Community social capital in supporting biomass development at the Purwakarta Forest Management Unit, West Java

Abstract

Biomass plantations are starting to become an option for developing renewable energy sources. Socio-economic problems related to management regulations, trust, and networks in the biomass energy plantations-developing process need to be resolved. This study aims to determine the capacity of community social capital in supporting the development of biomass plantations. The location of the study was at Purwakarta Forest Management Unit (FMU). Data collection was carried out by observation, household surveys using questionnaires, and Focus Group Discussion. Data were analyzed using a descriptive qualitative method. The results show that, in general, the community has strong social capital in building biomass plant partnerships, especially in the aspect of trust. Farmer's trust in those who assist in the management of biomass plants is relatively high, namely Perhutani, the farmer group leader, and the community leaders. The farmers will be motivated to develop biomass crops if successful examples exist. The social norms and sanctions for farmers in the biomass plant management at Purwakarta FMU are very low, but the community is still obedient to the social norms. The networking ability of farmers is relatively low, so intensive assistance in developing biomass farming must be improved, either in technical assistance or intensive extension.