PENYULUHAN HUKUM PENCEGAHAN KRIMINALISASI PENGUASAAN TANAH DI KAWASAN HUTAN BAGI MASYARAKAT DESA BENGKOLAN SALAK KABUPATEN ROKAN HULU

Abstract

_{Land tenure conflicts within state forest zones frequently lead to the criminalization of customary and local communities who depend on traditional agricultural livelihoods. This community service program aimed to enhance legal awareness and provide preventive legal education regarding justice and legal certainty in forest land tenure for the rural residents of Bengkolan Salak Village, IV Koto District, Rokan Hulu Regency, Riau Province. The implementation methods encompassed structured preparation, interactive legal counseling sessions, deliberative participatory dialogues, distribution of practical agrarian pocketbooks, and post-activity evaluations. The legal counseling successfully delivered four essential thematic subjects: the conceptual understanding of forestry criminalization, the objective and subjective penal elements of unlawful forest clearance, corporate criminal liability, and law enforcement procedures alongside judicial execution challenges. The community demonstrated strong enthusiasm, active engagement, and an improved comprehension of tenure rights, distinguishing commercial encroachment from subsistence farming, social forestry mechanisms, and Agrarian Reform Land Object schemes. In conclusion, legal empowerment through contextual community counseling serves as a strategic non-litigation instrument to safeguard community land rights, mitigate tenurial disputes, and foster harmonious synergy between ecological forest conservation and rural socio economic justice in sustainable agrarian governance.}