Assessing the Role of Local Sasi Practices in Environmental Conservation and Community Economic Empowerment in Maluku, Indonesia

The problem of this research is how Sasi can be applied properly to preserve resources and its impact on the community's economy.The Sasi is a tradition carried out by the Maluku people with the main aim of preserving resources.The Sasi tradition is a culture from Maluku that was inherited by the ancestors of the Maluku people for centuries.The Sasi culture is carried out because of two principles, namely that natural products must not be enjoyed for a certain period of time that are not yet suitable for use and to provide satisfaction from the results of one's own efforts.This research assessing the role of local Sasi practices in environmental conservation and community economic empowerment.The research was carried out in Seith Village and Rutong Village, Ambon Island in July-August 2022.These locations were selected through purposive sampling since the implementation protects agricultural and fishery resources.Furthermore, a sample of 80 individuals was selected using simple random sampling methods.The results showed that Sasi embodied significant philosophical values such as trust, excellent/mutual collaboration, colalboration betwen the vilage government, church, mosque and society, moral and ethical values to sustain the existing natural resources and prevent extinction, and the principle of not stealing the property of others.In addition, the analysis indicated moderate values of R 2 at 0.408, 0.616, and 0.564 for the different parameters.The coefficients for the variables of BS to EP, BS to CEI, and SM to EP showed significant values since the p-value was less than 0.05.Conversely, the coefficients of SM to CEI and EP to CEI indicated no significant effect, with p-values greater than 0.05.