on trust, cooperation, and responsibility.  Stage 5 is inextricably linked to the rights of 

participants and thus the possession of power and authority for local decision making. 

Stage 6.  Self Determination:  In public participation terms, self determination is the equivalent 

of true community based planning and project implementation, ostensibly free from political 

influence or outside determination. 

An important lesson to be learned from this process is that not all systems of participation are 

the same.  Consequently, this requires proponents of participation to be very specific about 

what will be required of participants.  The correct process for participation is situation and 

context specific; there is no one right or wrong way for all situations.  In some circumstances, 

participation approaches based exclusively on information gathering will be appropriate, while in 

other instances, multi stakeholder processes may be required.  To date, most public 

participation processes have been applied in the form of Stage 2 or 3 consultative participation, 

which in Arnstein s (1969) terms, only serves the purpose of tokenism, merely paying lip service 

to the requirement of participation.  Poorly conceived participation often results in unnecessary 

conflict and confrontation. 

Multi stakeholder processes are a "... vehicle for involving ordinary people in the stewardship of 

natural resources, and for promoting attitude and behavior change in all sectors" (Donaldson 

1994). A multi sectoral approach to natural resources management requires a multi stakeholder 

process within which to work.  Without these processes, there is no mechanism for cultivating 

effective involvement and ownership of the issues.   

In NRMP's work at Bunaken National Park (Chapter 3), for example, the public consultation 

process was inadequately conceived.  Consequently, a Stage 3 consultation scenario occurred. 

The Bunaken Forum Koordinasi of local stakeholders was formed by had limited or no decision 

making power.  As a result, it failed to develop into a sustained and functioning body.  In 

contrast, the Partners' Consortium Forum (Forum Kemitraan) for Gudung Gede Pangrango 

National Park near Jakarta had the authority to set goals and make real decisions, and thus 

appears to continue to function effectively (Wahyudi 1996). 

Although most donors require participatory processes as part of their project designs, there 

have been no clear examples of management plans in Indonesia that were formulated to 

provide the necessary skills to implement these processes by conservation organizations.  

Some management plans have, however, addressed the importance of this issue by setting the 

preliminary design stage for a second phase management plan revision to be made during 

implementation with local stakeholders.  However, multi stakeholder processes will require 

management and understanding of a wider range of issues and skills than is currently utilized by 

most proponents of public consultation.  These skills include: 

An understanding of the process of group formation among stakeholders and group 

dynamics to avoid collapse of groups as they struggle to define their purpose 

An extraordinary level of communication skills, including non verbal communication and 

active listening skills 

Knowledge of how to use information to alleviate frustration that can arise from dealing 

with complex issues 

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