Participatory Forest Management: The experience of foreign‐funded programmes in the Kyrgyz Republic

This paper studies the experience of foreign‐funded programmes aimed at establishing participatory forest management (PFM), primarily in the walnut‐fruit forests of Kyrgyzstan. Having reviewed programme reports, non‐governmental organization evidence and legislation, we argue that the poor performance of these programmes is due largely to incorrect starting assumptions about the feasibility of PFM in the Kyrgyz context and a lack of analysis about locally appropriate forestry regimes. We show that there have been no significant preconditions for realization of PFM mechanisms in the history of Kyrgyz forestry, and their realization has been hampered by the Soviet legacy, strong informal institutions and poverty. We argue that PFM has been introduced without a clear understanding of how it fits in the overall vision of the country's development. Moreover, PFM is not fit for purpose in Kyrgyzstan, as it does not address the root macro‐economic and environmental causes of existing forestry problems. The capacity of local communities should not be over‐emphasized where cross‐sectoral national or even cross‐border efforts are required. Mutual, joint learning of Western donors with local experts is key, and should not be replaced by automatic adoption of imported concepts. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment