This case study, realized within the framework of the TCP project, concerned a forest zone situated to the north-west of Tunisia. This zone is representative of the problem of natural forest resource management, in which the relationship between state forestry services and users is in full transformation. The new development strategy in the forest setting recommends the setting up of an integrated participatory approach that favours the involvement of the population in the development and management of forest resources. The new forestry code has been revised to create favourable conditions for giving this strategy concrete form.
The case study was interested in identifying activities and measures that encourage the involvement of women in the field of agro-forestry, science and integrated development practice. The logic of integrated participatory rural development adopted aimed in particular to restore or promote, in cooperation with users, the ecological and socio-economic functions of complex and fragile ecosystems. The implementation of this strategy implies appropriate procedures and tools that permit the effective and constructive integration of the population, men and women, in the development process.
The case study presents methodological elements that can enrich the experiences of certain projects with a participatory character as regards taking gender into account in development planning and the use of communication tools that facilitate the active participation of the population. The following recommendations could have a practical significance of great interest:
Transparency and orientation toward the objective: inform men and women in a clear fashion about the work objectives and maintain the presence of this objective in all phases.
Relevance of the information collected: involve the population, men and women, in the collection of information, explaining the utility of this information as the fundamental base of the participatory planning process, and stressing the need for reliability.
Knowledge-sharing: on the basis of inadequacies identified during the phase of data collection, provide the population (women and men) with complementary information capable of increasing their knowledge, particularly on the development potentialities, constraints and possibilities of their zone.
Direct observation: for better awareness and knowledge of the situation, field visits are necessary for, among others, identifying cases that could be used as examples or support (photos).
Stimulation of reflection: it is important to transform key data into easy-to-use "provocative" indicators for the population, and to compare them with local or regional socio-economic reference indicators. During the phase of reproduction, interpretation of and comments on these indicators stimulate participation, facilitate analysis of constraints and underpin the choice of solutions, as well as their listing in order of priority in a reasoned fashion.
Comparison of perceptions according to gender: the reproduction of results at each phase of the participatory diagnosis, in a reciprocal fashion between women and men, to confront prejudices and negative attitudes and to correct them, with particular reference to the involvement of women. It is a question of highlighting complementarities and looking for explanations for differences or discrepancies at the level of perception. The results are then used to sensitize men and women on the usefulness and relevance of gender-based participatory diagnosis and planning. In terms of the exercise, the population, women and men, adopts a common development problematic and adheres to the solutions identified.
To these practical recommendations aimed at the realization of a participatory diagnosis, it is useful to add:
· the essential importance of training the team responsible for the diagnosis, before and after the process, in the use of rapid diagnosis tools and communication with populations;
· the definition of socio-spatial unity, corresponding to the agricultural and forest space in which the population has long exercised its right to exploitation. Forestry legislation, while recognizing the right of exploitation and envisaging the organization of the population in collective interest forestry associations, does not specify limits to exercise of this right of exploitation or the level of organization of users;
· support for the setting up of a local organization capable of ensuring the functions of representing the population (men and women) and of playing a role of authentic partner alongside development operators in the project process.
