‘If you saw it with my eyes’: collaborative research and assistance with Central American forest steward communities

A new conservation actor, the forest steward community, is emerging in Central America as an effective collaborator in forest conservation. An innovative participatory research in Guatemala and Nicaragua was conducted aiming to strengthen community capabilities in natural resource management. A Grassroots Assistance Project trained community members to document and critically reflect upon local experience with forest management and external assistance. Together with regional context studies undertaken by professional researchers, these local ‘autosystematization’ studies made possible comprehensive documentation of the multiple dimensions of communities’ resource management, identification of their strengths and vulnerabilities and discussion of future strategies.