Towards Wellbeing in Forest Communities: A Source Book for Local Government

Foreword

A huge potential exists to enhance the wellbeing of forest communities, who remain among the most impoverished groups in the world. Local governments have an important role to play in meeting this potential. Across the developing world, decentralisation has given local governments new authority for decision making and commensurate responsibility for service delivery, including poverty alleviation.

Forest communities are often remote and isolated.
Photo by Kristen Evans.

Local governments, however, often lack data and information to identify causes of poverty, prioritise interventions or target specific groups of the poor. Previously bypassed by centralised planning, local governments have little experience in the preparation and implementation of local development plans. Insufficient devolution of authority, mandates without commensurate resources or weak coordination across sectors have further constrained the capacity of local governments to address local needs. Limited downward accountability has limited the political will of newly empowered authorities to act.

Development policy makers and practitioners have increased their focus on reducing poverty, raising important questions about how poverty should be measured and monitored. In the past, poverty rates have been determined by what proportion of individuals or households fail to meet minimum standards of income or nutrition. Poverty has been measured against national indicators. More holistic approaches to measuring poverty are now gaining currency. But locally relevant indicators of poverty and wellbeing have been largely unavailable.

Towards Wellbeing in Forest Communities: A Source Book for Local Government offers a refreshingly positive concept of sustained human wellbeing and security that extends beyond sufficiency of income and food. The authors draw on experience in Bolivia and Indonesia to highlight approaches for developing locally relevant poverty monitoring and intervention. The source book should be a useful resource for local governments interested in reducing poverty through more participatory approaches with local communities. It gives particular emphasis to the potential role of forests in enhancing community wellbeing.

Part I provides a conceptual overview of poverty and wellbeing, adopting a multifaceted and dynamic perspective. It also provides an analysis of what local governments can do to reduce poverty, both directly and through advocacy to higher levels of authority or sectoral agencies. In addition, it describes factors of particular relevance to the challenge of addressing poverty in forest communities.

Part II describes four practical tools to help local governments improve the design and implementation of their poverty reduction programmes. The four tools—interactive mapping of poverty context, surveys of household wellbeing based on local indicators, community focus groups to evaluate government programmes, and scenario-based planning—are designed to address the information and capacity constraints that often prevent local authorities from making more effective interventions. The source book recognises that local governments often have little experience in eliciting meaningful community participation in planning and monitoring, and so provides step-by-step guidance on how to proceed.

The methods described in this book have been tested and refined in collaboration with forest communities in Bolivia and Indonesia. Examples from the experiences of those communities illuminate the text, and provide inspiration for those who would follow in their footsteps. This source book will prove a valuable companion for anyone who aspires to work in partnership with forest communities to reduce poverty and enhance wellbeing.

Frances Seymour
Director General, CIFOR
June 2007

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