Village forest management for mitigation of climate change and contribution to community social-economic resilience

Abstract

Indonesia has the potential of forest resources with an area of 120.7 million hectares. The government has established various forest area management mechanisms to create livelihoods, environmental services, and climate change mitigation efforts. This study aims to determine the contribution of village forests to the creation of livelihoods for the community through physical observation, social observation, and in-depth interviews. The Village Forest in the study location has advantages because it consists of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, so the biodiversity richness is very high. The strength of the village forest system is that it can be managed by local communities as a source of livelihood for 59.9% of respondents, but it is not yet optimal in its management as a source of income with the majority of respondents earning less than one million rupiahs (70% of respondents). Although, the majority of the 148 respondents (37.4%) are considered that the forest areas contributed to new types of work as a source of income. The potential for exploitation and degradation of forest areas needs to be considered because of the high frequency of people entering forest areas and opening access. The existence of village forests in the region directly or indirectly contributes to efforts to mitigate global climate change. It can be conserved and protected as a carbon pool and a carbon sink. The existence of various types of new jobs and potential economic opportunities from this can reduce the rate of forest conversion and exploitation by the community which is generally done to earn income.