Land preparation practices with burning by communities in the area of Daops Manggala Agni, Muara Bulian, Jambi Province

Abstract

Uncontrolled forest and land fires are mostly caused by land clearing practices. These practices were shaped by the attitudes of the community toward burning practice itself. The study was conducted to compare land clearing practices with burning by various community groups, to determine the attitudes and behaviour of community groups towards land preparation with burning and to determine the factors that influenced such attitudes and behaviour. Data were collected through interview and were analyzed using summated ranking method. Data were analyzed with regard to measurement of attitude and description of land clearing practices and factors that influenced attitude and behaviour of community groups. The research showed that ritual was used by the SAD community prior to burning, while all community groups applied various techniques in land preparation. The choice of technique was under the consideration for an efficient and effective method as well as safety factor. The majority of the people agreed to the practice of burning, negative impacts of burning, and they also agreed on rules related to forest and land fire control. The underlying factors that influenced the community’s attitudes and behaviour were belief that burning could enrich the soil and one of the cheapest land clearing method. The option not to burn was influenced by the fear of prohibiting the law, respect toward officers, and knowledge enhancement that burning could reduce soil fertility in the future.

Kebakaran hutan dan lahan (karhutla) merupakan kejadian yang setiap tahun terjadi di Indonesia. Karhutla berdampak pada berbagai segi kehidupan, mulai dari ekosistem, biodiversitas, ekonomi, kesehatan sampai politik. Karhutla di Indonesia disebabkan oleh aktivitas manusia terutama pada penyiapan lahan baik untuk pertanian maupun perkebunan. Praktek penyiapan lahan dengan membakar sebenarnya sudah dilakukan sejak ribuan tahun yang lalu dan saat ini masih dilakukan beberapa kelompok masyarakat tradisional. Praktek penyiapan lahan dengan membakar dilakukan dengan berbagai pertimbangan dan aturan sehingga menjadi praktek pembakaran yang terkendali. Praktek tersebut dapat berubah seiring dengan adanya pendatang yang menjalin komunikasi dan pembelajaran dua arah dengan masyarakat lokal. Praktek penyiapan lahan dengan membakar berhubungan dengan sikap masyarakat yang membutuhkan pendekatan sosial untuk memahami sikap dan perilaku masyarakat terkait karhutla dan faktor yang mempengaruhi timbulnya sikap dan perilaku tersebut. Data tersebut dapat diperkaya dengan kajian perundangan dan proyeksi kejadian karhutla dalam program pemerintah untuk mempercepat pembangunan berbasis pembangunan perkebunan di wilayah Sumatera.