Implementation of Village Forest (Hutan Desa) in Sembuan and Intu Lingau Villages, West Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

Abstract

One of the ways used by the Indonesian government so that people living in and around the forest can participate in managing the forest while getting economic and environmental benefits is through Social Forestry (Perhutanan Sosial) with five schemes offered according to the characteristics of the community. One of the schemes implemented by the people of Intu Lingau and Sembuan Villages is the Village Forest  (the so-called Hutan Desa-HD). The Village Forest is still in the initial stages of implementation; of course, it is interesting to study how the community manages the village forest, what the benefits are, what problems they face and how they are resolved. The aim of this research was to examine the implementation of Village Forests, the problems or conflicts that arise and the mechanisms for resolving the problems.

This research was carried out in Intu Lingau and Sembuan Villages, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, from 2023 to 2024 with a focus on Village Forest management, which is operationally carried out by the Village Forest Management Board (so-called LPHD-Lembaga Pengelola Hutan Desa). Data was collected using direct field surveys, focus group discussions (FGD) with LPHD and in-depth interviews with key respondents. The information and data collected were analyzed using the descriptive qualitative method. The Sustainability principles of Ostrom and Successful Principles of Agrawal were also used for validation of the implementation of Village Forest. 

The results of the research showed that the implementation of the Village Forest that has been carried out by the LPHD includes taking steps to secure the Village Forest area by making boundary marks around the area, carrying out area patrols, and operationally managing the Village Forest through five Social Forestry Business Groups (so-called Kelompok Usaha Perhutanan Sosial-KUPS) in Intu Lingau and seven KUPS in Sembuan. In the implementation of Forest Village, there were several internal and external conflicts. The conflict resolution mechanism used is negotiation and consensus because it depends on the intensity and who was involved in the conflict. It is recommended that the management board strongly support KUPS in running the Program for the benefit of the community.