Information Dissemination

Before any equal bargaining process can begin, bargainers must understand their rights, duties, and options. Villagers and other forest-dependent peoples are generally less informed than government officials.

In Papua New Guinea, private community-based property rights are in effect in over 90 percent of the country. Although communication between the government and communities has been imperfect, the Natural Resources Options Network proposed by the 1992 Conservation Needs Assessment is one promising model for opening meaningful, informed dialogue in other forest-dependent communities in the six Asian countries studied, as well as elsewhere. (See Chapter IV.) The simple fact is that forest-dependent people make decisions daily that have impacts on the local resource base. Being better informed about the potential impacts of outside developments and about possible choices will, if nothing else, provide them with opportunities to make better decisions.