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 6: Facilitat<strong>in</strong>g Change from the Inside <strong>in</strong> the Philipp<strong>in</strong>es • 177<br />
Application <strong>of</strong> ACM approach<br />
The next step was to <strong>in</strong>troduce the newly formed action learn<strong>in</strong>g groups<br />
to the structured learn<strong>in</strong>g processes they would be undergo<strong>in</strong>g. These<br />
were described as cont<strong>in</strong>uous cycles or loops <strong>of</strong> reflection-plann<strong>in</strong>g-actionmonitor<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
For each priority issue, the action learn<strong>in</strong>g groups (1) reflected<br />
on the causes <strong>of</strong> the problem by analyz<strong>in</strong>g how it had been handled <strong>in</strong><br />
the past and why previous attempts had failed; (2) planned together how<br />
to address problems by select<strong>in</strong>g the best strategy from several options<br />
and agree<strong>in</strong>g on who would carry it out and when; (3) implemented the<br />
agreed strategy; (4) monitored their actions and learned from them; and<br />
(5) adjusted their <strong>management</strong> strategy accord<strong>in</strong>gly. The research team<br />
supported and facilitated this process as necessary, understand<strong>in</strong>g that<br />
cycles <strong>of</strong> action and reflection would be <strong>of</strong> different duration depend<strong>in</strong>g on<br />
the stakeholders or the issue.<br />
Through this iterative process, the group gradually made changes and<br />
adjusted their strategies while learn<strong>in</strong>g about the consequences <strong>of</strong> their<br />
decisions and actions. The research team attempted to make learn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
processes more conscious and structured by frequently us<strong>in</strong>g these learn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
loops as the framework for chart<strong>in</strong>g the progress made by the groups on<br />
each issue.<br />
The follow<strong>in</strong>g sections describe the learn<strong>in</strong>g processes that the action<br />
learn<strong>in</strong>g groups <strong>in</strong> both sites underwent and their outcome. Of the 10<br />
issues addressed by the action learn<strong>in</strong>g groups <strong>in</strong> the two ACM sites, I have<br />
selected three to illustrate how ACM processes were played out.<br />
Forest boundary dispute<br />
In the Palawan site, DENR had awarded the <strong>management</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> different<br />
portions <strong>of</strong> the forest to the cooperative and to the Batak <strong>in</strong>digenous people.<br />
Initially, the cooperative was given the right and responsibility to manage<br />
1,000 ha <strong>of</strong> forestland; the tenure was later expanded <strong>in</strong> February 1997 to a<br />
total area <strong>of</strong> 5,006 ha. The Batak <strong>community</strong> forest was about 900 ha and<br />
lay adjacent to the cooperative’s forest.<br />
When the cooperative’s <strong>community</strong> forest was expanded, the new area<br />
was not surveyed and its boundaries were not mapped. A complete survey<br />
existed for the orig<strong>in</strong>al 1000 ha only. In 2000, Haribon, a local NGO that<br />
assisted the Bataks, asserted that the areas <strong>of</strong> the two <strong>forests</strong> overlapped