Social Forestry: The Balance between Welfare and Ecological Justice

Abstract

Poverty and climate change mitigation are connected to each other, so one of the policies adopted by the Indonesian government is managing forests with social forestry schemes. Where social forestry aims at prospering the poor and preserve forests. A balance between the two is needed because it is not only part of forest land, but it also considers justice for the community to get prosperous rights and realize ecological justice. The dynamics of social forestry in Indonesia are characterized by policies and regulations, but in various regions, people have succeeded in increasing their welfare while making forests sustainable. It was concluded that social forestry builds ecological strategic values that guarantee the sustainability of forest functions managed by the community. It can succeed if policies and regulations in Indonesia provide legal certainty over the rights to community-managed forest land.

The nexus between ecological competence, forest area management, and sustainable agroecosystem performance for communities around Mount Merbabu National Park (MMbNP)

“…Conflicts arise when a community utilizes conservation areas, causes damage, and does not engage in rehabilitation efforts [5]. Communities that reject the value of forests as sites that can maintain biological balance and long-term conservation goals are to blame for actions that harm forest sustainability [6].…”