Key informants such as village elders and teachers are valuable sources of information who can provide insights into local forest issues and needs in a short period of time. This information can be used to develop tools to further investigate using RRA and PRA tools. Interest groups are determined by differences in age, gender, ethnicity, wealth, or occupation, such as women collecting forest products or poorer farmers. Assumptions of community forestry include that small-scale local management is better than large-scale, open access can transition to controlled community access, and more human resources are available through local involvement instead of only professionals.

1. RRA and PRA tools for community forestry
I. Building rapport- It has been discussed in the previous class
II. Key informants
Some people, like village elders, local leaders or school
teachers are very knowledgeable about forest
and local needs and interest. These people are valuable sources
of information, they are called key
informants. The objective of using key informants is to collect
information and gain useful insights in to
issues in a short period of time. Such information and insights
can be used to develop a checklist for
further investigation using other RRA and PRA tools.
III. Interest groups
The people who share particular sets of interest make up an
interest group. An interest group can be
determined by differences in age, gender, ethnic group wealth
or status or religious belief. Examples of
distinct interest group include women collect particular forest
products, poorer farmers, richer farmers
who often have trees on their own land and shop keepers who
buy firewood.

2. Assumptions of community forestry
Assumptions related to objective conservation and management:
•Better through small-scale activities by locals.
•Open access can be transferred to controlled access by
communities.
•Increased human resources available (many locals instead of few
professionals).
•Shifts policing burdens to some local control releasing pressure
on other areas.
Assumptions related to socio-economic development:
•Increased self-reliance by provision of opportunities for local
people.
•Protection/preservation of cultural integrity.

3. Stakeholders and their interest in
community forestry
Continuu
m Level
Example of Stakeholders Typical Forest Interest
Global International
agencies,
environmental
lobbies
Biodiversity conservation
and climatic regulation
National Governments, macro
planners, pressure
groups
Timber extraction,
tourism, resource
protection, equity,
development.
Regional Forest
departments,
regional
authorities
Forest productivity, water
supply, soil protection.
Local off-site Downstream
communities, logging
companies, forest
industries
Protection of water supply,
access to timber, prevention of
conflicts.

4. Conflicts between stated objectives
and assumptions
•Management by local people will be sustainable but current
destructive open access that local people participate in, is
the problem to be addressed.
•Long-term objectives of forest conservation may conflict
with short-term interests of people trying to improve their
livelihoods.
•Internal conflicts of interest among forest users (how to
assure democracy and equity at the same time?).
•Some objectives are incompatible on the same area
(agriculture and protection of wildlife)