Dissertation of Aceng Hidayat
Start: 2001
End: 2005
Indonesian coral reef ecosystems are in a state of continual decline, approaching a point of extinction. Many consider that this has been caused by human actions, such as destructive fishing practices, over-fishing, coral mining, coastal development, and other maritime-based activities. This could be seen as a correct assessment, because such activities have evidently resulted in the degradation of coral reefs wherever they exist. However, the question arises: why do humans behave this way in the first place? In “Institutional Analysis of Coral Reef Management”, Aceng Hidayat attempts to disclose the reasons behind this phenomenon from the perspective of New Institutional Economics theories. In the early chapters of his book, Hidayat links coral reef degradation in Indonesia with two current conditions: first, with the often conflicting policies and a vacuum of specific regulation prevailing on coastal resources, and second, with centralized policy making. The first, he argues, has resulted in an overlapping of authority and an unclear delegation of responsibility among diverse stakeholders, while the second has been responsible for ineffective monitoring systems over coastal resources, both of which in the end affect the state of coral reef ecosystems. Analyzing the results of his own empirical case study in Gili Indah village, West Lombok, Indonesia, Hidayat sketches a model solution to coral reef problems in the form of a village-level governance structure that has been successful in halting destructive fishing practices and resolving chronic conflicts among actors. He then analyzes this success, linking it with actors’ characteristics, properties of their transactions, property rights over the resources, and the pre-existing governance structure. This book should be of interest to social scientists, analysts of institutional change and property rights, and to those concerned with coral reef issues, particularly in Indonesia.
Researcher: Hidayat, Aceng
Advisor: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Konrad Hagedorn