Fereydoon Kenar Community Participation and Development of Local Environment Programmes through Community-based Organizations more

FEREYDOON KENAR COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMMES THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS Saeid Nouri Neshat National Consultant on Local Participation UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetlands Project (SCWP) – Iran September 2009 Abstract To achieve sustainable and systematic management regimes at the sites of the UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetlands Project (SCWP) in Iran, the national consultant on community participation put much more efforts into building the capacity of local stakeholders in terms of developing community-based organizations in Fereydoon Kenar, as local groups that can act as facilitators during the process of empowerment. In the present paper, while trying to define the concept of local participation in conservation activities in general, the author will try to open up a debate on empowerment at different levels in Fereydoon Kenar site in Iran, focusing more on community-based organizations as local groups that can play the role of facilitators in the process of local participation. In Fereydoon Kenar, the process of empowerment entered into a new phase when such small community groups shaped through using action research methodologies in villages, however the groups are yet to be more empowered to play an active facilitating role in near future. Keywords: participation, empowerment, community-based organizations (CBOs) INTRODUCTION One of the aims of the UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetlands Project (SCWP) in Iran was to achieve sustainable and systematic management regimes at the project sites (especially in Fereydoon Kenar) by actively involving stakeholders including local communities in the decision-making procedures for site management. For Fereydoon Kenar Non-shooting Area1, this was dependent and related to the development of a Management Plan for the site. However, the process of developing and completing the Management Plan took a long time and during the time (2008-2009), the national consultant on community participation put much more efforts into building the capacity of local stakeholders in terms of developing community based organizations with the aim of facilitating site management and implementation of the Fereydoon Kenar non-shooting area is the winter site for many migratory water birds, especially the critically endangered Siberian Crane. This area contains wetlands of highly importance for water birds that spend winter in the area. The whole area and its wetlands are incorporated in Ramsar Convention as globally significant wetlands. The area is located in Mazandaran province, in south east of Caspian Sea lowlands, near Babolsar and Mahmoodabad cities and in the south of Fereydoon Kenar City (SMP, 2009). 1 UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project – Project Completion Workshop Proceedings 1                                                               management plan in the future. As for Fereydoon Kenar, two local groups are active and two more groups are in the process of registration and for Bujagh National Park the same process was accomplished in 2008 and as a result one group of local youths was established for facilitation of management issues related to the national park. In the present paper, while trying to define the concept of local participation in conservation activities in general, the author will try to open up a debate on empowerment at different levels in Fereydoon Kenar site in Iran, focusing more on community-based organizations as empowered local groups that can play the role of facilitators in the process of local participation. PARTICIPATION Participation is among those concepts that are increasingly used among people, with so many meanings in a way that one cannot easily define it. (Bryson & Mowbray, 1981; Pateman, 1970; Plant, 1974). It has been described as a buzz word, with even contradicting meanings. Confusion on the meaning of participation is a common theme in the literature, reflecting it as a concept wide open to considerable interpretation. For SCWP, participation is a management means, or an umbrella term including different means for various stakeholders including damgah2 owners and the Department of Environment to directly participate in the FDK site management. Ideally, each actor would have a say in decisions directly proportional to the degree that particular decision affects him or her. Those not affected by a decision would have no say and those exclusively affected by a decision would have full say. Likewise, those most affected would have the most say while those least affected would have the least say. Participatory decision making infers a level of proportionate decision making power and can take place along any realm of human social activity, including conservation. In this context, the term is used as "participatory management" to denote a style of management that calls for a high level of participation of people at local level and environment experts in decisions that affect the site. However, definition of various stakeholders about participation differs. For example, from damgah owners' point of view, participation means: 1- Volunteerism in guaranteeing the safety and tranquility of the area during the trapping seasons; 2- Involvement of management; participants in decision-making processes regarding damgah 3- Participants' right and duty to participate in solving their own problems (when a tension is created among some of damgah owners). While, within the framework of the project, community participation as much as it is related to damgah participatory management3 means: 1- Volunteerism in conservation; 2- Involvement of participants in decision-making processes regarding the Fdk site management; 3- Participants' right and duty to participate in solving their own problems (when a tension is created among damgah owners and DOE); 2                                                               Damgah is a traditional form of trapping practiced locally in Fereydoon Kenar since five or six centuries. 3 Report of the Workshop on Participatory Approaches with participation of Damgah owners held by Seyek Babak Mousavi Nejad Moghadam in 2006 was so useful in depicting the notion of "participation" in damgah management.  2 UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project – Project Completion Workshop Proceedings 4- Active involvement of participants in decision-making processes in as far as such decisions affect the participants (such as water management or agricultural issues); and 5- Increasing participant control over resources and their sustainability (such as sustainable population of migratory water-birds). For damgah owners to move forward and accept their role in conservation, the following two important aspects have to be highly considered: 1- Damgah owners are the landowners. This means that the Department of Environment (DOE) has limited access to the protected area and therefore damgah owners can play a critical role in conservation. Participation of damgah owners in conservation is completely necessary4. Therefore, they have to know more about conservation issues and participatory approaches in conservation. It means that they have to be empowered in conservation. 2- Traditional cooperation of landowners in Fereydoon Kenar plays a significant role in establishing a damgah and their participatory management. During the project implementation, the traditional cooperation of local damgah owners with each other, ended in organizing four cooperative associations of damgah owners. Mostly the cooperative associations were organized with an aim to encourage Damgah owners to participate in the site management, support the participatory management and conserving the Siberian Crane and other wetlands birds, create opportunities for sustainable development of local communities and improve the sustainability of traditional ways of birds’ trapping (SMP, 2009). Assisting damgah owners to shape their own cooperative association, is an empowerment5 activity. PARTICIPATION AND EMPOWERMENT There is a fascinating relationship between participation and empowerment. A participant has to be enough empowered to participate actively in environment-friendly processes while empowered persons or groups find their own ways of participation in the community. It means empowerment is a necessary element in the process of participation and participation is needed for empowerment. In fact, empowerment activities in local communities end in increasing the social capital of the community, strengthens trust-building and cooperation, makes the community ready for a change. Therefore, part of our efforts was to be focused on empowerment at various levels in Fereydoon Kenar. A matrix of empowerment can be designed as follows: Levels Individual People in FDK, and in villages, damgah owners, trappers, hunters, farmers will be all aware of conservation values in the site and are interested to contribute Government experts and authorities in Babolsar, FDK, Amol, and Sorkhroud – will be much more cooperative (coordination) Groups Damgah owners cooperative associations will be all empowered (more knowledge about conservation, and more means available) Environment Co-Management Agreement/s, based on the Site Management Plan (SMP), new values Micro Meso- ? Circulars and orders to behave based on SMP and co-management agreement 4                                                               Damgah owners have their own traditional power in managing their damgahs based on their local knowledge, however a redistribution of power is needed to enable them to enter in conservation and site management.   Empowerment has to be perceived in terms of four forms of "power": Power over- this power involves either/or a relationship of domination/subordination. The second is, power to- this power relates to having decision making authority, power to solve problems and can be creative and enabling. The third is power with- this power involves people organizing with a common purpose or common understanding to achieve collective goals. The fourth is power within- this power refers to self-confidence, self-awareness, and assertiveness. 3 UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project – Project Completion Workshop Proceedings 5 Macro Authorities at provincial level will recognize the community participation in conservation SCWP office in Tehran facilitates consultations and coordination / NGOs, mostly in cities interested in birdwatching, ecotourism or conservation will actively contribute to the site management (funding, approaches & techniques, connections at international level) SMP; co-management agreement, FKD Nonshooting Area (legally defined based on SMP) Three levels of individual, group and environment remind us that any empowerment activity should be focused not only on individuals but on groups and environment as well, mostly for their sustainable impact. Also, these activities are not only at local level (or micro level), but many other empowerment activities have to be organized at Meso and Macro levels. The relationships among these nine cells are of high importance, especially the central one which contains a question mark in this matrix. The group that can fill this cell, has to be well connected and recognized at local level, should have very close relations with individuals and groups at Meso level, and should be able to reach out to officials and NGOs at macro level. This group has to have a facilitating role, to be able to work at "environment" level and create consensus among all stakeholders when necessary. In certain cases, national consultants can play such a role for a short time; sometimes, cooperative associations (in upper cell) or NGOs at macro level (in lower cell) can fill this cell for a shorter time, if they believe that they can act as an intermediate force, but most of the time, such shift in roles does not happen, since damgah owners have their own interests or NGOs have their own plans. Community-based organizations are among the groups that can be able to play such facilitating role in FDK. A CBO is recognized at community level, can establish effective connections at various levels, it has no interest in trapping the birds, while understands better the people in communities, especially in Mazandaran province, where most villages are located very close to each other. COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN FDK Community-based organizations or CBOs are non-profit local groups that work in a community to improve life for residents. In fact, CBOs are grassroots residents' organizations which bring together individuals who live in the same area. The focus is to build a quality across the community in all streams – such as health care, environment, education or access to technology or information for the disabled. A CBO is staffed by local members – community members who experience firsthand the needs within the neighborhood. Besides being connected geographically, the only link between staff members and their interests is often the desire and willingness to help. There is always a reinforced trust among members. The community groups play a major role in creating a social identity among its members. Nowadays, governments are increasingly delegating responsibilities to CBOs and relying on them to gather local concerns, develop solutions, and make planning or monitoring service deliveries. In fact, sustainable development is facilitated by such groups at local communities. However, in Fereydoon Kenar, CBOs can have another main function: facilitation. A community group in Souteh6 was able to expand its activities beyond the village and work at site level. Green Future Institute is an active local youth group that has carried out several projects on nature protection in Souteh and FDK, and is involved in awareness-raising activities in the site. The CBO, local DOE office and the FDK municipality together have actively played a major role in raising people's awareness on the arrival of swans to FDK in 2008. 7 The SCWP had a                                                               6 Souteh village is situated in the area of Fereydoon Kenar wetland, in Barikrood rural district, Fereydoon Kenar district and Babolsar. In 2008, total population of the village was about 1700 people, with about 390 families. The villagers have electricity and natural gas, medical facilities, communication services (post, telephone and internet) with access to the treated piped water (source: Mr Mahmood Mousavian, member of the Green Future Institute). In 2008, many swans spent the winter in FDK instead of moving on as they normally do, on passage (See SMP, 2009). 4 UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project – Project Completion Workshop Proceedings 7 contract with this local group in carrying out awareness-raising activities in FDK in 2008, which was a great step in strengthening the group. Members of the group attended various training workshops and a member of the group participated a workshop on facilitation techniques for local empowerment in Tehran. The group was encouraged to be involved in organizing one of the meetings of the Site Management Committee in Fereydoon Kenar. The national consultant on local participation used a participatory action research methodology8 to help the community members to establish local groups, especially in Roudbast village (the village where most of the people are hunters). Through a series of meeting with young educated people over there, a group was shaped in this village, first with an aim to be involved in promoting the integrated pest management but then they changed their group into an environment advocacy group. They even changed their name into Association of White Siberian Crane Song (Avaz-e Dornay-e Sefid), and they have already started a series of activities in their own village. Another local group is a circle of local artists in FDK that has named itself Friend’s House (Khaneh Doost-e Kenareh as they call themselves) or ECO-ART. They are led by a prominent award-winning local artist, Mr. Khalil Samaee, focusing on environmental awareness in the communities within and surrounding FDK. This local NGO has yet to be officially registered, but has already connected a series of interested persons in FDK. Another local group shaped in Sorkhroud, is Friend of Sorkhroud Environment, which is an unregistered group, set up by Mr. Nasser Ghahremani, who runs a photography shop in Sorkhroud. The group has carried out a series of self-initiated activities in Sorkhroud. Members of these groups have attended some of the Site Management Committee meetings in Fereydoon Kenar and attended certain training workshops. They have done a series of awareness raising activities. They are not depended groups mostly because they have been interested in environmental issues before the consultant started his activities. These CBOs are still young; they need to be more trained and they have to be involved in various local projects; however the groups have good connections with various local authorities, they have to learn more about how to increase their social network. They need to know more about facilitation techniques and opportunities for practicing them. In this way, they will gain a position of a CBO that assists to the implementation of the site management plan through its facilitating and intermediate role. CONCLUSION For a participatory management based on a site management plan, there should be always an empowerment programme too, especially when there are tensions among stakeholders. Local facilitators may be of great importance in bringing various groups of people and local authorities together. However, establishing such groups with dedicated and trained members are time-consuming processes, when they are established and recognized in the community, they play a significant role in connecting groups, facilitating meetings, carrying out information campaigns and advocacy when necessary. They can also be involved in monitoring and facilitation of evaluation workshops at community level.                                                               8 Action research is "a family of research methodologies" which gives equal weight to both research and action. Participatory Action Research (PAR) is one of these methodologies. PAR has a set of values which determine that the research process must be democratic, equitable, liberating, and life enhancing. PAR methodology involves a cyclic, rather than linear process, which generally begins with building a basis for participation by developing relationships between stakeholders and negotiating roles and responsibilities (Dick 1997 and Stringer 1996).   5 UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project – Project Completion Workshop Proceedings In Fereydoon Kenar, the process of empowerment entered into a new phase when such small groups shaped through using action research methodologies in villages, however the groups are yet to be more empowered to play an active facilitating role in near future. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author is very much thankful to the SWCP office in Tehran for its generous assistance in producing the present paper. The author is also grateful to his colleagues, Ms Parvin Pakzadmanesh and Mehdi Almaasi for their assistance in preparing the report. REFERENCES Bhattacharya, Joysankar, 2008. 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Site Conservation Management Plan, Fereydoon Kenar Non-shooting Area, Draft Three (in this paper, it has been referred to as SMP, 2009), The Siberian Crane Wetlands Project (SCWP) office, Iran, 2009. Contact information Saeid Nouri Neshat Email nourineshat@gmail.com 6 UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project – Project Completion Workshop Proceedings