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.
Chapter 4: Improv<strong>in</strong>g Forest Quality and Livelihoods <strong>in</strong> Indonesia • 103<br />
ACM approach <strong>in</strong> action<br />
This section gives an overview <strong>of</strong> the ACM approach taken by the local<br />
actors, supported by facilitators and the research team, <strong>in</strong> the two research<br />
sites. It describes a possible model for <strong>community</strong> forestry—as developed<br />
and tested through the participatory action research <strong>of</strong> this project. We<br />
refer to the implementation <strong>of</strong> the approach as an <strong>in</strong>tervention because the<br />
ACM approach was be<strong>in</strong>g considered as a way <strong>of</strong> add<strong>in</strong>g strength to exist<strong>in</strong>g<br />
participatory forest <strong>management</strong> <strong>in</strong>itiatives <strong>in</strong> Indonesia. The section first<br />
describes the <strong>in</strong>terventions <strong>in</strong> the two sites, emphasis<strong>in</strong>g the differences that<br />
reflect the differences <strong>in</strong> contexts. There follows a discussion on the process<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>in</strong>terventions.<br />
Different ‘<strong>in</strong>terventions’ for different conditions<br />
Different site conditions called for different facilitative <strong>in</strong>terventions whose<br />
direction was determ<strong>in</strong>ed by the priorities and <strong>in</strong>terests that the local<br />
stakeholders identified by dur<strong>in</strong>g the context studies.<br />
The ACM <strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>in</strong> Baru Pelepat village had as a start<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>t four<br />
problems cited by <strong>community</strong> stakeholders:<br />
• unclear boundaries <strong>of</strong> the <strong>community</strong>’s customary forest area and,<br />
hence, an <strong>in</strong>secure legal basis for resource <strong>management</strong> (<strong>in</strong>dicated by<br />
harvest<strong>in</strong>g by outsiders);<br />
• poor social relationships <strong>in</strong> the <strong>community</strong> (e.g., between settlers and<br />
orig<strong>in</strong>al people, and between the village elite and wider <strong>community</strong>,<br />
<strong>in</strong>dicated by low levels <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>teraction and reciprocity, trust, <strong>collaborative</strong><br />
action, and occasionally social conflict);<br />
• weak <strong>community</strong> decision-mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>stitutions (<strong>in</strong>dicated by low<br />
participation <strong>of</strong> women and settlers); and<br />
• <strong>in</strong>secure livelihoods because <strong>of</strong> the lack <strong>of</strong> alternatives to timber<br />
logg<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Given those problems, and to keep pace with broader socio-economic changes<br />
and demands from decentralisation, <strong>community</strong> actors saw the need to <strong>in</strong>crease<br />
their self-reliance and <strong>in</strong>stitutional capacity. This would, as perceived, <strong>in</strong> turn<br />
lead to the betterment <strong>of</strong> standards <strong>of</strong> liv<strong>in</strong>g. ACM was therefore aimed at<br />
creat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>community</strong>-wide learn<strong>in</strong>g to help people achieve their goals.<br />
In Pasir, conservation <strong>of</strong> forest resources conflicted with <strong>in</strong>terests <strong>in</strong> improv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
local liv<strong>in</strong>g standards, and current employment options were dictated by