Transforming Power: The Adaptation of Customary Authorities in Aceh's Forest Governance

This article examines the transformation of customary authority in forest governance in Aceh, Indonesia, moving beyond the conventional narrative of decline toward a more nuanced view of power as relational and negotiated. Utilizing the frameworks of political ecology and legal pluralism, the research examines how indigenous institutions adapt to evolving governance structures, spanning from the Sultanate era to centralized state authority and into the post-conflict special autonomy framework. This research employs a qualitative approach, combining literature analysis, legal review, and case-based insights from several regions in Aceh to examine the evolving relationship between customary institutions and forest governance. The findings reveal that while customary authorities have experienced a reduction in formal jurisdiction over forest resources, they have not become powerless. Instead, their authority has been reconfigured through adaptive and resistive strategies embedded in everyday practices, social legitimacy, and cross-scale engagement. In contexts of overlapping legal systems, customary actors maintain influence by negotiating access, aligning with external actors such as NGOs and local governments, and mobilizing cultural narratives that reinforce their moral claims over forest landscapes. These dynamics demonstrate that power in forest governance cannot be understood solely in terms of formal authority or legal recognition. Rather, it emerges through continuous interactions across institutional, social, and ecological domains. This study emphasizes the significance of quotidian politics and local agency, thereby facilitating a redefinition of power as negotiated influence—dynamic, context-sensitive, and relational. Ultimately, the Aceh case illustrates that the transformation of customary authority represents not a process of marginalization, but an adaptive reconfiguration of power that remains central to sustainable and inclusive forest governance.