Community-based Forest Management Policy and the Cultural Practices of the Sama Tribe

The forest management concept is contradictory to Sama’s forest protection and care and spirituality as confirmed by the nature and significance of the eight different rituals identified and the community’s strong confidence in the epitomes of the tribe. The PO formation and establishment of partnership with it and with external agencies under CBFMA erode further the cultural practices of communal sharing and holding of commitment. The cultural practices of the Sama are founded on the values of sharing, commitment, and respect to the environment; CBFM promotes security of tenure and sub-contracting schemes. Sama’s culture asserts no ownership of forest resources; CBFM deputizes PO members as ENRO, cultural practices emphasize the commitment of the entire tribe to protect and care for the environment; CBFM adheres to transparent allocation of monetary gains and to profit-making through commercial plantation, the cultural practices emphasize non-commercialization and non-offering of the forest resources to global competitiveness; CBFM goes for pricing the forest resources, cultural practices adhere to valuing and respecting the forest resources; and CBFM aggresses reforestation through plantation system, the cultural practices encourage non-excessive extraction and allowing the forest to replenish itself. The study concludes that CBFM is incongruous with Sama tribe cultural practices.

Key words – Cultural practices, Sama tribe, community-based forest management, policy analysis.