The research objective was to determine the level of understanding and
perception of forest communities against carbon trading and determine the
factors that influence the understanding and perception of forest communities on
carbon trading. The experiment was conducted for six months (February 2015 -
July 2015), involving 60 respondents from community leaders and ordinary
citizens from four villages namely Sungai Rawa village, Rawa Mekar Jaya village,
Penyengat village and Teluk Lanus village in the region Sungai Apit district of
Siak, Province Riau with a survey method that is divided into two activities: (1)
Focus Group Discussion (FGD), and (2) structured interviews with villagers. The
study states that the majority of respondents (58.49%) stated that they had never
heard of the term climate change / REDD / carbon trading. The majority of
respondents (50.00%) did not give an answer on the form of institutions that have
the potential to implement carbon trading activities, while other respondents
(12.50%) expressed the need for training for members of the institution
designated to implement the REDD + activities. Understanding of society remains
low and the perception of the public is still in doubt with this activity because it
has not seen examples of activities that have been successful. Factors
associated with a real understanding in relation to carbon trading activities are
education and perception. Results of other studies conclude that there is a
significant correlation between education and perception.
Keywords: carbon trading, comprehension, perception, REDD +