Learning from learning: the experiences with implementing adaptive collaborative forest management in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Convinced that participatory resource management is the way forward in the conservation of natural resources, despite the increasing criticism of participatory approaches, the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) initiated a multi-country adaptive collaborative management (ACM) research programme. The programme aimed to test the approach and check whether it did indeed result in improvements in both resource conditions and human well-being. Multi-disciplinary teams were set up to spearhead the implementation of the ACM approach in collaboration with local stakeholders in eleven countries (including Zimbabwe) where the research was initiated. Adaptive collaborative management is an approach that is based on action research and learning, and aims to develop people’s capacity to adapt to the ever-changing State Forest in Zimbabwe. The chapter shows that doing collaborative research with local stakeholders is easier said than done and several challenges are faced at different levels: within the multi-disciplinary research team itself and between the research team and the local stakeholders. The chapter also shows that, though it is difficult to conduct, collaborative research can indeed result in positive improvements in both the resource status and human well-being. However, these changes will not be sustained if such initiatives fail to explicitly address issues of power and politics as well as put in place clear rules for the management of resources and the means of enforcing them.