Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

182 • Herlina Hartanto
the editorial team lacked writing ability and, even more important, the
layout skills to create an appealing format that would attract more readers,
the group asked the ACM researchers for training. Four women and nine
men underwent the training and published the next issue of the newsletter
in a more attractive layout; 50 copies of the newsletter were printed and
distributed to local stakeholders like DENR, the city government, barangay
councils, NGOs, and others. The action learning group produced six issues
of Balangaw over 18 months (February 2001 to August 2002) at a cost of
Php 1000 (US$20). The ability of the editorial team to handle the tasks of
newsletter production improved with time, and by the sixth edition, the
assistance provided by the ACM team was minimal.
Another initiative to increase communication and information sharing
was improving the use of the bulletin boards. The action learning group
observed that some PO members were illiterate and others simply preferred
illustrations over text. Three bulletin boards, one in each barangay, were
erected at strategic places—in the sari-sari (sundry) stores in Concepcion
and Tanabag, and near the waiting shed in San Rafael. Like the newsletter,
the bulletin boards contained information on community forestry,
photographs of activities and data on forest products. In the latter part of
2002, the group used the bulletin boards to disseminate information on
their seed germination experiment and the names of the persons responsible
for day-to-day maintenance of the nursery. The learning process that the
group went through in strengthening information sharing and improving
communication channels is illustrated in Figure 6-6.