An Analysis of Bodri Watershed Governance System

Watershed management needs collaboration and program integration from all stakeholders including government and non-government institutions, as well as communities. Despite the existent of a number of regulatory frameworks, there are various problems in watershed management that need to be systematically diagnosed for future improvement. This paper focuses on Bodri Watershed, which stretches through three regencies (e.g. Temanggung, Semarang and Kendal Regencies) and has a vital role not only in the ecological but also socio-economic life of the surrounding communities. The paper aims to evaluate the current conditions of the watershed through governance lens. This paper employs Governance System Analysis (GSA) approach and mainly uses qualitative method for data collection. The paper finds that there is lack of coordination, integration, synergy and synchronization in the application of knowledge, connectivity and capacity for participation of related stakeholders to the management of the Bodri Watershed. This situation explains environmental problems and ecosystem damages in the Bodri Watershed area. These problems include massive land conversion, erosion, landslides, sedimentation, and flooding and drought in the rainy and dry seasons respectively.


Introduction
Based on Presidential Regulation No. 12/ 2012 concerning Determination of River Areas, Central Java Province consists of 202 watersheds [1]. Bodri is one of the degraded watersheds in Central Java that is categorized in the critical condition. Identification of the critical status of watershed was carried out by the Ministry of Forestry in 2009 by categorizing the Bodri Watershed as one of the 108 watersheds which considered as critical. This was supported by the Central Java Regional Regulation No. 15/2014 concerning Management of Watersheds in the Central Java Region [2] which states that the Bodri Watershed was included in the watersheds which should restore their carrying capacity.
The critical condition could be proven through the occurrence of land conversion causing deterioration on environmental quality. A significant amount of land use in the watershed has changed from a buffer zone to the cultivation area. Based on the Bodri Watershed performance monitoring and evaluation report [3], the size of protected forests was only around 25% of the total area of the Bodri Watershed. One of the crucial factors that triggered land conversion in the Bodri Watershed is an increase in population and socioeconomic activities of the local community. Population pressure in the Bodri Watershed area was relatively high, with score > 2. This means local residents are very dependent on processing land to fulfill their daily lives [4].
Increasing the number of residents causes uncontrolled land conversion and causes negative effects on the environment [5,6]. In order to overcome the problems, it is necessary to integrate management in a single river basin management from upstream to downstream [7,8].
Besides the physical problems as mentioned above, there are indications of the lack of integration of policies between stakeholders involved in the Bodri Watershed management. In practice, some problems that arise include 'silo' or locally known as sectoral ego. It means that putting emphasis on the interests of each sector compared to the integration and collaboration of policies between sectors. In addition, lack of coordination between related stakeholders persists has resulted in conflicts between sectors and between regions leading to ineffectiveness in watershed management. This is aligned to Tarlock's opinion [9] stating that the absence of inter-governmental coordination and cooperation may lead to ineffective watershed management as well as conflicts between sectors/activities. This paper aims to assess the current state of governance system in Bodri Watershed management based on the Governance System Analysis (GSA) approach by analyzing three important themes: (i) the application of knowledge, (ii) the relationships or connectivity between stakeholders, and (iii) the capacity  This study employs a qualitative method with the Governance System Analysis (GSA) approach [10,11]. The method of data collection was done by conducting in-depth interviews related to the application of knowledge, stakeholder relations/connectivity and the capacity of stakeholders in Bodri Watershed management.

1 Condition of Bodri Watershed
The current condition of the Bodri Watershed is alarming. The watershed has a critical area of 14,033.51 hectares or approximately 25% of the total area of the watershed, with the most degraded area is in the upstream [12]. Agricultural activities that have not implemented soil conservation in the management of their land, are the main cause of this condition. Then, it has caused a decrease in the quality of the environment and ecosystems in the watershed. Figure 2 shows some situations in the upstream of the watershed, while Figure  3 shows some areas in Bodri Watershed which is prone to landslides, erosion, sedimentation, and flood in the rainy season, and drought in the dry season.

2 Application of Knowledge in Bodri Watershed Management
The application of knowledge in Bodri Watershed management has not been well implemented. It could be seen from the gap of studies/research conducted by the stakeholders related to Bodri Watershed management. Research outputs should be the basis of the application of stakeholders' practice related to the management of the Bodri Watershed. It is expected that the research findings are applied in the implementation of programs/activities and should be conducted by each stakeholder. In addition, there is still a lack of training related to the Bodri Watershed management, for all stakeholders.

3 Stakeholder Connectivity in the Management System of Bodri Watershed
The stakeholders related to the Bodri Watershed management have established a forum (TKPSDA and Forum DAS) which consists of government and nongovernment elements. In the forum, relevant stakeholders have been given access to deliver problems related to Bodri Watershed management. With the existence of the forum, it is hoped that a strategy could be formulated to become a program or activity of each stakeholder in carrying out their duties related to the Bodri Watershed management. In practice, each stakeholder runs on its own. There has been weak coordination and synergy to conduct their tasks in managing the Bodri Watershed. Sectoral ego is still found and there is overlapping authority between stakeholders so that the planned arrangements do not operate as expected. Shortly, connectivity between stakeholders in the Bodri Watershed management system has not run optimally.

4 Stakeholder Capacity in Bodri Watershed Management
Relevant stakeholders in the Bodri Watershed management have had decision-making capacity in terms of the capacity to prepare their vision, mission, and objectives. They have been involved in the initial preparation of the Bodri Watershed's vision, mission, and objectives. The stakeholders also have the capacity to develop strategies but there are obstacles that must be addressed immediately, especially related to the inconsistency of participants who represent in the forum. For example, staff who represent the forum keep changing due to availability and task rotation. They do not strategic position in bureaucracy so that important decision or records in the forum could not be implemented properly. In addition, stakeholders at Bodri Watershed are perceived to have lack capacity in terms of research and assessment, implementation capacity/ strategy implementation, and monitoring, evaluation, and review. This is caused by several factors, including a limited budget, collided with authority, not being the main task of each stakeholder, un-functioned Bappeda as the leading sector and the fact that the strategy formulation has not been included in the mid-term development plan (RPJM) as a performance indicator of each related stakeholder. Table 1, explain the detailed result of GSA.

Conclusion
Based on the analysis results of the Bodri Watershed management using the governance system analysis (GSA) approach indicate that the Bodri watershed management has not been effective and efficient because there are still many weaknesses in almost all structures and functions in a GSA perspective. Ineffective and efficient Bodri watershed management, among others, was indicated by the lack of coordination among related stakeholders, causing overlapping policies; there are still sectoral ego in the implementation of strategy; there is no regular study/research to support Bodri watershed management; lack of commitment related stakeholders in carrying out the implementation of the strategies that have been formulated; and evaluation, review, and monitoring activities are still not routinely carried out by the relevant stakeholders. Therefore, general efforts are still needed to improve coordination, integration, synergy, and synchronization between stakeholders related to Bodri Watershed management both in the planning, implementation, control, monitoring and evaluation stages for better management of Bodri Watershed.