0010-C1

Conflict Management in Participatory Forest Development: Insights from Bangladesh

Laskar Muqsudur Rahman^[1]

Abstract

In Bangladesh, the pressure on forest land and forests resources has greatly increased due to population pressure. The conventional forest management practices have become ineffective. Consequently, the effective forest cover of the country has fallen from 20% to 6% over the span of the last hundred years.

To attain a harmonious forest management system a Participatory Forest Development (PFD) project has been undertaken in state-owned forest lands. The PFD project is an action and research oriented program aimed at promotion of tree farming in degraded hill forest areas in order to increase poor people’s production and income and to satisfy their basic needs on a sustainable basis and to keep them away from forest lands.

While the PFD project has made considerable progress in engaging communities and community development, it has encountered conflict as well. Conflict in forest management is an age-old problem. In forest resource management conflict in its many forms is unavoidable. If conflict is ignored or allowed to escalate it can lead to further resource degradation. It is prudent to prevent and manage conflict. Conflict management can be sought and achieved through a variety of means - traditional, administrative, legal, negotiation or agreement. Despite its negative connotations, conflict is a normal and common part of a social and political life. Conflict acts as a catalytic force to remove inequality, eradicate potential obstacles to progress, and ensure the need of the community to assert their rights, interests and priorities.

Introduction

Due to population pressure demand of land increased manifold and gap between demand and supply of forest produces also widened resulting in a continuous pressure on forest resources (Rahman 1993). The effective forest cover of the country has fallen from 20% to 6% over the span of the last hundred years (Poffenberger 2000). Such violations are committed mostly by poor, landless people for a mere drive to survive (Dalmacio 1998). The situation is further aggravated by the onslaught of calamity-stricken migrants especially in hill and coastal forests. The traditional forest management system is apparently bound to a no win situation. It is at this context that FD has conceived a possible alternative whereby participation of the local people has been engaged. However, participatory forest management is not out of conflict. In forest resource management conflict in its many forms is unavoidable. The forest resources are central to the social, cultural, political and economic fabric of forest communities. This paper entails conflict management strategies in participatory forest development in Bangladesh.

Participatory Forest Development

To attain a harmonious, balanced and sustainable forest management system the participatory forest development (PFD) program has been undertaken in state owned forests. The PFD project is action research oriented program aimed at promotion of tree and agricultural crops in the degraded forest areas of Bangladesh, to rehabilitate the degraded land in the hilly areas through forestation. The main approach is to plant trees in denuded forest land and integrate it more efficiently with horticulture and agricultural crops to sustain the rural livelihood with active participation of local poor community.

The project sites are failed plantations of mostly Eucalyptus camaldulensis, severely damaged by cyclones and continuously being encroached by local people for various purposes. The encroachments are in the form of cattle grazing, gathering of fuel wood, fencing materials, fodder, small poles, sungrass (as thatching materials), etc. The narrow valleys are being utilized for cultivation of paddy and other agricultural crops. Patches of betel leaf gardens are found along the lower part of slopes. Some slopes are also being cleared for seasonal crops like water melon. Accordingly, many of these farmer encroachers are actually ‘tenants’ of powerful local elites (illegal land speculators).

During 2000-2001 each participant has been allotted a one-hectare plot. Prior to that each participant has been allotted a two-hectare plot. The list of PFD sites is presented in Table 1. An agreement valid for 42 years, unless otherwise void is accomplished between individual participant and FD that contain terms and conditions of the joint venture. The sharing mechanism excluding the extraction cost is presented in Table 2.

Conflict defined

A conflict, defined as a misunderstanding or a disagreement between two or more parties, may arise due to incompatibility of needs, and differing opinions, values, interests, actions and goals. Severe conflict can give rise to physical violence, coercive methods, non-cooperation and indifference. As elsewhere in many developing countries, forests as well as other natural resources are scarce and limited in Bangladesh and with manifold increase in population the biotic pressure on land-based resources in high, thereby giving rise to possibilities of local conflict.

Causes of conflict

People have always held many different values and interests in the use and control of forests, forest land and forest products. Rapid population growth, increased demands on forest resources, unequal distribution and greater resource degradation have resulted in a growing scarcity of forest products, water and land for settlement and agriculture. These conditions are intensifying and contributing to the escalation of conflict not only in Bangladesh but also throughout the world.

Table 1. Ongoing Participatory Forest Development Program in Bangladesh

Table 2 Distribution of share between participant and Forest Department

New policies of decentralization, devolution and collaborative management fuel conflict further by transferring a greater degree of decision-making power and influence to local communities, households and individuals. These policies encourage communities to be more involved in decisions affecting their livelihoods and the resources on which those livelihoods are based.

Although these policies are sound and necessary for sustainable forest livelihoods, in practice the introduction of greater power sharing among different user groups is often met with challenges. Collaborative management approaches require a widening of stakeholder involvement. The more people and organization involved, the greater the chances that conflict will arise among the various stakeholders over specific decisions. In some instances, more dominant groups are not prepared to relinquish authority and strongly resist changes that undermine their long-hold control.

Forests as natural resource are scarce and so generate conflict among competing interests and parties. Deprivation, discrimination and injustice aggravate conflict. Such conflict arises not only among local people but also between institutions, which may not have a mutual appreciation of each other’s goals and problems.

Many considers the term conflict to be negative, something that is bad and to be avoided. If conflict is ignored and allowed to escalates, it can prevent positive and needed social change and can lead to further resource degradation (Lee 1993). Conflict is an inherent feature of marginal groups’ struggle for change (Buckles and Rusnak 1999). Conflict can be a creative constructive force in the community, if skills can be developed to analyze and use it in a peaceful and participatory manner.

Analyzing conflict

Conflict analysis is a learning process to help stakeholders understand a conflict better and decide whether, and how best, to act. In analyzing conflict causes, the context and the people involved are considered. Stakeholders explore key issues to help them determine the most appropriate approach to managing the conflict.

In participatory forest development conflict erupted: within and among beneficiary groups, between beneficiary groups and government and with other external players. Conflict commonly arises over disagreements of tenure, access, control and distribution of forest lands or products. Conflict whether public or private is a pervasive aspect of forest use and management.

Some of the conflicts identified and resolved in PFD program in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar Forest Divisions, for example, are presented in Table 3.

Conflict management strategy

The term ‘conflict management’ covers a spectrum of proactive and reactive responses. Conflict management can be sought and achieved through a variety of means - traditional, administrative, legal or negotiation. Making local people partners in participatory forest development project implementation is made possible by sharing benefits and building awareness. For this both text and context of forests management are being changed to suit participatory development and management of plantations. Since conflict is unavoidable while dealing with user groups comprising rural poor, appropriate and situational conflict prevention and management strategies are being adopted. Examples are:

Participatory approach

In general participatory approaches, which provide support and fair incentives are found effective in developing resources while at the same time improved the quality of the life of the beneficiaries.

Land tenure

Tenurial arrangement to cover at least the length of the rotation period of the perennial crops was found necessary to avoid suspicion from participants and therefore insured full commitment from the participants to the project. Tenurial arrangement was negotiated by a long-term (42 years) agreement for usufructuary rights.

Table 3. Major conflicts and their management in PFD in Bangladesh

FD = Forest Department
PBSA = Participatory Benefit Sharing Agreements

Legal assurance

Further to avoid suspicion, all agreements were in written form. Moreover, the Forest Act, 1927 was amended in 2000 to support such agreements (Rahman 2002).

Proper selection of participants

It is one of the objectives of the project to consider the landless groups, which do not have other choices than to develop the allotted plots. On the other hand, a group of landless farmers are vulnerable because they cannot resist the multifarious outside pressure. This compelled the FD to include some rich and elite members in the group, which was found effective.

Formation of small groups

The group members have to be concerned with each other’s problems and welfare. The group also serves as effective medium for exchange of information with other groups. For instance, small groups so formed calls compulsory weekly meetings to discuss project progress and community problems for consensus decision making. Thus, in a way they became an organized coherent social force able to face any hostilities from local farmers and elites or any adverse occurrences for that matter. During the weekly meetings, FD personnels also attend to give advice to the groups. Such group formation and discussions are found effective to manage the conflicts.

Provision of initial assistance

This is very critical especially during the initial years, when the participants, who are really poor and powerless, are not fully organized to resist out side pressures and do not yet have adequate savings, etc. Assistance and incentives, for example, credit assistance, wages, food aid from the World Food Program (WFP), farm inputs such as seeds, seedlings and fertilizers were found effective to build trust of the participants and to make the group capable.

Training of participants

Training of the participants is one of the strategies to prevent conflicts. Given the sudden shift in relationship between the FD and the participants from the age-old ‘police-offender’ relationship to a joint forest development collaborators, it is understandable that there will be some mistrust as to the sincere intention of the FD. Such obstacles were mostly solved through different types of training and motivation campaigns.

Decentralization in decision making

To recognize the farmers’ preferences and indigenous knowledge, they have given freedom to choose crops and farm management technologies as long as they are technically sound. It has been found that imposing something to the farmers are discouraging. Hence, the target participants are involved in planning stage of the program. A conflict resolution trajectory is given in Diagram 1.

Diagram 1. Conflict Resolution Trajectory (Adopted from Sharma 2002)

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Discussions

Conflict resolution requires active involvement of affected stakeholders, building solidarity, combining foreign with familiar, being at peace with adversary, patience, trust building, dialogue, humility, tolerance, confidence building measures, negotiations and agreements. The approach should treat others as fellow travelers and not as potential enemies. In other words there will be a coalition of interests, which need to be understood and managed in order to check conflict. This requires understanding each other, instilling democratic norms, identifying shared interests, flagging conflicting issues, respecting differences and differing cultures and traditions, and putting in place a mechanism for conflict resolution through dialogue.

The most difficult thing to achieve in a conflict resolution process is the change of attitudes and mindsets of disputing parties. Face to face interaction between the two parties is found to be advantageous in bringing the two parties together.

Since stakeholders do not want to forgo their own interests, they exclude many other interesting aspects of human life and behavior. Socio-economic empowerment of user groups achieved by making them active partners in decision-making and seeking relevant solutions to local issues is helpful to alleviate local conflict.

A positive intervention is required in favor of rural poor in order to made livelihood resources accessible to them. Poor may not initially be able to improve them a lot if rich and government are either not required or do not want to take due responsibility.

An offensive action for resolving a conflict may prevail initially. But a defensive mechanism or a shield is likely to be developed subsequently by the opposite party, as a result of which the impact of and offensive action may not be sustainable in long-term. A participatory and consultative action on the other hand may show slow impacts in the beginning but is more sustainable in long-term. This suggests for a participatory process of conflict resolution based on dialogue and mutual trust. Building appropriate local institutions, for example, small groups as a platform for airing dissent and creating situations where people can learn and work together are necessary for resolving conflict.

Representative leadership, transparency, accountably in decision-making and a commitment to equity, empowering diverse local communities can help prevent conflict in resource use and management.

Conclusions

Conflict itself is neither negative nor positive. It is a normal and common part of a social and political life. Conflict act as a catalytic force to remove inequality, prevent potential loss or unacceptable impacts, eradicate potential obstacles to progress, and ensure the need of the community to assert their rights, interests and priorities. Conflict management, when incorporated into broader participatory strategies and adapted to the local cultural context, can empower local communities to develop creative solutions to their resource use problems. To gain reasonable chance of protecting and managing forests through conflict resolution in such a densely populated country as Bangladesh, local communities must be involved in protecting their own natural habitats and their involvement must proceed from their perception of economic benefits to be derived from such conservation. The challenge is, therefore, to devise attainable means of ensuring that people, particularly the poor people, whose dependence on the forest resource base tends to be direct and immediate, can be assured of getting some of the economic benefits to be gained from the rational use and management of forests. If this can be achieved, and anecdotal evidence suggests that it can, then it should be possible for Bangladesh not only to protect its forests, biodiversity and environment but also to turn it into a sustainable source of livelihoods for its people and posterity.

Literature cited

Buckles, D. and G. Rusnak, 1999. Introduction: conflict and collaboration in natural resource management, In: D. Buckles (ed.) Cultivating peace: conflict and collaboration in natural resource management, Ottawa, Canada, International Development Research Centre/The World Bank, 1-10 p.

Dalmacio, R.V. 1998. Socio-economic and biophysical appraisal and design of participatory forest development scheme: The case of Shadhanpur, Banskhali, and Chittagong pilot site. Forest Resources Management Project, Forest Department, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 100 p.

Lee, K., 1993. Compass and gyroscope: integrating science and politics for the environment, Covelo, California, USA, Island Press.

Poffenberger, M. (ed.), 2000. Communities and Forest Management in South Asia IUCN 161 p.

Rahman, L.M., 1993. History of Forest Conservation in Indo-Bangladesh Aranya: A forestry periodical, Forest Department, Bangladesh 2(2):21-24.

Rahman, L.M., 2002. The Forest Act, 1927 (3^rd edn.), Lucky Publishers, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 103 p.

Sharma, R.A., 2002. Conflict Resolution in Natural Resource Management Forestry Sector Project (1997/8-2003/4) Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 1-10 p.