Rehabilitation of Protection Forest through Social Forestry-Based Agroforestry in South Kalimantan Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia has a total forest area of 134 million ha, some of which 30.5 million hectares are classified as the protected forest. Most of the protected forests have already been damaged because of illegal logging and forest fires. These areas have eventually become grasslands. According to MFI (2012), the extent of critical land in Indonesia is 22.02 million hectares, with a critical category up to a very risky one. This writing aims to provide lesson learning rehabilitation of protection forest area through Community forestry-based agroforestry. The first step is social reconstruction, and the second step is training and planting activity. The planting of rubber began with a distance of 3m x 7m area covering around 13 hectares. Meanwhile, 12 hectares were planted with rubber in 2013 and 2014. These areas were planted with about 80% rubber trees and 20% multi-purpose tree species. Also, 50 hectares of bee forage plants were established in 2014. These areas were enriched by planting coconut and sunflower. Results indicate that cooperation, mutual trust, and workgroups are the social factors that are necessary for the plantation establishment. Meanwhile, the establishment of paddy crops, chili, long beans, and squash contributed to the economic aspect. Lastly, birds' presence, prevention of forest fires, and the microclimate's improvement were among the ecological contributions of this initiative.