Peoples" institutions for forest and fuelwood development : a report on participatory fuelwood evaluations in India and Thailand

Reported here are the results of two evaluations - conducted not by the usual external experts, but by farm families and other local residents - of fuelwood projects in, respectively, a hill area of northern India, and a rainfed rice-growing area in Thailand. The evaluations" conclusions differed widely - sometimes diametrically - from those of external evaluation teams. This report presents the evaluations" methodologies, detailed findings, and policy and action recommendations, and points out several lessons common to both evaluations, among them the following. (1) Since individual villages can differ widely in social and biophysical features affecting forest and fuelwood development, projects should be specifically tailored to the village level. (2) The folk knowledge of forestry possessed by villagers (especially by women, who bear the greatest fuelwood-related burden) is often a neglected resource in project planning and management. (3) The importance of developing an atmosphere of trust and partnership between villagers and the government must not be underestimated. The report includes recommendations for strengthening the capacity of local institutions to participate in project planning, implementation, and evaluation.