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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104 • Trikurnianti Kusumanto<br />
outsiders—government <strong>of</strong>ficials and commercial logg<strong>in</strong>g companies. The<br />
ACM <strong>in</strong>tervention was designed to address the follow<strong>in</strong>g problems:<br />
• Livelihood options were limited because the village area and the<br />
Lumut Mounta<strong>in</strong> Protection Forest overlapped, and villagers were<br />
excluded from the benefits <strong>of</strong> logg<strong>in</strong>g by the timber companies.<br />
• The relationship between <strong>community</strong> actors (particularly between<br />
<strong>community</strong> and village leaders) was weak, with low social capital and<br />
poor communication and <strong>in</strong>formation exchange.<br />
• The capacity <strong>of</strong> communities to communicate and negotiate with<br />
outsiders was limited by their lack <strong>of</strong> confidence <strong>in</strong> deal<strong>in</strong>g with<br />
government agencies and distrust <strong>of</strong> the timber companies.<br />
• Little <strong>in</strong>formation was exchanged between communities on the one<br />
hand and government and companies on the other.<br />
ACM <strong>in</strong> East Kalimantan sought to <strong>in</strong>corporate two aims: improv<strong>in</strong>g local<br />
people’s livelihoods, and advanc<strong>in</strong>g their barga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g position <strong>in</strong> negotiat<strong>in</strong>g<br />
with outside actors about the <strong>management</strong> <strong>of</strong> natural resources and the<br />
benefits derived from them.<br />
ACM ‘<strong>in</strong>tervention’ process<br />
Although the two <strong>in</strong>terventions focused on different problems <strong>in</strong> different<br />
contexts, both sought to create conditions for learn<strong>in</strong>g rather than achieve<br />
particular targets. The <strong>in</strong>terventions proceeded <strong>in</strong> three phases: diagnosis<br />
<strong>of</strong> problem situations, plann<strong>in</strong>g and implementation. From the three-phase<br />
cycle, it may seem that an ACM <strong>in</strong>tervention does not substantially differ from<br />
program cycles <strong>in</strong> general. What dist<strong>in</strong>guishes the ACM approach from other<br />
<strong>in</strong>terventions is its deliberate learn<strong>in</strong>g. As discussed below, the implementation<br />
phase comprised the typical iterative steps <strong>of</strong> an action research process:<br />
observation, plann<strong>in</strong>g, action, and reflection (Figure 4-2). It was <strong>in</strong> particular<br />
the iterative nature <strong>of</strong> the implementation phase that shaped conditions for<br />
learn<strong>in</strong>g and enabled stakeholders to adapt their plans.