Sustainable community forest management in West Kalimantan: A case study of the Dayak Katab Kebahan community

Abstract

West Kalimantan has a great potential for forest resources managed by indigenous people, such as the Dayak Katab Kebahan community. The study is aimed at analyzing the forest management carried out by the Dayak Katab Kebahan community and the condition of the forest ecosystem. The research area is in Melawi Regency, West Kalimantan. Data were collected through observations and in-depth interviews to explore the customs of managing forests. In addition, a vegetation survey using purposive sampling was performed, and the fauna study was conducted by the exploration method. Data analysis was conducted for vegetation data, which was carried out by calculating the importance value and diversity indices. In addition, a one-way ANOVA analysis was done to determine the presence of differences between the two forests. The findings showed forest managed by the Dayak Katab Kebahan community has a core zone which is a zone that should not be disturbed, and a utilization zone that can be utilized and can be intercropped with plantation crops; and the forest ecosystem managed by the Dayak Katab Kebahan community has a higher fauna richness, vegetation diversity index and the importance value index of each species. It is suggested that the government be involved in supporting the customary law of local communities in forest conservation.