Role of Women in Promoting Sustainable Resource Management of Upland Bromo - East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Following the concept of political ecology, this chapter will explain the essential role women play in stabilizing resources regardless of the limited role they usually play in decision-making processes both in the household and the public sphere. Three villages in the highland areas around the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (BTSNP) were selected for case studies. Based on qualitative research (150 semi-structured interviews, 30 in-depth interviews with key informants and five focus group discussions), we found that women have a pivotal role in stabilizing land productivity, rationalizing energy consumption, promoting food security, and taking over men’s duties as men tend to enter the rural labor market. Unfortunately, such phenomenon was not followed by changes in the structure of decision-making processes.