Navigating the nexus between customary norms and state laws in shaping rural forest governance: A case study in Aceh Province, Indonesia

This study utilizes the concepts of “legal pluralism” and “institutional fit” to examine how rural communities in Aceh, Indonesia, navigate legal pluralism in forest governance involving adat (customary) and state (i.e., Social Forestry) legal systems. Comparative case studies in four community-managed forests (Lutueng, Bale Redelong, Kunyet, and Paloh) reveal that both the strength of adat institutions and the degree of social cohesion (i.e., a homogeneous ethnic composition and shared adat practices) influence a community's capacity to negotiate governance systems that reflect local socio-ecological realities. This variation in capacity illustrates that “fit” is not merely an issue of institutional or policy design; it depends on the social foundations that either facilitate or restrict customary institutional negotiation and innovation. For policymakers implementing Social Forestry (SF) programs within pluralistic legal systems, this study highlights two imperatives. First, it is important to ground interventions in an in-depth evaluation of local institutional contexts, as well as the strength of customary governance structures and the historical dynamics between state and customary institutions. Second, SF must be designed in ways that empower communities to adapt governance approaches to their specific socio-ecological contexts. This includes integrating the administrative and legal requirements as stipulated in the SF ministerial regulations with existing customary practices, rather than relying on uniform state-driven frameworks that risk undermining local realities. • Adat institutions and social cohesion enable community agency in forest governance. • Institutional fit in pluralistic legal contexts requires enabling legal frameworks. • Adat intermediaries ( Mukim heads, adat elders) can mediate community-state dialogues, which help reconcile legal pluralism.