Snapshots of International Community Forestry Networks: Country ...

Learning from International Community Forestry Networks: India Report
not extend its patronage to the network. It seems necessary to make an effort to include the FD in
international networking and dialogue, so as not to bypass a key player in CF, and thus perhaps reduce the
effectiveness of international networking in India. Within the FD, awareness of international networks was
largely restricted to those officials who were exposed to the academic circuit. An important point to note
about the Indian context is that each state has an independent FD. Therefore the only way to influence the
FD would be to directly target state FDs. This is all the more crucial because there is no internal
mechanism within the FD as a whole whereby information is disseminated horizontally or vertically
through the structure. This means that targeting specific officers in the FD who happen to be interested in
networking can have a limited impact at best, and no wider significance for the FD as an institution.
International networks would need to take into account the modalities of FD functioning for effective and
informed targeting of the FD as an institution.
International networks have had an impact mainly among larger NGOs/institutions and
researchers/academics. This has been mainly in terms of information dissemination, facilitating research,
and capacity building. There has been little tangible impact at the level of grassroots workers, grassroots
communities and at policy level. In contrast, donors such as Ford Foundation and the World Bank, and
indigenous networks like the SPWD-JFM network, seem to have played a greater role in directly pushing
for policy change and facilitating changes on the ground. It is likely that international networks have had an
indirect influence at policy level and at grassroots level, by influencing and capacity building of those who
are key players at policy and grassroots level. For example, IBRAD provides training to a large crosssection
of people that includes FD officials, NGOs and grassroots communities. Influences of international
networks that have fed into IBRAD’s local training programmes would have indirectly reached this crosssection.
Policy recommendations by key individuals at national level may also have been influenced by
exposure to international networks. This kind of indirect impact, however, is intangible, and very difficult
to evaluate. None of the interviewees could pinpoint impacts at grassroots or policy level.
There may be an assumption by international networks, that targeting a few key individuals and institutions
will ensure a wider network influence through a horizontal and vertical domino effect, either indirectly as
described above, or by individuals and institutions actively taking the initiative to disseminate international
network information, or replicate training received from networks. However, given the vagueness of
responses regarding impacts of international networks at grassroots and policy level, this does not seem a
safe assumption. For example, the major direct and tangible result of IBRAD’s and IIFM’s association with
FTPP/RECOFTC was two international training programmes that catered mainly to overseas participants.
There was also facilitation of research at IIFM and IBRAD, institutional capacity building (especially in
terms of training) and in addition individuals went abroad for network meetings where country strategies
were planned (though apparently follow-up was poor) and personal contacts built up. Direct offshoots of
this collaboration were that IBRAD and IIFM began their own international training programmes, which
cater mainly to overseas participants. As far as Indian participation is concerned, it is restricted to a very
small number who have some kind of institutional sponsorship or backing to pay the high cost of the
training.
As described earlier, the training collaboration with FTPP/RECOFTC directly inspired the creation of a CF
Centre at IIFM, to co-ordinate the international training programme and also support local networking
efforts. In addition, the M.P. NRM Network has, to some extent, been facilitated by RECOFTC. In these
two cases (the CF Centre and the M.P. NRM Network), it is clear that international networks have played a
large role in terms of inspiration and exposure to possibilities. These were unplanned off-shoots, which
have the potential to be beneficial at a grassroots level. It seems, however, that a more focussed
intervention by international networks that directly facilitates indigenous networking, or targets a broader
base of people across sectors, albeit through partner institutions, could be more beneficial than relying on
unplanned offshoots. There could be some mechanism in place to ensure a horizontal spread of
international network influence, through activities undertaken by local members or partners. For example,
the two international training programmes (referred to above) on their own would not have had much of an
impact, especially since there was no follow-up done to ensure that the training was being applied at field
level.
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