Engaging Broader Impact through Participatory Action Research on Community-Based Fire Prevention and Peatland Restoration (PAR-CBFPR) to Support Social Transformation and Behavioral Changes

Since 2015 to 2017, CIFOR with support from DFID-UK has extensively worked with local communities and decision makers to comprehend, assess, and communicate the socio-economics and political dynamics of forest and land fire. Afterwards, CIFOR and University of Riau hosted a national dialogue ^[1], attended by leaders and representatives of various government institutions, non-governmental organizations, local communities, and many more. The national dialog successfully communicated CIFOR’s works and increase awareness of stakeholders on the needs to implement participatory approach on fire prevention and restoration efforts. To engage in broader impact of the research, with support from Temasek International Foundation (TF Intl) and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE), a CIFOR team led by Dr. Herry Purnomo teamed up with University of Riau, local government, and local communities. The team is working on Participatory Action Research (PAR), an approach to implement and foster effective, successful, and workable Community-Based Fire Prevention and Peatland Restoration (CBFPR).

The project started on 15 August 2018 with focus in Riau Province. We will primarily work on four phases, 1) Reflection, 2) Planning, 3) Action, and 4) Monitoring where we review best practices related to CBFPR; develop and test practices on peatland restoration and land clearing without using fire; mainstream CBFPR; and communicate best practices, lessons learned, and the success of CBFPR. Our action arena takes place in Dompas Village of Bengkalis Regency. We also disseminate and communicate our works to five other satellite villages for potential scaling-out. Finally, we expect to produce reports, guidelines, and an action area showcasing the PAR-CBFPR process for scaling-up at national level and beyond. We hope the project gradually influence and change the behavior of local communities and beyond in terms of practicing land clearing without using fire, participating on peatland restoration and improving their livelihoods through sustainable business models

[1] https://www.cifor.org/event/national-policy-dialoguelaws-and-best-practices-for-reducing-fire-and-haze/