Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

Chapter 6: Facilitating Change from the Inside in the Philippines • 189
The group’s efforts in addressing the health problem in the village had
positive effects. Households in the barangay diversified their backyards and
planted them with herbs, vegetables and cutting flowers. According to the
monitoring form, in July 2002 alone (four months after the herb garden
was established), on average five persons per week took one or two species
from the garden for propagation purposes. Group members also exchanged
planting stock with each other and with other stakeholders, including the
staff of the nearby banana plantation. The local school took better care of
its herb garden after the women approached the head teacher.
In the Talaandig communities, knowledge of herbs for ritual and ceremonial
purposes and their preparations had been held by men. Because men
generally spend more time in the forest, clearing land for their swidden
farms and collecting forest products, they were usually more knowledgeable
about forest plants; the women were more knowledgeable about lowland
and introduced herbs (Erlinda M. Burton, personal communication, 7
April 2003). Such information had not usually been shared between men
and women, but the herb garden activities provided venues for both sexes
to exchange knowledge about herbs and their different uses.
The women’s efforts were recognised and appreciated by the barangay and
municipal governments. The Basac barangay council explicitly expressed
their appreciation to the group in one of its meetings. The group was also
asked by the municipal health workers to train others in the municipality.
The group declined, however, because they felt they need to focus on their
own barangay.
Outcomes of ACM
In facilitating the groups, the ACM teams applied most of the processes
that underpin the ACM approach:
• communication among members of the same group or between
different groups to share information and knowledge;
• collective planning and decision making;
• collective action to carry out plans;
• intentional learning and experimentation;
• social learning;
• collaborative monitoring;