Participatory Action Research (PAR)

Research is a cornerstone of sustainable management of forests, including social forests. If the research is conducted in a sound manner then it can go some way to ensuring, for example, well informed policy development, with implications for livelihoods for those living in and around the forests.

Research in Social Forestry (SF) must examine the key fundamentals of the operating environment of SF, and SF’s impacts on environmental, economic and social levels. Of key importance is using the appropriate research method, on a scale that makes the results valid with the ultimate aim of developing knowledge and improving understanding of, in this case, social forestry.

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is one such method. This method is notable in social and environmental, including forestry, research in that the research process itself is designed to have direct positive impacts on the research group (i.e. the process is as important as the research results). It also helps improve analytical skills of AMS researchers.

General objective: Capacity building at the national level on participatory action research to support existing knowledge, best practices and available data in social forestry at national and ASEAN levels.

Specific objectives:

1. Develop basic framework and skills for field participatory action research among officers from the Forest Department and partner agencies (e.g. Forest Research Institutes)

2. Collect and analyze social forestry situation in different sites to identify key success factors and hinders for social forestry practices 3. Build research capacity among government officers and partners

For more information on progress of PAR activities in Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, please find it here