Executive Summary of the 4th Regional CMLN Workshop

            The 4th Regional Co-Management Learning Network (CMLN) Workshop comes at an important turning point in the history of the CMLN Project. Phase 1 of the CMLN Project is slated to come to a close in September 2008. The 4th Regional Workshop aimed to present and share the progress made by the CMLN country sites during the entire process. An additional aim of the 4th Regional Workshop was for the Network members to decide whether it would be beneficial for the CMLN Project to proceed into a Phase 2, and if so to discuss expectations and to strategize on the focus of the second Phase.
            The first CMLN Workshop aimed to create a common understanding among participants by looking at co-management concepts, practices and tools in the preparation phase of CM. The second CMLN Workshop aimed to build on the first by looking at the process of social communication necessary for successful CM. The third CMLN Workshop focused on preparing the sites to go to the next level – negotiation; with each site reviewing their present situation and building their own negotiation tools and methods suitable for the different contexts they work in. This fourth CMLN Workshop provided an opportunity for the CMLN country teams to reflect on the lessons learnt throughout the three earlier stages of the CM process, and to share their lessons learned with the rest of the Network. The country sites also had the opportunity to think about and discuss future strategies and actions to ensure the successful maintenance of the CM achievements already made, as well as to expand these achievements to other areas.
The participants made good use of this Workshop to present and reflect on their progress, to ask for advice from the other country sites, and to share their lessons learned. Some of the significant lessons learned were:

• commitment of the field facilitators is critical to maintain the participation of local community members in the process of co-management;
• “slowly but tangible”;
• policy recognition does not always led to strong support in practice;
• CM is not compatible with top-down approaches;
• focus on potential IP community livelihood benefits of conservation arrangements can help to reduce conflict;
• it is necessary to balance community needs and wants;
• an official inventory of community conservation practices may be useful in getting greater recognition for CM arrangements at the National policy level;
• capacity building is necessary for all CM stakeholders (e.g. IP organizations and Park Authorities require capacity building regarding good techniques for success CM arrangements).

            For the Phase 2 of CMLN two new Objectives were put forward as necessary to build on the past successes of the CMLN Project. First, it was agreed that the socio-economic well-being (specifically, livelihoods based on alternative IP values and development models) of IP communities and their organizations is crucial to the successful maintenance of Co-Management arrangements. Thus a 4th Objective was added to the CMLN Project: “Strengthen IP organisations through securing their economic basis as well as the economic basis of community livelihoods in harmony with their unique values and aspirations.” Second, it was agreed that the CMLN was well-positioned to engage in advocacy and networking activities outside of the existing CMLN Network. Thus a 5th Objective was added to the CMLN Project: “Strengthening in-country and regional Networks.” In addition, strong support was given to AIPP to continue as the CMLN project holder, and for the CMLN Regional Coordinator to move forward to ensure the establishment of a CMLN Phase 2. Exciting times.
            The Workshop proceedings followed the proposed Agenda closely, the only major deviation was the addition of a session on possible Protected Area scenarios in place of the Participatory Action Research evaluation scheduled for the afternoon of Day 4. A summary of the 5-day Workshop is outlined below.

• Days 1 and 2 focused on the presentation of updates on the progress of negotiations at the different CMLN sites (successes, limitations, etc.); and the sharing of lessons learned from the Co-Management process thus far
• Day 3 was dedicated to a field visit to Ob’Luang National Park and Khun Pae village
• Day 4 activities included a debrief and discussion about the field visit; strategy sessions regarding the future of the CMLN Project with the goal of identifying present day actions to help ensure positive outcomes.
• Day 5 was dedicated to answering the question “CMLN Phase 2 – where to from here?”

Detail

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Introduction

The AIPP Foundation (hereafter refered to as AIPP) is a regional organizationn conceived by indigenous peoples organizations in 1988 to strengthen the process of building cooperation and solidarity among indigenous peoples of Asia. It is committed to the cause of protecting and revitalizing indigenous systems and institutions and their control over their ancestral homelands and their own development and future.