Dalam bentuk Yayasan, JAVLEC didirikan pada tahun 2013—melalui Akta Notaris Muchammad Agus Hanafi, SH No. 4 Tanggal 13 September 2013 dan SK Menkumham Nomor: AHU-6742.AH.01.04.Tahun 2013. Sebelumnya, JAVLEC merupakan sebuah perkumpulan yang dibentuk berdasarkan Akta Notaris Suastutiningsih A Wijayanto, SH No. 05 Tanggal 23 Juni 2005 dan diinisiasi oleh 7 (tujuh) LSM—yakni Lembaga Paramitra – Malang, LeSEHan – Madiun, Gita Pertiwi – Surakarta, YBL Masta – Magelang, Lembaga ARUPA – Yogyakarta, Yayasan Shorea – Yogyakarta, dan POKLAN – Bandung. Bahkan, sejak bergulirnya era reformasi pada tahun 1998, kolaborasi kegiatan dan program telah terjalin di antara para penopang Perkumpulan JAVLEC (Java Learning Center)—melalui berbagai wujud organisasi— antara lain Forum Hutan Jawa (FHJ), Komunitas Peduli Hutan (KPH) Jawa, Kelompok Kerja (Pokja) Jawa, dan Konsorsium Pendukung Penyelamatan Hutan Jawa (KPPHJ).
Dalam rentang tahun 1998 sampai 2002, kolaborasi kegiatan dan program yang dijalankan lebih beraroma advokasi dan terkonsentrasi di Pulau Jawa. Bergabung dalam berbagai wadah advokasi bersama seperti Forum Hutan Jawa, KPH Jawa, dan Pokja Jawa, gerakan para aktivis penopang tersebut berhasil melahirkan skema Pengelolaan Hutan Bersama Masyarakat (PHBM) dalam tubuh Perum Perhutani sebagai pemegang mandat pengelolaan hutan di Pulau Jawa. Dalam skema tersebut, masyarakat desa hutan memiliki akses legal di dalam pengelolaan hutan yang selama ini didominasi oleh Negara. Selain keterlibatan dan partisipasi aktif, masyarakat desa hutan juga berhak memperoleh bagi hasil sebesar 25% dari hasil kayu yang diproduksi Perum Perhutani.
Selanjutnya, fokus kegiatan dan program bergeser pada rentang tahun 2002 sampai 2006. Dalam wadah organisasi Konsorsium Pendukung Penyelamatan Hutan Jawa (KPPHJ), aktivitas yang dikembangkan lebih dikonsentrasikan pada upaya peningkatan kapasitas (capacity building) bagi masyarakat desa hutan. Serial Belajar Antar Petani (BAP) digelar dalam periode tersebut dan melibatkan para petani hutan, pendamping, dan para pihak terkait—dari seluruh Indonesia. Upaya pembelajaran bersama tersebut mampu menginisiasi tumbuhnya berbagai model pengelolaan hutan berbasis masyarakat yang bertebaran di seluruh Nusantara.
Seiring pembentukan Java Learning Center (JAVLEC) sebagai sebuah perkumpulan yang berbadan hukum, intervensi program dan kegiatan pun turut bergeser. Dalam periode 2006 – 2013, JAVLEC lebih memfokuskan diri pada upaya-upaya advokasi bagi terselenggaranya tata kepengurusan hutan yang baik (good forestry governance). Kali ini, strategi advokasi yang dikembangkan agak berbeda dengan lebih mendasarkan pada upaya keterlibatan multipihak, kajian ilmiah, dan pengalaman empiris komunitas. Pendekatan advokasi yang tidak bersifat konfrontatif tersebut terasa lebih efektif dalam melakukan intervensi kebijakan kehutanan, seperti lahirnya kebijakan Perhutanan Sosial yang memungkinkan masyarakat desa hutan memperoleh ijin/hak pengelolaan hutan dalam jangka waktu yang panjang. Tentu saja, kebijakan tersebut tidak serta merta terwujud seperti yang diinginkan. Sejak pertama kali digulirkan, kebijakan tersebut terus berubah dan berkembang. Saat ini, Perhutanan Sosial memiliki 5 (lima) skema yang dikembangkan—yakni Hutan Kemasyarakatan (HKM), Hutan Desa, Hutan Tanaman Rakyat (HTR), Hutan Adat, dan Kemitraan. Pemerintah Jokowi menargetkan 12,7 juta hektar dari Kawasan Hutan Negara sebagai area implementasi Perhutanan Sosial di seluruh Indonesia. Selain Perhutanan Sosial, JAVLEC juga turut terlibat dalam advokasi bersama atas kebijakan SVLK (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu) dan Penatausahaan Hasil Hutan (PUHH).
Semenjak 2013, selain terus mengawal kebijakan-kebijakan tersebut—beserta implementasinya, pendirian Yayasan JAVLEC Indonesia menegaskan ruang intervensinya yang tidak lagi sebatas Pulau Jawa. Sejauh ini, JAVLEC telah mampu membawa pembelajaran dari Jawa ke berbagai site di pulau- pulau lainnya—seperti Bali, Sumatera, dan Kalimantan. Pendekatan asistensi pada komunitas dan collaborative governance lebih banyak dikedepankan dalam periode saat ini. Kolaborasi antara Pemerintah, swasta, dan masyarakat—selalu diupayakan dalam membangun model baru dalam upaya keberlanjutan ekosistem, penguatan ekonomi, dan keberdayaan masyarakat sipil.
Dengan tetap mengandalkan dukungan organisasi dan individu penopang, Yayasan JAVLEC Indonesia terus berupaya menciptakan pendekatan-pendekatan baru yang lebih realistis dan kekinian—seperti penggunaan teknologi terbaru dan para tenaga spesialis pada bidangnya. Selain spirit berkolaborasi atau collaborative governance dengan berbagai pihak terkait, JAVLEC terus menciptakan dan mengembangkan site-site pembelajaran baru—dengan mengedepankan prinsip-prinsip pembangunan berkelanjutan. Selain upaya integrasi Perhutanan Sosial dalam pembangunan desa/wilayah, prinsip-prinsip pembangunan berkelanjutan tersebut tercermin melalui strategi intervensi tata ruang pada tingkat desa dan upaya pengembangan bisnis komunitas yang ramah lingkungan.
Yayasan JAVLEC Indonesia berkedudukan di Provinsi DI Yogyakarta – Indonesia, tepatnya beralamat di Jalan Kaliurang KM 12 Banjarsari 6/12 Sukoharjo – Ngaglik – Sleman. Saat ini, JAVLEC didukung oleh 15 personil inti yang terbagi dalam 3 (tiga) divisi—yakni Pengembangan Program (Program Development), CSR dan Lingkungan, dan Pengelolaan Pengetahuan (Knowledge Management). Dalam rentang yang telah cukup panjang, JAVLEC telah memiliki pengalaman dalam pengelolaan proyek— baik berasal dari lembaga donor, Pemerintah, dan swasta—seperti MFP – DFID, the Ford Foundation, Norway Embassy, the Partnership for Governance Reform, IIED, ICCTF, MCA, USAID, Yayasan Kehati, Forest Programme – KfW, GIZ, Balai Taman Nasional Gunung Merapi, Kementerian Desa, Balai PSKL Wilayah Sumatera, Bank BNI, Aqua – Danone, the Body Shop, dan lain sebagainya.
In the form of a foundation, JAVLEC was founded in 2013 – through a notarial deed Muchammad Agus Hanafi, SH No.4 in 13 September 2013 and a decree of Ministry of Law and Human Rights No: AHU- 6742.AH.01.04 in 2013. Previously, Javles was an association which was founded based on notarial deed Suastutiningsih A Wijayanto, SH No. 05 in 23 June 2005 and initiated by 7 (seven) NGOs-they are Paramitra – Malang, LeSEHan – Madiun, Gita Pertiwi – Surakarta, YBL Masta – Magelang, ARuPA – Yogyakarta, Shorea – Yogyakarta, and POKLAN – Bandung. Moreover, the activities and program collaboration have been established between the supporters of JAVLEC association (Java Learning Center)-through various forms of organization-among others Forum Hutan Jawa (FHJ), Komunitas Peduli Hutan (KPH) Jawa, Kelompok Kerja (Pokja) Jawa, and Konsorsium Pendukung Penyelamatan Hutan Jawa (KPPHJ).
In the years 1998 to 2002, the implemented activities and program collaboration tend to advocacy and concentrated in Java island. The joining of Javlec in various joint advocacy forum such as Forum Hutan Jawa (Java Forest Forum), KPH Jawa, Pokja Jawa, the movement of the supporter activists has succeeded in thinking out Joint Community Forest Management Forest Scheme (PHBM – Pengelolaan Hutan Bersama Masyarakat) in Perum Perhutani as the mandate holder of forest management in Java island. In this scheme, forest village community has a legal access in forest management which has been dominated by the State. Besides the active involvement and participation, forest village community also has the right to receive profit sharing in the amount of 25 % of the timber products produced by Perum Perhutani.
Furthermore, the focus of activities and program shifted in the years 2002 to 2006. In the forum Konsorsium Pendukung Penyelamatan Hutan Jawa (KPPHJ), the activities were more concentrated on the capacity building efforts for the forest village community. The series of Belajar Antar Petani (Learning Between Farmers) were held in that period and it involved forest farmers, the assistant, and the related parties – from all over Indonesia. That joint learning effort was able to initiate the growth of various community-based forest management model which spread all over Indonesia.
Along with the formation of Java Learning Center (JAVLEC) as an association with legal entity, the intervention of activities and program was also shifted. In the period 2006 to 2013, JAVLEC more focused on advocacy effort for the good governance forestry implementation. This time, the developed advocacy strategy was rather different by more basing on the effort of multi-stakeholder involvement, science study, and community empirical experiences. The not confrontational approach felt more effective in intervening forestry policy, such as the issuance of Social Forestry Policy which enables the forest village community obtains permits/right to manage forest over a long period of time. The policy certainly did not just happen as desired. Since it was first rolled, the policy is constantly changing and developing. Nowadays, Social Forestry has 5 (five) developed schemes-they are Community Forestry (HKm – Hutan Kemasyarakatan), Village Forest, Community Forest Plantation (Hutan Tanaman Rakyat – HTR), Indigenous Forest (Hutan Adat), and Partnership (Kemitraan). The Jokowi’s government is targeting 12.7 ha of State Forest Areas as the implementation of Social Forestry all over Indonesia. Besides Social Forestry, JAVLEC is also involved in joint advocacy of SVLK policy (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu – Timber Legality Verification System) and Forest Product Administration (Penatausahaan Hasil Hutan – PUHH).
Since 2013, besides constantly keep watching those policies – along with its implementation, the establishment of JAVLEC Indonesia confirms that its intervention space is no longer limited in Java island. So far, JAVLEC has been able to bring learning from Java to various sites in other islands-such as Bali, Sumatera, and Kalimantan. The assistance approach in the community and collaborative governance is more preferably in the current period. A collaboration between government, private sector, and community – is always tried in building new model for the effort to ecosystems sustainability, economic empowerment, and civil society empowerment.
By keep relying on the support of organization and individual supporters, Yayasan Javlec Indonesia keeps trying on creating more realistic and up to date new approaches – like the usage of the latest technology and specialists in their fields. Besides the spirit of collaborative governance with various related parties, JAVLEC keep creating and developing new learning sites – by putting forward the principles of sustainable development. Besides the effort of Social Forestry integration on village/regional development, the sustainable development principles are reflected through spatial intervention strategy at the village level and the effort of eco-friendly community business development.
Yayasan JAVLEC Indonesia is domiciled in Special Region of Yogyakarta – Indonesia, precisely located in Kaliurang Street KM.12 Banjarsari 6/12 Sukoharjo – Ngaglik – Sleman. Currently, JAVLEC is supported by 15 core personnel which is divided in 3 (three) divisions – they are Program Development, CSR and Environment, and Knowledge Management. In fairly long period of time, JAVLEC has had experiences in managing projects – either from the donor agencies, government, and private sector – such as MFP – DFID, the Ford Foundation, Norway Embassy, the Partnership for Governance Reform, IIED, MCA, USAID, Yayasan Kehati, Forest Programme – KfW, GIZ, Balai Taman Nasional Merapi (Merapi National Park), Kementerian Desa (Village Ministry), Balai PSKL Sumatera region, BNI Bank, Aqua – Danone, the Body Shop, etc.
