Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

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216 • Cynthia McDougall, Ravi Prabhu and Robert Fisher • Community leadership shifted towards institutions developed by the community itself, rather than top-down ones imposed by higher levels of government. In the Nepal cases, ACM approaches to community forest management appear to have contributed to the following increases in social capital within community forest user groups: • Marginalised people, though they still faced poverty-related barriers, such as lack of time, were better represented and more engaged in decision making. • Communication within the user group was enhanced. • The quality of internal and external relationsimproved. • Equity in decision making and benefit sharing received more emphasis within the group. • Access to decision making, trainings and other opportunities was more open to women and the poor. • Individuals and the group as a whole had more confidence in taking up challenges. • Conflict management was more effective. In the Philippines case, accounts of the application of participatory action research cycle clearly show how even small, incremental steps led to change: • Stakeholders were able to collaborate to resolve boundary conflicts. • The herbal medicine enterprise got off to a good start. • Communication skills improved, and the newsletter prompted the forestry agency to investigate a case of illegal extraction. • Collaborative learning improved the effectiveness of labour exchange. The Nepal, Philippines and Jambi and Pasir cases thus show significant signs that local institutions or communities were striving to base their governance and relations, as well as management and ‘problem solving’, in social learning and collaboration. Changes to natural, physical and financial capital Influence on the quality, quantity and sustainability of natural, physical and financial capital is the long-term ‘acid’ test of an ACM approach. Although
Chapter 7: Discussion and Conclusions • 217 the timeframe of the research prevents us from seeing significant outcomes, the positive changes in social and human capital did begin to stir changes in the more tangible, economic aspects. In none of the case studies did natural, physical or financial capitals suffer as a result of the adoption of an ACM approach. This is not to say that some groups did not profit more than others: the relatively high transaction costs of a learning and collaboration approach seemed to favour richer members of local communities over poorer ones in Indonesia, although the explicit equity focus in Nepal may have countered this tendency slightly, with poorer members doing relatively better. As expected, no major changes in forest condition were observed. There were, however, signs of increased local efforts to increase value or condition of the forest system across the sites. One was intensified efforts to enhance the subsistence or commercial value of forests by planting bamboo, fruit trees, timber species, rubber trees or traditional herbals. In the Philippines, a direct investment in natural capital was the planting of herbal and medicinal gardens in Basac (and concomitant improvement to livelihoods, if not to financial capital), and in all three countries these efforts led to reductions in illegal extraction of forest products. In all Nepal sites there has been a decrease in infraction of CFUG rules, including by elite members. Unclear boundaries are an important problem because ‘open access’ encourages behaviours that lead to overexploitation and the tragedy of the commons. In all the case studies, much was done to resolve boundary disputes. Although the inventories necessary to determine the effects were not or could not be carried out, there are good grounds to assume that an improvement in natural and possibly physical resources would follow. Furthermore, in some Nepal and Philippines sites, the self-monitoring processes appeared to heighten awareness of forest conditions and thus motivate people to manage the land sustainably; groups at several sites developed or expanded nurseries for reforestation 7 , made changes in silviculture, or rewrote the rules about use. In Palawan, new rules governed the exploitation of almaciga resin and cutting of immature trees. In Nepal, rules on the cutting of green trees for fuelwood were enacted despite their cost to the community today. These are clear investments in natural capital.
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Adaptive Collaborative Management o
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Copyright © 2007 by Center for Int
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iv • Contents Chapter 5. Muddling
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vi • Foreword problem solving. Th
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viii • About the Contributors God
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Acknowledgements In early 1999, two
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Chapter 1. Introduction: People, Fo
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Chapter 1: Introduction: People, Fo
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Chapter 2: Adaptive Collaborative M
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Chapter 3: Adaptiveness and Collabo
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Chapter 4. Shaping Opportunities fo
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Chapter 4: Improving Forest Quality
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Chapter 5: Muddling Towards Coopera
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Chapter 6: Facilitating Change from
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