Willingness to participate in planting and protecting the forest of mangrove: Community response related to mangrove of fruit product utilization in Pariti, Timor Island, Indonesia

Abstract. Kurniadi R, Koeslulati EE. 2019. Willingness to participate in planting and protecting the forest of mangrove: community response related to mangrove of fruit product utilization in Pariti, Timor Island. Trop Drylands 4: 51-54. This research was part of utilization of the fruit of mangrove's research. Mangrove forests provide goods and services and protect the shoreline from climate and non-climate impacts, so it plays a role in human sustainability and livelihoods. In some areas in Indonesia, there were some utilizations of the fruit of mangroves as cookies or any kind of food, however, it was not yet in Pariti, one of the villages in Kupang District. This utilization should be supported by the continuity of fruit productivity. Nowadays, the loss of mangrove forests rate is significantly higher than any other type that leads to severe losses of livelihoods and biodiversity of mangrove forests. Especially in fruit utilization, the roles of communities are needed to protect the mangrove forest, moreover to increase the productivity of the fruit. The aim of study was to examine the willingness of community in preventing mangrove forests and the willingness to plant the tree related to the utilization of fruit of mangrove. A total of 27 respondents were interviewed using a questionnaire, taken by purposive. The result showed that the willingness of communities to protecting the forest was low (3.7%), and the willingness to plant the tree also (3.7%). The acceptance to develop the cookie was high (100%) unless they see its market. They will be motivated to planting if the market for fruit products exists or when there is a program. The fruit product could not be the stimulus of plant of mangroves yet.