Integrated Adaptive Social Protection Prevents Forest Damage

Socio-economic expert Cut Sri Rozanna. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Socio-economic expert of the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) Cut Sri Rozanna emphasized that adaptive social protection based on social affairs is important for sustainable climate resilience and prevents damage to the forest ecosystem in Indonesia.

Rozanna said that adaptive social protection is an approach to adapting to the behavior of people in the regions so that they do not only rely on forests to survive.

"Apart from the people in this area being given intensive or empowerment, so that their economic and cultural values are maintained, and they no longer penetrate the forest," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, September 16.

According to him, Indonesia as an archipelagic country with more than half of its land area is forest, so community relations with the region are closely related.

He considered that the closeness of the community should be considered so that it does not turn into an increase that actually damages the ecosystem and triggers natural disasters.

For example, the current clich problems such as forest areas turning function into settlements, agricultural land to answer demands as the population continues to grow.

This is where adaptive social protection plays its core role, he said, this role is by providing resource support to strengthening investment, and empowering the community to get added value.

One of the adaptive social protection that has been carried out by the government is forming a Social Forestry Business Group to prevent the opening of moving fields.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) noted that 5,245 KUPS had been formed and received an economic value of Rp519 billion or 67.88 percent as of July 2023.

It's just that, he said, the programs initiated by the government still need to be integrated in full, both between the relevant ministries and institutions as well as the central government and the provincial, district/city governments so that the implementation does not overlap policies and can achieve their targets.

"Integration to suspend local communities in important areas is the foundation of the state. I consider it a long-term investment. When forests are protected, the ecological environment is maintained and the positive impact reduces disaster risk to sustainable resilience," said this member of Deutsche Gesellchaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit.