ANALISIS PERAN PENYULUH KEHUTANAN DALAM PEMBERDAYAAN KTH MANDIRI JAYA DI KABUPATEN SEMARANG

Abstract

The social forestry program, implemented through the Social Forestry Forest Utilization Permit (IPHPS) scheme, is designed to address environmental damage caused by deforestation while reducing poverty among forest-dependent rural communities by granting them access to manage state-owned forest land; one such community is Mandiri Jaya Community Forest Group (KTH). However, this KTH has faced management challenges following the issuance of the permit, such as stagnation in business diversification which remains dependent on corn, low productivity of forestry seedlings, and a lack of market access for the sustainable management of social forestry enterprises. This study aims to analyze the role of forestry extension workers in empowering KTH Mandiri as facilitators of social forestry. The research method employed a mixed-methods approach with a sequential exploratory design to qualitatively capture the phenomena observed in the social forestry facilitation process and develop a questionnaire for quantitative verification by 60 members of KTH Mandiri Jaya. The study found that the role of forestry extension workers was in the early capacity-building stage with a score of 2,53. This was supported by their facilitative role in establishing the group’s legal and formal institutional structure and their educational role in raising awareness about the application of agroforestry techniques for forest conservation. However, this performance has not yet been optimal due to the lack of external networks to meet the needs for productive tools, capital, and marketing for balsa wood in the representative role, as well as the limited extent to which the advisory function is consistently applied across all KUPS in the technical role. Therefore, improvements in intensive mentoring activities, extension materials tailored to the group’s needs, and cross-sectoral collaboration are needed to enhance the quality of mentoring at KTH Mandiri Jaya.