The issuance of social forestry licenses and programs to benefits communities post-licensing still present obstacles and difficulties for communities demanding access to land in Indonesia. This research analyzes community access for social forestry license holders during the pre-license and post-licensing phases. The research is conducted through qualitative field studies in a community forestry (HKm) scheme in Beringin Jaya Lampung and a people’s forest plantation (HTR) scheme in Hajran Jambi. In the pre-license phase, the two license-holding communities had the same access for all members involved, including access to information, facilitators, and government authorities. In the post-licensing phase, however, the HKm in Beringin Jaya community obtained greater access across all members in terms of facilitators, knowledge and information, government authorities, financial capital, technology, programs or activities of agencies, and local markets. Access to these aspects is carried out by the community themselves, supported by a facilitator linking the community to external actors that can control access–which were not adequately provided through the social forestry policy. Successful facilitation to increase access of community members requires a networked capacity across community members and with other stakeholders outside the community. The high level of access and networking capacity among a community determines how they obtain benefits from the implementation of social forestry policy, which is also influenced by the accuracy of the broader plan prepared by the community for the license area, which helps to grant supporting services and facilities.

Keywords: Social forestry license; forest management; Social networks; Social capital