Browsing by Author "Cronkleton, Peter"

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11

Capturing Nested Spheres of Poverty A Model for Multidimensional Poverty Analysis and Monitoring
(2007) Gonner, Christian; Haug, Michaela; Cahyat, Ade; Wollenberg, Eva; De Jong, Wil; Limberg, Godwin; Cronkleton, Peter; Moeliono, Moira; Becker, Michel
"In this paper we discuss recent trends in poverty concepts and suggest a locally adapted multidimensional model for measuring and monitoring poverty. The model comprises nested layers with subjective well-being in the centre surrounded by a core of health, wealth and knowledge, and a context that includes natural, economic, social and political spheres, as well as service and structural aspects. These nine facets of poverty cover basic needs, individual assets and capabilities, and the enabling environment that helps people escape poverty by ensuring sustainability, providing opportunities and minimising vulnerability. The model was tested in several monitoring trials and in the official poverty and well-being monitoring of Kutai Barat District, Indonesia, in early 2006. Twenty-one sub-districts covering 223 villages with more than 150 000 people were assessed. Examples drawn from this experience illustrate possible applications of the model."
Co-management in Community Forestry: How the Partial Devolution of Management Rights Creates Challenges for Forest Communities
(2012) Cronkleton, Peter; Pulhin, Juan M.; Saigal, Sushil
"Forest tenure reform has opened economic and livelihood opportunities for community forestry management through the devolution of management rights under broader decentralisation reforms. However, the transfer of rights and associated power to forest communities is usually partial. The view of property as composed of 'bundles of rights' allows for the disaggregation of rights transferred from government to local people. In practice, it is common that rights held by natural resource stakeholders encompass only part of the rights bundle. This partial transfer of rights shapes community forestry institutions and the manner in which they function. When communities and state agencies share responsibilities and benefits of forest management, they collaborate within co-management systems. Co-management systems are attractive to governments because they open avenues for local participation in resource governance and more equitable benefit-sharing while maintaining some level of state control. However, co-management systems can place a greater burden on community level actors without providing the corresponding benefits. As a result, co-management can fail to meet expectations. In response, the promotion of community forestry may require greater emphasis on adjusting forest regulatory frameworks, institutions, and agencies, to allow more freedom by community-level actors in developing forest management systems."
Communal Tenure Policy and the Struggle for Forest Lands in the Bolivian Amazon
(2008) Cronkleton, Peter; Pacheco, Pablo
"Over the past decade Bolivia has recognized the forest property rights of indigenous and traditional peoples using a variety of novel communal titling mechanisms. The country's agrarian reform process was intended to strengthen rural livelihoods by securing local rights to forests and privileging customary practices, and as a result offered innovative opportunities for social justice and, ideally, sustainable forest management. However, given the heterogeneity of the country's eastern lowlands and the dynamic processes of frontier change taking place along corridors where these communal properties exist, outcomes have been diverse, often exposing the institutional weakness of communal tenure right introduced by the state and also, in some cases, illustrating the resilience of local people in adapting their forest livelihoods to change. "This paper will examine cases along two frontiers in eastern Bolivia, Guarayos, and Pando, where forest dependent people have received communal tenure rights but are faced with increasing pressure from timber interests, agro-industry and expanding fronts of smallholder colonization. In Guarayos, indigenous villages from the Guarayos TCO (Tierra Comunitaria de Origen) have struggled to maintain their territorial integrity as the slow titling process has allowed nonindigenous landowners and loggers to take advantage of the regions natural resources. In Pando, traditional extractivist communities have received communal title to rich swaths of rainforests, but ambiguity in the titling process has introduced competing agrarian models of land occupation that threaten to undercut customary property rights based on tree tenure. While the intensity of external pressure on these communal properties strongly influences local success in maintaining forest livelihoods, characteristics of the communal property models and the manner in which they are implemented influence how well residents can adapt and defend their interests. It is also apparent that the degree to which communal tenure models reflect customary use and institutions contributes to the resilience of traditional systems. This paper will draw lessons learned from sites that could contribute to future policy decisions as well as programs to support forest dependent people."
Environmental Governance and the Emergence of Forest-Based Social Movements
(2008) Cronkleton, Peter; Taylor, Peter Leigh; Barry, Deborah; Stone-Jovicich, Samantha; Schmink, Marianne
"This occasional paper is based on the results of a three-year project examining the emergence of forest-based grassroots movements in Latin America. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the Support to Grassroots Community Forestry Organizations in Central America and Brazil Project sought to understand how grassroots groups develop and influence conservation and development. The project focused on four noteworthy cases in Central America and Brazil, each representing 'successful' broad-based collective action to defend local control and use of forest lands. Cases included the Association of Forest Communities of the Peten in Guatemala, the Siuna Farmer-to-Farmer exchange programme in Nicaragua, the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, and the Brazilian rubber tapper movement in Acre. Although the context and outcomes varied, in these cases grassroots collective action to defend local livelihoods emerged when initially weak government institutions attempted to counteract chaotic frontier conditions through the imposition of conservation and development initiatives, provoking local resistance. A combination of indigenous capacity for collective organization and significant external assistance helped produce grassroots forest movements capable of becoming proactive partners in the management and defence of protected areas. These groups still confront external incursions into their hard-won resources rights and strive to respond to changing membership needs. The cases suggest that local communities can become effective forest stewards when acquired rights are duly recognized, avenues exist for meaningful participation, costs and benefits are distributed fairly, and appropriate external support is provided."
Formalizing Indigenous Commons: The Role of 'Authority' in the Formation of Territories in Nicaragua, Bolivia and the Philippines
(2011) Larson, Anne; Cronkleton, Peter
"Indigenous peoples have sometimes sought the formalization of their customary territories to demand the enforcement of their borders, which have often not been respected by outsiders or the state. The process of formalization, however, generates new conflicts. This article explores how the recognition of indigenous forest commons is connected to questions about authority. For communal properties in particular, issues of ‘authority’ are central to shaping how decisions are made, whose opinion or knowledge is taken into account and how access to land and natural resources is determined in practice. The process of constituting collective territories is intimately related to the constitution of authority, as it involves not only the negotiation of physical boundaries but also the recognition of a particular entity to represent the collective. Though an entity that holds leadership powers may already exist, it is likely to be endowed with new decision-making powers and responsibilities; and in many cases a new entity will have to be created. This is not a ‘local’ process but rather emerges at the intersection of relations between the community, or territory, and the state. Similarly, given that ‘authority’ implies legitimacy, such legitimacy will have to be produced. Drawing on a comparison of cases of two indigenous territories in Nicaragua and Bolivia and an ancestral domain in the Philippines, this article shows how authority emerges from often conflictive processes of constructing the commons and shapes community rights to--and powers over--forests and forest resources."
From Agrarian to Forest Tenure Reforms in Latin America: Assessing Their Impacts for Local People and Forests
(2008) Pacheco, Pablo; Barry, Deborah; Cronkleton, Peter; Larson, Anne; Monterroso, Iliana
"This paper assesses a new wave of land reform underway in Latin America, which we have labeled a 'forest reform.' This forest reform is aimed at harmonizing development and conservation concerns, while taking into account the demands of indigenous peoples, extractive communities and smallholders regarding secure land tenure rights and improved institutional, market and legal conditions for sustainable forest management. While the shift from agrarian to forest tenure reform is an important step for enhancing the livelihoods and cultures of forest-based people, these reforms fall short of achieving their expected goals due to shortcomings in national policy frameworks, combined with restrictive market, and other institutional conditions that tend to be biased against smallholders and community forestry. Recognition of existing --or the granting of new-- tenure rights to these actors, renewed efforts for adapting local institutions to evolving contexts and the development or strengthening of economic and social coalitions with other forest actors are all crucial factors for overcoming the almost insurmountable barriers for smallholders and communities to improving livelihoods and prospering from the sustainable management of their forests. Reconciling these efforts with conservation principles and implementing realistic policies based on a more nuanced understanding of the strengths and constraints faced by community level stakeholders, as well as of market conditions they interact with, constitute the principal tasks for the state to deepen forest reforms."
Natural Resource Conflicts in the Western Amazon: Implications for Community Forest Management
(2008) Duchelle, Amy; Cronkleton, Peter; Guanacoma, Gladys; Kainer, Karen
"Forest management decisions are strongly influenced by security of forest property rights, and best long-term management practices often hinge on strengthening control over forest resources through participatory engagement with local actors. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) is the most important non-timber forest product (NTFP) in the tri- national region of Pando, Bolivia, Acre, Brazil and Madre de Dios, Peru. This species simultaneously promotes forest conservation and forms the livelihood base for rural communities. The current development of the Inter-oceanic highway, an extension of the recently paved Brazilian BR- 317 into Bolivia and Peru, will change the nature of this formerly remote region by providing regional access to Pacific ports. Within this dynamic context, it is essential to understand how property rights security affects short and long-term Brazil nut management linked to forest conservation and economic futures of this region. We evaluated Brazil nut collection and management practices in twelve communities in Bolivia and Brazil by conducting interviews with 190 extractivists and accompanying Brazil nut harvests in 2006 and 2007. Results of this comparative study show that unclear property rights, coupled with the dominant role of Brazil nut in the Pando household economy, creates an extremely high degree of conflict during the harvest season. Such conflict affects both the timing of Brazil nut collection, as well as management of the resource. Conversely, a secure land tenure system in Acre based on customary 'tree tenure,' along with more diverse livelihood options, have resulted in less conflict. Participatory mapping may be an important tool for communities to deal with tenure conflict, visualize traditional forest use systems, and leverage integration of traditional practices into formal land titling processes and decision- making."
Resource Theft in Tropical Forest Communities: Implications for Non-timber Management, Livelihoods, and Conservation
(2011) Duchelle, Amy; Cronkleton, Peter; Kainer, Karen A.; Guanacoma, Gladys; Gezan, Salvador
"Increased devolution of forest ownership and management rights to local control has the potential to promote both conservation and livelihood development in remote tropical regions. Such shifts in property rights, however, can generate conflicts, particularly when combined with rapidly increasing values of forest resources. We explored the phenomenon of Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) theft in communities in Western Amazonia. Through interviews with 189 Brazil nut collectors in 12 communities in Bolivia and Brazil and participation in the 2006 and 2007 harvests, we quantified relative income derived from Brazil nuts, reported nut thefts, and nut collection and management practices. We found a much greater incidence of reported Brazil nut thefts in Pando, Bolivia than in the adjacent state of Acre, Brazil. Our analyses suggest that three factors may have affected nut thefts in the forest: (1) contrasts in the timing and process of formally recognizing property rights, (2) different historic settlement patterns, and (3) varying degrees of economic dependence on Brazil nuts. Threat of theft influenced Brazil nut harvest regimes, with potentially long-term implications for forest-based livelihoods, and management and conservation of Brazil nut-rich forests in Western Amazonia."
Rural Social Movements and Forest Governance: Assistance to Grassroots Organizations to Promote Conservation and Development in Latin America
(2006) Cronkleton, Peter; Taylor, Peter Leigh; Schmink, Marianne; Stone-Jovicich, Samantha; Barry, Deborah
"This paper describes the Grassroots Assistance Project's approach to research and strengthening of community analysis and management capacities. It summarizes context studies of four grassroots forest organization in Central America and Brazil, focusing on the conditions shaping their emergence, the roles of the state and external technical assistance, and impacts on conservation and development. It briefly discusses the results of innovative community self-studies in Guatemala and Nicaragua. It then turns to an alternative model of technical 'accompaniment' emerging from the communities' own experiences that may more effectively help build community capacity to manage forests for conservation and development. Grassroots forestry organizations are showing that conservation and development need not be opposing strategies. Rather than being part of the deforestation problem, organized forest communities can potentially be key allies in the protection and management of the environment for the future."
Secondary Level Organisations and the Democratisation of Forest Governance: Case Studies from Nepal and Guatemala
(2012) Paudel, Naya Sharma; Monterroso, Iliana; Cronkleton, Peter
"This paper examines the emerging role of secondary level organisations in the democratisation of forest governance by analysing two cases of forest-based collective action in Nepal and Guatemala. It explores the conditions surrounding the emergence and growth of these secondary level organisations, and examines the nature of their organisational approaches, strategic actions, and the resulting outcomes in terms of democratising forest governance. The organisations discussed in this paper are products of broader decentralisation processes and represent organised and empowered forest people. They are capable of shifting the balance of power in favour of community level institutions, and can compel state agencies to become more accountable to the needs of forest-dependent citizens. As a result, by leading collective action beyond the community to a secondary level, these organisations have influenced forest governance by making it more democratic, equitable and productive."
Tenure Rights and Beyond: Community Access to Forest Resources in Latin America
(2005) Larson, Anne; Cronkleton, Peter; Barry, Deborah; Pacheco, Pablo
"This occasional paper is the result of research carried out from 2006 to 2008 on the effects of new tenure rights for forest-based communities in Latin America on access to forest resources and benefits. Focused on seven different regions in four countries, the paper examines changes in statutory rights, the implementation of those rights in practice, and the extent to which they have led to tangible new benefits from forests, particularly to new sources of income. The research sites included several types of conservation and settlement communities in the Brazilian Amazon, an indigenous territory and agro-extractive communities in Bolivia, indigenous territories in Nicaragua and community forest concessions and highland communal forests in Guatemala. Though the granting of tenure rights signifies an important achievement for many communities, new statutory rights do not automatically turn into rights in practice. Virtually all of the cases--even those in which benefits have been significant--encountered substantial challenges along the road from rights to benefits: conflicts with other resource claimants; the failure of the state to define the tenure right appropriately or defend it effectively; problems with local authorities and governance institutions; the superposition of new models over existing institutions; obstacles to community engagement with markets; and the lack of systems to support forest resource management. The bundle of rights granted is sometimes overwhelmed by an accompanying bundle of responsibilities, or limited by restrictions on use, and may include an important ongoing decision-making role for certain state authorities. Institutional arrangements are also shaped by a variety of local authorities, some of which have been created or given substantial new powers in the reform process but lack experience and clear accountability relations. The state often appears more concerned with establishing management regulations than with defending community rights; for their part, communities and their organizations are forced to waste time and resources defending their rights from outside interests, rather than using these to strengthen local governance and forest management capacity. Policy frameworks have generally failed to establish an enabling environment for endogenous, community-based management opportunities. The gains that have been won and the potential of these processes demonstrate the value of promoting efforts to overcome these obstacles."