Agreements on conservation in Lore Lindu National Park, Sulawesi Indonesia

The involvement of the public in protected area management has increasingly been sought as a means to address the complex and dynamic nature of environmental and social problems. Using a case study of the 'community conservation agreement' (CCA) applied in Lore Lindu National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia, the thesis examines the struggle to reconcile biodiversity protection and rural development. It asks whether the CCA is a strategy for integrated conservation and development by assessing how it aligns with contemporary interpretations of natural resource management that apply social and economic thinking alongside conservation. The thesis questions the implications of the CCA for societies and the Park, particularly as they relate to the distribution of benefits and responsibilities. Interviews and focus groups formed the core methods for data collection. The CCA is decidedly a positive model for collaborative management that attempts to balance the demand for conservation with that of development, although it notably favours the former. However, the agreement risks stagnation and/or failure related to complications with the agreement's murky legal basis, a lack of buy-in from some core parties, and the looming departure of its main facilitator. The thesis concludes with an examination of the future potential of the CCA to improve nature conservation and development. It identifies potential threats and offers recommendations to inform its ongoing refinement, namely, strengthening its legal basis, securing long-term support and buy-in from core parties, strengthening collaboration at multiple scales, and filling significant information gaps.