Roles and Capacity Building Needs

14 RECOMMENDATION 7: Improvement of simple and accessible media for distributing knowledge and approaches is needed, as well as improving understanding of ThCCSP views and perspectives on some sensitive issues

3. Roles and Capacity Building Needs

After stakeholder analysis and identification of key stakeholders, the key roles in CF were identified as illustrated in table 4. Table 4 Identifi ation of key stakeholders’ apa ity uilding at personal and organizational level No. Key Stakeholder Organization Network Capacity Building at Personal Level Capacity Building at Organizational Level 1 RFD Provincial Officers CF Provincial and ‘egio al Ce ters CF Officers ProvincialRegional Study and Development Center for CF Provincial Center Extension Center for CF Regional Center 2 Sub-District Administrative Organizations Sub-district Administrative Officers Sub-District Administrative Orga izatio s ‘eprese tati es Sub-District Administrative Organizations 3 Educational Institutes - Faculty of Forestry, KU Bachelor Students in Faculty of Forestry with majority of Community Forestry Parallel Degree Program Community Forestry and Sociology 4 NGOs regional networks on Natural Resources and Environment CF Network Coordinator Regional Level [Not targeted for CAB] 5 International NGOs Rak Thai Foundation, WWF, IUCN Field Practitioner Community Leader 6 Local NGOS Field Practitioner Local Young Leader Local NGOs 7 Community-based Organizations Networks Local Facilitator Community Leader Young Leader Community-based Organizations Networks As seen in Table 4, key roles for capacity building have been identified at individual and organizational levels. There are 9 roles that were identified through interviews of key stakeholders and therefore targeted at key stakeholders i di idual apa ity building. Based on the interviews and the consultation meeting, these roles require the competency as described in nine categories. These categories are taken from the guidelines for capacity assessment used for all 15 countries in which RECOFTC has commissioned capacity assessments. The findings of required competencies for the different roles are presented in table 5. Table 5 Individual Roles of Key Stakeholders with required levels of competencies. Competency Category C F O F F IC E R “A O “ R E P R E S E N T A T IV E “A O “ O FF IC E‘ C F Y O U N G G R A D U A T E LO C A L Y O U N G C F LE A D E R S F IE LD P R A C T IT IO N E R C O M M U . D E V E LO P T . F IE LD P R A C T IT IO N E R C O M M U N IT Y L E A D E R LO C A L F A C IL IT A T O R 1. Community forestry policy and planning 3 3 3 3, 4 3 3 3, 4 3, 4 3 2. Sustainable community forest management - - - 3 - - 3 - - 3. Forest resources assessment 2, 3 - - 2, 3 1 1 2 1 1 4. Participatory action research 2, 3 2 2 2, 3 2 2, 3 - - 2 5. Socio-economic and cultural assessment 2 2 2 2, 3 - 2, 3 2, 3 - - 6. Sustainable development and conflict management 2, 3 2 2 2, 3 - 2, 3 2, 3 2, 3 2, 3 7. Awareness, public relations and advocacy - 1, 2 - 2, 3 2, 3 2, 3 2, 3 2, 3 2, 3 8. Individual capacity development and training - - - 3 - 3 - - 3 9. Program development and project management 3 3 3 3 - 3 3 3 3 Remark: There are five skill levels, from strategicpolicy planning to semi-skilled people with good local knowledge. These levels form the basis for defining the skills requirements for the community forestry roles. Community members with little formal education play an important role in community forestry management. The assessment of skill levels should be based primarily on the type of work and level of responsibility and on experience and not on educational attainment alone. The five skill levels are Level 1=semi-skilled persons with good local knowledge relevant to community forestry; Level 2 = capable of field level supervision of prescribed activities; Level 3 = capable of planning and leadership of prescribed activities; Level 4 = capable of planning, conducting and evaluating activities at a scientific level; and Level 5 = capable of high level strategic and policy planning at national, regional and global levels. See Annex 1, for more details on the capacity requirements for each role. Individual Capacity Needs Assessment Using the procedure for individual competency assessment, capacity gaps are identified and mechanisms or approaches to fill the gaps are proposed for each skill in different 16 competency categories and levels. Capacity development needs for the individual roles of key stakeholders are presented here. 1 Community Forestry Officers CF officers in this report refers to the heads of the CF Extension Centers under RFD and the CF Study and Development Centers under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, or their assistants with forestry backgrounds. They should be targeted in capacity development. Each center has 5-15 staff who have general skills in agricultural extension, and sufficient general knowledge and skills in community forestry policy and planning. With regards to the community forest management process, they may have limited experience in systematic monitoring of forest resources, and impact assessment in all aspects ecology, social, economic, culture. They are able to produce case studies. To improve their capacity, the following activities are suggested:  Develop collaborative research with Community Forestry Office RFD, and select potential regionalprovincial centers as the field sites with the focus on natural resource management and networking  ThCCSP should collaborate with an education institute to develop certificate course with distance learning approaches including using the internet in Participatory Action Research, Sustainable Development and Conflict Management. This can be carried out through consultation and collaboration with the staff from the Faculty of Forestry.  Develop self-learning manual for assessing resources, and socio-cultural and economic impacts from community forestry. Sub-district Administrative Organizations SAOs At present most SAOs limit their performance to accepting project proposals from villages in its administrative area. Only a few are actively supporting community forest management. Most SAOs lack capable staff that can support community-based natural resource management. SAO leaders and staff should understand the concept of community- based natural resource management, including the status of natural resources in their administrative area. A working team could initiate visits to the communities and help to establish a planning and monitoring mechanism to ensure sufficient support and collaboration for CBNRM. Support could focus on building the necessary expertise through training, group establishment, financial support beyond the SAO budget, and encourage the collaboration among SAOs to strengthen CBNRM. There are two target groups in a SAO: the representatives who have been elected by each village and the officers who are responsible for planning and policy. 17 2 SAO Representatives and 3 SAO Officers In order to build capacity of the SAO representatives and officers, there is a need for institutional commitment from the Ministry of Interior, particularly the Department of Local Administration Development. The important competency categories are: community planning and policy, PAR, impact assessment, and project management for both representatives and officers. In addition, basic level of awareness raising and policy advocacy is important for SAO representatives. ThCCSP should synthesize lessons and experiences from its past projects and from other projectsprograms working on good governance in natural resource management, and then develop and distribute media and materials. Formal training with field visits organized by ThCCSP can be a major tool for individual capacity building. 4 Young CF Graduates Most lecturers in the community forestry major program are active in working with ThCCSP in research and educational development as part of an institutional commitment. Therefore, collaboration in PAR and Landscape Management would be another mechanism to develop the capacity of students and lecturers as well as the body of knowledge among ThCCSP staff. ThCCSP in collaboration with faculty of forestry and other funding agencies can develop field-based learning projects to provide formal training and small grants to the fourth year students to carry out PAR in community forestry. ThCCSP staff and the faculty staff can also develop materials on new subjects, and develop curricula for courses i sele ted topi s or subjects. In addition, there are many courses and subjects in other academic institutions which relate to community forestry or CBNRM. Although this may not be a priority at this period, the ThCCSP should identify these institutions and distribute their materials to them. 5 Local Youth Leaders This group comprises the youth who are members of the communities managing their natural resources, including community forest management. They often have local knowledge and are familiar with their natural resources. As experienced in many communities, working with young people increases their awareness of their locality and resource base. Community research is an effective strategy in such cases to support learning. In addition, ThCCSP may develop a program on youth development initiatives to support good ideas and activities to work and learn within their locality related to sustainable development and natural resource management. 18 Lo al leaders ha e suggested a approa hes to support ou g leaders apa it development, including integration of NRM in curricula in local schools, field trip, youth camps, and community research. 6 Field Practitioners Local NGOs Local NGOs have developed from rural development work in the past half century. Many subscribe to the view that inequality in access to natural resources and and the centralized control over resources by the government and their agencies are major causes of poverty. Therefore supporting community forest and natural resource management by local communities themselves are viewed as an important strategy in community development. Community forest management, is also a tool for strengthening communities in sustainable development. In order to increase their capacity in forest assessment, the practitioners may need technical assistance on a long-term basis. In addition, collaborative research based on their present work and interests can be another tool for building their capacity. 7 Field Practitioners International NGOs Projects of international NGOs focus on international concerns such as climate change, landscape restoration, and biodiversity. They need high levels of competency to achieve their work, so they often sub-contract academics and local NGOs to carry out specific tasks such as bio-diversity assessment, and impact assessment. Although they are interested in developing the capacity of their field practitioners , they work under very tight schedules leaving little time for capacity development. INGO practitioners should have basic knowledge and skills in most competency categories, except research-types of competency which are time consuming. This can be increased by on-site training or training upon request. In addition, producing text, media, and manuals will be of benefit for coordinators or managers to use in sharing forums for their staff. 8 Community Leaders Village leaders might be chiefs of the village, community elder, etc. For village leaders, the important qualification is the understanding of the resource base in the community while management skills might be various according to their experiences and preference. At least, village leaders who manage community forest, should have the right vision of community forest management and conception of community forest management based on existing resources. An important issue for the village leader is to promote the young generation to take roles in community forest management and harmonize their livelihoods with nature. The village leaders should give an opportunity to the young generation in learning and development of the community planning and implementation processes. They should be educated both within the local area and outside, to follow the developments not only in the local area but also at regional, national and global level such as the impacts from global warming etc. In the present era, the community leaders are expected to share their good pra ti es i poli ad o a a d egotiatio with local stakeholders and beyond. 19 9 Local facilitators community leaders and resource users This group is the working age group, in the range of 30-40 years old who mainly take responsibility for getting income for their family livelihood. Owing to their maturity, they usually have good capability to participate in community forest management and distribution of their knowledge and skills to others both local people and local stakeholders. Usually, they have a sound knowledge of local natural resources, supporting groups, and linking the other learning networks. If their work is situated within the community area, they may be the major group of working for community forest. The limitation of this category of people are the limited opportunities to increase their knowledge or exchange their experience with outsiders because of their family obligations. To assign them to be facilitators within the community area might be the most appropriate action. Building their capacity within the local area can be arranged by requesting support from associated organizations such as forestry officers, educational institutions, ThCCSP, etc. They thus will have an opportunity to develop themselves, as well as contribute to the development of community forest management. With their direct and long experience in community forest management, they can transfer their knowledge and community history to the new generation who will substitute for them in the future. Eventually they may become the consultants for the next generation of foresters in the community.

4. Summary of Priorities and Recommendations for ThCCSP