Carolina Astri is working to mitigate land conflicts in forest areas by encouraging women’s management. She is currently a conflict transformation analyst at WRI Indonesia, conducting research related to potential land conflicts in Riau and South Sumatra as part of her organization’s One Map Initiative.

In her research, Astri often uses methods supported by her educational background in anthropology. Through participatory mapping methods, Astri finds out what areas are managed by women or men. As she helped prepare a Long Term Forest Management Plan, she used her anthropological results to present perspectives on gender and conflict mitigation. Astri recognizes that women’s role in the management of natural resources and forests is closely related to local wisdom, which is another reason why she seeks to amplify women’s leadership.

Through her research, Astri has also aided the process of proposing customary forests for the Indigenous communities in the Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve. In this region, women especially have a critical role in suppressing the rate of deforestation by managing rubber plantations and being sources of support for the household economy. Now, Astri’s ongoing goal is to achieve special management areas for women in Riau that are based on Indigenous wisdom and build integrative and open conflict handling systems for the management of forests.

Mengatasi konflik lahan melalui penelitian yang berpusat pada pemberdayaan perempuan

Astri bekerja sebagai analis transformasi konflik di WRI Indonesia. Saat ini Astri sedang melakukan riset terkait potensi konflik di wilayah kawasan hutan, khususnya di Riau dan Sumatera Selatan.

Astri juga terlibat sebagai peneliti untuk proses pengusulan hutan adat pada kawasan hutan, khususnya pada masyarakat adat di Suaka Margasatwa Rimbang Baling. Di wilayah ini ditemukan adanya peran perempuan dalam menekan laju deforestasi melalui wilayah-wilayah yang dikelola oleh perempuan (kebun karet), serta menjadi sumber penopang perekonomian rumah tangga.

Selain itu, hasil kajian antropologinya digunakan juga pada dokumen perencanaan hutan selama 10 tahun oleh unit pengelolaan hutan di tingkat tapak dengan menghadirkan perspektif gender dan mitigasi konflik. Dalam melakukan risetnya, Astri kerap menggunakan metode-metode yang didukung dari latar belakang pendidikannya di ilmu antropologi.