Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

184 • Herlina Hartanto
The increased awareness of the importance of communication to
participation from their members prompted the board of directors to hold
meetings at least once every month (instead of semiannually). The PO also
found several other ways to communicate their community forest activities
to wider audience, such as involving teachers and out-of-school youth,
establishing linkages with local government units, and making use of the
local radio program, Radyo ng Bayan. These actions produced immediate
results: more people began visiting the PO office seeking information. Some
sought clarification on the information they had seen in the newsletters or
the bulletin boards; others asked about training and other activities.
The newsletter proved useful not only for the board of directors but also for
its members and the local DENR. It gave members opportunity to share their
observations, voice their opinions and improve their communication skills.
DENR learned about illegal extraction of almaciga resin from a newsletter
article and began an investigation—evidence that the newsletter was
considered a reliable source of information. Despite these successes, the
group still needs to undertake a more structured survey of the effectiveness
of different communication media as the starting point for making future
improvements.
Indigenous knowledge of herbal medicine
In the ACM Bukidnon site, the people’s organisation and representatives
of local stakeholders identified several health problems for Basac villagers.
The most pressing was the unavailability of both traditional and modern
medicines. The action learning group that decided to address the
unavailability of medicines in Basac was composed of eight barangay health
workers and one barangay resident. The group was occasionally joined by
the barangay captain (a woman) and one male barangay officer.
In the past, a botica sa barangay, a store that sold Western medicine, had
operated with the support from the municipal government, but it had
closed: the idea of establishing the store had come from outsiders who
apparently had not taken into consideration the economic conditions of
the barangay residents. They could not afford the medicine, and the store
had been poorly managed.
Based on the insights into past efforts, the group decided to revive the use of
herbal medicine, which had always been a part of their culture. The strategy