This book is a report of a short-term research project. The project aimed to test an approach for estimating local values for landscape units and relate these to formal biodiversity conservation values in Gorongosa National Park (GNP), Sofala Province, Mozambique. First section describes the research site selection and gives short descriptions of the chosen sites: Muaredzi and Nhanchururu. Second section is about the community landscape valuations, includes also the methods and results concerning conceptual models, spatial data sets, and participatory community assessments.

Tulisan ini disusun untuk membantu pihak-pihak yang tertarik bekerja dengan kelompok-kelompok kecil (biasanya suatu masyarakat atau kelompok dalam masyarakat) untuk membantu mereka mencapai tujuannya. Tulisan disusun atas dasar berbagai literatur tentang pengelolaan hutan dan sumberdaya alam berbasis masyarakat, pengalaman menjadi katalisator aksi kolektif di lebih dari 30 masyarakat di 11 negara dengan menggunakan suatu pendekatan yang disebut Adaptive Collaborative Management (ACM); dan pengalaman mendorong aksi kolektif dua kelompok masyarakat di Sumatra.

Since President Soeharto stepped down, decentralization has offered a better governance system for this nation of more than 220 million people of varied ethnic groups spread over more than 15,000 islands. Despite its potential, implementation of decentralization has been riddled with unexpected problems. Decentralization turned out to have created problems, ranging from conflicts among people who refused regional fragmentation, conflicts between newly-created districts and the original, larger district from which they were created, and between local and central government.

This report identifies which resources and landscapes are important to the Batak people. It also documents their perceptions and priorities regarding forest management. By playing close attention to the Bataks’ perspectives, the “Levelling the Playing Field” project (LPF) is able to better understand their opinions and hopes for the present and future use of their natural resources.