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Adapt the sample scenario and stakeholder roles provided below so the activity is relevant to the
participants’ local context. Consider trying some of the following variations: change the names of
places, communities, and stakeholder agencies; change the main topic of the role play to
something that is important for your community and external actors to understand; change the
guiding questions to explore issues of particular relevance in your context; or change the structure
of the role play, for example, beginning with several small groups, each of which plays the role of
one particular stakeholder.
Ensure that each participant has a copy of the scenario and one of the stakeholder roles. There
should be roughly the same number of people playing each role.
It often takes longer than expected for participants to read through the scenario, stakeholder
roles, and guiding questions. Confirm that they understand everything and clarify as needed
before beginning group discussions.
PROCESS
Divide into small groups of 10-12 people. There are 5 stakeholder roles with different agendas and
interests to pursue. In your small group, divide yourselves into the 5 stakeholder roles, with 2-3 people
to represent each one. Within your stakeholder group, spend 20 minutes discussing your interests and
developing a negotiating position and practical ways forwards based on your stakeholder’s role. With
the other stakeholders in the rest of the small group, spend 40 minutes discussing the issues at hand.
Stick to your stakeholder role and negotiating strategy as much as possible, but also try to work
towards group consensus about practical ways forwards. One of the representatives of the National
Biodiversity Authority role will then present his/her group’s decision to the whole workshop group and
also discuss the challenges in making this decision.
SCENARIO
The Magge are indigenous peoples in Justikana, an island state near Borneo. They have lived in Justikana’s Kinget
Forest for many generations and their ways of life are closely linked to the forests’ biodiversity. They use many of
the unique plants and animals for food, medicine, building materials, and cultural activities. They have a lot of
traditional knowledge about the forest and have many beliefs and customs to help ensure that the natural
resources are used sustainably. The Magge have always shared traditional knowledge and resources with
communities living nearby in the forest.
A non-governmental organization (NGO) called Diversity is Life is working with members of the Magge
community to document their traditional knowledge about the biological and cultural resources of the Kinget
Forest. Diversity is Life has a good working relationship with both the community and the government.
Justikana’s Department of Forestry knows that the Kinget Forest is very valuable and believes that the
presence of the Magge community is harming the forest. The Department thus wants to establish a forest
reserve to protect it for future generations. The proposed forest reserve would overlap with the traditional
lands of the Magge and would make it illegal for the communities to enter or use any of the resources within
the forest reserve. If established, the forest reserve would be under the control and management of
Justikana’s National Parks Authority.
Justikana’s National Parks Authority also knows that the Kinget Forest is very valuable and is obliged to work
with the Department of Forestry. However, the director of the National Parks Authority is not convinced that
the Magge community should be excluded from the forest. Although she is open to discussion with all
stakeholders, she currently does not have enough information about the Magge to be certain that the
community should be allowed to continue to live in the Kinget Forest. The National Parks Authority is also
obliged to work with the National Biodiversity Authority.
The state of Justikana is party to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In order to
ratify the CBD, Justikana’s National Biodiversity Authority has drafted a federal biodiversity law. The draft law
includes a provision for the protection of indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge and customary ways of
life that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. However, this law has not yet
been adopted.