Analysis of local perspectives on sustainable forest management: an Indonesian case study

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Abstract

Despite widespread acceptance of sustainability as the ultimate goal of forest management, perspectives about its meaning, significance, and relevant indicators may still differ. This paper examines local perspectives on sustainability, and evaluates their similarities and differences. A systematic procedure based on criteria of proximity, pre-existing rights, dependency, knowledge of forest management, forestry spirit, daily activity, and legal rights was used to identify a small group of relevant stakeholders representing different groups, institutions, and organizations. Using participatory action research (PAR), stakeholders were asked to identify relevant indicators of sustainable forest management. The indicators identified by each stakeholder were then compared to a consolidated list assembled by field facilitators with respect to whether relevant indicators are present or not. Based on the resulting presence/absence matrix, a statistical tool called the simple matching coefficient was used to estimate the similarity measures among the stakeholders' perspectives. In addition, cluster analysis was used to classify groups of stakeholders depending on their similarities to each other. Finally, hypotheses related to the ‘closeness’ of perspectives among local communities, non-governmental organizations, a timber company, and government organizations, as revealed by their selection of indicators, were tested. Results show that: (a) local communities have different perceptions in terms of what they consider to be important indicators compared to the NGOs, (b) there are significantly different perceptions between the government and the timber companies, and (c) there are also different perceptions between urban and field-based personnel of the same organization.

Introduction

Over the last decade, sustainability of forest resources and ecosystems has become a worldwide concern. Consequently, many national and international initiatives have been launched to promote sustainable forest management. Among these, the most comprehensive and far reaching has been the development of criteria and indicators (C and I) for sustainable forest management. C and I are tools which can be used to collect and organise information in a manner that is useful in conceptualising, evaluating, communicating and implementing sustainable forest management (Mendoza and Prabhu, 2000a, Mendoza and Prabhu, 2000b, Ducey and Larson, 1999, Prabhu et al., 1996). The term ‘sustainable forest management’ has become a widely used term in forest policy, and has also served as a primary guiding principle in community-based forest management (Ferguson, 1996, Maser, 1994). Despite different interpretations about its meaning and the lack of a universally accepted definition, sustainability has been viewed as an ideal condition to strive toward.

Along with the concept of sustainability, participatory management has also become a widely accepted management philosophy, particularly for community-managed resources. Experience has shown that successful community-based forest management entails effective collaborative decision-making, which in turn depends on understanding and communication (Mendoza and Prabhu, 2001, Varma et al., 2000, Purnomo et al., 2003). Unfortunately, there are many impediments to effective communication. A major, yet often overlooked, impediment is the fact that forest stakeholders may interpret events and situations quite differently from one another. This diversity of perspectives, coupled with the tendency for people to believe that their own perspectives are the most legitimate, can result in divergent problem definitions, misunderstandings, and the eventual breakdown of the decision-making process.

Previous studies have shown that it is vitally important to explore how different stakeholders understand or conceptualise appropriate forest management. For instance, Kearney et al. (1999) have reported that differences in stakeholders' conceptualisations or perspectives on appropriate forest management may have contributed to the controversy in the Pacific Northwest forests of the United States. Results from their study indicated the existence of a wide range of concerns among stakeholders including issues related to the process of forest management. Pokorny et al. (2004) also examined local stakeholders' participation in the development of criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management in Brazil. One of their findings was that differences in the evaluation of indicators stem largely from the different stakeholders' understanding or perspectives about the ‘verifiers’ of each indicator.

Using statistical and other analytical methods, this paper examines the perspectives of local communities and other stakeholders on sustainable forest management. Based on these methods, the paper makes inferences about their similarity or divergence. Such analyses can be useful in exploring common areas of interests and perspectives among different stakeholders.

Section snippets

Methodology and design of study

The study presented in this paper focuses on analyzing local perspectives about forest sustainability using criteria and indicators. Essentially, stakeholders' views were elicited on what indicators they consider to be the most important for sustainable forest management and this was used as a proxy for their perspectives on sustainability. Determining people's perspectives or mental models of sustainability is important because they drive complicated multi-party processes of decision-making

The site and identification of stakeholders

The case study used is a Forest Management Unit (FMU), which is currently managed by the state owned company called PT. Inhutani II located in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The area covers 14,180 ha of what is classified as limited production forest and 34,120 ha of production forest. The latter contains 23,890 ha of virgin forest, 7280 ha of logged over forest, and 2920 ha of shrubs and degraded forests.

According to the government's plan PT. Inhutani II can log the forest at a rate of 1106 ha per year

Conclusions and recommendation

Different stakeholders may view sustainable forest management in many different ways. However, in many respects neighboring local communities have been known to share similar perspectives about sustainable forest management. In this study, cluster analysis and hypothesis testing were used to examine measures of similarities of perspectives and to statistically determine how close these similarities are between groups of stakeholders.

Results from the study indicate that local villages in the FMU

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted with the participation of Yurdi Yasmi and Carol Colfer of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia.

References (19)

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This study was funded through a collaborative project between the University of Illinois and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The ideas contained herein are solely of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official views of CIFOR.

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