Community-Based Forest Management Planning In Wonosobo District Pilot Sites

In the Wonosobo District, District Regulation No. 22/2001 on CBFM (Perda) requires farmers applying for a CBFM certification or concession to come up with a community management plan. ARuPA is facilitating this process through participatory management plan development activities with selected villages in the District. ARuPA is already a member of an ad hoc committee developing technical guidelines on CFM and recognizes the need for more input from communities who may provide deeper insights into what CFM guidelines should cover in order to support the implementation of community based forest management on state land. These insights should ensure that the management plans drawn up by communities are within the established regulation for acceptability while also ensuring that specific community needs are addressed.

The proposed dialogue process intends to draw out from communities their present management practices in both state and private forests. These practices will become the basis for identifying concerns and gaps, managing conflicts, and developing the management plans. The dialogues will also be a method by which people's organizations are strengthened and become seriously involved in the decision and policy making process.

Enhancing Community Forest Management In Wonosobo District

ARuPA will also involve other stakeholders - the Wonosobo District Government, the District Forest Office, Perum Perhutani's local office, the Ministry of Forestry, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs - in the dialog process by apprising them of developments and coordinating with them on related concerns raised during community management planning.

One issue of major concern is that Perda is not recognized by the State Government which has another version of the CFM policy. This is why the participation of the various national ministries becomes crucial to the process. Documentation of process and dialogue outcomes is also essential if the communities applying for CBFM certification or concession are to have a basis for pursuing their plans despite such policy obstacles.

Local Language Translation And Launching Of The Indonesian Case Study

In order to accelerate the implementation of Wonosobo District Regulation No. 22/2001 on CBFM (Perda), a clearer understanding of the different aspects of the regulation including its history, multi-stakeholder processes, requirements, and benefits, must be made accessible to the local communities of Wonosobo. This necessitates the translation of certain relevant documents pertaining to community forestry, sustainable forest management, and the regulations which affect these, into the local language. Most important of these documents is the Indonesian Case Study which includes most of these aspects, and ARuPA has volunteered to coordinate the translation task.Once this is accomplished, both the local and english versions of the Case Study will be presented to a wide audience from various sectors and agencies.

It is hoped that once communities are able to get a better grasp of Perda, this will somehow accelerate its implementation and ensure its place in district policy. It is further hoped that the momentum gained from this will spill over into national level discussions on community forestry and gain more support from agencies, national and international alike.


back to top