Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

196 • Herlina Hartanto
A multistakeholder forum also appears to be a useful platform to improve
communication and facilitate collaboration in places where institutional
roles and interests overlap. Such a forum can bring together the information,
perspectives, experience and knowledge held by different stakeholders. It
may take time for a multistakeholder body to function effectively, as in the
case of the Protected Area Management Board at the ACM Bukidnon
site. Established in 1993, the board comprises the park superintendent,
indigenous leaders, and representatives from DENR, municipal and village
governments, local NGOs and POs. Although the board was dominated by
government representatives, the dynamics within the board improved over
time as stakeholders saw the usefulness of the forum and the indigenous
members gained confidence in expressing their concerns openly. There had
been several attempts to establish multistakeholder forums, such as the
Technical Working Group for Resource Management and other provincial
technical working groups, in Palawan in previous years, indicative of
stakeholders’ interest in collaborating and coordinating their efforts.
These forums may well be one solution to the institutional complexity in
Palawan.
Lack of conscious learning
Forest management planning and implementation in both ACM sites has
been mechanistic and linear. The POs manage their forests by following
DENR requirements and procedures; reflections on their experience and
evaluations of their work plans were sporadic, and lessons learnt were not
incorporated into future strategies (Arda-Minas 2002; Lorenzo 2002).
This situation was exacerbated by the complexities of DENR regulations,
which gave the POs little opportunity to experiment and devise innovative
solutions. The POs hesitated to take risks for fear of penalties and suspension
of their permits. The lack of immediate feedback mechanisms caused a lot
of frustration among those who were engaged in daily forest management,
including DENR staff.
The ACM learning tightened up the feedback loops in forest management
implementation. In facilitated meetings, the POs began to evaluate their
actions and management strategies and use the lessons learnt to improve
their subsequent management plans, and the ACM team attempted to
increase the POs’ awareness of the importance of monitoring as a learning
tool. The team also helped the Palawan cooperative develop a system,
through participatory processes, 10 to monitor the volume of forest resources