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‘Although the issues varied from site to site, the approach was always
the same,’ says project leader Philippe Guizol. ‘It involved giving local
people the skills and confidence needed to work together and negotiate
partnerships with outside groups.’
Local people were encouraged to identify their priorities, develop
small-scale projects to gain experience in acting collectively, and
establish democratic organisations to represent their interests. They then
entered negotiations with the companies or government departments managing
local resources, such as plantations or mangrove forests, and the
negotiations led to written agreements on how to manage the resources in
future, and how to share the benefits.
The project significantly improved forest management and local incomes at
several sites. Take, for example, the impact in four villages in Java where
Perum Perhutani, a state-owned company that manages 600 000 hectares of teak
plantations, has a major influence on local land use. In the past, the
company had tried to work with local villages, but with little success,
largely because the villagers had little or no bargaining power and were
reluctant to make their voices heard.
The project encouraged farmers’ organisations to negotiate a new deal
with the company. This involved establishing new rules, defining the rights
and duties of each partner, and agreeing how to share the benefits from the
teak plantations. Three of the four villages now receive 25 per cent of the
timber revenues, whereas in the past they received nothing. In one village
without teak forests, a different sort of partnership was established,
involving the hotel group Accor Indonesia, along with the local farmers’
group and the plantation company. Accor is now paying for the planting of
trees on barren land, and when these are harvested, the profits will be
divided three ways, between Accor, the farmers’ group and Perhutani. Accor
intends to use the profits to set up an education fund for scholarships and
replanting. Good public relations for Accor? Yes, but it is a good deal for
the villagers too.
The project developed an approach that could be used to create fairer
relationships between local communities and developers in other areas. It
has also provided some interesting insights into the dynamics of
collaboration, says Guizol, and the importance of acting at the appropriate
time.
‘In Java, at the Perum Perhutani site, we arrived at just the right
time,’ he says. ‘Both the local people and the company were fed up with
conflicts over the plantations and the company was keen to engage
constructively with local villagers. At times such as these, it’s important
to act swiftly, rather than delay, for example, to do more research.’
The independent evaluation concluded that the research at all six project
sites sent out the same message: that sustainable forest management is only
likely to be achieved with the participation of local communities. If there
is conflict, it is much harder to manage forests and plantations well.
Guizol says the methodology developed by the Levelling the Playing Field
project could prove particularly useful if, as anticipated, countries rich
in forests host a wave of projects designed to tackle climate change by
reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
‘If REDD projects are going to succeed,’ says Guizol, ‘then it’s vitally
important that local communities are not marginalised and that projects
don’t create conflicts by threatening their livelihoods. One way of doing
that is through environmental mediation of the sort we’ve developed with
Levelling the Playing Field.’
Web links:
http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/lpf/_ref/index.htm. |
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