Stakeholder engagement in social learning to resolve controversies over land-use change to plantation forestry

Social learning: A knowledge and capacity building approach for adaptive co-management of contested landscapes

“…The aim was to see if conflict could be reduced through collaborative efforts to develop improved management practice between diverse rural industries. This was based on criteria rated as important in early open meetings with the local community; being improved biodiversity and conservation outcomes, productivity improvements and socio-economic benefits to the local community (detailed in Leys and Vanclay, 2010b). This paper reports on the final stages of the study to present a synthesis of interdisciplinary methodologies that worked, as well as report on limitations and challenges that presented through both researcher and participant observation and evaluation techniques.…”

“…The social learning group was established in the form of a Participatory Advisory Committee (PAC) that could report findings back to the community and broader plantation forestry industry to place social pressure for change towards more sustainable forest management practice, although there was no formal responsibility for industry to act (Leys and Vanclay, 2010b). Recommendations in the form of peer reviewed technical reports were also fed to representatives of local, state and federal governments in an effort to improve their understanding of impacts of the MIS retail forestry policy on rural communities that had been legislated under Australian taxation law.…”

“…Experiential learning was used where concrete experiences led to reflection, in turn leading to abstract conceptualisations of new ideas, supporting research by Giupponi et al (2006) and Muro and Jeffrey (2008). A detailed account of the adaptive comanagement practices recommended by the PAC can be found in Leys and Vanclay (2010b).…”

“…It also covered questions on usefulness of learning techniques such as modelling, incorporation of local and expert knowledge and fairness to contribute, as well as levels of empowerment, time efficiency and usefulness of findings to the community as criteria. Furthermore, questions were asked in regards to attitudes and future opportunities for the plantation industry (the survey forms available in Leys, 2011). The final evaluation surveys were conducted after the largest plantation forestry company operating in the catchment (Forest Enterprises Australia) was suspended from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange (3 March 2010), however prior to voluntary administration (14 April 2010) and appointment of receivers (15 April 2010).…”

“…These sources included local experience, invited expert opinion and scientific research with a detailed figure of results available in Leys and Vanclay (2010b). The identification and exploration of value-adding processing for plantation timber waste was highly regarded by participants.…”