The Problem of Scale in Community Resource

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The Problem of Scale in Community Resource Management Jefferson Fox

EAST-WEST CENTER REPRINTS

Environment Series NO·5

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The Problem of Scale in Community Resou rce Management JEFFERSON POX Environment and Policy Institute East-West Center Honolulu. Hawaii 96848. USA ABSTRACT I Scale i$ a fundamental variable in most commu­ nity resource management programs. This is true both in terms of scale as a management concept (i.e.• local. re­ gional. and national level management) as well as a map­ ping concept (i.e.. units on the map per unit on the ground). Julian Steward. the father of human ecology. recognized as

Scale is fundamental, albeit often unrecogniztd, in most resource management probktnu. This is tru~ both in terms of scale as a management concept (i.e., local, regional, and national level management) as weU as a mapping concept (i.e., units on a,rnap ptf unit on the ground). For example. management strategieJ that are sustainable at the field or farml,evel. (e.g., the use of pesticides and inorpnic fertilizel'S) Illay not be sustain­ able when applied to the wa.tenhed or rqion. Similarly. it is difflCUlt to transla~ studies of local resource man­ agement systems (e.g;, water management, common property regimes) into natio~. poli£ies or to under­ stand the effect of national policies on local processes. Methods for switching scales easily are not weU devel­ optd. Compktx rules of generalization are needed to convert the computerized representation of a simple feature lib a coastline to a larger scale, and it is ex­ tremely difficult to conven to a smaller scale because detail must be added (ACSM 1989). Commu.uty r~urce mana~ent programs oper­ ate on m.. that resollrces are. ma,~ best when the ~pleaft"ected by decisioqs pankipate in the design andimpktmentation of thesed~ions.but flOd­ ing cOrnmQR ground. between government managers and local users of public-domainresources is ditT'M;U1t. Govemmen~ seek to improve the welfare oftbe district or nation. wNkt,viUapJ'S seek to survive as a commu­ nity. Plannen need dace that have been aggregated by administrative areas (coUJuies. provinca. planning re­ gions), whereas villag~rs are concerned with the perfor­ mance ofhouseholds and the use ofindividual pieces of land. Bureaucrats feelpr~ure to expand quickly from

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KEY WOROS: Scale; Community rescuc:e l118tl8QIrI18rl: Geographic information systems: Hierarchy !heoIY

Environmental Management Vol. 18. No.3. pp. 289-297

early as 1950 that social scientists have failed to develop methods for incOrporating the effect of scale In thelf work. This article seeks to determine whether methods used In plant and animal ecology for assessing the effects of scale are applicable to COtl'lmunity resayree management. The arti­ cle reviews hierarchy theory and multiple scales. two meth· ods (one theoretIcal and the other practical) for dealing With problems that span many scales. The application of these methods to community resource management programs IS examined by way of an example.

pil,ot proj~ts to ~~er reliPns. and h~ye dif­ nculty in deaUng with local idiosyncracies. while vil­ lagers are concerntd only with the local ptoject and their own idiosyncracift. To be senUti~4t·tO t~ various spatial perspectives ftom which natiOns and villages view their resource management problems. planners netd. to operate. on different spatial (and sometimes temporal) scales and to exchange information among these levels. Ciramaeuwah Girang typifies a village participating in the soQal forestry program sponsored by the Indo­ nesian State ForestCorporation (Perhutani). A majority of farmen in Ciramaeuwah Girang are landless or pos­ sess extremely smaU landholdings. These farmers rely on state-owned forest land to make up shortfalls in ag­ ricultural production. The soc:iaI forestry program trained the local forest guard in community organiza­ tion techniques. This forest guard has worked with the local f~rs to design management plans that denne the authority, responsibility, and accountability of forest usen and the forest management agency. Management plans bI~e ~~i~pktmen~ fOf.. tll~ si~.·· and famier groupe have taken responsibility fo.r managing these lands. As a result of this program forest-farmer groups in Ciramaeuwah Cirang manage f()res~ today. that were until recently waste land. but from the national ptrspec­ tive many questions exist as to the usefulness of this approach. For example. how generalizable are the re­ sults from this villaF to other viDages in West Java or the rest of the country? How do national ~el forest and economic policies affect land management in this village? Can the lessons learned from this village be used to design management plans for the broader"re­ gion of West Java? l~

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Four decades ago Julian Steward, the father of hu­ man ecology, made the following observations about the role of scale in comm..unity studies: ~05t studies ... treat the community as if it were a primith'e tribe­ that is. as If it were a self