Stakeholder Salience in a Multistakeholder Initiative of the National Forestry Council of Indonesia

This study analyzes the roles and positions of stakeholders in decision-making processes within the National
Forestry Council (Dewan Kehutanan Nasional, DKN), a forest-related multistakeholder platform in Indonesia. It
considers stakeholders' power, legitimacy, and urgency. The research employed a qualitative case study, centered
around in-depth interviews with 27 key informants with diverse backgrounds involved in the DKN. The study found
that despite being designed to facilitate democratic and inclusive decision-making, the engagement of stakeholders
in the DKN is heavily dominated by powerful government actors. Several stakeholder groups, such as NGOs and
academics, may actively participate in decision-making processes, but they do not meaningfully influence and
capacity to determine the organizational policy directions. This is related to an imbalance in the distribution of
power among stakeholders in DKN. Even though this organization promotes the principle of inclusivity, the reality is
that the presence and influence of the government are still the dominant factors in determining policy directions. This
study confirms the importance of the stakeholder salience analysis approach in the context of multistakeholder
initiative organizations such as the DKN, which allows recognition of power dynamics and domination among
stakeholders within the DKN so that decisions made truly reflect the common interests of all parties involved.