"Our approach is not sustainable timber management, but sustainable ecosystem management," director general of social forestry and environmental partnerships at the ministry Bambang Supriyanto said during a virtual discussion "Climate Corner,” which was accessed from here on Wednesday.
The social forestry program aims to improve the welfare of the communities living around forests, he explained.
The program has three pillars: the first is the social pillar, which consists of customary communities; the second is the ecological pillar, which includes forest management; and the third pillar encompasses village forests, community forests, community plantation forests, customary forests, and forestry partnerships under the social forestry program.
The director general emphasized the importance of forestry mentors in institutional strengthening as well as forest and business governance in implementing sustainable ecosystem management.
"If the community gets a good price, of course, they will plant the forest resources well," he said.
According to the ministry's data, as of September 1, 2022, the social forestry program has covered an area of 5,077,086.80 hectares.
The government has issued 7,678 decrees/decision letters to establish social forestry groups and at least 9,924 social forestry business groups (KUPS) have been formed.
Social forests are operated by local or customary communities and aim to improve their welfare, while maintaining the environmental balance and sociocultural dynamics.
During Wednesday's discussion, Supriyanto said that there has been a paradigm shift in the development of plantation forests from monoculture practices, or the planting of only one crop species, to multilayer planting.
Multilayer planting ensures that forests do not have only one type of vegetation, as under the main tree, other types of plants can be planted, thereby benefiting the community's economy, he explained.
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Translator: Prisca V, Kenzu T
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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