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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Chapter 4: Improv<strong>in</strong>g Forest Quality and Livelihoods <strong>in</strong> Indonesia • 109<br />
may have vary<strong>in</strong>g underly<strong>in</strong>g causes (Box 4-3) and can be improved <strong>in</strong><br />
different ways. In the field, the mechanism for problem fram<strong>in</strong>g was an<br />
exchange <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation to search for facts that were accepted by all actors.<br />
Collective knowledge developed as the search process evolved, sometimes<br />
supported by fact-f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g activities. Box 4-4 gives an example <strong>of</strong> a problem<br />
fram<strong>in</strong>g exercise.<br />
Box 4-3. Problem fram<strong>in</strong>g: crop damage by pigs<br />
It is <strong>of</strong>ten thought that if stakeholders have jo<strong>in</strong>tly identified a given problem<br />
situation, they will all view that problem from the same perspective. We learned<br />
that this is not necessarily the case: different stakeholders may see different<br />
causes for a problem, as the follow<strong>in</strong>g example shows.<br />
The Orang Rimba <strong>in</strong> Jambi saw the rampant devastation <strong>of</strong> food crops by<br />
pigs as a problem <strong>of</strong> external orig<strong>in</strong>. The pigs came from distant places where<br />
forest resources had decreased and were search<strong>in</strong>g for new habitats. The Baru<br />
Pelepat <strong>community</strong>, on the other hand, thought that clear<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> small forest<br />
patches by <strong>community</strong> members caused the problem, and that if larger areas<br />
had been cleared, as <strong>in</strong> the past, the pigs would be less likely to form herds<br />
and destroy crops.<br />
The Orang Rimba believed that the solution should be hunt<strong>in</strong>g the pigs,<br />
whereas Baru Pelepat <strong>community</strong> members suggested start<strong>in</strong>g dry fields <strong>in</strong><br />
grouped localities. This is an example <strong>of</strong> how different stakeholders <strong>in</strong> search<br />
<strong>of</strong> solutions see the same problem from different angles. (Kusumanto et al.<br />
2005)<br />
Box 4-4. Problem fram<strong>in</strong>g: unclear village boundaries<br />
The issue <strong>of</strong> boundaries was one <strong>of</strong> the six ‘learn<strong>in</strong>g questions’ identified<br />
by <strong>community</strong> actors. The Baru Pelepat <strong>community</strong> had to negotiate village<br />
boundaries with the neighbour<strong>in</strong>g <strong>community</strong> <strong>of</strong> Sungai Ber<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>. Although the<br />
communities agreed that the village boundaries were unclear, they had different<br />
views on how the problem should be tackled. They began by explor<strong>in</strong>g their<br />
common knowledge and agreements about the boundaries. Although the two<br />
communities had different traditions regard<strong>in</strong>g natural resource boundaries<br />
and <strong>management</strong>, there were—to their own surprise—certa<strong>in</strong> geographical<br />
po<strong>in</strong>ts and customary values that both shared. When communicat<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
shar<strong>in</strong>g knowledge <strong>in</strong> search for shared values did not help, they conducted<br />
field visits for jo<strong>in</strong>t fact-f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g. Gradually, collective knowledge took shape.<br />
People discovered that because the problem situation could be approached<br />
from different perspectives, strategies for mak<strong>in</strong>g improvements <strong>in</strong> the<br />
situation were diverse as well.