Appreciating Local People's Knowledge is the Entry Point to Participatory Forest Resources Management in the Sudan

摘要

Like many other countries, the failure of state's intervention to manoeuvre 'good governance' through the reservation procedures led to a situation where Sudanese forest resources became 'common-pool resources'. Hence concerned institutions progressively believe that foresters must relinquish the 'policing position' and instead facilitate a concerted and collective action by all stakeholders to sustainably manage forest resources. The critical questions are, to what extent do rural people share the perception of the 'forest' with interveners? How does variation in perceptions influence their management strategies? Can local people's knowledge contribute to facilitation of participatory sustainable management of forest resources? This study is written on the basis of empirical data collected from various individuals, groups and institutions involved in forest resource management in the Sudan. Deploying a sampling strategy based on the 'purposive sampling' and 'theoretical saturation point' a total of 165 key informants were selected from three rural locations. The study opted for the case study as the main methodological approach. Nonetheless, for the development of the cases, a combination of methodological instruments such as literature and archive study, unstructured and semi-structured interviews, group discussions and participant observation, were used iteratively. Data collection and analysis were performed involving exploration of ideas with people. The findings of this study exemplified how the behaviour of rural communities as concerns the 'forest' has been oriented and guided by their perceptions and beliefs. A characteristic of forests/trees is that their social values are appreciated differently by various social actors at various locations in time and space. In addition to the fact that trees provide food, shade, fuel; they are useful in their spiritual dimensions as well. Local people's knowledge and spirituality might provide a basis to facilitate 'collective action' to sustainably manage forest resources.