Vol. 13, No.2, 31 Agustus 2023: 239-245 https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/kawistara/index https://doi.org/ 10.22146/kawistara.75874 ISSN 2088-5415 (Print) l ISSN 2355-5777 (Online) Submitted:30-06-2022; Revised: 02-08-2023; Accepted:02-08-2023 Kawistara Jurnal The Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Copyright© 2023 THE AUTHOR (S). This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Jurnal Kawistara is published by the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada. The Socio-Economic Benefits of Community-based Mangrove Ecotourism in Lontar Village, Serang Regency Encep Saefullah* 1 , Syamsul Hidayat 2 , and Fatari 3 Management Study Programme of Universitas Bina Bangsa, Serang Malik Fatoni 4 Government Science Study Programme of Universitas Bina Bangsa, Serang Nani Rohaeni 5 Accounting Study Programme of Universitas Bina Bangsa, Serang *Corresponding Author: encep.saefullah@binabangsa.ac.id ABSTRACT Ecotourism has been increasingly recognized as providing benefits not only in preserving the natural environment but can also improve the economy of local communities. To validate this assumption, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the implementation of Mangrove ecotourism in Lontar Village, Tirtayasa District, Serang Regency and its benefits to the community. The research method uses a qualitative descriptive method. The sample for this study was 70 respondents by asking questions using a questionnaire sheet in the form of Criteria and Indicators for Indonesian Ecotourism (KIEI) Year 2009. Data on potential came from field observations taken in the mangrove ecotourism area of Lontar Village. To verify ecotourism studies, the technique used is a formative evaluation of ongoing ecotourism activities with the application of KIEI. The results of this study indicate that based on the 5 criteria for managing ecotourism according to the KIEI guidelines, the results of the implementation of conservation activities were 46.32% sufficient, participation 48.41% good, education and recreation 47.73% good, economy 45.19% sufficient. , and control of 43.91% less category. Based on the research results, tourists and the community strongly agree that the socio- economic benefits of community-based ecotourism management are 44.40%. KEYWORDS Ecotourism; Lontar Village; Mangroves. INTRODUCTION Tourism sector has been seen as an alternative to increase the economic level of society and being able to alleviate poverty (Yuty, 2008), tourism can also be relied upon to improve people’s welfare and national development (Primadany, 2013). The current tourism concept is conventional tourism, because it only seeks economic benefts (Widowati & Nadra, 2013) and often damages natural ecosystems. To prevent this, another alternative is needed in creating community- based sustainable tourism (Pornprasit & Rurkkhum, 2019; Sri Wahyuni et al., 2023) by continuing to prioritize nature conservation (Widowati & Nadra, 2013). Then, nowadays the concept of ecotourism is increasingly popping up in various regions which are alternative tourism and offer forms of tourism that are friendly to natural and cultural sustainability. Ecotourism is a responsible tourism activity that is primarily based on nature tourism activities, by also including some rural tourism activities and cultural tourism (Wood, 2002). Through ecotourism, tourists and all components related to organizing tourism are invited to be more sensitive to environmental and social issues