The role of middle actors on land use policy: a case study in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This study applies Parag and Janda’s ‘middle-out’ analytical perspective as a complementing alternative to the dichotomous options of top-down vs. bottom-up strategies of environmental management. It further develops the framework by applying it to a new context of land management and environmental change. Using a case study approach, we explore influences from middle actors, utilizing qualitative empirical evidence and incorporating responses across 25 households and 11 key actors in one Central Kalimantan, Indonesia village. We demonstrate middle actors’ unique capabilities and their criticality to affect change due to their influence across various levels of decision-making and commons governance. We posit that existing frameworks may misidentify the ‘bottom’ and ‘middle,’ raising questions about traditional development and livelihood discourse, strategies, and support. Recommendations include that current policy preconceptions be reevaluated to engage middle actors in locally adapted, integrative manners to improve governance and rural development.

KEYWORDS:

• Indonesia
• land use
• rural development
• middle-out perspective
• middle actors

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the staff of the KPHL Kapuas Kahayan, the faculty of the Universitas Muhammadiyah Palangkaraya, and Desa Anjir Kalampan for their openness and invaluable support in conducting field research for this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute; European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement: [Grant Number No. 745744].

Notes on contributors

Kevin Soubly

Kevin Soubly is a public policy professional with a focus on global macro trends, sustainability, and environmental security, from national level strategies to localized development efforts. This includes a specific interest in human security, natural resource management, and related policy development from a systems-thinking perspective.

Kaysara Khatun

Kaysara Khatun’s research interests are situated in the areas of climate change policy, land use change, and natural resource management/conflict. These include adaptation and mitigation reflecting a keen interest in policy formation and implementation in international, national, through to community levels, mainly in the forestry and sustainable development contexts.