Gender responsive institutional governance for forest and land conservation in the Upper Bengawan Solo Watershed, Indonesia

Gender-responsive institutional governance is essential for strengthening forest and land conservation in ecologically vulnerable watershed areas. This article examines institutional models for forest and land conservation in the Upper Bengawan Solo Watershed, Indonesia, where erosion, sedimentation, flooding, drought, and declining environmental carrying capacity remain persistent challenges. Using a qualitative participatory approach inspired by Rapid Rural Appraisal, the study focused on two areas: the Lawu forest area in Karanganyar, representing the Samin sub watershed, and the community forest area in Wonogiri, representing the Keduang sub watershed. Data were collected through focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, observation, documentation, stakeholder analysis, SWOT analysis, Venn diagrams, historical tracing, and gender analysis using the Harvard framework. The findings show that existing conservation institutions remain fragmented, sectoral, and insufficiently gender-responsive. Women’s participation is still limited, particularly in formal decision-making, although women have strategic potential in environmental education, local economic development, agroforestry, forest product processing, and community-based conservation. This article proposes a community based, multi-stakeholder, and gender-responsive institutional model that integrates environmental conservation, women’s empowerment, local economic strengthening, and upstream-downstream watershed governance. The study contributes to sustainable watershed management by positioning women and local communities as active institutional actors in ecological restoration.