l Understanding and facilitating a biocultural community protocol process 183
Box 7: Key considerations and caveats
to help manage expectations
Box 8: Factors that may affect the
timeframe of a protocol process
• A protocol is not a panacea. There is no guarantee
that all of the issues contained in a protocol will be
sufficiently addressed or resolved.
• The likelihood of realising a community protocol is
influenced by a wide range of factors. However, it is
often most significantly affected by internal factors
such community cohesion, strong leadership and
governance structures, and agency and initiative.
• Unexpected opportunities or consequences may
arise that are directly, indirectly, or not at all caused
by the protocol process.
• Reasons for undertaking a protocol in the first place
• Agency, motivation and capacity for mobilisation
• Internal cohesion and clarity of leadership and
decision-making systems
• Available resources (financial, human, time,
material)
• Existing experience with key methods and tools
• Existing research or documentation of key issues
that will be included in the protocol
• New development project, law or other external
pressure that will significantly affect the community
• Natural disasters
• Illness or family losses
• Elections or changes in political administrations
Managing information
Facilitating a protocol process comes with
the responsibility of managing a lot of
information collected through workshops,
meetings, interviews, desktop research and
so on. As it will form the basis of the protocol itself, it should be documented and
organised in a way that makes sense and is
appropriate in the local context. Some
information such as locations of sacred
sites or potentially lucrative resources may
be sensitive or confidential and require
extra precautions. Being aware of how you
would handle this responsibility from the
outset may improve the overall process.
Documenting the protocol process itself is
also useful to help verify certain information to ensure accuracy, provide evidence
of a particular outcome or agreement, and
facilitate community validation of the
consolidated protocol.
Seeking community agreement for the
protocol process
Drawing on the guidance above, ensure that
the community is clear from the outset about
the protocol process and about the role of the
facilitator. First, the process should be driven
by and for the community, with support from
the facilitator. Even if there is a considerable
amount of organisation and resources being
invested, it is still the community’s protocol
and it is essential that they have ownership
over the process. Second, ensure clarity on
roles and responsibilities for various tasks,
including documenting and consolidating
the protocol. If certain community members
or catalysts commit to key roles, it will
become an initiative of the broader community, distinct from and larger than your role as
facilitator.
CONTACT DETAILS
Holly Shrumm and Harry Jonas
Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the
Environment
479 Jalan Sang Kancil
Kota Kinabalu 88000
Sabah
Malaysia
Emails: holly@naturaljustice.org
harry@naturaljustice.org
Websites: www.naturaljustice.org
www.facebook.com/naturaljustice
www.community-protocols.org