Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Participatory Monitoring in Forest Communities to Improve Governance, Accountability and Women’s Participation

Small-scale Forestry volume 18, pages 165–187 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

We explore how participatory monitoring can help communities and community partners define local governance, identify governance issues and problems, and improve women’s participation, based on action research from 2011 to 2015 to improve women’s participation in decision-making in indigenous communities in Nicaragua. The findings are based on experiences in developing a participatory monitoring governance tool and the lessons learned, observations about the process and results from the monitoring. We found that participatory monitoring of governance provides a mechanism to identify obstacles to community governance by creating a space for community members to evaluate local governance, identify issues and present solutions. It also created tensions with leaders who were concerned that monitoring would focus unwelcome attention on their activities. While we have yet to see if the tool actually improves women’s participation and governance—a longer-term impact—participants said that the process helped them define good governance and explore improving participation and accountability.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

39,95 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Fig. 1

Notes

  1. In the RACCN, the two main parties are YATAMA (mainly Miskitu people) and the FSLN (Sandinista). They allied in the general election in 2007 and governed as a coalition in the region. However, at the beginning of 2014, YATAMA broke the alliance with the FSLN. Since the break, YATAMA has weakened and FSLN has increased its power, now controlling almost all government bodies.

References

  • Agarwal B (2001) Participatory exclusions, community forestry, and gender: an analysis for South Asia and a conceptual framework. World Dev 29:1623–1648. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(01)00066-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal B (2009) Gender and forest conservation: the impact of women’s participation in community forest governance. Ecol Econ 68:2785–2799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.04.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal A, Chhatre A (2006) Explaining success on the commons: community forest governance in the Indian Himalaya. World Dev 34:149–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.07.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrianandrasana HT, Randriamahefasoa J, Durbin J et al (2005) Participatory ecological monitoring of the Alaotra wetlands in Madagascar. Biodivers Conserv 14:2757–2774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnstein SR (1969) A ladder of citizen participation. J Am Inst Plan 35:216–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asamblea Nacional (2003) Ley de Participación Ciudadana. Normas jurídicas de Nicaragua, Managua

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartletti JPS, Larson AM, Amico AL et al (2018) Does the monitoring of local governance improve transparency? Lessons from three approaches in subnational jurisdictions. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Bekhouche Y, Haumann R, Tyson LD, Zahidi S (2014) The global gender gap report. World Economic Forum, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair H (2000) Participation and accountability at the periphery: democratic local governance in six countries. World Dev 28:21–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(99)00109-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom E, Sunseri A, Leonard A (2007) Measuring and strengthening local governance capacity: the local governance barometer. USAID, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • CARE Malawi (2013) The Community Score Card (CSC): a generic guide for implementing CARE’s CSC process to improve quality of services. Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc., Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Chao S (2012) FOREST PEOPLES: numbers across the world. Forest Peoples Programme, Moreton-in-Marsh

    Google Scholar 

  • Colfer CJP (2005) The complex forest: communities, uncertainty, and adaptive collaborative management. RFF/CIFOR, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Colfer CJP (2013) The gender box: a framework for analysing gender roles in forest management. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • CONADETI (2014) Informe Ejecutivo de la CONADETI y las CIDTs al 31 de Marzo del Año 2014. National Demarcation and Titling Commission, Bilwi

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantino P, Carlos H, Ramalho E et al (2012) Empowering local people through community-based resource monitoring: a comparison of Brazil and Namibia. Ecol Soc 17:22. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05164-170422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronkleton P, Keating R, Evans K (2006) Helping village level stakeholders monitor forest benefits, negotiated learning: collaborative monitoring in forest resource management. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Cundill G, Fabricius C (2010) Monitoring the governance dimension of natural resource co-management. Ecol Soc 15:15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dangol S (2005) Participation and decisionmaking in Nepal. In: Colfer CJP (ed) The equitable forest: diversity, community, and resource management. Resources for the Future/CIFOR, Washington, DC, pp 54–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Danielsen F, Burgess ND, Balmford A et al (2009) Local participation in natural resource monitoring: a characterization of approaches. Conserv Biol 23:31–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01063.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Sy V, Herold M, Martius C et al (2016) Enhancing transparency in the land-use sector: exploring the role of independent monitoring approaches. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Demeo T, Markus A, Bormann B, Leingang J (2015) Tracking progress: the monitoring process used in collaborative forest landscape restoration projects in the Pacific Northwest Region. University of Oregon, Oregon

    Google Scholar 

  • Dey DC, Schweitzer CJ (2014) Restoration for the future: endpoints, targets, and indicators of progress and success. J Sustain For 33:S43–S65. https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2014.883999

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans K, Guariguata MR (2008) Participatory monitoring in tropical forest management: a review of tools, concepts and lessons learned. CIFOR, Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans K, Velarde SJ, Prieto RP et al (2006) Field guide to the future: four ways for communities to think ahead. CIFOR, ASB System-Wide Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, ICRAF, Secretariat of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Nairobi

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans K, Larson AM, Mwangi E et al (2014) Field guide to adaptive collaborative management and improving women’s participation. CIFOR, Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans K, Marchena R, Flores S et al (2016) Guía práctica para el monitoreo participativo de gobernanza. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans K, Flores S, Larson AM et al (2017) Challenges for women’s participation in communal forests: experience from Nicaragua’s indigenous territories. Women’s Stud Int Forum 65:37–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fals Borda O, Rahman MA (1991) Action and knowledge: breaking the monopoly with participatory action-research. Apex Press, Muscat

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2014) Forests and gender equality: participatory forestry. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2015) Global forest resources assessment 2015. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Gimenez ME, Ballard HL, Sturtevant VE (2008) Adaptive management and social learning in collaborative and community-based monitoring: a study of five community-based forestry organizations in the western USA. Ecol Soc 13:4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flores S, Evans K, Larson AM et al (2016) La participación de mujeres indígenas rurales para fortalecer la gobernanza comunitaria. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Guijt I (ed) (2007) Negotiated learning: collaborative monitoring in forest resource management. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Haddad S, Narayana D, Mohindra KS (2011) Reducing inequalities in health and access to health care in a rural Indian community: an India–Canada collaborative action research project. BMC Int Health Hum Rights 11:S3. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-698X-11-S2-S3

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hartanto H, Lorenzo MC, Valmores C et al (2003) Learning together: responding to change and complexity to improve community forests in the Philippines. CIFOR, Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes TM (2008) The robustness of indigenous common-property systems to frontier expansion: institutional interplay in the Mosquitia forest corridor. Conserv Soc 6:117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes T, Persha L (2010) Nesting local forestry initiatives: revisiting community forest management in a REDD+ world. For Policy Econ 12:545–553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • INAFOR (2008) Inventorio Forestal 2007–08. Instituto Nacional Forestal, Managua

    Google Scholar 

  • INIDE (2005a) CENSO 2005. Instituto Nacional de Información de Desarrollo, Managua

    Google Scholar 

  • INIDE (2005b) Mapa de Pobreza Extrema Municipal por el Método de Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas (NBI). Instituto Nacional de Información de Desarrollo, Managua

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanowski PJ, McDermott CL, Cashore BW (2011) Implementing REDD+: lessons from analysis of forest governance. Environ Sci Policy 14:111–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2010.11.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kusumanto T (2007) Learning to monitor political processes for fairness in Jambi, Indonesia. In: Guijt I (ed) Negotiated learning: collaborative monitoring in forest resource management. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson AM, Lewis-Mendoza J (2012) Decentralisation and devolution in Nicaragua’s North Atlantic autonomous region: natural resources and indigenous peoples’ rights. Int J Commons 6:179–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson AM, Mendoza-Lewis J (2009) Desafíos en la tenencia comunitaria de bosques en la RAAN de Nicaragua. URACCAN, Managua

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson AM, Petkova E (2011) An introduction to forest governance, people and REDD+ in Latin America: obstacles and opportunities. Forests 2:86–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson AM, Flores S, Evans K (2016) Forest use in Nicaragua: results of a survey on gendered forest use, benefits and participation. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence A, Paudel K, Barnes R, Malla Y (2006) Adaptive value of participatory biodiversity monitoring in community forestry. Environ Conserv 33:325. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892906003432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemos MC, Agrawal A (2006) Environmental governance. Annu Rev Environ Resour 31:297–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mai YH, Mwangi E, Wan M (2012) Gender analysis in forestry research. CIFOR, Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Mairena E, Lorio G, Hernández X et al (2012) Gender and forests in Nicaragua’s indigenous territories: from national policy to local practice. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Manfre C, Rubin D (2012) Integrating gender into forestry research: a guide for CIFOR scientists and programme administrators. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • McDougall C, Khadka C, Dangol S (2007) Using monitoring as leverage for equal opportunity in Nepal. In: Guijt I (ed) Negotiated learning: collaborative monitoring in forest resource management. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Mutimukuru-Maravanyika T, Matose F (2013) Learning in contested landscapes: applying adaptive collaborative management in forested landscapes in Zimbabwe. In: Ojha HR, Hall A, Sulaiman VR (eds) Adaptive collaborative approaches in natural resource governance: rethinking participation. Earthscan, Oxon

    Google Scholar 

  • Mwangi E, Larson AM (2009) Project proposal: gender, tenure and community forests in Uganda and Nicaragua. CIFOR, Bogor

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom E, Nagendra H (2006) Insights on linking forests, trees, and people from the air, on the ground, and in the laboratory. PNAS 103:19224–19231. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0607962103

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pagdee A, Kim Y, Daugherty PJ (2006) What makes community forest management successful: a meta-study from community forests throughout the world. Soci Nat Resour 19:33–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribot JC (2004) Waiting for democracy: the politics of choice in natural resource decentralization. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Rights and Resources Initiative (2014) What future for reform? Progress and slowdown in forest tenure reform since 2002. Rights and Resources Initiative, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Saipothong P, Preechapanya P, Promduang T et al (2006) Community-based watershed monitoring and management in Northern Thailand. Mt Res Dev 26:289–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stocks A (2005) Too much for too few: problems of indigenous land rights in Latin America. Annu Rev Anthropol 34:85–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNDESA (2007) Governance for the millennium development goals: core issues and good practices. Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We express our deepest thanks to the members of the five communities that participated in this action research project. Furthermore, we thank Alejandro Pikitle and Roberto Marchena.

Funding

This study was funded by the Austrian Development Agency Grant Number CIFOR (2012/02).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for International Forestry Research, c/o Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), Av. La Molina 1895, La Molina, Lima, Peru

    Kristen Evans & Anne M. Larson

  2. Nitlapan, Campus of the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), Frente a Radio Ya, Managua, Nicaragua

    Selmira Flores

Authors
  1. Kristen Evans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Selmira Flores
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anne M. Larson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristen Evans.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Evans, K., Flores, S. & Larson, A.M. Participatory Monitoring in Forest Communities to Improve Governance, Accountability and Women’s Participation. Small-scale Forestry 18, 165–187 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-019-09413-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-019-09413-9

Keywords

  • Gender
  • Indigenous
  • Latin America
  • Nicaragua
  • Local monitoring
  • Participation
  • Participatory methods

Search

Navigation