Community Based Monitoring (CBM) as a driver for recognition of local voices

Community-Based Monitoring (CBM) is recognized as a valid approach for data collection on biodiversity and climate effects. Strengthening of local communities agency in discussions on forest policy and recognition of land rights are well established as common co-benefits of CBM. Building on this experience, civil society organisations like Danmission have been using CBM as a tool to advocate for inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities in forest governance. In this context, data of relevance to conservation and climate-resilience has been secondary to the recognition of local voices in decision making processes on management of local and national resources. The characteristics and potential of CBM programmes, designed specifically to drive local and national policy changes, remain underexplored. 

Drawing on experiences from Danmission programmes in Cambodia, Lebanon, Myanmar, Tanzania, and Kenya, we examine the design of monitoring programmes aimed primarily at advocacy and explore the degree to which the programmes supported the agency and recognition of local communities in environmental governance.

Through interviews with engaged communities and programme managers, the objectives of the Danmissions CBM-programmes, and the design choices made to support them, have been mapped. The the level of engagement generated by publication of monitoring results, has been mapped through interviews and analysis of media engagement.

The study shows that CBM programmes designed for advocacy are still generating high-quality, nationally and internationally relevant data, that contribute to monitoring national and global biodiversity targets. The agency of local communities is in turn strengthened by their ability to provide valuable input to these processes. CBM can also greatly increase national and international media attention on environmental governance, which in turn strengthen the recognition of local communities voices in public debates regarding natural resource management. Lastly, the study highlights the potential for CBM data to inform the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).

The results show that CBM can be effectively used as a tool to enhance local recognition and agency in its own right.