Participatory, Learning and Action (PLA) Resource Guide for Practitioners: To Build, Enhance and Promote Resource Conservation and Management

摘要

In the past, the experts in development organizations mainly initiated development at the community level. Community consultation, if any, was limited to the community leaders who were often older men. Most of the people in the community were generally excluded from the decision-making processes on issues such as land-use, natural resources and fisheries management. As a consequence, these centralized approaches to management were often not successful and did not gain peoples support. Several environment and resource management agencies as well as the local Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG) recognized the differences in interest, use and users, and knowledge of the marine environment and its resources from various groups of people in a community. Therefore to ensure stakeholder participation, the use of participatory tools for information gathering, planning, decision-making, monitoring and evaluation is very important. Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) is a community action program that engages all sectors of the community, especially women and youth.