The complexity and consequences of the policy implementation dealing with sustainable ideas

ABSTRACT

This article portrays a case study in Yogyakarta, Indonesia which looks into the dynamic relationship between communities and the effectiveness of the implementation of community-based forest management (CBFM) policies and its programme, and particularly on how local institutions deal with the shifting dynamics of these policies. As there is currently an absence of research in this area, this research therefore focuses on how the local community implements policy, builds relationships with other stakeholders, and strengthens local community institutions.

CBFM has been implemented in Yogyakarta since 1995 and during that time, the central government has been changing the policy for five times. At this point, this article argues that CBFM should rely on local institutions and deal with the shifting dynamics of policies. The terms of institutions can be considered to include formal institutions, such as Constitution, government laws, charters, decrees and statutes, and informal institutions, such as code of conducts, customs, local knowledge and social expectations. Furthermore, in selected communities, it is clear that the local communities can apply their informal institutions as an important component and value of traditional systems and significantly involved in forest management sustainability and establish the formal institutions simultaneously.

KEYWORDS:

• Community-based forest management
• formal institutions
• informal institutions
• sustainable forest management
• Yogyakarta-Indonesia

Acknowledgments

The authors extend their gratitude to the blind reviewers who had already given some constructive comments and to Prof. Dr. Achmad Nurmandi for giving a good direction to the research and to Ms. Queenie Pearl V. Tomaro. In addition, this research could not be done without the support of several institutions such as Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta and Korea Foundation for Advance Studies.