6.6 Promoting internal discussion within each stakeholder group
See option 1.4.6, Volume 1
6a. Wait until the people are ready
Madagascar
For the Ankarafantsika Natural Integral Reserve Project, a UNESCO/UNDP project team attended meetings held by the villagers who lived in or near the reserve. During these meetings, villagers discussed their social, economic and administrative problems. The project team took part in the discussions as inhabitants of the village. It was only after the villagers had finished with their own problems that the team suggested discussing the project. By that time contact and trust had been established so that everyone felt comfortable expressing their opinions.
6b. NGOs prepare people for participation
Botswana
At the First Regional Conference on Development Programmes for Africa's San Populations, held in 1992, the Government of Botswana was criticized for allegedly hand-picking Basarwa participants who spoke only favourably about the government. In 1993, wishing to avoid similar criticism, the government requested the assistance of NGOs to ensure that the indigenous Basarwa peoples could mobilize and participate effectively on their own terms. The Ad Hoc Committee of NGOs (AHCONGOs) and government officers involved in the Remote Area Development Programme (RADP) worked together to help the Basarwa peoples prepare for the Second Regional Conference, held in 1993. The role of the NGOs was important in overcoming the Basarwas' suspicions about the government's intentions.
6c. Open meetings for householders
Nepal
As part of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, open meetings are held at the village level and at least one member from every household must attend. These meetings are semi-structured and aim to provide an open forum where specific matters may be discussed and agreed upon, such as local rules for the harvesting of fuelwood and other forest products. Meetings often include agendas identifying and priorizing the community's concerns.
6d. Building a common focus
Colombia
In the region of Sierra Nevada, a private foundation (the Fundacion Pro-Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta) has taken the lead in a broad conservation and sustainable development strategy. In addition to working closely with several local communities, including both traditional inhabitants and recent settlers, the project is working with various municipalities and members of the economic sector to develop a consensus of direction, and to ensure that the work of the project is integrated with other activities in the region. To date, 11 workshops have been held with various municipalities in order to define their institutional and regional needs. After two years of talks, a formal Association of Municipalities was formed, with the aim of developing policies to protect the environment. This was the first time that the municipalities had included environmental issues in their planning programmes.
Water supply has been a major problem in the Sierra Nevada since the 1950s, when vegetation began to be cleared at an alarming rate. The protection of water sources is a primary focus of the foundation's work. Meetings are held with those members of the economic sector who use large amounts of water, such as land-owners engaged in large-scale agriculture, coal companies, the tourism sector and various industries, represented by the Chamber of Commerce. By means of these meetings, common policies are being developed to manage the region's water resource in a sustainable way.
6e. A video as a catalyst for conservation
Australia
Assisted by funding from the National Landcare Program, Community Aid Abroad, the One Billion Trees Programme and corporate sponsorship, the Tangentyere Council developed a public awareness and education campaign including television commercials and a video called "Aboriginal Landcare, Let's Go!" The video is used in workshops throughout the Tangentyere lands. It shows how people can be involved in Landcare and the various methods for improving the environment in rural areas. It details the various initiatives and successful methods undertaken by the local governments in the area to improve living conditions and land management practices.
The Landcare workshops are intended to assist people living in these communities to identify the land management problems that they face and to devise appropriate ways of tackling them. The emphasis is on 'two-way learning', with local and traditional knowledge given equal value to the knowledge and skills of the workshop facilitators. The goal of the workshops is to develop a spirit of community ownership of problems and solutions, and local commitment to implementing solutions. The video is a catalyst to discuss local issues, problems and solutions among specific stakeholder communities.
Abridged from Campbell and Sieper, 1994.
6f. Community-based assessment for joint management of coastal resources
Tanzania
As part of the Tanga Coastal Zone Conservation and Development Programme, a joint management process is now (1995) being promoted for the coastal resources belonging to several districts bordering the Tanzanian coast. This approach is seen as a constructive way to overcome a number of local conflicts and difficulties and to tap into a wide range of knowledge and skills relevant to the resources being protected. The reasons put forward in support of joint management are:
From: Shurcliff et al., 1995.
6.7 Helping stakeholders organize
See option 1.4.7, Volume 1
7a. NGOs help fishers to protect their livelihood
The Philippines
A generation ago fishing was a part-time occupation in most of the Philippines. Now commercial fishing trawlers are having a major impact on the coastal fisheries. This effect is compounded by landless people descending on the coast in search of a livelihood.
Community Education and Research for Development (CERD) was set up in 1980 by a group of students and teachers from the University of the Philippines who had a background in community development and wanted to put their knowledge into practise. They decided to get involved with the municipal fishers, who were one of the poorest and most neglected groups in the country.
Since 1979, the fishers had been organizing to protect their interests through Samahang Mangangawil (SM79), the Hook and Line Fishers' organization. Throughout the 1980s, SM79 achieved a great deal with little help from the outside world. When CERD, in conjunction with Oxfam, offered assistance, SM79's activities — and those of other small fishing groups in the Philippines — were given a significant boost.
CERD carried out research for SM79 into indigenous fishing technologies, environmental problems facing the fishermen and issues associated with overfishing. It also made links with church organizations to provide leadership training to fishers' organizations and, at the national level, helped various groups to work out a strategy to counter such problems as overfishing, dynamite-fishing and coastal pollution. Environmental awareness training programmes helped to research and fund (through Oxfam) the building of artificial reefs to attract and encourage the regeneration of fish supplies. In addition, a range of technical advice on protecting coastal resources and managing fish stocks was offered. CERD also helped the fishers to recognize the importance of existing law in asserting their rights to coastal resources.
At the end of the 1980s, Oxfam helped to establish an organization which brought together local fishers' associations from across the country. The umbrella organization that was formed, the National Coalition for Aquatic Reform (NACFAR), succeeded in ensuring that the interests of small fisher groups are represented at the highest political levels. One of the pillars of NACFAR's programme is the Fisheries Code, aimed at legislative change that will bring more authority and responsibility for coastal resources to the communities that use them.
Abridged from Pye-Smith et al., 1994.
7b. Women participate through the back door
Bolivia
Is organization support needed? Before concluding that yes, it is, it is important to understand the ways of non-formal local organizations. In the Mizque communities of Bolivia's Cochabamba, most NGOs and government organizations have direct communication links with peasants' trade unions. This is considered a big step toward people's participation, since trade unions (sindicatos) are the most common and legitimate organization of peasants in the area. Yet, to be a member of a sindicato, you have to be a man, a landowner, and have completed military service. Hence women do not participate in meetings of sindicatos.
While it is the men who actively participate in the meetings, women usually listen in as they peel potatoes or knit. If an outsider suggests the community should carry out a particular activity, the men will ask questions of the outsider to get more information but will avoid coming to an agreement until they have had time to consult with their women. In this way the women's viewpoint can have a strong impact on decisions.
7c. Landowners organize against logging threat
Papua New Guinea (PNG)
In 1991, despite being recommended as a potential World Heritage site for PNG, the Hunstein Range near the upper Sepik River was also proposed for PNG's largest logging operation. The traditional communities who owned the forests in the area had little knowledge of the proposal. Their approval signatures had been forged; some older men had been paid to sign a contract they could not read.
With support from a local community group, the East Sepik Council of Women (ESCOW), the Hunstein people decided to challenge the logging proposal. In late 1991 a conference of village representatives was held to discuss options. The communities agreed to establish two land-owner associations to represent the two main ethnic groups in the range in negotiations, and to help to plan further actions. These associations, along with ESCOW, have coordinated an additional four land-owner conferences and have sponsored legal action which stopped the logging proposal. They have also played an important function in developing sustainable enterprises such as ecotourism, portable sawmills and artefact sales.
7d. Learning from the Grameen Bank about local organizing
Bangladesh
The Grameen Bank Project (GBP) began as an NGO working in coordination with the Bangladesh Bank. It was based on the belief that lack of financial capital is the major constraint to the poor. The extremely high payback rate (99 per cent) of the bank's small loans encouraged other local banks to start lending to the poor. In 1979 these banks united under the auspices of the government's Bangladesh Bank to promote expansion of services to various districts in the country. The banks were assisted by donors such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UNICEF and the Ford Foundation. By 1986 the Grameen Bank was serving 4,300 villages, with plans to greatly increase the number of branches.
Typical borrowers are rural people owning no more than half an acre of cultivable land; family assets must not exceed the market value of one acre of medium-quality land in the area. The loan guarantee mechanism, used in place of collateral, involves forming groups of five people with similar economic and social status. When someone in the group borrows, the others undersign the guarantee. A secondary guarantee is that items purchased through the loan remain the property of the bank until the loan is repaid in full. Close and competent loan supervision and servicing are other important features underlying the success of GBP. Weekly loan supervision meetings, with obligatory attendance, are held where the borrowers live and work, not at the branch office.
Before eligible borrowers receive their loans, they go through an intensive one- to two-week training about the basic aims of the loans, and about the bank's rules and procedures. It takes approximately one month for a loan to be approved. Recipients need only submit a simple plan showing how the resulting economic activity will allow loan repayments. The interest rate is 16 per cent per year. By comparison, the money-lenders, to whom the poor had previously been forced to turn, generally charge an interest rate of ten per cent per month, and sometimes charge as much as ten per cent per day.
To combat dependence on money-lending, the bank also promotes group savings or group funds. Individual members can borrow from the group fund for consumption and investment purposes with the consent of the group. Group members are also required to contribute to an emergency fund consisting of a quarter of the total interest charged. This fund is for the development of health, life and asset insurance for group members. Savings generated by the groups has allowed members to survive natural disasters and personal emergencies without diverting capital from their enterprises. The bank's grassroots focus has given many people, particularly women, opportunities for leadership roles that they never had before.
Although the experience of the Grameen Bank is not directly related to conservation initiatives, its simple and powerful mechanisms can be effectively applied to support a variety of local organizations. In particular, stakeholder groups could borrow for primary environmental care projects with links to a main conservation initiative, such as a protected area.
Abridged from Ashe and Cosslett, 1989.
7e. Protecting the Miskito Coast
Nicaragua
Miskito Indian community leaders, with support from national and international entities, organized seminars and workshops for 70 representatives from 23 coastal communities with populations between 15,000 and 20,000. After much discussion and consultation within the communities, the Miskito people formed a new NGO called Mikupia to manage a newly-created protected area. A commission was created to oversee the development of a management plan. The commission was made up of four national government representatives plus a regional government representative, a Mikupia representative and two people from Miskito communities. In addition, an international NGO is coordinating scientific research within the biologically rich area.
From: Barzetti, 1993.
6.8 Meetings and workshops to build bridges among stakeholders
See option 1.4.8, Volume 1
8a. NGO working to bring local people and officials together
India
The Bhimashankar Sanctuary in the Western Ghats of southwest India contains important evergreen forest habitat. It is also home to several small Mahadev Koli tribal settlements. The sanctuary was created without any consultation with the tribal people, or adequate appreciation of their rights and needs. This led to conflicts between local people and the sanctuary authorities. Local NGOs, such as Ekjoot Sanghatana, helped to organize the people and articulate their demands.
Seeing that the situation was not improving, and recognizing that both conservation and the needs of local people are important goals, various agencies attempted to build bridges between the authorities and the tribal people. The forest department organized a meeting with local NGOs, and proposed an eco-development scheme for several villages. Local NGOs pressured the forest officials to have decentralized meetings with the tribal people; they also organized some meetings between local groups and senior officials. Conservation groups studied the im-pact of human activities on the area's biodiversity, and recommended the possible conservation involvement of local people.
In 1994, at a national workshop that explored protected area management issues, forest officials and NGO representatives made presentations on possible participatory management approaches. Subsequent to this, a group of villagers from other protected areas plus conservationists and activists toured the sanctuary, holding meetings with tribal people and officials in an effort to resolve the conflicts.
As of mid-1995, no major breakthrough in cooperation had yet been achieved, but there is now a much greater mutual appreciation of the viewpoints, strengths, and constraints of the official agencies and local people. Forest officials increasingly accept the need to fulfil tribal needs and aspirations, while the local people are reconciled to the need to have a protected area. There are still differences over the methods by which a mix of conservation and resource use can be achieved, but continued attempts to build bridges will undoubtedly help to resolve them.
8b. Stakeholders come together to establish ground rules for park
Pakistan
In 1994 the Government of Pakistan asked the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to help convene a workshop to discuss a draft proposal for the creation of the Central Karakoram National Park and its nomination as a World Heritage Site. The workshop was held in Skardu. Representatives from five Pakistani government departments attended, along with local residents, tour operators and various NGOs. The workshop lasted two days and participants discussed in detail issues related to the creation of the World Heritage Site, its management, and the consequences for local people. Presentations were made on the socio-economic issues related to the whole region. These included such issues as the need to recognize traditional land rights and not disturb human settlements (e.g., by making allowance for subsistence agriculture), and the need to resolve conflicts among local people. Management and environmental issues were also discussed and agreements reached among the parties. The need to pay special attention to the defining of boundaries for the park and its buffer zone was highlighted. The workshop ended with a proposed action plan which included a formal planning process involving a multi-agency team as well as related interest groups. The action plan was accepted by the Government of Pakistan.
6.9 Visits to similar initiatives with strong participatory components
See option 1.4.9, Volume 1
9a. Viewing new technique convinces villagers
Pakistan
Absan Wan (Sindh Province) is a small village which has lost one third of its land due to canal water seepage. In a similar small village called Tando Soomro, a community-based organization convinced a farmer, who also had a problem with canal seepage, to plant acacia trees to intercept the seepage. The plantation is now mature and the seepage of water has effectively been stopped.
The community organization members of Absan Wan planned an integrated drainage programme with engineering as well as biological components. They were provided with funding to visit the farmer in Tando Soomro. The visit proved very effective in making the farmers from Absan Wan understand the technical viability of using forestry plantations to control drainage.
9b. Value of new techniques and working together proven by example
Madagascar
In 1989, two Rural Forestry Support Projects managed by ORIMPAKA (an NGO member of COMODE, Malagasy NGOs's Council for Development and Environment), were introduced to the residents of Andramasina and Sobotsy Ambohitromby. In order to show the villagers what could be achieved, the Reforestation Committee organized a study visit to two areas where similar projects were underway. These were managed by IREDEC, another member of COMODE. The visits lasted for two days in each area; villagers learned of new techniques (e.g., in rice cultivation) and met with other rural organizations to discuss their strategies for economic survival. Through these discussions the villagers learned the importance of working together. On their return they told other villagers what they had seen, and several of them immediately took action to put the new techniques into practice.
9c. Leaders undertake a journey to learn and to establish networks
India
In early 1995, several NGOs, local community representatives and conservationists undertook a journey through approximately 15 protected areas of India. The journey was called the Jungle Jivan Bachao (the Save Forest Life Journey). The aim was to understand the problems and prospects of people living in and around these areas; to initiate dialogue among community representatives of various areas; to initiate dialogue between communities and wildlife officials; and to provide the participants with an occasion to learn from the mistakes and successes of conservation attempts in various regions.
Among the highlights was the extensive dialogue between villagers from Sariska Tiger Reserve in western India and their counterparts from other protected areas. The Sariska dwellers were able to recount their successful struggle against destructive mining in the reserve, and their attempts to protect forests near their villages. This inspired other communities to pledge that they would also make similar attempts.
The follow-up to the journey included more detailed exchanges among community representatives and NGOs, continuing networking, and lobbying at the national level for policy measures that guarantee greater local participation in conservation initiatives.
9d. Learning by visits to projects and countries
Zimbabwe
The District Councils participating in the CAMPFIRE programme formed an association to lobby for their programme and facilitate information exchange. Called the CAMPFIRE Association, this body organized very successful visits by members of participating communities to each other's wildlife management projects. The visits have largely been intended for information exchange, although they also included a problem-solving component.
The CAMPFIRE Association also facilitated visits to the CAMPFIRE Programme by community representatives, private sector representatives (safari and tour operators), local government officials and other people from South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia. These regional visits have specifically focused on the impacts of different policy and legal environments on the devolution of authority over natural resources to local communities. In turn, representatives of communities and other stakeholders in the CAMPFIRE Programme visited other initiatives in the region and benefited greatly from them.
6.10 Strengthening local institutions for resource management
See option 1.4.10, Volume 1
10a. Traditional land tenure systems preferred by locals
Senegal
During a PRA exercise in Samaba Diallo, a community within the biosphere reserve of Samba Dia, it was found that the official government land tenure institution (communauté rurale), was used only as a last resort when all traditional channels had failed. In land tenure and natural resource management, a local traditional institution called the Council of Wise Men was called upon to allocate land, settle land tenure disputes and resolve conflicts.
Introducing new institutions is viable only when there is a need for them. In most cases, it is wiser to identify existing institutions and their roles and responsibilities, and try to support and build upon them. Such an approach is certainly easier and probably more sustainable.
10b. Training for traditional forest managers
Nepal
The Conservation and Development Committees of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project provide various forms of training to strengthen traditional forest management committees. Training is provided in leadership, administration and financial management. The project also provides financial support during the start-up phase of new forestry projects, as well as legal advice on resource management. Project staff also organize visits to projects being run by other forest management committees to facilitate information exchange.
10c. Developing institutions to facilitate devolution
Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe Trust is an NGO involved in the CAMPFIRE Programme. As a member of the collaborative group that coordinates all CAMPFIRE activities, Zimbabwe Trust's mandate is to develop and implement an institution-building initiative for local communities participating in the CAMPFIRE Programme. To achieve this objective, the trust put in place a structure comprised of highly qualified personnel to help local authorities and communities develop institutions to manage communal wildlife resources. An Institutions Development Programme has been developed for each local authority.
The Zimbabwe Trust system is based on the employment of managers for each area. The area managers oversee the implementation of the CAMPFIRE programme and, in particular, develop mechanisms for effective local participation in the programme. In addition, Zimbabwe Trust employs Institutions Officers and seconds them to local authorities in the areas. These officers are responsible for developing local institutions, designing and providing training programmes for them, and monitoring and evaluating their performance.
As a result of the trust's efforts, many communities in the CAMPFIRE Programme developed wildlife committees that contribute effective management and decision-making. Plans are underway to devolve authority over communal wildlife resources from district councils to these committees. The sole reason that this has not yet occurred is that the legal status of the committees remains ambiguous. Zimbabwe Trust anticipates that when this legal problem is resolved these local institutions will effectively be in charge of their communal wildlife.
10d. Training locals to help locals
Uganda
Uganda National Parks (UNP) with support from CARE's Development Through Conservation Project is training local community leaders in writing project proposals and monitoring and evaluating projects to help local communities utilise funds from their share of park revenues. The funds are provided by UNP and comprise up to ten per cent of the revenue from gorilla-watching tourism in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It is expected that the projects, which are based in and run from the communities, will assist a great deal in building effective community capacities and support for conservation.
10e. Government and company inputs support local conservation efforts
Australia
The Molyullah Tatong Landcare Group in northeast Victoria planted more than 10,000 trees in one year as part of an ambitious 14-km wildlife corridor network. The plantings are part of the group's plan to protect a 16-hectare ironbark stand which is the home of the Regent honey-eater, one of Australia's endangered bird species. The trees are also helping to control salinity and will provide an alternative source of income to farmers in the future.
The groups's activities are co-funded by government and group members and are also sponsored by local companies. Technical advice is provided by both the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture. The group runs a demonstration block and information shed to display various tree species and planting techniques. In 1991, it was host to 14 busloads of farmers from as far afield as western Australia. The group holds an annual bush dance, the 'Tree-Prickers Hop' to round off days in the nursery preparing tree seedlings for planting. A part-time coordinator is paid with funds raised by selling the trees grown from local seed to local farmers.
Abridged from Campbell and Sieper, 1994.
6.11 Conservation Councils
See option 1.4.11, Volume 1
11a. Committee to oversee implementation and assess potential impacts
Madagascar
In the Natural Integral Reserve Project, a programming committee called Ankarafantisika was set up to discuss quarterly and annual programmes proposed by the project's technical team. The committee meets every quarter; its principal functions are to oversee the project implementation, mobilize technical and administrative support (as required for the project), organize an impact assessment process
(to identify and rectify adverse effects) and ensure that the welfare of local people is protected. The committee is chaired by the president of the local province. The members include the presidents of all the local municipalities and villages in the project area, representatives of local government sectors (agriculture, health, education, population and forestry), representatives of the family planning association, Mahajanga University and FIFABE (a wet rice cultivation society), local project staff, and the principal technical coordinator of the local branch of a UNESCO environmental project.
11b. Balancing representation with effectiveness
Costa Rica
A broad-based council for regional development was created during the second phase of the Tortuguero Conservation Area Project, which was funded by the European Union. Members of the council were selected on the basis of extensive surveys, appraisals and workshops with local populations. At one stage, the council comprised 25 members, ranging from community groups, business interests, municipal authorities, government officials and conservation initiative staff.
While the composition of the council reflected the extremely wide range of interests and the different stakeholders operating in the Tortuguero region, it became clear that it was unworkable both in practical and political terms. Members had their own agenda and priorities, and there was no clear policy to guide the council's internal process. As a result of the ineffectiveness of the broad-based council, a smaller council was formed, grouping only those stakeholders with the greatest interest, involvement and importance in the region. This smaller group worked much more effectively. This experience goes to prove that involving everyone is not a guarantee for being effective.
11c. Wetland management authorities
Zambia
The WWF-Zambia Wetlands Project in the Kafue Flats aims to link the management of the floodplain wetlands with human socio-economic development at the community and district levels. The Kafue Flats core project area comprises two national parks and a game management area and covers an area of approximately 6,000 square km. Developing a community development infrastructure has been a painstaking process, even though it was part of an existing framework of socio-political organization. Community Development Units (CDUs) were formed in the chiefdoms making up the project area. In most cases the chiefs were elected as chairs. In some cases, extension workers and other officers serving the chiefdoms' communities were elected or co-opted onto the CDUs as members or observers.
Two Wetlands Management Authorities (WMA) were established under the principal district councils to provide an interface between traditional and contemporary authority in the project area. The chairs of these authorities are the district governors of the principal districts. Chiefs, CDU chairs, MPs and ward chairs from the project area are automatically members of the authorities. Other members are elected from CDU members. The majority of elected CDU and WMA members are local people. Because the authorities operate under the auspices of the district councils, they have natural links with district, provincial, and thus central government infrastructures.
While technical research and management of natural resources remains the responsibility of the various professional agencies, the CDUs and WMAs provide a mechanism for local communities to actively negotiate with national interests for their fair share of the benefits of sustainable management of natural resources. Meanwhile, the WMAs make decisions regarding the use of information and the funds and resources available for special programmes, within the framework of existing legislation and management plans.
Abridged from Jeffery, 1993.
11d. Committees for the Blue Mountain
Jamaica
An example of a growing partnership can be found in the planning of the Blue Mountain/John Crow Mountain National (Pilot) Park in Jamaica. Park staff have established Local Advisory Committees (LACs) that participate at every development stage. The LACs are made up of enthusiastic volunteers from the park's surrounding communities and are well organized. They are effecting positive change in the park as well as addressing their own concerns. Park staff is working with the LACs on the first draft of a management plan that includes training community members in tourism, agroforestry, and alternative energy sources that do not destroy the park's resources.
From: Barzetti, 1993.
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