LEARNING TO ADAPT
Managing Forests Together in Indonesia
by Trikurnianti Kusumanto, Elizabeth Linda Yuliani, Phil Macoun, Yayan Indriatmoko and Hasantoha Adnan.
CIFOR, Yayasan Gita Buana and PSHK-ODA. Bogor, Indonesia. 2005.191 pages
New and better approaches to managing forests are often the result of overcoming disagreements between different interest groups who use the same forest land and forest resources. It is generally agreed that competing interests should be dealt with by better collaboration among competing groups. But there are many questions about how to go about it in practice. This book tries to answer some of them. Learning to Adapt looks at a learning-based approach to collaboration known as Adaptive Collaborative Management (ACM) implemented by CIFOR in Sumatra and Kalimantan. This is a particularly useful reference for community workers, NGO field staff, government extension workers, and anyone wanting to learn more about facilitating local action and learning-based approaches to forest management.
The CIFOR ACM “team’s specific experiences can become a source of reference for forestry practitioners, decision makers and other interested readers in developing alternative strategies for forest management,” according to Emil Salim, Professor of Economics at the University of Indonesia, former Minister for Population and the Environment.
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Forests and floods Drowning in fiction or thriving on facts?
by CIFOR and FAO.
Bogor, Indonesia. 2005. 30 pages
There is a tendency to blame all natural disasters on human abuse of the natural environment. This is no more evident than in the case of devastating floods and landslides. Each disaster is followed by a predictable response. Upland farmers and loggers are blamed for clearing and degrading forests. In many people’s minds the use and abuse of forests in upland watersheds represents the main cause of massive lowland floods.
Forests and floods: drowning in fiction or thriving on facts? explores the scientific evidence linking floods and forests. The booklet reveals that much of what is ingrained in people’s minds cannot be substantiated by science and is often little more than myth. Such conventional wisdom has often led decision-makers to implement policies that adversely affect the livelihoods of millions of people living in upland areas.
Forests and Floods distinguishes fact from fiction and recommends alternative approaches for effective watershed and floodplain management. This authoritative overview has been produced by a group of renowned experts, and should appeal to anyone tired of hearing unsubstantiated clichés. Ultimately, Forests and floods aims to better inform policy-makers, development agencies and the media, about developing sound watershed and river-basin management and improved flood-mitigation policies.
Forests and floods: drowning in fiction or thriving on facts? can be downloaded from www.cifor.cgiar.org or www.fao.or.th
Domesticating forests
How farmers manage forest resources
by Geneviève Michon.
IRD, CIFOR and ICRAF. Bogor, Indonesia. 2005. 188 pages
Local people in South-east Asia are often cited as skilled forest managers. Rarely, however, is it acknowledged that an essential part of this forest management does not concern natural forests, but forests that have been planted. This book focuses on forest cultivation by smallholder farmers in South-east Asia, one of the most original and lesser known aspects of local forest management in the region and one of the most promising fields for designing alternative strategies for managing forest resources and forest lands.
Natural forests are still present and actively managed in the region. So why do people cut down natural forests and then re-plant the same species of trees? Why have foresters and decision-makers never seriously considered the viability of sustainable and profitable indigenous forest culture?
Based on 10 years of multidisciplinary research, Domesticating Forests provides a range of information that helps answer these questions. It shows how forest culture by farmers constitutes a strategy that questions the practical, conceptual and legal aspects of conventional forest management. The book argues these systems need more scientific and political support, because they are full of potential but are now ignored to the point of being endangered. It explains why it is important to consider these examples as viable alternatives to forest extraction and specialized forest plantations, especially at a time when the world’s forests are disappearing at such an alarming rate.
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Kekayaan Hutan Asia
by Citlalli López and Patricia Shanley.
Gramedia and CIFOR. Jakarta, Indonesia. 2005.
Forest goods are integral to our daily existence — as ingredients in our cooking, as fibers in our furniture, as handicrafts on our mantelpiece, as paint and varnish on our windows, or as compounds in our cosmetics.
Kekayaan Hutan Asia is the Indonesian language version of Riches of the forest: Food spices crafts and resins of Asia and serves as a first introduction to the many products derived from the rich biodiversity of Asia’s forests. Its aim is to heighten public awareness of the commercial and cultural benefits obtained from Asia’s forests and to alert consumers to the origins of forest-products used in their daily lives. With its striking ecological and cultural information covering 20 forest goods and botanical and case illustrations, Kekayaan Hutan Asia is suitable for a wide range of readers. Each chapter looks at the forest product’s use, history and culture, ecology, production, processing, marketing and trends.
Kekayaan Hutan Asia forms part of the Riches of the Forest series produced by a group of researchers who used a common methodological approach to examine and compare more than 60 case studies of commercial NTFP production, processing and trade from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Kekayaan Hutan Asia (written in Indonesian) is available at Gramedia bookstores in Indonesia. The English language publications, Riches of the Forest: Food, spices, crafts and resins of Asia, Riches of the Forest: For health, life and spirit in Africa, and Riches of the Forest: Fruits, oils remedies and handicrafts in Latin America are available while stocks last by emailing t.suhartini@cgiar.org or can be downloaded from www.cifor.cgiar.org.
Though all things differ: Pluralism as a basis for cooperation in forests
by Eva Wollenberg, Jon Anderson and Citlalli Lopez.
CIFOR. Bogor, Indonesia. 102 pages
Conflicting interests and increasingly different perspectives about forests require a new approach to forest decision-making that relies on more pluralistic processes. Though all things differ reviews the origins and elements of pluralist forest management. It looks at how people think about differences, including the psychological obstacles that cause them to exclude or ignore others. Using forest-related examples, Though all things differ examines legal pluralism, multistakeholder processes and diversity in work teams and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches to pluralism. The guide provides questions to encourage readers to practice pluralism in their own contexts. The guide argues that understanding the political assumptions and principles of pluralism can enrich our knowledge of current practices and help to better align practices with the political aim of improving the well-being of all groups.
Though all things differ: Pluralism as a basis for cooperation in forests can be downloaded from http://www.cifor.cgiar.org
The Science of Sustainable Development
by Jeffrey Sayer and Bruce Campbell.
Cambridge University Press, CIFOR, WWF. United Kingdom. 2004 268 pages.
Drawing on the authors’ experiences in Asia, Latin America and Africa, this book reviews how practical science can be applied to real-life conservation and development problems while demystifying the sometimes obscure science of natural resources management. The authors give practical guidance on managing conservation programmes and show how new technologies can allow integrated natural resource management to move from theory to reality. Strong advocates for integrated approaches that encompass all stakeholder, the authors call for institutional arrangements that integrate science and management in development assistance programmes.
“...cuts through much of the acknowledged complexity in dealing with ecological and related systems and (explains) why small, local steps, such as restoring a quarry, matters.” Mineral Planning.
“…the case studies provide a refreshingly frank self-critique, ...of great interest to anyone involved in… NRM in developing countries.” World Bank’s Agnes Kiss, World Bank, in Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
For further details, please visit http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521534569
For details about these and other CIFOR publications contact: n.sabarniati@cgiar.org