Note No. 10 June 1995 Participation in Forest and Conservation Management The participation of local communities and other stakeholders in managing forestry and conservation projects can help to improve forest productivity, alleviate poverty, enhance environmental sustainability, and make rules governing forest access more enforceable. Introducing participatory management depends on government commitment; and it requires time and resources to develop consensus among stakeholders, establish new institutional arrangements, decentralize finance and administration, ensure appropriate rules and incentives for local involvement, and build organizational capacity at the local level. There has been a fundamental shift over the Benefits last decade in approaches to forestry and conservation--from a focus on centralized Cooperation planning and management by government In practice, one of the most compelling reasons agencies to a more participatory approach which for seeking the participation of forest users in the balances social, environmental and economic management of forest resources has been the objectives. Reflecting this shift, between 1991 and inability of governments to police forest areas 1994, Bank investment in forestry projects effectively and enforce their own rules of access classified as social and environmental increased and use without local public support. When local from US$ 834 million to US$ 1.2 billion, or 27% of communities and private companies share in the all lending in the forestry sector. design, benefits, costs and management responsibility of forestry projects, they have Key differences between the two approaches incentives to cooperate in enforcing rules which are outlined in Box 1. Under most centralized they have themselves agreed upon. forest policies, large scale management units are oriented to a single-use objective (such as timber Poverty Alleviation production or policing a conservation site), and The majority of the people who occupy forest the rights of local users are limited to low value areas, or the agricultural fringes that surround secondary products and temporary concessions. them, are poor and vulnerable populations. Many In contrast, participatory forest projects are based are indigenous peoples, or landless people who on a broader valuation of forest resources, taking have migrated from other areas. Enabling these into account the multiple values of forests and people to share in the benefits, as well as the the social and economic needs of local forest management, of forestry development and users. Access and use rights to forests, and commercialization helps to alleviate their poverty conflicts arising between competing users, are and diversify their sources of income. locally defined and managed. The structure of incentives and the choice of technologies are Forest Productivity geared to environmental sustainability over the With the benefit of local knowledge and long term. participation, the value of non-timber forest This note is based on the paper written by Ajit Banerjee, Gabriel Campbell, Maria C. Cruz, Shelton Davis and Augusta Molnar as a contribution to the Participation Sourcebook. Copies of the full paper are available from the Social Development Department , of the World Bank, Washington, D.C. 20433, Fax (202) 522-3247. Dissemination Notes represent the views of their authors and are not official publications of the World Bank. Box 1 Contrasting Forest and Conservation Management Approaches Centralized Government Approaches Participatory Approaches Objectives Timber production or other single-use objective Usually multiple production and (e.g., watershed protection; short-rotation fuel-wood). biodiversity conservation objectives Protection of biodiversity paramount over other uses. involving all stakeholders; developing local skills for forest and conservation management. Scale Large-scale management units based on natural Micro management units corresponding to biophysical or political boundaries. self-selected or residential units. Local Use Usually very limited and frequently ambiguous Extensive, clearly defined rights for local Rights or temporary. users. Protection Policing by forest service guards and fencing; By local community, frequently using social often ineffective and expensive. fencing; higher local costs but low government costs; local accountability. Typical Plan Long rotation of even age stands for economies Short rotation of uneven age stands designed of scale in management and industrial supply; to supply diverse products for continuous centralized management of protected areas and income and subsistence needs; community conservation sites. management. Harvesting Generally large government contracts with Generally combine multiple household Contracts administrative pricing mechanisms and subsidized marketing arrangements with small-scale supply arrangements. contracts for higher value products. Technical Basis Based on results of scientific research and single Based on combination of traditional product optimization models. knowledge and use patterns with forest and conservation service guidance. Planning Centralized management planning process carried Plans drawn up by community or household Process out by forest and conservation service staff. participants with guidance and approval from forest and conservation service. Plan Revisions Generally little flexibility in management High flexibility in management prescriptions prescriptions without cumbersome bureaucratic to adapt to changing conditions and needs. approvals. products to different users--for food, fiber, Costs and Limitations medicines, oils and gums--can be more fully exploited (Box 2). Indigenous productive There are some circumstances in which technologies, based on close knowledge of local participatory approaches have proven ecologicalconditions,canenrichscientificresearch unworkable: (i) when conflicts over forest and serve as potential sources of new products. resources are particularly intense; (ii) when forest resources are abundant relative to a small, Sustainability dispersed population in the forest vicinity; (iii) While still seeking to generate economic when powerful interests at the national level are benefits from forest resources, policymakers are opposed to policy reform in the sector or to increasingly aware of the important role played decentralization of authority; or (iv) when extreme by forests in preserving biodiversity and social inequalities at the local level reinforce the protecting critical watersheds. Especially in control of forest benefits by local elites. regions with large and growing populations, participation is often the only viable way to Even in favorable circumstances, time and conserve forest areas for sustainable use or for resources are needed to establish effective their intact environmental values. participatory processes. Costs are incurred in three broad areas: (i) identifying key stakeholders and of non-wood products, and delineation of creating the conditions for effective consultation; protected areas for biodiversity conservation. (ii) establishing appropriate institutional arrangements, including intermediary Decentralization organizations with the skills and incentives to A wide range of different institutional address environmental and social objectives; and arrangements, from private contractual (iii) building the organizational capacity of local agreements to joint public/private partnerships, communities to manage large forest areas. have been used to devolve authority over forest management to the local level. In most cases, some Conditions for Success restructuring of government agencies has been called for as well as changes in procurement and Bank experience provides a number of lessons other administrative procedures. concerning the conditions for successful participation in forestry and conservation Methods of ensuring the availability of funds management, and the measures which have at the local level have included increasing private helped to establish these conditions. sector involvement--by opening up lines of credit, underwriting private sector forestry investments, Government Commitment or endorsing joint contractual management of Success depends first and foremost on forests--as in forestry projects in Indonesia, government commitment to broad stakeholder Zambia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Costa participation in determining forest sector and Rica. In other cases, direct funding to NGOs has conservation objectives. Measures by TMs to proved the best means of delivering funds directly facilitatepolicydialoguehaveincluded:sponsoring tocommunities.Forexample,undertheBank/GEF internationalorregionalmeetingsattheministerial financed Conservation of Priority Protected Areas level, enabling policymakers to benefit from other Project in the Philippines, a grant is made to a countries' experience in devolving authority to consortium of NGOs for implementation of forest users; holding donor meetings to coordinate conservation programs. Trust funds have proved initiatives and assist government in defining the useful, as in Bhutan and Uganda, when returns to agenda;usingforestsectorreviewsandbiodiversity investments occur over the very long term. conservation strategy work to initiate policy discussions with decisionmakers and key Stakeholder Analysis and Consultation stakeholders; and supporting the preparation of Identifying and consulting stakeholders at the issues papers by experts from stakeholder groups. earliest possible stage is important not only for ensuring that all the important issues are When government is actively involved in addressed but also for strengthening commitment discussionswithstakeholders,forestryreformsare to implementing the necessary reforms. Gender easier to introduce. For example, the multisectoral analysis can be used to assess the differential stakeholder workshops held in Mexico and impact of proposed policies on men and women, Zimbabwewerehelpfulinidentifyingkeyreforms and measures taken to ensure that women share in forest tenure policy, regulations on marketing in decisionmaking and project benefits (Box 3). Box 2 Learning from Indigenous Practices to Increase Local Participation and Improve Forest Productivity Using Under-exploited Tree and Crop Species in Africa. Trees in agroforestry systems in Africa provide many other products and services such as food, fiber, medicines, oils, and gums which are used by many indigenous groups (e.g., Elaeis guineensis for oil, wine, thatch and mulch; Moringa oleifera as source of edible flowers and leaves and fodder; Xylopia aethiopica as tobacco substitute and fuel in most of Kenya and the Farlo regions in Senegal). The annual harvestable production from leaves and fruits is about 300 kg/ha in the typical Sahel areas and over 600 kg/ha in the Sudano-Sahel. Crop-Livestock-Fallow Rotations. In the Zimbabwe and Haiti Bank financed forestry projects, rotations of crop cultivation, grazing, and tree-shrub fallow are permitted as a result of documentations of indigenous crop-grazing systems. The rotations involve two or more sub-populations in the project site but often just one piece of land. Because lands are appropriated on the basis of kinship and ethnic affiliation, several families have use-rights to the land over a certain period of time. This multiple use arrangement encourages participation of other user groups. Box 3 Women's Participation in Bank Financed Forestry Projects Kenya: Women Participating in Forest Sharing Agreements. With the assistance of an international NGO (CARE), the Kenya Forestry Development Project solicited the help of women in devising an agreement between the government and local users regarding distribution of agroforestry or intercrop benefits, since most of the village agroforestry lands were controlled by women. During project implementation, women were in charge of recording households that received harvest shares and they were key actors in resolving conflicts over forest benefits. India: Women as Members of Forest Protection Committees (FPCs). In the West Bengal II project, the Bank worked with the state forestry agency and NGOs to permit and encourage the recording of women as FPC members. This allowed women to participate fully in decision making and thereby receive a more equitable share of timber harvests. When women were given responsibilities in these committees, the project gained wider support and spread rapidly to other villages. Security of Tenure often more effective in terms of forest productivity Because of the long gestation period of andsustainability.Moreover,theentirecommunity forestry and conservation investments, security understands the management rules and has an of tenure is particularly important as an incentive incentive to monitor and enforce them. for community investment of time and resources. Existing regulations frequently restrict access and Local Capacity undermine local or indigenous claims to Most Bank and GEF/Bank financed forestry resources. However, overlapping claims by and biodiversity projects involve a capacity government, different groups of forest users, and building component, often contracted to NGOs, to industry, can make adjudicating tenure rights a strengthen management capacity at the very complicated process. In Bank financed community level. The role of NGOs may include projects in Nepal and India (Box 4), publicly training of forest service staff and local leaders; endorsed written agreements have been village level publicity and extension; developing instrumental in resolving tenure conflicts. micro-planning tools and facilitating plan formulation; improving forest marketing Equitable Rules and Incentives information networks; facilitating the formation of Forestry projects have the best chance of women's groups and farm forestry associations; succeeding when the costs and responsibilities of andtechnicalsupporttoforestproductprocessing, each stakeholder are closely related to rights and energy alternatives or village-based conservation benefits. Arrangements for the sharing of costs, inventories. One of the most effective tools for benefits and management responsibilities, and building local capacity is the study tour, enabling mechanisms for resolving conflicts between stakeholders to visit and question their groups, are most likely to motivate participation counterparts on projects where participatory if they are widely understood and agreed upon management has already been established. by all stakeholders through an open negotiating process. Special measures may be needed to Box 4 ensure that women, indigenous groups, and Tenure and Access to landless households are not excluded. Forests in Nepal and India Appropriate Technology The Bank-financed Nepal forestry project allowed user Appropriate forest management technologies communities to take over forest management. Forest users provideimportantincentivesforparticipation.The received certificates ensuring long-term rights to forest benefits. The only control the Nepal state forestry agency participation of local users is encouraged by an retained over forests was through approval of village forest annual flow of income from non-timber products management plans. However, the project had to reconcile such as agricultural intercrops, fodder or thatch the multiple, and often conflicting, rights to forests by local grass, and commercially valuable seeds or leaves. villagers before long-term tenure could be recognized. This can only occur in plantations with wider IntheBank-financedWestBengalIIforestryprojectinIndia, spacings and multi-tiered, more diverse tree and writtenagreementsbetweenthestateandvillagesestablished shrub species than are found under conventional ownership and use-rights to forest protection committees. However, to maintain rights over forests, each committee even-age management. Technologies defined by had to provide evidence of sustainable forest use. the community on the basis of local knowledge are