89 KARAKTERISASI SOSIAL EKONOMI DAN RESPON MASYARAKAT TERHADAP PENGEMBANGAN KARET DI HUTAN PRODUKSI JAWA BARAT Socio-Economic Characteristics and Community Response to the Development of Rubber Plantation in Production Forest West Java Titik WIDYASARI Balai Penelitian Getas, Pusat Penelitian Karet Jl. Pattimura KM 6 Salatiga Jawa Tengah Email: titikwidyasari@gmail.com Diterima : 23 Februari 2016 / Direvisi : 1 Juli 2016 / Disetujui : 22 Juli 2016 Jurnal Penelitian Karet, 2016, 34 (1) : 89-106 Indonesian J. Nat. Rubb. Res. 2016, 34 (1) : 89-106 Abstract  Indonesia has opportunity to be the biggest rubber producer in the world due to the availability of land and labour to support the development of rubber plantation. One of those opportunities is production forest that was managed by the state. In a rubber plantation development planning, it is very important to analyze of socio-economic of surrounding communities, so the sustainability of the development of rubber plantation can run smoothly and minimize conflict with the public interest community institutions around the production forest. the aim of this article was to give information about socio-economic community surrounding the production forest that would be developed into rubber plantation. this research used survey method and choose sample by purposive that held in four regencies bordering the production forest which managed by Company A which would be developed to be rubber plantation in West java Province, i.e Sumedang, Majalengka, Purwakarta, and Indramayu. At village rubber, data was collected by Focus Group Discussion (FGD) method that involving community around the forest, administrators forest village community agencies, and villages officials. Data was analyzed with descriptive method.The result showed that the infrastructure and institutional at four districts has commonly been proper. the land use and vegetation at production forest were teak, Eucalyptus, Mahogany, Gmelina, intercropping, cattle and buffalo. 90-95% population was local residents that 47%-90% of theire livehood was from agricultureas farmer- labor developed to be rubber plantation, in general respondets agree but it was needed to reexamined the concept of Community Based Forest Managemet (CBFM) that was already running. Keywords: Rubber; Socio-economic characteristics; production forest; CBFM Abstrak Indonesia berpeluang menjadi produsen karet terbesar dunia karena masih tersedianya lahan dan tenaga kerja yang mendukung pembangunan kebun karet. Salah satu peluang tersedianya lahan adalah hutan produksi yang dikelola oleh negara. Dalam perencanaan pembangunan kebun karet sangat penting dilakukan analisis dari sisi sosial ekonomi masyarakat sekitar, sehingga keberlangsungan pembangunan kebun karet dapat berjalan dengan lancar dan meminimalisir konflik kepentingan masyarakat dengan lembaga masyarakat sekitar hutan produksi. Tujuan penulisan artikel ini adalah menyajikan informasi mengenai kondisi sosial masyarakat sekitar hutan produksi yang akan dikembangkan menjadi kebun karet. Penelitian dilakukan menggunakan metode survei dan memilih sampel secara purposive yang dilakukan di empat kabupaten yang berbatasan dengan hutan produksi yang dikelola oleh Perusahaan A yang akan dikembangkan menjadi kebun karet di Provinsi Jawa Barat, yaitu Kabupaten Sumedang, Majalengka, Purwakarta dan Indramayu. Di tingkat desa, pengambilan data menggunakan metode Focus Group Discussion (FGD) yang melibatkan masyarakat sekitar hutan, pengurus Lembaga Masyarakat Desa Hutan (LMDH), dan perangkat desa. Data dianalisis