Natural Resource Conservation Based on Community Economic Empowerment: Perspectives on Watershed Management and Slum Settlements in Makassar City, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of slum development, community poverty, and community behavior on environmental degradation in the Tallo river basin in Makassar City and to analyze the effects of natural resource conservation, economic empowerment, community capacity building on the productivity of economic enterprises and ecosystem-based sustainability. This study uses a qualitative-quantitative approach in sequence. Data were obtained through observation, surveys, and documentation. The research findings show that slums, poverty, and community behavior have a significant effect on the decline in the environmental quality of the Tallo river basin in Makassar City, with a coefficient of determination of 32.2%. The results showed that the conservation of natural resources, economic empowerment, and community capacity building were positively correlated to increasing the productivity of community economic enterprises and the sustainability of watershed ecosystems. The assertion is that watershed conservation, integrated with economic empowerment, contributes positively to economic, social, and environmental sustainability. This study offers the concept of conservation of natural resources based on community economic empowerment as a solution to the handling of slums for the case of metropolitan cities in Indonesia, to support metropolitan city development programs nationally.