Beaulieu, N. J. Jaramillo, A. Fajardo, and N.Peñuela 2001. The use of Remote Sensing Imagery in support to Participatory Natural Resources Management. Progress in a case study in the indigenous reserve of Humapo and La Victoria. CIAT internal report

Colfer, C.J.P., Brocklesby, M.A., Diaw, C., Etuge, P., Harwell, E., McDougall, C., Porro, N.M., Porro, R., Prabhu, R., Salim, A., Sardjono, M.A., Tchikangwa, B., Tiani, A.M., Wadley, R.L., Woelfel, J. and Wollenberg, E. 1999. The Grab Bag: Supplementary Methods for Assessing Human Well-Being. C&I Tool No. 6. CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia.The Grab Bag: Supplementary Methods for Assessing Human Well-being is designed to complement The BAG. The Grab Bag is designed for use by social scientists who may find The BAG overly prescriptive. The eight methods presented are either more difficult for non-social scientists to use or, in a couple of cases, can substitute for one or more method presented in The BAG. Again, The Scoring and Analysis Guide provides the user with help in making an actual assessment of the social criteria and indicators, based on the results of these methods.

Ritchie, B., C. McDougall, M. Haggith and N. Burford de Oliveira. Criteria and Indicators of Sustainability in Community Managed Forest Landscapes. CIFOR.This guide is intended to make a contribution to the larger efforts worldwide at improving forest management, human well-being, and the sustainability of natural resources. Three points should be noted by anyone intending to use the Guide:1. As with any such tool, everything in this guide needs to be considered in, and adapted to, the local context in which it is to be used.2. Successful implementation of the approach suggested in this guide relies on adequate understanding of, commitment to, and skills in participatory approaches and processes.3. This is a work in progress. CIFOR and collaborators are continuing work in this area, and we welcome input and feedback on this guide.

McDougall, C., Isbadi, I.R., Santoso, L., Corless, M. and Purnomo, H. (eds.) The CIFOR Criteria and Indicators Resource Book DatabaseThe CIFOR Criteria and Indicators Resource Book Database offers information on attributes; definitions, relevance, method for assessment, how to go about measuring a particular indicator, how to design a sample plot etc. The Resource Book Database is a work in progress at CIFOR and subject to further improvements.

Carberry, P.S., Z. Hochman, R.L. McCown et al. 2002. The FARMSCAPE approach to decision support: farmers', advisers', researchers' monitoring, simulation, communication and performance evaluation. Agricultural Systems, 74:141-177.FARMSCAPE (Farmers', Advisers', Researchers', Monitoring, Simulation, Communication And Performance Evaluation) is a program of participatory research with the farming community of northeast Australia. It initially involved research to explore whether farmers and their advisers could gain benefit from tools such as soil characterisation and sampling, climate forecasts and, in particular, simulation modelling. Its current focus is facilitating the implementation of commercial delivery systems for these same tools in order to meet industry demand for their access. This paper presents the story of what was done over the past decade, it provides performance indicators of impact, it reflects on what was learnt over this period and it outlines where this research is likely to head in the future.Over the past 10 years, the FARMSCAPE team employed a Participatory Action Research approach to explore whether farmers could value simulation as a decision support tool for managing their farming system and if so, could it be delivered cost-effectively. Through farmer group engagement, on-farm trials, soil characterisation, monitoring of crops, soils and climate, and sessions to apply the APSIM systems simulator, FARMSCAPE represented a research program on decision support intervention. Initial scepticism by farmers and commercial consultants about the value of APSIM was addressed by testing its performance both against measured data from on-farm trials and against farmers' experiences with past commercial crops. Once this credibility check was passed, simulation sessions usually evolved into participants interactively inquiring of the model the consequence of alternative management options. These `What if' questions using APSIM were contextualised using local climate and soil data and the farmer's actual or proposed management rules.The active participation of farmers and their advisers, and working in the context of their own farming operations, were the key ingredients in the design, implementation and interpretation of the FARMSCAPE approach to decision support. The attraction of the APSIM systems simulator to farmers contemplating change was that it allowed them to explore their own system in a manner equivalent to learning from experience. To achieve this, APSIM had to be credible and flexible. While direct engagement of farmers initially enabled only a limited number of beneficiaries, this approach generated a commercial market for timely and high quality interactions based on soil monitoring and simulation amongst a significant sector of the farming community. Current efforts are therefore focused on the training, support and accreditation of commercial agronomists in the application of the FARMSCAPE approach and tools.

Colfer, C.J.P., M.A. Brocklesby, C. Diaw, P. Etuge, M. Günter, E. Harwell, C. McDougall, N.M., Porro, R. Porro, R. Prabhu, A. Salim, M.A. Sardjono, B. Tchikangwa, A.M. Tiani, R.L. Wadley, J. Woelfel,. and E. Wollenberg. 1999. The BAG (Basic Assessment Guide for Human Well-Being). C&I Tool No. 5. CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia.The Basic Assessment Guide for Human Well-Being (or The BAG) focuses on the social criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, a topic that has been the subject of considerable controversy and uncertainty. It is designed for people interested in assessing sustainable forest management, but who do not have a high degree of expertise in social sciences. The six simple methods described in this manual are designed for use by biophysical scientists with a college education. They can also be used by assessors with higher levels of expertise in social sciences, but they are presented in a ‘cookbook’ format. The Scoring and Analysis Guide, meant to be used with The BAG, provides additional help in making assessments of human well being, including a specific scoring method. It also provides increasingly detailed levels of guidance in analysis.

Barrios, E., M. Bekunda, R. Delve, A. Esilaba and J. Mowo. 2000. Methodologies for Decision Making in Natural Resource Management: Identifying and Classifying Local Indicators of Soil Quality. Eastern Africa Version. CIAT, SWNM, TSBF, AHI. ISBN: 958-694-013-6.The increasing interest in local soil knowledge is largely due to the realization that farmer communities that have been interacting with their soils for a long time can provide many insights into the sustainable management of tropical soils. A participatory approach, in the form of a methodological guide, has been developed and used in Latin America and Africa to identify and classify local indicators of soil quality related to permanent and modifiable soil properties. This methodological tool aims to empower local communities to better manage their soil resources through improved decision making and monitoring of their environment. It is also designed to steer soil management towards developing practical solutions to identified soil constraints and monitoring the impact of the management strategies implemented to address such constraints. The methodological approach presented here constitutes one tool to capture local demands and perceptions of soil constraints as an essential guide to relevant research and development activities. A significant component of this approach is the collaboration between technical officers and farmers to build an effective communication channel with each other. The participatory process also places considerable emphasis on consensus building among farmers to determine those soil-related constraints that should be tackled first. Such consensus is an important step toward collective action by farming communities if improved soil management strategies are to be adopted at a landscape scale.

Barrios, E, and M.T. Trejo 2003. Implications of local soil knowledge for integrated soil management in Latin America. Geoderma 111 (2003) 217–231.The increasing attention paid to local soil knowledge in recent years is the result of a greater recognition that the knowledge of people who have been interacting with their soils for long time can offer many insights about the sustainable management of tropical soils. This paper describes two approaches in the process of eliciting local information. Case studies show that there is a consistent rational basis to the use of local indicators of soil quality and their relation to improved soil management. The participatory process used is shown to have considerable potential in facilitating farmer consensus about which soil-related constraints should be tackled first. Consensus building is presented as an important step prior to collective action by farming communities in integrated soil management at the landscape scale. Taking advantage of the complementary nature of local and scientific knowledge is highlighted as an overall strategy for sustainable soil management.