Problem overview:

     Awareness and visions: The Solomon Island Forest Protection Unit (FPU) in cooperation with Solomon Island Development Trust (SIDT), a local NGO, have been trying to raise awareness in the area of sustainable forestry to the villagers working in the timber industry. However, they found that their awareness raising programme have not made any changes in behavior, therefore, they have decided to promote programmes that encourage change in behavior instead.

     Integrating stakeholders: Apart from the cooperation between FPU and SIDT, other international organizations such as, Greenpeace Pacific is also involved in this programme. However, the most important stakeholder is the villagers and their participation in the training programmes.

     Training and educational initiatives: A number of educational programmes have been arranged all over the island to raise awareness and later on to train representatives from villages on how to practice eco-forestry.

Background in summary:

     The awareness raising programme: From 1984 to 1994 SIDT traveled throughout the Solomon Islands holding thousands of workshops attended by tens of thousands of villagers. They used the FPU educational materials along with their own publications, dramatic presentations, songs and stories to present the ideas of how commercial logging had caused severe social and environmental damage to the villagers who were contemplating selling their forests.

     Evaluation of the programme reveled disappointing results: An independent evaluating team was brought in to visit the villages and determine how effective the SIDT programme actually was. According to SIDT advisor John Roughen, the evaluators found that all of the participants said there were no noticeable changes in what people in their village (including themselves) actually did on a day to day basis as a result of the SIDT information.

     Introduction of Eco-forestry: The SIDT has since reorganised and is investigating ways to involve village people in action-oriented projects rather than simply information transfer projects. One of these projects, done in association with Greenpeace Pacific, is the Solomon Islands Ecoforestry Programme. The programme assists community groups begin small-scale ecoforestry projects.

     How the eco-forestry training programme worked: The project began in June of 1995. The first step in the programme is a meeting with the people - this might last for a day or two - and select 2 people for training. The training program is 6 weeks long and is held at the Komuniboli Training Centre. There are currently 7 villages participating in the project. Recently, the first shipment of village-produced timber arrived in New Zealand.

     The programme had several constraints:

• Unsteady through put of timber products generated from eco-forestry.
  
  
• Difficulties in transporting timber products overseas.
  
  
• Temptation from investors offering to buy land for large-scale logging.
  
  

Peer Review Committee Good practice rating: (1 for the best, 5 for the lowest score)
Sustainability		Efficiency
3	Improvement in either the environment of economic condition with no harm to the other.	3	Cost efficient.
3	Sustainable over time (not one-off)	Process
Adaptability		2	Participation of the community
3	Location adaptability (can the project be done in other places?)	2	Participation of resource owners/users
3	Socio-cultural adaptability.	2	Partnerships between various actors (Governments, NGO, Academia, Private)
2	Level of development adaptability.	-	Degree of coordination and cooperation between government departments.
3	Style of government adaptability.	2	Ability to attract political interest/support
2	Degree of decentralization adaptability.	2	Procedures for feedback and review.
Comments on this example:      Training and educational initiatives: It is interesting to find out that although the villagers have shown much interest to participate in the awareness-raising programme, and that they have shown significant improvement in the knowledge of sustainable forestry, the did not make changes to their behavior according to what should be practiced. The reasons for such unsatisfactory results could be supported by substance in Awareness and Visions. Fortunately, SIDT decided to conduct an evaluation programme, otherwise, it might not realize at all that the programme did not perform according to expectations. Hence, this could be supporting evidence that it would be necessary to conduct evaluation or feedback programmes after organizing any form of training and educational programme just to reassure that the programme succeeded in meeting the objectives. Sustainability of the project:      Awareness and visions: SIDT has had remarkable success in raising public awareness on many environmental issues, but changing the actual day-to-day behavior of people require more than awareness. Also, it is common that if villagers were living in good conditions and having a steady source of income, say from agriculturing, then the tendency for these villagers to cooperate in sustainable management of resources is high. However, if these villagers were living in rough conditions, struggling for each meal, then they would do anything to keep their families alive, even if it meant unsustainable harvesting or resources. Adaptability of the project to other situations:       The SIDT style of operation is highly adaptable. It has to be as it has weathered severe opposition from top national leaders while still being helpful to government agencies. Process of decision making and implementation:      Integrating stakeholders: In many countries, government officials consider NGOs as adversaries, not allies. In these situations, there is also a noticeable lack of progress towards solving environmental problems. NGOs offer astute government agencies a valuable way to reach out to communities and gain local understanding and cooperation. The Solomon Islands Development Trust has been a positive and dynamic force throughout the Solomon Islands. They work on the entire gamut of environmental issues, from health to pollution, agriculture, forestry and fishing. Cost efficiency: