About ShareCom
History
Social/community forestry remains to be the best approach in sustainable forest management and improving the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities in the Asian Region. Each country exhibits its own brand of programs and activities to realize their social/community forestry objectives. Learning from each other’s experiences and best practices promotes dialogue and stimulates collaboration, as they work to improve the condition of the remaining forests and the plight of the forest-dependent communities in the region.
The traditional ways of conducting fora and similar assemblies may no longer meet the present mode of connectivity and fast-paced nature of development. Current demands of time call for a new avenue to elevate the discussions in social/community forestry, where appropriate innovations, tangible results, products or tools can be shared with communities and other relevant actors. This new setting is envisaged to serve as an important catalyst for collective action among its clientele.
ShareCom For Asia, which stands for “Sharing Lessons, Advancing Collective Action in Community Forestry for Asia,” provides a unique online platform designed to share experiences and distill lessons in community forestry in Asia. It is expected to initiate collaborative seed projects in community forestry that foster collective action in response to expressed needs and priorities for the benefits of local communities and the sustainable management of forest resources.
Established in June 2021, ShareCom is an offshoot of a research project on the assessment of the Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) Program in the Philippines. This Asian-wide online platform is intended to be maintained through the collective efforts of implementors, practitioners, advocates, supporters and students of social/community forestry in Asia.
The concept of ShareCom was conceived during the initial meeting with key stakeholders of social/community forestry in the region, held on 6 July 2021. The participants included University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Forest Foundation Philippines (FFP), The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC), Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). They are convinced that working together and giving something valuable to upland communities are worthwhile causes in the pursuit of forest sustainability and people’s welfare.
The first ever ShareCom for Asia Forum will be held virtually on 15 September 2021. A Steering Committee was organized, composed of well-known practitioners and advocates for social/community forestry in Asia, to oversee the direction and goals of the upcoming and future dialogues. ShareCom For Asia is supported by a Secretariat based at the Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, UPLB, with support from a group of Filipino volunteers from various institutions.
Vision
ShareCom for Asia’s vision is to become a pioneering platform to promote a dynamic dialogue on various social/community forestry issues and initiatives, and use the knowledge and skills gained from it towards achieving sustainable and resilient local community development and forest ecosystem management.
Approach
ShareCom for Asia aims to stimulate discussions among various clientele in social/community forestry, by harvesting the knowledge and experiences they gained from the implementation of research, livelihood and other initiatives in social/community forestry.
This extends the life of and provides greater utility to information that would otherwise end in reports or proceedings. It therefore promotes the “social” and “communal” nature of social/community forestry since learning and skills are multiplied through sharing.
ShareCom For Asia also provides a venue where new initiatives in social/community forestry could flourish, and which the various clientele could easily track. This promotes a seamless dissemination and direct application of innovations, products and tools in solving forestry problems. Accordingly, new perspectives in sustainable forest management are gained, which can be shared again through the platform.
The modality of ShareCom, which takes advantage of the virtual connection through the Internet, lends sustainability and promotes continuing growth to the platform, with minimal cost for its maintenance. Its continuity relies on the commitment of its various clientele to sustain the dialogue, establish collaborations, implement seed projects, and monitor these to further contribute new knowledge in social/community forestry. This cycle is expected to fuel the further advancement of ShareCom.
As an initial activity of the ShareCom, the University of the Philippines Los Baños – Interdisciplinary Studies Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management (UPLB-INREM) will share its Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) Map Atlas in the Philippines, produced through a project funded by the Forest Foundation Philippines (FFP).
The CBFM Map Atlas provides information on the different sites awarded with CBFM stewardship across the 15 regions in the Philippines, including the results of their forest fragmentation analyses. Using the ShareCom platform, the CBFM Atlas will be officially turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Forest Management Bureau (DENR-FMB), which is intended to be part of their suite of tools for CBFM monitoring and evaluation to institutionalize evidence-based policy and decision-making in CBFM. The turnover ceremony was held during the ShareCom for Asia Inaugural Forum on 15 September 2021.