Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
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Chapter 1: Introduction: People, Forests and the Need for Adaptation • 9<br />
connections are plausible, it is necessary to suggest a mechanism or process<br />
by which two events can be connected. In other words, we need to establish<br />
plausible causal connections between ACM <strong>in</strong>terventions and outcomes 5 .<br />
For example, if stakeholders consciously negotiated <strong>management</strong> objectives<br />
and agreed on actions, and if those actions subsequently occurred, the<br />
identifiable consequences could reasonably be assumed to be a result <strong>of</strong> the<br />
process. This cannot be absolutely certa<strong>in</strong>, but is a reasonable conclusion.<br />
Box 1-1<br />
Causality: An extract from the International Steer<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Committee (2000) report<br />
While there may be some scope for quantitative data collection and analysis <strong>in</strong><br />
the project, most <strong>of</strong> the data collected will be qualitative, and <strong>of</strong>ten <strong>in</strong> the form<br />
<strong>of</strong> process documentation. As the project is <strong>in</strong>tended to test and improve the<br />
application <strong>of</strong> the ACM process, such documentation is essential and there is<br />
no likely way that quantitative analysis can deal with the core issues. To some<br />
extent the team seems to be apologetic about this, and consequently seems<br />
to be try<strong>in</strong>g to treat qualitative data as if it were quantitative.<br />
Assum<strong>in</strong>g an adequate timeframe for mean<strong>in</strong>gful change, quantitative (or<br />
‘objective’) data may demonstrate that a change <strong>in</strong> forest condition or human<br />
well be<strong>in</strong>g has occurred. However, they cannot demonstrate the cause <strong>of</strong> this<br />
change. Indeed, there is no methodology that can demonstrate the causes <strong>of</strong><br />
such change with certa<strong>in</strong>ty. The best that can be done is to apply someth<strong>in</strong>g<br />
like the sort <strong>of</strong> analysis used by practitioners <strong>of</strong> historical sciences (such as<br />
palaeontology or history), who exam<strong>in</strong>e events <strong>in</strong> order to establish plausible<br />
causal connections.<br />
Selection <strong>of</strong> Project Sites<br />
Nepal, the Philipp<strong>in</strong>es and Indonesia were selected for the <strong>Adaptive</strong><br />
Collaborative Management Research Project for several reasons. Both<br />
Nepal and the Philipp<strong>in</strong>es have long histories <strong>of</strong> efforts to promote<br />
<strong>management</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>forests</strong> by communities, and the experiences <strong>of</strong> both<br />
countries have been extensive and well documented. Devolution policies<br />
<strong>in</strong> these two countries were well established and implemented to various<br />
extents. Indonesia, <strong>in</strong> contrast, has centralised <strong>management</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>forests</strong>,