The nationalization of forestlands over the past century has frequently eroded traditional tenure rights that had, to some extent, controlled forest resource use in Asia. Demographic and commercial economic expansion has further exacerbated unsustainable use patterns. Research, however, indicates that as rural Asian communities face growing resource scarcities, they may attempt to reestablish conservation efforts.
Network members have been developing methodologies to better understand the social and environmental conditions associated with imposing community-based resource control. A number of Network country teams are already documenting local community definitions of group membership, management territories, control access, and use rights, as well as reconstructing the historical process of community organizing.
Over the past year, Network researchers report similar findings regarding community forest protection phenomena. Local forest resource controls were commonly found to be implemented by small social units. In many cases, these are residential clusters of ten to one hundred households, related through clan, tribe, linguistic, or caste groups. Because of their small size, these groups usually have no formal identity in government structure, but are parts of larger administrative units.
This panel examined patterns of community organizing for environmental protection that lead to community controls over forest and watershed resources. The studies presented use spatial and social assessment methods to determine how communities initiate proactive leadership to cope with problems and reach agreements for environmental protection. During the panel discussions, three methodologies were used to understand how communities organize and how management systems spread between communities.
The Indian researchers, and to some extent other country teams, are using historical analysis to clarify how communities have interacted with forest resources in the past. Mr. Ajay Rai of the Orissa NGO Vasundhara notes that by tracing the histories of community forest protection, the Orissa team has been able to chart the resurgence of village-based forest controls over the past twenty years, identifying resource depletion and scarcities as a motivating factor. The research has also illuminated the roles different leaders and cultural institutions have played, as well as specific issues that have stimulated communal action. These historical reconstructions often reveal that the development of management systems occurs sequentially, beginning with an awareness of a problem, a process of consensus building, development of protection activities, and finally to actual management. It is also possible to project the types of supportive roles that outside institutions may need to play in facilitating transitions to decentralized community management.
Time-based analysis of community forest management is especially relevant in understanding the process of transition. In the Dong Yai study community of Northeast Thailand, Dr. Wuthipol Hoamuangkaew stated that community forest protection started with changes in the agricultural economy, combined with resource scarcities. Government policies and programs affecting resource access and tenure have also been found to influence community behavior. Historical analysis of changes in forest conditions, resource availabilities, social conditions, political events, and economic changes can provide useful insights into patterns leading to the destabilization or stabilization of the forest resource base. By understanding and monitoring these processes, it may also be possible to gain insights into means to support community actions that lead to better forest management.
Researchers in India have found a range of information is available to reconstruct the history of forest use in an area. In-depth interviews with community members, retired foresters, and other local leaders are particularly helpful. This information can be organized in time lines or trend lines to better establish the sequence of events. Secondary historical information from forestry working plans and other management documents, regional histories, and census data is generally available. Spatial data including old aerial photographs and maps, as well as satellite images covering the past twenty to twenty-five years, can be helpful. At the 1996 Network meeting in Orissa, the India team plans to present their recent multi-state study on historical patterns of community forest management.
Upland and forested areas often have a diversity of cultures and practices that resist government imposition of uniform forest management structures and guidelines. In many Asian forests there are multiple cultures utilizing these resources, necessitating sharing agreements among multiple parties. Researcher Peter Walpole noted that there are substantial discussions among cultural groups in the mountain areas of Northern Thailand on how to reduce environmental degradation. The tribal peoples in the Nam Sa watershed project and the people's action group around Doi Mae Toe already have an extensive history of inter-ethnic group exchange. Beyond these areas of activity, the Thai research group is looking at new efforts by various cultural communities to cooperate in joint resource management along on the Salween River where Thailand borders Burma. Preliminary studies have identified four elements in the natural resource management, exchanges between ethnic minorities in Northern Thailand. These include the viability of indigenous and modern technologies, resource sharing arrangements, the compatibility of government agency programs and community concerns, and the integration of outside project activities and inputs (see Figure 5).
Figure 5
Resource issues and social communication in Northern Thailand
There appears to be a need for an expanded analysis of the types of concerns and information regarding upland resource management that is flowing between upland ethnic minority communities in Northern Thailand. Network researchers agreed that studies of informal communication channels and agendas, between Asia's upland ethnic minorities and forest communities, could prove helpful in identifying local concerns and problem-solving strategies. Outside agencies, working through existing informal communication linkages, could also assist in disseminating successful approaches to forest and watershed stabilization. In upland Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and southern China, ethnic minorities have historically been linked by their human-ecological practices, yet the mechanisms they have used to coordinate their shared resources are poorly documented and generally ignored by government resource management agencies.
Forest product market flows have been investigated by Network members in a number of countries. While it is widely agreed the forest products often provide important incentives for rural communities to protect forest environments, their importance as goods that link communities together is less-widely acknowledged. Studies by the Indonesia team in East Kalimantan indicate that extensive market linkages for rattan producers in the upper Mahakam River provided a security that helped to sustain regenerating secondary forests. Conversely, disruption of forest product market flows, especially for commodities that have been traded over long periods of time, may undermine viable management practices. Past and current informal resource use agreements are often based on these flows. Outside researchers and organizations attempting to assist forest communities in improving resource management systems may benefit through understanding the flow of forest goods.
Since last year's Network meeting, many country teams have made significant progress in both inventorying and examining indigenous social processes and institutions linked to resource management. Dr. Komon Pragtong noted that the Royal Forest Department of Thailand has identified 10,437 villages actively practicing community forestry for protection of their forestlands. The principal motivating factors for protection have been found to be respect of spirits and performance of traditional rituals, soil and water conservation, and sustainability of forest products. A variety of rules have been established to regulate community access, the three most-common forms being through customary rules, Buddhist doctrine, or village agreement. In spirit forests, the community collectively performs rituals requesting permission from the spirits before cutting any trees. In other areas, committees have been formed to set annual harvesting rights and impose fines and punishments. Dr. Pragtong noted that community forestry is an indigenous practice that integrates beliefs, cultures, and traditions of the rural Thai people. Thailand's Parliament is currently considering a policy that would recognize and adopt community forestry as a formal management practice, but planners are still seeking answers to the following questions: Should there be a standardized committee formed within each community that is responsible for the routine work that community forestry entails? Can existing forest laws be adjusted to include community input, or are new acts needed? How should national policy over protected lands accommodate the fact that communities do live within in them, and are either managing or want to manage the lands for sustained yields?
In upland Mindanao in the Philippines, the research team is working with the indigenous Lumad community to reinforce cultural institutions and traditional communication channels. Ms. Karen Lawrence of Manila Observatory's Environmental Research Division reported that in recent generations the Lumad have retreated farther upland to escape the steady stream of lowland migrants and have seen upland forests logged by powerful commercial interests. Network members are working as catalysts to strengthen local leadership patterns and assist the Lumad in controlling their rights to upland forestlands and resources. By building on existing cultural leaders and institutions, the Lumad are better positioned to work with Visayan migrants and local government to generate cooperative agreements for stabilizing upper watersheds.
Ms. Lawrence noted that in the initial stages of community organizing, recognition of the traditional tribal leadership roles of the datu male clan chiefs and bai female elders was important. Datu and bai from Lumad communities in the Upper Pulangi have begun gathering again as a tribal council, focusing their attention on resource access and use issues. The tribal council provides the traditional forum for leaders to resolve cultural community issues and concerns (see Figure 6). The research team has also identified the kaamulan, a traditional ritual gathering for the Lumad, as a cultural mechanism to spread information and strategies for stabilizing forest resources. Using the tribal council and kaamulan gatherings for organizing and decision making, the Philippine research team is playing a catalyst role in assisting the Lumad to gain greater tenure security over their upland resources. The reestablishment of the datu and bai leaders in the Upper Pulangi and their organizing efforts regarding watershed resource management issues are being communicated to other Lumad communities in central Mindanao through tribal and clan interactions. It is possible that strengthened tribal institutions and improved dialogues with migrant groups will lead to a broader resurgence of local management systems and help to stabilize forest resources in this region.
Figure 6
Cultural institutions that encourage protection of upland watersheds in the Upper Pulagi, Philippines
At panel's conclusion, Network members agreed to continue to explore ways of identifying and working with indigenous leaders and institutions, and to develop new roles outsiders can play in response to local environmental concerns and organizing strategies. Mentioned as an example was India's experience with supportive legislation and programs to accelerate joint forest management, which appear to be enhancing local initiatives. Further formulation of analytic frameworks for documenting patterns of community management initiatives appears to have considerable potential. Assessments concerning how forest policies and projects have affected vegetation in the past can provide insights into emerging patterns of human-environmental interaction and their consequences. Analyzing how flows of ideas and goods influence relationships between communities may lead to the development of better agreements between communities and government over resource management. Finally, identifying and supporting indigenous resource management institutions help to build or reestablish informal or cultural mechanisms that can be instrumental in creating consensus and organizing action related to sustainable forest use.
Network members identified many questions regarding community-based environmental movements and their relationships with government forest departments. How should local forest protection movements be related to forest department activities? How can forest departments change the attitudes of foresters from being authorities over state lands to being copartners in environmental protection? Suggested future research topics include experimenting with strategies to encourage community forest stabilization before extreme resource depletion occurs, using the media to spread public acceptance and understanding regarding the need for local resource protection initiatives, and identifying ecological and economic concerns that can be tied to national strategies that popularize forest regeneration efforts.