Harnessing social innovations and mobilizing networks for improving local livelihoods: cases of two community-managed forests from Indonesia

ABSTRACT Social forestry was envisioned as a policy innovation to tackle rural poverty. The literature increasingly shows that the goal is rarely achieved. Few mention social forestry improves local livelihoods, but many others point out the limited livelihood options provided to the communities. Recent literature highlights social innovation as a key factor in the success of social forestry. In this paper, we analyze the process by which social forestry permit holders harness social innovation to realize the promise of benefits from the forests. We focus on how they create networks with diverse stakeholders to gain the necessary resources to implement new ideas in utilizing the forests. We further analyze the key factors influencing the development of social innovation. We examine two rare cases from Indonesia where local communities thrived in the face of adversities and were able to turn them into opportunities to produce economic benefits. We identified resilience and adaptability as key internal attributes of the two communities to adapt to socio-ecological changes. Our cases also reveal the importance of building networks with related stakeholders. The success of social innovation is influenced by internal group factors such as persistence, leadership, as well as government policy and technical support.