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 7: Discussion and Conclusions • 219<br />
action (or strategic action) was more about how to improve <strong>community</strong><br />
forestry than about how to embark upon it.<br />
Social learn<strong>in</strong>g and collaboration<br />
When the ACM project was first conceptualised, considerable emphasis<br />
was placed on the development and test<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> supportive tools, such as<br />
participatory mapp<strong>in</strong>g, vision<strong>in</strong>g and various games. Such tools did prove<br />
useful <strong>in</strong> the ACM projects. Box 7-1 outl<strong>in</strong>es the primary tools, and<br />
further read<strong>in</strong>gs on the approach and the tools are listed at the end <strong>of</strong><br />
the chapter. However, tools are not the essence <strong>of</strong> ACM. Always regarded as<br />
merely supportive, they receded even further <strong>in</strong> importance as rout<strong>in</strong>ely<br />
shared reflection and learn<strong>in</strong>g came to the fore as the basis for adaptation<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>community</strong> governance and forest <strong>management</strong>.<br />
Box 7-1. Tools developed dur<strong>in</strong>g ACM project<br />
Several <strong>in</strong>novative tools were developed and tested by the project team and<br />
found successful: methods for identify<strong>in</strong>g stakeholders and understand<strong>in</strong>g<br />
their perceptions; tools to support the process <strong>of</strong> translat<strong>in</strong>g visions <strong>in</strong>to<br />
‘models’ that can be <strong>in</strong>terrogated; tools and approaches for develop<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong>dicators; methods for support<strong>in</strong>g participatory decision mak<strong>in</strong>g centred on<br />
multicriteria analysis; approaches for develop<strong>in</strong>g <strong>collaborative</strong> monitor<strong>in</strong>g; and<br />
f<strong>in</strong>ally, the articulation <strong>of</strong> an adaptive <strong>collaborative</strong> <strong>management</strong> approach.<br />
Although structured differently <strong>in</strong> each case, shared—or social—learn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
by stakeholders was the eng<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> the approach <strong>in</strong> the Philipp<strong>in</strong>es, Indonesia<br />
(Pasir and Jambi) and Nepal. In some cases (e.g., the forest user groups<br />
<strong>in</strong> Nepal), social learn<strong>in</strong>g received more emphasis with<strong>in</strong> <strong>community</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>stitutions; <strong>in</strong> others, it took place between <strong>community</strong> <strong>in</strong>stitutions and<br />
other stakeholders. In some contexts, it was embedded <strong>in</strong> the ongo<strong>in</strong>g<br />
governance and plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>community</strong> forestry; <strong>in</strong> others, it was used<br />
<strong>in</strong> problem-solv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>itiatives. In all three <strong>of</strong> these case studies, however,<br />
this learn<strong>in</strong>g was facilitated with the <strong>in</strong>tention <strong>of</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g it transformative<br />
and thus the eng<strong>in</strong>e for address<strong>in</strong>g conflicts and stagnation <strong>in</strong> governance<br />
or <strong>management</strong>. In Mal<strong>in</strong>au, on the other hand, the emphasis was<br />
on communicative learn<strong>in</strong>g and the shar<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation amongst<br />
stakeholders, especially <strong>in</strong> relation to policy.