M. Morell
Merilio Morell is a Forestry Officer in the Policy and Institutions Branch of the FAO Forestry Department.
Community participation in forest management is considered a key factor in ensuring the sustainable use of forest resources. Most efforts to promote this participation in Central America and Mexico are taking place spontaneously at the rural community level. Forest-dependent communities have created NGOs (which, in the context of this article, are local but not necessarily official organizations) to actively defend their user rights. The accomplishments of these NGOs testify to the benefits and potential of this approach, which enables the communities to implement options that both satisfy' their needs and promote forest conservation.
This article summarizes the experiences of 13 NGOs in Mexico and Central America, as described by their leaders (see Box on page 12), and their implications for sustainable forest use. Although the article is based on the opinions of a small sample of peasant leaders, their consistency in the identification of priority areas and their broad geographical and social representativeness suggest that the findings have a wide applicability throughout Central America and Mexico.
The article is divided into three sections. The first provides a profile of the community-based NGOs and analyses their aims, the reasons for their creation and the factors that have contributed to their success. The second describes the strategies that have produced good results while the third summarizes the peasants' views on the main obstacles to forest development and on forest and economic development policies. The conclusion lists the main lessons to be learned from the local NGO experience.
The Central American and Mexican NGOs that have been successful at the community level have a number of features in common. Among these, of particular importance for sustainable forest management are their objectives, the reasons for their existence and the factors that have contributed to their success.
Objectives
The ultimate objective of the organizations is to improve the material living conditions of their members; thus, they are manifestly production-oriented and practical. Their aims include conservation of the right to use forest resources, the full enjoyment of forest benefits, control of the decision-making process and the acquisition of factors needed to increase production.
The NGOs concentrate their efforts on grassroots problems, as is clearly evidenced in the statutes and activities of organizations such as the Indigenous Community of Leymus in Nicaragua, the Nohbec Ejido in Mexico, the Talamanca Small Producers' Association in Costa Rica and the Paquí community in Guatemala (see Boxes framing main text).
This focus on production and immediate community needs is compatible with sustainable forest use and conservation. The communities recognize that their livelihood depends on the permanent flow of goods and services from forests and trees. At the same time their expectations of growth and their children's future opportunities are inextricably linked to the forest. This paradigm provides the incentives for local communities to promote conservation; their concern for their children's future directly involves them in that of the forests.
This community perception of organizational objectives - people and production first - contrasts with the "usual" approach of government agencies, development organizations and non-local NGOs, whose reasoning is the exact opposite: forest conservation will, in turn, solve community problems. This position is reflected in the large number of publications and project documents aimed at promoting conservation and rural development. These works usually focus on the degradation of natural resources and the urgent need for their conservation; people are a secondary consideration.
The intention at this point is not to question the rationality of the usual approach to development but rather to highlight two important implications. First, inefficiencies and failures could result from a possible discrepancy between the objectives and perceptions of the communities and their organizations and those of the government agencies and external development organizations. Furthermore, local NGO success is an important reason for reviewing the approach adopted so far by the external agents. Second, development objectives are more easily pursued by communities and their organizations in situations where the distribution and ownership of both short- and long-term benefits are well defined and guaranteed.
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PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION Let those who know do the talking The workshop on "Peasant participation in the decision-making process and the management of forest resources" was planned as a means of consultation with farmer-group representatives. Its objective was to learn what the groups felt was needed to support their development processes and to promote their active involvement in sustainable forest use. The workshop offered the participants a forum to discuss their experiences and ideas freely, without external pressures. Held in Costa Rica from 18-26 April 1991, the workshop was attended by 31 representatives from 13 forest organizations in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador. Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The common characteristic of the organizations invited was experience in forest management for rural community benefit and conservation. The Community Forestry National Board (JUNAFORCA) of Costa Rica was responsible for organizing the workshop with assistance from the National Forestry Authority and technical and financial help from FAO's Forestry Policy and Planning Division (FON) and Forests, Trees and People Programme (FTPP). The workshop was prepared in three stages. The first was to examine NGO interest in such a workshop and to review ongoing work in the region. To this end' a mission organized by FAO visited 44 groups in Central America and Mexico, obtaining information on forms of organization, types of experience in forest management and topics that the NGOs wished to discuss. The groups visited supported the initiative and expressed particular interest in its potential outputs. The second stage consisted in identifying a specific NGO that would he prepared to organize and conduct the workshop. Finally' the implementation of the workshop was designed together with the NGO, JUNAFORCA. The characteristics of the participants were taken into consideration as was the need to ensure that they decided the focal issues of the workshop. The NGO representatives assumed full responsibility for the administrative, organizational and supervisory aspects of the workshop. A coordinating commission was formed to ensure that the programme was respected, take decisions regarding its development and prepare the conclusions and proceedings. The technical experts from the Forestry Authority of Costa Rica and FAO undertook to summarize the issues that participants considered important. The proceedings were drafted by the participants and are included in the document published by JUNAFORCA and entitled: Seminario de participación campesina en el proceso de toma de decisiones y manejo de los recursos forestales: síntesis conclusiones y recomendaciones. Copies may be obtained from the Forests. Trees and People Programme, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome. |
Reasons for establishing organizations
Some of the main reasons for setting up NGOs are property rights conflicts, government interventions and institutional shortcomings. Conflicts over property rights occur both within and between communities. However, the most frequent cause of conflict is the attempt by outsiders to appropriate traditional community property rights and resources. The communities feel that the institutional framework is inadequate to defend their interests in such situations and they therefore establish NGOs.
Another important reason behind the formation of NGOs is government introduction of regulations that reduce property rights either by restricting access to forest land or by establishing rules and technical requisites for its use. The need for development plans to govern forest use in Honduras was the main motive for the creation of the regional agroforestry cooperative of Colón-Atlántida. In El Salvador, the El Balsamar Agrarian Reform Cooperative was established as a result of government regulations controlling balsam tapping.
Economic incentives, too, have led to the formation of new NGOs. A number of NGOs and NGO coalitions have been established in Costa Rica because of peasant-farmer interest in benefiting from incentive schemes that were not specifically designed for them.
Another reason for the establishment of such organizations has been the absence or poor performance of institutions. Common institutional shortcomings include imperfect or non-existent markets, inadequate banking systems and the absence of appropriate extension systems and methodologies. These deficiencies reduce the communities' returns and their access to capital resources and technology. It should be noted, though, that government agencies have sometimes encouraged the formation of community NGOs to enhance their own operational effectiveness.
The motivating factors behind the formation of NGOs can be taken as proxy indicators of the main obstacles and issues confronting the communities involved in forest management. They reveal implicit defects in sectoral and non-sectoral policies while also indicating the type of assistance required by the community as well as the development interventions most likely to succeed. Governments and development organizations should consider these factors carefully if they are to provide local NGOs with effective support and if sustainable development programmes are to start off on a better footing.
On the other hand, the establishment of NGOs represents an additional forest management cost for the communities: opportunity costs for the time devoted to the organizations and costs incurred by contracting experts and administrative services. This is tantamount to a tax on forest management since, not only are the communities not rewarded for the positive externalities generated through forest management, but they have to pay for this production. Thus, the situation calls for special government and development agency support to strengthen community NGOs involved in forest management.
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PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION Nohbec Ejido This ejido (communal village holding), which as created in 1936, represents the interests of 200 members. The land registered under its communal ownership covers 23 000 ha, of which 20 000 ha are forest land. From 1936 to 1954 the main activity was the extraction! of gum, after which the forest land was logged under concession by a government enterprise until 1982. In 1983 the ejido classified its land as permanent forest and initiated a pilot forest management plan, which gave it a direct interest in the economic returns and prioritized sustainable forest use. Indigenous Community of San Juan Nuevo The Comunidad Indígena de San Juan Nuevo was made a collective producer organization in 1981. It comprises 950 members whose land, under semi-collective title, covers 18 300 ha, of which 11300 ha are natural softwood forest. The community dates back to 1715 when the original title deeds were issued under colonial rule. From 1940 to 1950 its members engaged in resin tapping; from 1950 to 1973 there was a ban on forest activities throughout the State of Michoacán; from 1974 to 1978 forest activities focused exclusively on forest protection; finally, in 1983, commercial logging was initiated. Current activities are based on management plans that pursue sustainable forest use. The organization has logging equipment, a sawmill, a furniture factory, a chipper and a resin-processing plant. |
Reasons for the success of NGOs in Central America
Leaders of the local NGOs consider as successful those organizations that help improve community living conditions. Improvement is seen in terms of increased employment, higher income, control over resources and the assurance that these benefits will be long-lasting Successful NGOs have a number of features in common; the NGO leaders who participated in the regional workshop identified the following points as most important for the achievement of their objectives:
The office of the southern Quintana Roo Ejido Forest Producers Association, MEXICO
A tradition of communal action. All the indigenous communities (in Guatemala, Mexico and Costa Rica have a tradition of communal action derived from the management of common property. In non-indigenous communities (Resin and Wood Group of Chagüite Grande, Honduras) there had been a tradition of using the forest as common property before the organization was established.
Repeated organizational efforts. In many cases, the initial efforts of communities to organize themselves failed but persistence eventually paid off. Many of the organizations that are now successful are built on earlier, less successful efforts.
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PEOPLES ORGANIZATIONS Ejido Forest Producers Association of southern Quintana Roo The Sociedad de productores forestales ejidales represents the interests of ten ejidos, including Nohbec and San Juan Nuevo. The association began its activities in 1983 to facilitate the formulation of forest management plans and acquired official status in 1986. It provides administrative, marketing, forest management, policy development and legal services. The ejidos represented cover a total area of 330 000 ha, of which 130 000 ha are tropical rain forest. Resin and Wood Group of Chagüite Grande The organizational initiatives of the Grupo de Resina y Madera de Chagüite Grande began in 1974 with the creation of an agroforestry precooperative. Its management board was subsequently set up and granted legal status in 1988 with the help of the government and international organizations. About 40 members operate over an area of 1630 ha, of which 1500 ha are softwood forest. The installation of a sawmill and power generator as well as changes in marketing processes have considerably enhanced the social and economic conditions of the community and have given its members a clear understanding of the benefits of sustainable forest use. |
A sense of ownership rights. The communities with successful NGOs have a deep-rooted sense of communal and individual ownership of resources. An NGO is set up to defend acquired rights, not to negotiate for these rights. The notion of ownership usually includes an awareness of boundaries and an approximate idea of potential benefits. Where such perceptions did not exist prior to the establishment of NGOs, establishing them as a priority issue was an essential tactic for success.
Favourable institutional framework. In the most successful cases, the NGOs have benefited from political systems that foster participation and free association as well as from government agencies es that have at least some interest in community development.
Women members of the San Juan Nuevo Indigenous Community, Mexico
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PEOPLES ORGANIZATIONS Regional Cooperative of Colón-Atlántida This organization, also referred to as COATLAHL, was established in 1976 and groups 14 farmer associations that use public land for forestry activities. Its objective is to obtain credit for its members, enhance the marketing of wood and wood-products and ensure that operations are conducive to sustainable forest use. COATLAHL has experienced a number of rises since its inception because of insufficient administrative experience and weak leadership. Since 1988 the organization has been instrumental in increasing the incomes of its members and constitutes an important actor in forest management. Paquí community With a population of 3 000, the Asociación Paquí has used the local forests, which they consider their own, for more than 100 years. Their main products have been fuelwood and timber for housing and craftwork. The community currently has 470 ha of forest land. It acquired legal status in 1962 when it began to operate as an organization with the aim of defending ownership rights to the forest and maintaining the collective status and sustainable use of the resource. |
Market availability. This has been a key aspect both before and after the establishment of the organizations. A prior knowledge of prices and demand enabled the communities to assess the potential benefits from full access to and management of forest resources. Subsequent to the creation of the NGOs, the markets made it possible for enhanced community outputs to translate into greater cash incomes.
External assistance. International assistance, the private sector and government agencies have also contributed to the success of the NGOs. The assistance provided was most productive when channeled through organizations that were already widely accepted in their respective communities. In the Soil Conservation and Reforestation Group of Cambricán, resources were channeled through an organization that was well versed in ancestral community customs. In Hojancha, Costa Rica, one of the first instances of assistance - from the Pan-American Foundation - was supplied through the Cantonal Agricultural Centre, an organization which was already recognized locally. Also in Costa Rica, DECAFOR and the national office for the Tropical Forests Action Programme have operated through a coalition of NGOs (the Community Forestry National Board-JUNAFORCA) that are well established in their respective communities.
None of the aspects discussed above is in itself decisive, but together they have been present in successful efforts. Rather than determining their respective contribution, the agencies promoting sustainable development and community participation should learn from the lessons they offer.
Communal action is important not so much because it involves the use of jointly owned resources, but because of the skills it helps to develop within the communities: administrative management; leadership training and experience; internal auditing and performance appraisal mechanisms; negotiation methods; and planning ability. The repeated organizational efforts have provided a similar experience to that gained through the management of communal property.
A member of the Colón-Atlántida regional agroforestry cooperative, Honduras
The sense of ownership rights, the response to markets, favourable institutional frameworks and external assistance all clearly indicate that, through their organizations, the communities operate as rational economic entities. They base their planning decisions on resources under their control and respond to current market signals: prices and demand. They weigh up the risks and uncertainties under which they operate and respond to economic incentives and increased investment. These external variables determine their output of private goods and public services.
A number of lessons can be drawn from the performance of the local NGOs in Latin America. First, given their effectiveness, governments and development agencies would do well to pay greater attention to the potential role of local communities in managing forest resources. Second, the initial state of the organizations' development suggests that providing assistance for their modernization would have an appreciable impact on the production of private goods and public services. Third, there is an urgent need to change the general mind-set regarding communities and their forest resources from the traditional emotional and descriptive approach to an analytical and well-referenced strategy. To achieve this change, local communities and their organizations are the most appropriate source of data.
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PEOPLES ORGANIZATIONS Soil Conservation and Reforestation Group of Cambricán The 12 000 inhabitants of the municipality of Cambricán depend directly on agriculture and handicrafts for their livelihood. Their land comprises 3 800 ha of farmland and 1300 ha of woodland. The Grupo de conservación de suelos comites de reforestación de Cambricán arose partly because of the need to conserve the forest as a means of preventing the degradation of agricultural land and, in part, as a means of using forest land as collateral. Soil conservation activities began in 1960 while the conservation groups were established in 1977 and the reforestation groups in 1985. Considerable progress has been made in creating terraces, infiltration ditches, non-vegetative contour works and gully stabilization. The organization has enabled the community members to play an active role in forest extension work through a radio station and in formal education. Although this community does not depend primarily on the forest, the development of its organizational activities has been forest-based. The use of forest land as credit collateral has played an important role in developing industrial and transport activities. |
NGO strategies focus on increasing production, gaining access to resources and improving the well-being of the communities on a permanent basis. The positive achievements of the organizations are based on strategies of shared risk, education and training, diversification of forest production, reinvestment and capitalization, income distribution and increased productivity through the adoption of new technologies.
Shared risk. There is always a certain degree of risk and uncertainty in initiating a new venture or introducing innovations and individual community members cannot afford the risks inherent in new ventures or changes, as failure could endanger the very survival of the family unit. NGOs promote collective investment and spread the risk. Through this strategy, they operate in rural areas in a manner similar to that of financial markets in a modern economy, enabling the communities to assume the risks that accompany development initiatives.
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PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATIONS Cantonal Agricultural Centre of Hojancha The Hojancha community has a population of approximately 6 000 and a total of 20 000 ha of land, divided among 500 farms. The Centro agrícola cantonal del Hojancha is basically a government-sponsored rural extension organization with community representatives on its governing board. It began to promote reforestation as an economic alternative in the 1970s in response to low livestock prices. The strategies employed have made forestry one of the main economic activities of Hojancha. JUNAFORCA, Community Forestry National Board JUNAFORCA is a coalition of grassroots NGOs. Its creation was proposed during the First Community Forestry Meeting, held in San José in November 1989, when grassroots NGOs decided that they needed a mechanism to defend their interests at the highest government levels. JUNAFORCA's objectives are to: promote forest policies that correspond to peasant community and resource realities; suggest changes in national development plans; demonstrate that forestry is a natural concomitant of the peasant farmer's activities, provided there are adequate incentives; and in general act as a means of communication between the government and the community of NGOs composed of Costa Rican peasant farmers. Nationally, JUNAFORCA speaks for 50 NGOs which are represented on a regional basis on its governing board. |
Education and training. The education and training of leaders have accelerated the adoption of technologies, the learning of administrative procedures and changes in the use of natural resources. The most significant achievements involve cases in which the community members have had access to education and have subsequently become trainers or extension agents. In the Nohbec Ejido, the community members were initially only involved in field work. The sawmill was run and operated by experts and skilled workers from outside. Hiring a member of the community with forest-industry experience was decisive in enabling the community to acquire effective control over the management of its forests. In Cambricán, working as teachers through a local radio station, community members have strengthened the community's trust in their organization and its ability to act. In Hojancha, children of community members have studied forestry and returned to the community as experts. Their leadership and technical expertise have helped to broaden acceptance of reforestation programmes develop innovations in planting and seed management techniques, procure greater financial and technical assistance and gain access to new markets.
Diversification of forest production. The communities make varying use of the production options offered by the forest, depending on the interests and specialization of their constituents. The successful NGOs have identified and responded to the various demands of their members. In the Nohbec Ejido, the main source of income is sawnwood production, but the organization also concerns itself with procuring land for agriculture and timber for local craftsmen. In Chagüite Grande in Honduras, resin tapping was not initially included in the forest management project. The community considered this an important activity for some of its members and so it set up its own regulatory and marketing mechanisms.
Savings and capitalization. The net profits have been systematically reinvested in the industrial base, community works and reserve funds. This savings orientation in turn accelerates the growth and scale of successful NGOs.
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PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATIONS Indigenous Community of Leymus The Comunidad Indígena de Leymus, 568 kilometres from Managua, is made up of some 700 ethnic Nicaraguans (Miskitos), grouped in 142 families. The community has a total forest and farmland area of 6 90/) ha. Its conifer forests have been logged by outside companies since 1922, at no economic gain to the community itself. The " "Leaders and Elders" set up a Community Forestry y Commission in 1989 to safeguard forest ownership and to learn forest use and conservation techniques. This commission is divided into working groups on, for example, resin tapping and women's integration. It also serves as a forum to examine and discuss communications problems, education and national development policies. Amigos del Cantón Rojas conservation club The Amigos del Cantón Rojas club was set up by farmers to facilitate access to a United Nations Development Programme/FAO-sponsored agroforestry project. The club is representative of organizations in 24 other cantons in the project area. These organizations are made up of both landowners and landless men and women from the canton. Although essentially established to facilitate access to project credit, the clubs hay-e also served to channel education and public service needs to the authorities, negotiate land-leasing terms as well as produce income-earning, capital-generating activities for agricultural investment. The main lesson learnt by he farmers has been that unity helps to solve problems. |
Distribution of income. The more dynamic NGOs, which have stronger member support, pay particular attention to developing a range of activities that benefit a wide spectrum within the community, even though the beneficiaries may not be directly involved in forest management. Examples of this are the supply of timber to craftsmen, the generation of employment in the Nohbec Ejido and the building of access roads and a community centre in Chagüite Grande.
The successful strategies support the assertion that the NGOs act as rational economic entities, focusing on minimizing risk, diversifying production, savings and capitalization. However, even more important is the similarity between NGO objectives and the stated objectives of economic adjustment programmes generating jobs, increasing savings and stabilizing economic growth. Moreover, evidence suggests that small investments made through local NGOs have a higher rate of return (from the community's standpoint) and may well be more efficient than those made in traditional sectors.
NGOs recognize an improvement in the government agencies and their policies relating to communities and forest resources. More and more government technical experts in the region are concerned to learn about and confront community problems. A number of NGOs receive specific government agency assistance for forest-related purposes through cooperation agreements. There is increased access to information and two-way dialogues are now more frequent in some countries. A particularly good example of this is in Costa Rica where the Forestry Authority's Rural Development Department has established a programme to facilitate communication and support the supply of funds to NGOs for investment in forestry activities.
Nevertheless, the Central American community-based NGOs maintain that forestry and economic development policies still fail to meet their special needs. A major shortcoming is the regulatory limitation on full access to and use of forest resources. These NGOs feel that such regulations obstruct potential development and jeopardize community survival by reducing employment as well as access to products such as fuelwood and construction timber.
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PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATIONS El Balsamar Agrarian Reform Cooperative According to its members, the Asociación cooperativa de la reforma agraria. El Balsamar was set up in March 1980 mainly to respond to hunger and unemployment. By forming a cooperative, they gained access to some 600 ha of government land. The original 65 members formed an administrative council and committees on coffee, livestock, cereals and balsam trees (developed along sustainable lines). Their main obstacles are leek of organizational, administrative expertise, technical skills and financial support. The cooperative has enabled them to secure government help and to spread resources and responsibilities equitably among members. Agricultural Cooperative of Cruz Urrutia Centeno This cooperative acquired legal status in March 1990, but originally dates from a community organization established in 1984, which enabled 56 members, including 14 women, to acquire user rights to some 350 ha. The organization was formed to cope with the political and economic difficulties which armed conflict in Nicaragua had brought to the rural areas. Although the situation has now changed, the cooperative helps with problems linked to insufficient credit' high input costs and agricultural development policies. The cooperative is also active in forestry, focusing on reducing the cost of fuelwood for its sugar plant and establishing live fences. It is also attentive to conservation of the community's water and fauna resources. |
NGOs are generally wary of institutional mechanisms and hold that the legal provisions do not afford adequate protection against external moves to appropriate their traditional resources. They consider that sectoral policies almost always favour the appropriation of resources by external investors, especially in the case of commercially exploitable forests.
NGOs also consider that their production activities do not receive the necessary support and that their specific characteristics are not taken into account: there is insufficient credit, technical assistance, extension availability and administrative training. Moreover, the bureaucratic procedures for many forest development programmes result in increased costs or cannot be initiated by those living in remote areas with poor communications. In other cases, the requisites are not compatible with the general land-tenure system or else require guarantees that the beneficiaries are unable to provide.
The organizations judge development policies according to their economic impact. Interest levels and repayment schedules prompt criticism of monetary policy. The emphasis on production for export works against traditional staple foods and important community needs such as housing and recreation programmes are often ignored. The forestry sector is not given the same priority as, for example, livestock and new forms of agriculture: policies are criticized for not including specific programmes to promote forest-based activities and products.
Although the rural communities establish NGOs for practical purposes, their resultant activities can also promote forest conservation. Experience suggests that rural communities and their organizations behave much as consumers and producers in the advanced sectors of the economy, responding to the market as well as to economic incentives. If communities are to satisfy their needs and, at the same time, contribute to forest conservation, the key prerequisites are: some experience of organizational operations; access to the benefits generated; long-term and secure ownership rights; and effective market outlets. The NGOs have developed effective strategies where these prerequisites, particularly ownership rights and effective market outlets, are met at least to a minimal degree. Such strategies have enabled NGOs to improve their communities substantially and to enhance forest conservation.
Not all the NGO experiences in Central America and Mexico have been successful, however. Many constraints and obstructions to the formation of NGOs and to their activities have been identified; in particular, the failure of forestry and economic development policies to give due attention to the particular needs of local communities in relation to forest resources.
There are many implications for governments and agencies involved in the sustainable use of forest resources. To start with, if they are to be successful, forest development programmes need to be accepted by the communities. Government and development agencies can enhance the effectiveness of programmes by making their objectives compatible with those of the community. The "people first" approach adopted by the communities helps to conserve the forests whereas the development agency and government line of reasoning has met with considerable resistance on the part of those that have to put it into practice.
Second, community experience and perceptions are a valuable input for the design of forest development programmes and NGO experiences offer a range of proven strategies. The reasons prompting communities to establish NGOs are indirect indicators of the main obstacles they have to confront. The NGOs have tried to serve as effective mechanisms through which development agencies can better implement projects at field level. The factors that have contributed to the success of NGOs are useful indicators when designing assistance programmes for other NGOs.
Finally, the behaviour of NGOs as rational economic entities, their natural contribution to the objectives of macro economic reforms, their financial functions, their positive impact on savings and their proven effectiveness in promoting development should encourage governments and international funding agencies to look seriously into the potential and comparative advantages of this sector.
