The Role of Social Capital in the Management of Community Forest and Timber Trade in Giriwoyo District, Wonogiri Regency

Abstract

Currently various community-based forest resources are found to have been able to save forests from extinction. It's rationale necessitates the need to incorporate social capital in community forest management and timber trade. The research objectives were (1) to identify and assess individual characteristics, elements of social capital and community timber trade patterns, (2) to determine and analyze the relationship between individual characteristics and the elements of social capital as well as community timber trade patterns, (3) to obtain the most appropriate strategy in the management of community forests and timber trade. Data were analyzed descriptively, using Spearman rank correlation, SWOT and QSPM analyses. The individual characteristics of farmers, based on the assessments, were in the medium category. The social capital was at the high level, at which people are generally committed to joint efforts, effective collaboration, collective and institutionalized action, expressing ideas to increase productivity, maximize mutual benefit and positive interdependence. The elements of community timber trade observed were the pattern of sale time, marketing chain and the sale system in three channels. The individual characteristics that were significantly correlated with the elements of social capital were age, formal education, non-formal education, income, and social status. The individual characteristics correlated with the pattern of the timber trade were the levels of formal and non-formal education, income and social status. The social capital that was correlated with the trade pattern in the certified sites was proactive measure, while in the uncertified location, apart from the proactive measures, the network had a positive correlation with the pattern of community timber trade. The selected strategy to strengthen management of community forests and timber trade was by improving people's knowledge of forest management and timber trade, which includes good cultivation people and timber trade patterns by conducting extension, training and development.