Strengthening Community-Based Forest Management in Lampung through the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Framework

Communities living in conservation areas have long depended on forests for their livelihoods while coexisting with nature for generations. Yet, they often face legal uncertainty regarding their rights to access and manage forests. Conservation partnerships offer one pathway to address these challenges by providing legal recognition and protection for Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), while also supporting ecosystem conservation.

WALHI Lampung, with support from ClientEarth, has accompanied the forest farmers’ group federation SHK Lestari throughout the legal process of establishing 21 Conservation Partnership Agreements with the regional management authority of the Wan Abdul Rachman Grand Forest Park (UPTD Tahura Wan Abdul Rachman). This milestone marks an important step toward recognising community-based forest management, while also improving access to markets for non-timber forest products (NTFPs).

ClientEarth and WALHI Lampung have also supported work at the local level informed by the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Framework (AGP). This work has focused on strengthening tenure security as a foundation for inclusive and sustainable forest management. Activities have included capacity enhancement on social forestry for IPLCs and local government stakeholders, as well as ongoing support through village facilitation, technical discussions, and efforts to strengthen community institutions.

Following the signing of the Conservation Partnership Agreements, SHK Lestari, UPTD Tahura Wan Abdul Rachman, and WALHI Lampung, supported by ClientEarth organised a multi-stakeholder forum on conservation partnerships on 30 April 2026 in Cilumus Village, Pesawaran Regency.

The forum aimed to strengthen coordination among stakeholders in advancing community empowerment, sustainable land management, and ecosystem conservation. In addition to discussions on strengthening collaboration, the meeting also included the handover of the Social Forestry Business Management Plan from UPTD Tahura Wan Abdul Rachman to the Forest Farmer Groups.

This forum reflects the ongoing collaboration among stakeholders in strengthening conservation partnerships. Previously, WALHI Lampung, with support from ClientEarth, has also carried out capacity enhancement activities, including training on sustainable land use and production management, as well as assistance in developing work plans and strengthening community institutions.

This collaboration among stakeholders within SHK Lestari’s community partnership demonstrates how the AGP can serve as a guiding framework to inform efforts to improve social forestry policies. It also highlights how the AGP can help identify and address existing gaps in social forestry implementation at both national and sub-national levels, by providing shared principles that can feed into more effective, inclusive, and sustainable forest governance.