Integrating Local Wisdom for Sustainable Forest Community Empowerment: Lessons From Indonesia and Malaysia

Abstract

This research aims to explore the intrinsic local wisdom values and socioeconomic characteristics underpinning community empowerment through the utilization of social forest resources. Employing a case study approach in both Indonesia and Malaysia, the investigation encompasses an analysis of five pivotal empowerment indicators, encompassing empowerment modalities, guiding principles, sequential stages, and influential factors. The study reveals the following key findings: First, social and economic characteristics. The social characteristics encompass community engagement, the preservation of old-style information and does, societal consistency, gender inclusivity, and the establishment of community-based institutions. In parallel, the economic dimensions manifest as livelihood diversification, sustainable forest management, access to markets, capacity building and training, and microfinance and credit access. Second, empowerment initiatives. Both Indonesia and Malaysia concentrate their empowerment efforts on the seamless integration of Local Wisdom into sustainable forest management, conservation endeavors, and community livelihood programs, thereby ensuring effective and culturally sensitive outcomes. The local wisdoms that feature prominently in the empowerment programs for forestry communities in Indonesia and Malaysia include traditional ecological knowledge, medicinal plant knowledge, agroforestry practices, sacred forests and rituals, community forest management systems, and others. These findings illuminate the multifaceted dimensions of local wisdom and socioeconomic attributes that play a pivotal role in the empowerment of forest-dependent communities in the context of Indonesia and Malaysia.