Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
98 • Trikurnianti Kusumanto<br />
problems. And yet as described above, local systems tend to be nonadaptive,<br />
<strong>in</strong>capable <strong>of</strong> respond<strong>in</strong>g to new demands and rapid changes at broader<br />
levels. Consequently, because <strong>community</strong>-focused <strong>in</strong>itiatives do not l<strong>in</strong>k<br />
to these to wider-level structures and processes, local action <strong>of</strong>ten runs up<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>st the constra<strong>in</strong>ts associated with higher-scale dynamics. Indeed, the<br />
legal and policy sett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> forest <strong>management</strong> all too easily creates cultural,<br />
legal, economic and political dis<strong>in</strong>centives for local people to susta<strong>in</strong>ably<br />
manage their resources.<br />
Can adaptive <strong>collaborative</strong> <strong>management</strong> work?<br />
The conditions that have thwarted participatory forestry <strong>in</strong>itiatives are<br />
primarily social: these <strong>in</strong>itiatives have failed to address the complex dynamics<br />
<strong>of</strong> societal change—<strong>in</strong> particular, the chang<strong>in</strong>g relationships between<br />
<strong>in</strong>terest groups <strong>in</strong> evolv<strong>in</strong>g political and socio-economic conditions. This<br />
observation was the spark for the research project: would an adaptive<br />
<strong>collaborative</strong> <strong>management</strong> approach be useful <strong>in</strong> the Indonesian context,<br />
where forest <strong>management</strong> decision mak<strong>in</strong>g seems to be uncerta<strong>in</strong> and<br />
chaotic, and make a difference <strong>in</strong> forest quality and human well-be<strong>in</strong>g?<br />
In our view, ACM was worth <strong>in</strong>vestigat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the Indonesian sett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> part<br />
because it placed the concept <strong>of</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g at the centre but also because<br />
it had the potential to br<strong>in</strong>g about on-the-ground changes to <strong>forests</strong> and<br />
people’s livelihoods. A core thrust <strong>of</strong> ACM is ‘social learn<strong>in</strong>g’ (Chapter 2).<br />
In social learn<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>in</strong>dividuals or groups communicate with one another to<br />
understand shared problems, explore solutions and negotiate options and<br />
eventually make collective decisions (e.g., Maarleveld and Dangbégnon<br />
1999; Jigg<strong>in</strong>s and Röl<strong>in</strong>g 2000). Social learn<strong>in</strong>g enables adaptation to<br />
adjust <strong>management</strong>.<br />
ACM also became <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g as a potential means for Indonesia’s<br />
<strong>in</strong>stitutions—particularly the dom<strong>in</strong>ant top-down, science-based ones—to<br />
learn their way out <strong>of</strong> the tensions between old practices and new demands.<br />
For <strong>in</strong>stitutions, social learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>volves not only microlevel processes<br />
(e.g., learn<strong>in</strong>g among stakeholders about the uses <strong>of</strong> a given forest area)<br />
but also the ways <strong>in</strong> which exist<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>in</strong>teract (Woodhill 2002).<br />
In the rest <strong>of</strong> this chapter the term learn<strong>in</strong>g rather than social learn<strong>in</strong>g is<br />
used, but throughout, the concept <strong>of</strong> social learn<strong>in</strong>g forms the basis <strong>of</strong> the<br />
discussion.