Local Wisdom Communities in Forest Resources Management in Mountainous of Manusela, North Seram

Awareness of the importance of maintaining environmental balance is not a new thing for local people in the Maluku region. Their ancestors have wisdom in the preservation of the environment. In their own way in accordance with the patterns of thought and tradition that took place in their day, they have been able to create ways and media to harness and conserve forests and maintain environmental balance. The purpose of this study was to examine local wisdom forms of Manusela mountain communities, North Seram, while the benefits of this research were to generate a conceptual framework for policy-making about management of forest resource and environmental that community-based. This research used descriptive method (survey) with participant observation approach through open interview, filling questionnaire and focus group discussion. The location of the study was determined by purposive sampling, whereas the respondents were randomly selected. The results showed that the local wisdom forms of Manusela mountain communities, North Seram in management of forest and environmental were supernatural beliefs against ancestral spirits and natural spirits in protecting forests and environment, abstinence on certain places (sacred places / pamali), rules and ethics such as the rules of sasi (seli kaitahu / ana poha), techniques of land use and community traditions in preserving the sustainable of forests and the environment. Factors influencing the application of local wisdom of Manusela mountain communit, North Seram was the process of modernization that causes social change in society in the structural, cultural and interactional dimension.