The Contribution of Lubuk Larangan on Rural Socio-Cultural and Economic Development in West Sumatera

Abstract

Socio-culturally, the Lubuk Larangan is a kind of local wisdom existing in rural areas of Sumatra Island mainly in West Sumatra Province. Ecologically, it refers to a protected aquatic ecosystem managed by inhabitant living surrounding the ecosystem. The research objective is to study the contribution of the Lubuk Larangan on rural socio-cultural and economic development. A descriptive exploratory survey method, field observation, and qualitative analytical approach were applied. Main species of fish having good economic value conserved in the Lubuk Larangan are garing, eel, mungkus, quail, and kapareh. Besides, there are found some common cultivated fish growing in the ecosystem i.e. carp, tilapia, and catfish. Lubuk Larangan plays important role and contributes on the preservation of germplas and social cultural values as well, especially the spirit of gotong royong (cooperation). The Lubuk Larangan also provides finance for public infrastructure maintenance and development and provision of income generation through informal sector development. So far, there is almost no innovation applied for increasing its contribution.