| European
Tropical Forest Research Network |
PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS SCALES: LESSONS FROM EXTRACTIVE RESERVES IN BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA
By Sergio Rosendo
Tropical forest management is becoming increasingly complex in terms of its objectives, actors involved and the processes in which they are involved. Forests must nowadays be managed concurrently for a variety of goals, which range from maintaining local livelihoods to conserving biodiversity and ecological processes. The local to global significance of tropical forests means a proliferation of actors at different levels directly or indirectly involved in forest management. In tropical forests, local and global processes come together as different stakeholders need to collaborate in order to ensure that management fulfils multiple goals. Partnerships have become important approaches to manage tropical forests. Common types of partnerships include those between government and private sector companies, communities and the private sector, community-based organisations (CBOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), CBOs and government (also known as co-management); and local government and NGOs.
The complexity of partnerships
Despite synergistic objectives, working together in partnerships is not always
a straightforward process. Partnerships often bring together stakeholders that
have different interests and organisational capacities, operate at different
spatial and temporal scales and are governed by divergent worldviews and values.
Partnerships do not eliminate power and conflict between actors. Competition
over agenda setting, over resources and the distribution of benefits are ever-present
in partnerships, albeit a subtle or dissimulated way. It is important to improve
our understanding of how partnerships work, what their limitations are and how
they can be made to lead to more effective, efficient, equitable and legitimate
outcomes.
The example of rubber
tappers
Our study explores the evolution and outcomes of interactions between organisations
of rubber tappers and key actors involved in the creation, implementation and
management of extractive reserves in Rondônia, in the Brazilian Amazonia.
The interactions between these actors have evolved in a context of partnerships
and co-management. Extractive reserves are protected areas designated for the
sustainable use of natural resources by the resident population. They aim to
achieve multiple goals including conserving biodiversity, satisfying the basic
needs of the population and strengthening social organisation as a means of
guaranteeing their participatory management. The interactions between the different
actors involved in extractive reserves are examined in terms of the opportunities
for grassroots empowerment, barriers to effective integration between institutions
within partnerships and requirements for better integration between institutions
in partnerships.
Further information:
Sergio Rosendo
Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE)
University of East Anglia
NR4 7TJ Norwich United Kingdom
E-mail: s.rosendo@uea.ac.uk