In connection with the collaborative research that IPB has with Chatham House – United Kingdom on the study of the effectiveness of SVLK (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu) or the Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System, the Center for Transdiscipinary ad Sustainability (CTSS) held a Focused Group Discussion (FGD) in Solo Raya on March 17, 2022, at Sala View Hotel. The topic of the meeting was on the Effectiveness of SVLK in Private Forests. The one day FGD was attended by 25 participants consisting of private forest farmers from the Solo Raya area (Wonogiri, Karanganyar, Sragen, Klaten, Sukoharjo, Boyolali Districts) academics from the Forestry Study Program of Sebelas Maret University (UNS), as well as representatives from the Forestry Agency Branch in Solo (CDK X Solo). The farmers include both men and women from diverse age, old and young, and include a diverse set of farmers who from group ranging from those who already has SVLK certificate, groups who has not obtained SVLK, and those farmers who even did not know about SVLK.
The activity started with the introduction of the team and the purpose of organizing FGD by research members, Fitta Setiajiati, MSi, and was continued with the presentation of the provisional results of research by the team leader, Prof. Bramasto Nugroho. The CTSS-IPB research team has indeed collected provisional primary data on the effectiveness of SVLK through interviews and questionnaire surveys. Exposure to these results is intended as a discussion lighter so that participants can observe, criticize, and also respond to the findings. Some participants also gave reactions in the form of body gestures and nods of agreement with the findings.
The next session was an open discussion moderated by a research advisory board, Prof. Sudarsono Soedomo. The discussion process was interesting, the participants took turns to testify to the process and impact of SVLK, so that a lot of new data and field facts were revealed. With this FGD opportunity, farmers also conveyed the urgent needs for farmers recently. The constraints of farmers is often about disease attacks on albizia tree that reduce quality. Generally, the marketing also through middlemen with the bargaining position of farmers are weak and the middlemen are usually as price makers. In addition to enriching data for CTSS-IPB, of course, this information can be an input for participants from the government (CDK X Solo) and academics from UNS in formulating activities related to the development of private forests in the Solo Raya area. After discussing and continuing to eat lunch, the participants filled out questionnaires while discussing with the research team to confirm the answer.
For confirming the recognition of the farmers, the research team continued to field visits in the private forests in Tohkuning Village, Karanganyar District in March 18, 2022. It is one example of private forests that get SVLK. The research team was accompanied by a forestry extensionist from SDK X Solo and academics from UNS who previously participated in FGD, Prof. Supriyadi and Dwi Apriyanto, MSi. Discussing with the head of the farmer group and middlemen, the CTSS-IPB research team managed to capture the real anxiety of the private forest farmers. Could SVLK be a solution to the anxiety of farmers? Or is it one of the burdens of the anxiety?
This research is still ongoing with strengthening and more effective and accurate data collection methods. The 2nd National Workshop Plan will also be implemented soon as a follow-up to this research.
