DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT SCALE IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL FORESTRY

This study aims to develop and validate a multidimensional measurement scale for community empowerment within Indonesia’s Social Forestry program. The urgency of empowerment arises from the need for equitable and sustainable forest management, yet measurement tools remain limited, especially in forest-dependent communities in developing countries. This study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional design involving 512 respondents from Social Forestry Groups. Instrument development followed a systematic process: literature review, conceptualisation of dimensions, and content validation via Focus Group Discussions with experts and community members. Data analysis consisted of content validity (Item-CVI), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using Principal Axis Factoring with Varimax rotation, reliability testing (Cronbach's Alpha), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) via covariance-based SEM. The findings confirm a five-dimensional structure of community empowerment: Capacity to Act, Interpersonal Power, Interactional Power, Collective Power, and Resilience Power. The measurement scale showed strong validity and reliability, with excellent CFA fit indices (Chi-Square/df = 2.14; CFI = 0.943; TLI = 0.931; RMSEA = 0.054; SRMR = 0.041), factor loadings > 0.60, and satisfactory AVE (> 0.50) and CR (> 0.70). Practically, this study provides a robust, contextual tool for evaluating Social Forestry programs. Theoretically, it enriches discourse on empowerment measurement in natural resource governance, emphasizing the role of cultural context in psychometrics. Keywords: community empowerment; social forestry; scale validation; psychometrics; factor analysis.