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This study presents an approach to analyzing decentralized forestry and naturalresource management and land property rights issues, and catalyzing collectiveaction among villages and district governments. It focuses on understanding thecurrent policies governing local people’s access to property rights and decisionmaking processes, and learning how collective action among community groups andinteraction among stakeholders can enhance local people’s rights over lands,resources, and policy processes for development. The authors applied participatoryaction research in two villages, one each in the Bungo and Tanjabbar districts ofJambi province (Sumatra), Indonesia, to facilitate identification of priorities throughphases of planning, action, monitoring, and reflecting. This study finds that actionresearch may be an effective strategy for fostering collective action and maintainingthe learning process that leads groups to be more organized and cohesive, anddistrict government officials to be more receptive to stakeholders. A higher level ofcollective action and support may be needed to avoid elite capture more effectively.
