(HCVF) Toolkit for Malaysia - HCV Resource Network

Changes are important to consider. Communities’ livelihood patterns evolve. If a given resource from
the forest is being used less and often replaced by alternatives, this may disqualify a resource as
fundamental. This is especially true when people are investing in alternative sources, for example if they
are developing cash crop plantations that will make them less dependant on forest produce for cash
needs. This criterion is especially important for ‘ambiguous’ cases where it is difficult to decide whether a
resource is fundamental or not.
Questions in the table below will help to find out whether the resource is fundamental or not. It provides
an indicator of whether the community has access to replacements to the forest resources or not. Each
resource for which there is no access to satisfying replacement qualifies as HCV 5.
Table 3 – Identifying fundamental forest resources
Village: XXX……………….
Resource (based on Table 2)
(1.) If this need cannot be met from the corresponding
forest resource, are there available alternatives?
(2.) Are these alternatives available
• all year long every year,
• in sufficient quantities to replace
the forest resources
• and in an accessible location by
available means of transportation
(3.) Can the alternatives be obtained for free or would
there be a cost involved? (e.g. cash needed to buy
and transport a replacement, labour and land needed
to start new agricultural activities?)
(4.) Is the cost of alternatives within the reach of all
the people? (e.g. do they have enough cash to buy it,
or do they have enough labour and land to start new
agricultural production as replacement?)
(5.) Is there a trend of change in the dependency
of the people over this resource? For example, are
they less and less using the rivers for water, or is the
collection of forest produce declining?
If there is a trend of change, are the people investing
in substitutes (e.g. developing cash crops, animal
husbandry, etc.)
Are they actively trying to protect the existing
resources?
Are all the members of the community concerned by
these trends or just a minority?
Sub-Group: (based on Table 1) …
Ranking of importance of the forest in
meeting this need (2 to 4), based on Table 2:
List the alternatives here. If there are none, this
resource is HCV 5. If there are alternatives, go
to (2.)
If the answer is no to one of these questions:
there may be HCV 5. If the answer is yes to all
questions, go to (3.)
If the replacement is available for free (for
example, free medicine at village dispensary),
this is not HCV 5. If there is a cost, go to (4.).
If no, then there is HCV 5; if yes, then the need
is not fundamental. If there is ambiguity, go
to (5.)
In case of hesitation over the importance of
a resource, obvious declining trends in the
use of the forest, affecting the community as
a whole may disqualify the forest from being
considered as fundamental, especially if
people are actively investing in new, alternative
resources such as agriculture.
If the community is actively protecting the
forest resources, then it is HCV 5.
If the forest is fundamental in meeting at least one of the basic needs, this is sufficient to qualify the forest
as HCVF under HCV 5.