Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

This book is about conscious attempts by local communities in three Asian countries
to improve the management of their forests. It explores how collaborative learning,
negotiation and planning, involving different actors, in forest communities in Indonesia,
Nepal and the Philippines, can contribute to better management in some quite surprising
ways. It provides ‘plausible causal connections’ between the action research of the
Adaptive Collaborative Management Research Project implemented by the Center for
International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the outcomes for the groups of people
(and their forests) involved in the research. There are broader lessons to be derived
for development practitioners and researchers from these experiences with Adaptive
Collaborative Management as the global community grapples with managing complex
human-ecological systems.
The phrase “ACM” is frequently referred to in the literature and at workshops and
conferences, but with little amplification. This book is the best descriptive account of ACM
I have seen, and Chapter 2 could become a primer on what the concept really means
beyond just an acronym for a current fad and one that is rarely fully understood.
Don Gilmour
International consultant on community forestry,
formerly with IUCN’s Forest Conservation Programme
In a world characterized by unpredictable shocks and stresses, forest users and managers
need alternatives and backup options. Social learning helps generate these options,
building resilience in linked systems of forests and people. This volume contributes to a
deeper understanding of the issues around deliberate social learning and collaboration,
with chapters on four Asian cases.
Fikret Berkes
University of Manitoba