|
|
 |
 |
|
| Strategies and principles of ACAP |
Conservation and development issues in rural areas are multifaceted and diverse. Therefore, a targeted approach to a single issue might not be very effective. For example, deforestation in rural areas has become a common phenomenon because rural people very much depend on forest resources. But the issue of deforestation cannot be tackled just by excluding the local people from the forest. Deforestation might have been caused by lack of alternative source of energy, population growth, lack of management, overgrazing etc. Thus, projects must be designed in a way that fulfils the local needs and at the same time motivates the local community to participate in these initiatives.The programme implementation must be flexible and open to revision according to the local situation. The intervening agency must change its role from that of implementing to facilitating financial and technical support that helps to foster local ownership, build local institutions and long-term sustainability.
Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) follows three guiding principles:
- People's participation should be maximized through local institutions and local ownership.
- The intervening organization should act as a catalyst.
- Sustainability can only be reached through careful integration of conservation and development initiatives.
|
|
| Maximize people's participation |
The change in the development paradigm from top-down to bottom-up in the 1980s brought in words like "participation" and "community involvement". Participation has often become the buzzword in the official discourse of development. In practice, its real meaning varies from using people as labourers on government driven community development projects to getting stakeholders directly involved in in designing projects and programmes. Participation is also defined as a process of empowerment. However, participation for a local community is nothing less than the way of rural social life which has been followed for generations. Whether it is constructing a trail to a village, maintaining an irrigation canal, ploughing or harvesting a private agro-field, villagers do have traditional systems of cooperating with each other which projects should take advantage of.
Local people understand village needs in an integrated way and much easier than governments or other agencies from their distance. For successful activities, three things need to be considered:
- Participation of people to improve their capacity for their own development
- An integrated approach in the design and implementation
- A devolution of power to mobilize people
However, participatory processes require certain investments of time and resources. Creativity and managerial resourcefulness are often necessary for full local participation.
ACAP involves local people in all stages of its conservation and development initiative. They are considered as partners rather than obstacles.
|
|
|
| Build ownership |
Local ownership helps to increase people’s participation and ensures sustainability. In general, maximizing local responsibility and authority results in higher effectiveness of projects.
Forest management presents a good example of ownership. Before declaration of ACA, the forest resources were owned by the government. Every citizen with a valid permit had rights to harvest forest resources from the area. The villagers did not have any influence on forest use decisions made by the government. With the establishment of ACA people were gradually handed over the responsibility. At present, they have developed a strong feeling of ownership of the forest. They do not allow anyone including villagers to misuse forest resources. Through conservation committees, the villagers have made specific rules and regulations on the use and management of the resources. The committees have banned the felling of standing trees, allowing villagers to collect only dead and dry wood which is relatively time consuming. However, the villagers are happy with this rule because they have seen significant improvement on the forest condition.
Another good example is the establishment of micro hydropower plants. The villagers are actively involved in planning and construction. They contribute both cash and labour. The plant is handed over to the local management after successful commissioning. The village electricity management committee is given overall responsibility of management including decision making on tariffs, appointing a manager and two operators, end use planning, monitoring the use and misuse of electricity, maintaining and repairing the plant in regular intervals etc. The majority of the micro hydropower schemes in ACA have been well operated by the local committees. All the electricity users are regularly paying the tariff. ACAP’s presence within the village proximity for regular consultation or during an emergency has assisted in the successful operation.
|
|
|
|
|
 | |
|
|
