justice, and prioritize the commitment of would-be members. Through this mechanism, it is expected that each member will genuinely possess strong willingness and motivation to join the group and carry out the activities in the field.

d. Intensive facilitation for groups and community

In view of the community’s limited capacity for implementing activities in the field, it is extremely important that facilitation take place. With facilitation, it is expected that there will

be good communication as well as a channel for learning a range of knowledge and skills. Facilitation should be intensive. This means that there must be a facilitator who really mentors the community patiently and guides them through each stage of the activities. The facilitator must have the requisite skills to establish communication with the community and have sufficient understanding of the project’s vision and mission. With intensive facilitation, it is expected that activities in the field will run smoothly and achieve success.

e. Continued communication and coordination among partners

For communication and coordination among the local partners in Aceh and Nias to cease would be very regrettable. A breakdown in this communication also means a breakdown in the flow of information and lessons that should strengthen the local partners in the future of their programme. Related to this, the communication and coordination established during the GC project should be improved, maintained and continued. Initiation and facilitation from the project are needed to seek the best solution so that communication can continue. One way of doing this would be to keep the Jaringan Kuala network active as a channel for communication between GC partners, both with one another and also with other parties.

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According to observation in the field, there is a frequent rise and fall in the community’s level of environmental awareness. At times when environmental problems are an issue, there are plenty of parties enthusiastically making an effort to do environmental recovery activities like planting mangrove, planting beach plants, and environmental campaigning. This, directly or otherwise, stimulates the community to know and eventually become aware of the importance of looking after the environment. But if the environmental issue is in decline, then the level of community awareness will certainly also decline. With the ending of the GC project, it seems necessary to anticipate some endeavours to improve and maintain the community’s level of environmental awareness so that it does not decline. Some of the steps that can be taken are as follows:

• Distribute environmental campaign materials to the local partners whenever possible. The local partners are then expected to distribute these materials to the community even though the project is finished.

• Coordinate with other parties (both governmental and non governmental) to synergize environmental awareness activities. Some materials belonging to GC can be channelled to these parties to support their ongoing programmes.

• Integrate the awareness raising programme into the school curriculum. If done, this will guarantee the continuation of the environmental campaign. Even though the project will have ended, the process of raising environmental awareness will continue.

g. Establishment of specific criteria for choosing a livelihood

Several cases of failure discovered in the field have provided invaluable experience and lessons for the project, especially as regards the mechanism for deciding upon a type of livelihood. The mechanism and stages for this should, at the very least, include key criteria that strongly influence the sustainability and success of an economic enterprise. Below, are several criteria to which attention needs to be paid when deciding upon a choice of livelihood:

• The participants already have experience of running economic activity. If they do not, they must fully convince the group and the facilitator that what they plan to do is fea- sible. This, of course, must be supported by calculations and assumptions that can be substantiated.

• The type of livelihood is approved and stated to be feasible by the facilitator and group. This must be founded on a profit-loss analysis and a number of other considerations. As regards this, each member is under an obligation to make a convincing simple business yield analysis to show that the enterprise chosen has prospects and will be successful.

• The type of livelihood must have prospects and open market opportunity. •

The enterprise to be developed does not have the potential to threaten environmental conservation.

If these criteria are applied, there will not in future be members who are mistaken in their choice of an economic enterprise. Moreover, these criteria will induce the community to be better prepared and capable of achieving success.

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As each project draws to a close, the sustainability of activities has become a common issue. Throughout the period of the GC project, the facilitation process could operate on a regular routine basis because the necessary funding was available. When the project ends, however, there will no longer be funding that can be used for facilitation. To address this problem, it is recommended that the local partner apply a service system specifically directed at continuing the facilitation so that the revolving fund can continue to operate well. A sum for this service needs to be discussed together. However, based on several considerations, 0.5% of the revolving fund is deemed to be appropriate for this service system. This money can be allocated to various facilitation related expenditures, such as the facilitator’s fee and transportation. If this system can be put into practice, then facilitation can continue even after the project has finished.

i. Assessment of the more specific potentials and constraints concerning livelihoods (including present conditions and predictions for the future)

In the assessment done at the start of the Green Coast project, a study was made of the potentials and constraints related to the prospects of an economic activity. However, this was general in nature and not specifically directed at assessing each economic enterprise one by one. Meanwhile in the field, what the local partner has more need of is technical input on the activities that will actually be carried out. For this reason, an assessment is needed that looks more specifically at the prospects and feasibility of several livelihoods that can be alternatives for the community.

Conditions in the field often experienced change along with the development that was taking place. In some cases in Aceh, the results of the assessment had lost their relevance within just a few months. For this reason, an assessment is needed that is more predictive in character, so as to anticipate the diverse dynamics that could impact on the livelihood activities pursued by the community.