ABSTRACT
The Spermonde Archipelago in southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia, is one geographical area, but viewed as three systems which are interlinked: the natural, the social and the governance system. The three systems are defined by different overlapping boundaries but united by a common issue: overuse and degradation of natural resources. Pressures on the natural system due to environmental change act in combination with pressures affected by an increasing population that is highly dependent on marine resources. As a result, these double pressures create adverse socio-economic impacts on the island population. The dominant profession and trade are fishing and fisheries, the major problem encountered is destructive fishing and overfishing. Governance measures search for responses to propose solutions to the problems. The governance system is layered hierarchically in national, regional and local levels. It includes a formal administrative sector, an informal civil society sector and the market, which again extends from the local to the regional and international level.
We found that inadequate governmental marine management measures and ineffective law enforcement create strong drawbacks for solving the problems of overfishing and the degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems. Local communities have developed responses to cope with and mitigate changes in the Spermonde social-ecological system. We argue that these responses are more effective to deal with the continuous degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems in Spermonde, while at the same time – in part – contributing to ongoing degradation. Concluding remarks attempt to assess and evaluate the success of the responses implemented, as well as their outcomes: positive and negative impacts on society and the ecosystem.
