Political Ecology Perspective: Analysis of Deforestation

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze deforestation in Banjar Regency, South of Kalimantan based on a Political Ecology Perspective. The background of the research is that environmental damage is an implication of the socio-political aspect, namely that environmental change is not neutral, but is a form of environment politicization that involves many actors at the local, regional, and global levels. Through this justification, changes in the forest environment in Banjar Regency are relevant for research. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. The research results show that deforestation in Banjar Regency is a condition that does not occur due to natural phenomena, but is caused by socio-political factors and involves various actors with various interests. These actors include community groups who are resistant to government policies, environmental groups that have political participation in environmental issues, oligarchic groups who are close to the authorities, and the government itself which has an economic interest orientation in managing the forest environment. Political system back and forth between input and output. Based on the results of existing research, the uniqueness that can be found is that the community is not only an actor affected by the environmental change but also an environmental change actor, besides that the environmental care groups in their political demands are the presence of a religiosity approach in forest management.