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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120 • Trikurnianti Kusumanto<br />
Strengths and limitations <strong>of</strong> ACM<br />
Social processes emerged as we applied ACM and changes <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong><br />
people’s livelihoods resulted, but now it is necessary to ask about strengths<br />
and limitations <strong>of</strong> ACM. First, a strength: ACM addressed the significant<br />
lack <strong>of</strong> social organisation among local stakeholders <strong>in</strong> a context <strong>of</strong> complex<br />
social and ecological change: this was a strength. Before the <strong>in</strong>tervention<br />
began, social structures <strong>in</strong> the two sites were ‘underorganised’—a term<br />
Brown (1980) uses to describe situations where social networks are<br />
limited or nonexistent, or where actors do not belong to established social<br />
structures. Although there were some organisations <strong>in</strong> both sites, these<br />
were predom<strong>in</strong>antly hierarchical, authoritarian structures, with limited<br />
room for communication for learn<strong>in</strong>g and action. The exist<strong>in</strong>g coord<strong>in</strong>ation<br />
structures for natural resource <strong>management</strong>—associated with the customary<br />
and formal governance structures—were <strong>of</strong> this nature. Such circumstances<br />
were conducive neither to conceptualis<strong>in</strong>g problem situations beyond the<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividual level, nor to seek<strong>in</strong>g and organis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>collaborative</strong> solutions.<br />
The ACM approach was helpful <strong>in</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g more l<strong>in</strong>kages and cohesion<br />
<strong>in</strong> the social organisation <strong>in</strong> several ways:<br />
• ACM’s reiterative learn<strong>in</strong>g and consequent <strong>in</strong>creased frequency<br />
<strong>of</strong> contact amongst actors <strong>in</strong>tensified communication. This <strong>in</strong><br />
turn generated a sense <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>terdependence and more structured<br />
<strong>in</strong>teractions, even outside facilitated sett<strong>in</strong>gs.<br />
• Because the <strong>collaborative</strong> relationships we facilitated were voluntary<br />
(rather than mandated or contract-based), ACM was expected to<br />
build the mutual appreciation and trust necessary for actors to<br />
work out the distribution <strong>of</strong> resources and responsibilities <strong>in</strong> their<br />
<strong>collaborative</strong> efforts. In mandated or contract-based relationships,<br />
<strong>in</strong> contrast, the roles and responsibilities are predeterm<strong>in</strong>ed.<br />
• ACM enhanced the legitimacy <strong>of</strong> shifts and redistribution <strong>of</strong><br />
decision-mak<strong>in</strong>g power amongst actors. As a consequence, social<br />
relations became more systematic and organised.<br />
A second strength: ACM addressed the prior <strong>in</strong>ability <strong>of</strong> local actor to<br />
susta<strong>in</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g over time—as reflected <strong>in</strong> their reversion to old behavioural<br />
patterns—and generated change processes. Despite externally driven<br />
motivations <strong>in</strong> the past 9 , new understand<strong>in</strong>gs neither sufficiently encouraged<br />
people to take action nor challenged prevail<strong>in</strong>g ways <strong>of</strong> valu<strong>in</strong>g and act<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Past government programs 10 were unable to provide useful context-specific<br />
<strong>in</strong>sights. Most <strong>of</strong> these programs deployed what learn<strong>in</strong>g theorists call an