Building Collective Action: Social Capital and Cooperative Management in Byak Karon’s Conservation Initiatives

This study examines how collective action within the Byak Karon community emerges through the strength of social capital and cooperative management in their conservation initiatives.Employing a descriptive qualitative approach combined with policy analysis, the research explores the interactions among customary institutions, local government, and conservation organizations in community-based marine resource management.The findings reveal that social trust, reciprocal norms, and collaborative networks form the core foundation of conservation success.Customary institutional structures play a crucial role in regulating fishing zones and seasonal closures, while support from government agencies and NGOs enhances legal legitimacy and technical capacity.The resulting hybrid governance model represents a form of legal pluralism, where customary law and state policy interact dynamically and adaptively.These findings emphasize that conservation sustainability depends not solely on the effectiveness of formal regulations, but also on the community's capacity to build collective action grounded in moral and spiritual values.The Byak Karon model thus offers an important contribution to advancing blue justice and strengthening community-based coastal governance in Indonesia.