Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
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96 • Trikurnianti Kusumanto<br />
strategies, generally lack the feedback mechanisms that are necessary to<br />
<strong>in</strong>corporate new <strong>management</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation (e.g., the chang<strong>in</strong>g resource<br />
needs <strong>of</strong> local stakeholders) and adjust <strong>management</strong> to new conditions.<br />
Local people’s forest <strong>management</strong> systems, on the other hand, are to some<br />
extent responsive to local changes (e.g., people adopt shorter fallow periods<br />
if the population <strong>in</strong>creases) but are weak <strong>in</strong> respond<strong>in</strong>g to new demands (like<br />
assum<strong>in</strong>g greater decision-mak<strong>in</strong>g role under decentralisation) and rapid<br />
changes at wider levels (like those generated by economic globalisation).<br />
At the local level, because <strong>of</strong> recent social and economic pressures, earlier<br />
local systems <strong>of</strong> control and <strong>management</strong> have eroded and, where still<br />
existent, tend to be weak where forest resources are subject to compet<strong>in</strong>g<br />
claims (Wollenberg and Kartodihardjo 2002; Campbell 2002). They <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
lack legitimacy because local people are los<strong>in</strong>g trust <strong>in</strong> their local leaders,<br />
who are <strong>of</strong>ten accused <strong>of</strong> pursu<strong>in</strong>g their own <strong>in</strong>terests, or these systems lack<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficial support. As a consequence, the <strong>in</strong>ternal cohesion and legitimacy<br />
necessary to navigate complex and chang<strong>in</strong>g <strong>management</strong> situations is<br />
miss<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Limits <strong>of</strong> current approaches<br />
Attempts to deal with the problems date to the early 1970s on Java and<br />
the mid-1980s on the other major islands. In response to the failure <strong>of</strong><br />
commercial extractive forestry <strong>in</strong> susta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g forest quality and people’s<br />
livelihoods and to the <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g conflicts between forestry projects and<br />
local communities, attention has progressively been paid by government,<br />
the <strong>in</strong>ternational donor <strong>community</strong> and nongovernmental organisations to<br />
participatory forestry activities. Indeed, the participation <strong>of</strong> local people <strong>in</strong><br />
forest <strong>management</strong> has been formally accepted as a fundamental basis for<br />
effective susta<strong>in</strong>able and equitable forest <strong>management</strong>.<br />
Nevertheless, despite almost four decades <strong>of</strong> people-oriented efforts,<br />
the unsusta<strong>in</strong>able and <strong>in</strong>equitable use <strong>of</strong> <strong>forests</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>ues unabated. We<br />
believe that the limited success <strong>of</strong> participatory <strong>in</strong>itiatives thus far is due<br />
to their <strong>in</strong>adequacy <strong>in</strong> address<strong>in</strong>g the two identified factors underly<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the problems: <strong>in</strong>compatible claims on <strong>forests</strong> and the <strong>in</strong>flexibility <strong>of</strong> most<br />
<strong>management</strong> systems to adapt to changes.