The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

manipulated to serve someone’s personal agenda). For thisreason, it is extremely important that a communication strategy isput in place to ensure that information reaches intendedrecipients, and that recipients have a chance to provideconstructive feedback. In rural environments, suchcommunication can take the form of meetings, printed materials(in which distribution must be overseen), and radio. It will beimportant to have a clear communication strategy, not onlyregarding the method of communication, but also content.Designing a communication strategy and managing disseminationof project information will therefore be tasked to people andorganizations with skills and experience in this area.Community Organizing. Motivating and engaging people to workcollectively to improve their social situation is central tocommunity organizing, and to the success of the Rimba Raya socialprograms. In each community there is likely to be someone whohas naturally taken on this role (e.g. kepala dusun), but it will beimportant that community organizing is not left solely in the handsof this individual, for risk that certain individuals or groups will beexcluded or ulterior motives promoted. Individuals with expertisein community organizing will therefore be involved in the projectto guide the process (including mentoring of existing and emergingcommunity leaders) and oversee that community engagement inthe project is successful.Conflict Resolution. In addition to a number of current conflictsbetween communities and oil palm companies in the Project Zone,the Rimba Raya project will likely experience other conflicts duringproject planning and implementation. Mediating such conflictsand guiding people through to resolution is a specialized skill thatwill be required onsite. A formal conflict resolution process will bedeveloped and implemented, including a system for people toreport conflicts and an individual or group with specialized skills inthis area to manage issues as they arise.Community Mapping. The clear definition of property boundariesand important natural resource and cultural areas will beundertaken early in project development. A number of goodreference guides exist to guide communities through this process,but someone with experience in this area will be needed to leadthe process. Some basic technical skills required for this includeuse of a GPS, compass, map reading, and ability to follow aninstruction guide. The leader(s) of community mapping must alsobe skilled in community engagement and organizing to motivatelocal communities to participate in mapping activities.Community Development. As a community needs assessment iscarried out, some community development ideas will begin to takemore concrete form. A specialist in livelihoods development willbe engaged during this process to help determine the feasibility ofvarious development ideas (see Section G3.2) and to stimulatenew ideas. Specialists in specific areas of interest will also beengaged (e.g., an agronomist for agricultural programs, fisheriesexpert for freshwater fisheries management, and veterinarian foranimal husbandry projects, etc.)Community Monitoring. A community monitoring program (seeSection CM3.1) will be set up by someone with experience in thisarea to ensure that design, data collection, and analysis areestablished properly and provide useful data to the adaptivemanagement process. Once the monitoring program isoperational, survey work can be conducted by individuals withminimal technical skills, but analysis and management in the188