However, interviews with some key informants suggested that the owners in Sukapura associated the economic benefits of bamboo-tree gardens with the land itself rather than the products of the bamboo-tree garden. They also stated, prior to the 1970s, when inputs for agricultural production were not as intensive as they are now and the land-use was not as fragmented, bamboo-tree gardens played an important income-generation role for the owners.Although Sukapura respondents ranked the importance of the garden as an income source higher , the difference between the villages was not significant . In contrast, even though respondents from both villages had positive responses to questions B1-2 and B1-3, which were related to the garden’s importance as an economic asset as an inheritance to descendants, Wangisagara respondents’ rankings were significantly higher . In accordance with perceptions on the general meaning of owning a garden, the economic function of the garden was perceived as an important family asset and heritage rather than as an income source in both villages. Respondents also displayed positive perceptions about the social functions provided by their own garden. Although there was no significant difference between the two villages in the perceptual rankings of allowing other villagers to collect dead trees and branches for fuelwood , the answers did vary. This tendency was not observed in Sukapura. That the respondents of Wangisagara rejected their garden’s social function of providing fuel wood for others was noteworthy since they also perceived that the owners of gardens hold positions of respect within the village community.
Figure 3 shows that most respondents in both villages perceived the ecological functions of bamboo-tree gardens very positively. Although there were no significant differences between the two villages in the answers to questions B3-1 to B3-4, stacking pots the strength of positive perception seen in the responses to all four questions was slightly higher in Wangisagara. The tangible ecological benefits of bamboo-tree gardens, such as preventing soil erosion and water storage , were perceived more positively in both villages. These functions may be important in bamboo-tree garden patches located in steeper areas or near water springs. Therefore, the majority of respondents saw it as important to plant new trees in the bamboo-tree garden . However, in response to a supporting question about planting new trees, most owners admitted that they only do it when space is available, usually after a tree has fallen.The respondents of both villages indicated that they perceived the area of gardens in the village to be decreasing , and this perception was significantly stronger in Wangisagara ; more than 90% of respondents ranked this perception above 4, whereas only 70% of Sukapura respondents ranked the perception above 4. Of the respondents who answered that the area of gardens is decreasing, about 30% in Wangisagara and about 44% in Sukapura perceived that the decline had occurred in the past 10 years, but a majority in both villages believed that the decline had been occurring for more than 15years . The key informants in Sukapura indicated that the decline was caused by the rapid adoption of modern agricultural practices that provided farmers with the opportunity to gain higher crop yields and income. Various extension programs by government agencies and the introduction of high yielding varieties resulted in a high rate of conversion of bamboo-tree gardens to cash-crop gardens.
Sukapura respondents believed that land conversionhad been to cash-crop gardens more than to settlements , and their perceptual intensity was significantly higher than that of Wangisagara respondents for D1-1 . The decline in garden area from more than 10 years hence until the time of the survey indicated that the conversion process was still occurring despite the limited extent of bamboo-tree garden patches in the area. In Wangisagara, the respondents perceived that the gardens were converted to settlements rather than to cash-crop gardens . Additionally, the key informants for this village said that the decline was particularly a result of expansion of the industrial sector and human settlement. The expansion of the textile industry attracted labor from outside the area, leading to an increase in settlers. A few respondents mentioned that conversion to other agricultural systems such as kebun palawija had also occurred. As seen in the responses to question D2, the main perceived causes of the decline in bamboo-tree gardens in the study areas were economic. The respondents of both Wangisagara and Sukapura strongly perceived that they could obtain greater economic benefit from converting their gardens to other agricultural systems or selling them for non-farm uses . In addition, based on our interviews with some informants, converting the bamboo-tree gardens to cashcrop gardens can also provide job and income to the local people. Economic reasons were also the main answer given by ex-owners when asked why they sold their bamboo-tree gardens. In general, the ex-owners had similar perceptions to current owners with regard to the ownership and functions of gardens . The respondents in both villages strongly perceived a lack of concern and support from government agencies as a cause of garden decline . Replies to a supporting question showed that all respondents, regardless of village, believed that the decline would have been slowed if the government or other institutions supported the garden owners, for example, by giving an insentive to the garden owners who maintained their gardens and by providing good quality seedlings of tree species with high economic value.
Respondents in both villages exhibited strongly positive perceptions that bamboo-tree gardens were still needed in the upper Citarum basin, and the intensity was significantly higher in Wangisagara . Almost all respondents perceived that improving economic returns from the garden, particularly by increasing the market value of the products , was a very important step for the future existence of bamboo-tree gardens. However, the intensity of the perception was higher in Wangisagara . In addition, respondents from both villages also perceived that the involvement of government and/or other institutionswould be crucial to improve economic returns , and the intensity of these two perceptions was again significantly higher in Wangisagara . About 50% of respondents in Wangisagara answered supporting questions to suggest that they believe that unless economic returns are improved and more support is provided, the conversion of gardens, particularly to settlements, would continue and they would almost certainly disappear from the upper part of the Citarum basin.Overall, bamboo-tree garden owners in the two study villages have positive perceptions of the socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological roles of the bamboo-tree garden as an element of the landscape. Differences in the intensity of perceptions are influenced by the frame of reference for the perception, grow lights such as factual knowledge and emotional experiences. The more coherent the factual knowledge and emotional experiences, the more likely the influence on the perception of people. In general, the bamboo-tree garden owners in Wangisagara have more positive perceptions of the gardens than those of Sukapura. This was seen very clearly in perceptions of the economic function of bamboo-tree gardens; the owners in Sukapura exhibited less positive perceptions. This is because most of the owners in Sukapura village have other, more productive sources of income, for example, vegetable crops. With capital-intensive agricultural practices, they are able to obtain higher incomes than they can from their bamboo-tree garden. Therefore, they consider bamboo-tree gardens not as their primary source of incomeand consequently have a lower intensity of desire to maintain their garden.The respondents in Sukapura perceived their bamboo-tree gardens as an asset that indicated socioeconomic status but not as a primary source of income. The perceived value of the bamboo-tree garden derives from the land itself or its potential to be converted to a more productive vegetable garden. The difference in perception intensities between the two villages with regard to the social function of bamboo-tree gardens is presumably related to the local dynamics in livelihoods experienced by the people in the two villages. Although the people in Sukapura are likely to be more market oriented, since capital-intensive agricultural activity is more predominant there than in Wangisagara, they still allow other villagers to freely collect branches, medicinal plants, or raw vegetables for their own use.
It is therefore not necessarily the case that engagement in a market-oriented livelihood overrides perceptions of the social function an owner’s bamboo-tree garden. Our finding was concomitant to other studies which were carried out by Okubo et al. and Muhamad et al.in other villages in West Java. The respondents in Sukapura who practice capital-intensive agriculture still retain a sense of community sharing. This finding contrasts with the condition in capital-intensive agricultural practices in developed countries, e.g. Petrzelka mentioned that among conventional farmers in Iowa USA, nature is viewed as a resource to be used and controlled, and farmers usually do not hold a sense of community but see farming primarily as a business. Even though the owners in Wangisagara rejected their garden’s social function in terms of providing fuel wood freely for others, but this does not mean that the bamboo-tree gardens in Wangisagara do not have a social function. They limited access for other villagers to collect fuel wood, but they still shared certain products like fruits from their bamboo-tree garden to neighbors as an important part of maintaining social relationships, meaning that the social role of the gardens was to supply excess fruit to villagers. Respondents in the two study villages exhibited a more or less similar positive perception to the ecological functions of their bamboo-tree garden. Nevertheless, there was some inconsistency between what they perceived to be important and what was actually happening. Despite their perception about the ecological importance of the bamboo-tree garden for the village, such as preventing soil erosion, storing water, and providing habitat for wildlife, the conversion of this land-use type to less environmentally desirable systems was still occurring. Although no quantitative data estimates have been made on the rate of conversion bamboo-tree gardens, our interviews and visual observations clearly indicate that such conversions continue unabated up to the present time. This suggests that positive perceptions do not always correlate with positive behavior, and sometimes the connection between farmer perception and practice is weak. This is similar to the results of a number of previous studies. In many cases, farmers’ practices diverge from their perceptions because the way individual farmers act is not only influenced by their own perceptions but also by cultural and socioeconomic forces and the suitability of the bio-physical environment. The development of a strong commitment leading to positive behavior of rural people towards the sustainability of bamboo-tree gardens is essential for their continued existence.
The perceptions of owners of the ecological functions of their bamboo-tree gardens were somewhat in concordance with a study of bird communities in fragmented bamboo-tree gardens reported by Erawan et al. and Parikesit et al.. The diversity of bird species found in bamboo-tree garden patches is presumably related to the structural pattern of vegetation layers and food abundance. Therefore, ecological concern exhibited by bamboo-tree garden owners is an encouraging sign for conservation efforts. Unfortunately, no other studies concerning the ecological functions of bamboo-tree gardens in the upper Citarum basin have been carried out. It would be important to investigate the role of bamboo-tree gardens as a filter or sink for soil nutrients exported from neighboring cultivated land in the changing agricultural landscape of the Citarum basin. The role of this land-use type in relation to pest outbreaks and predator-prey interactions in vegetable crop gardens are other challenging topics that need to be addressed.Compared with other types of agricultural land , bamboo-tree gardens receive the lowest levels of management inputs for production purposes. The number of non-cultivated plants, which were found to grow naturally in bamboo-tree gardens including forest species such as Ficus spp., Sterculia oblongata, Arctostaphylos glauca, and Neonauclea lanceolata, was higher than that of domesticated species in both villages . Therefore, it is not surprising that the economic productivity of these gardens is lower than that of other agricultural lands. Management of bamboo-tree gardens without high external energy inputs as practiced by the owners in the two study villages is an example of traditional subsistence agriculture that was presumably predominant in the upper Citarum basin prior to the introduction of capital-intensive agricultural practices in the 1970s.