a strict nature reserve (cagar alam) and
designated as a National Park in 1996.
The research approach
The C&C programme based its methodologi-
cal approach on social science research
techniques and the fieldwork experience of
the anthropological tradition. Most of the
data were collected during two- to three-
month periods in the field and, often,
repeated visits to the same communities
over a period of time. This was especially
feasible for locally recruited researchers.
The strategy rested on a shared long-term
commitment to the object and place of our
study and on our belief that research can
provide deeper and more thorough insights
into local traditions, history, and practices.
The research perspective emphasised the
study of both present and past activities in
order to compare events at different points
in time and find patterns in the ways in
which people had exploited resources and
responded to changing social, economic,
and environmental circumstances over time.
The historical contextualisation of people-
forest interactions was expected to shed
light on circumstances and events that
might have important impact on future deci-
sions for the management of the conserva-
tion area and the development of the sur-
rounding region.
Formal training in interview techniques, sur-
veys, and ethno-historical methods was pro-
vided to project participants. Intense group
discussions were devoted to learning how to
develop a research plan, identify key
research questions, and envision the com-
plexity of the possible linkages between
events or practices and their economic, cul-
tural, social, environmental, and historical
circumstances. In addition, rapid demo-
graphic and socio-economic surveys were
carried out to collect essential baseline data
to better assess the overall context of the
communities in and around the park.
The research stressed team work and col-
laboration among the researchers. The main
objectives were to encourage exchange and
cross-checking of information among
researchers, reinforce the awareness of the
degree of interconnectedness of the
research topics investigated, and build team
spirit. Evaluation sessions on the progress
made in the research were also based on
the participation and input from all the team
members. C&C’s culture-sensitive
researchers and the remarkably open and
hospitable local communities also helped
create a special bonding. Researchers and
communities established and maintained
long-term relations of empathy and genuine
collaboration that remained a salient feature
of the C&C field experience along the years
in and around the Kayan Mentarang area.^5
The research experience of C&C was not,
however, narrowly restricted to the use of
traditional social science methods. It was
under this programme that the first experi-
ments with community sketch maps took
place, which later developed into the com-
munity mapping program, a trademark of
the Kayan Mentarang conservation area.
These maps recorded local people’s knowl-
edge and decisions about land and resource
use, as well as their claims to those
resources.
Assessing the value of a research and train-
ing programme like C&C calls for more than
a long list of remarkable products, achieve-
ments, and initiatives carried out under its
auspices. The interconnectedness of the pri-
orities of the research agenda with those of
the conservation area requires that the
research output be evaluated in terms of its
contribution toward the achievement of the
national park management objectives. It is
important to discern what themes and
issues have emerged most forcefully from
the reports, and what they tell us about
local management and practices, environ-
mental knowledge, and people-forest inter-
actions. It is also necessary to assess
History, cculture aand cconservation
