TEACHER

1. TEACHER

2. PUBLIC RELATION OFFICER

3. PUBLIC RELATIONS IN FOREST MANAGEMENT: EXPERIENCE FROM SRI LANKA  By MANGALA DE ZOYSA Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty of Agriculture University of Ruhuna SRI LANKA The Kik-Off-Meeting: "PR Professional for Forest Sciences" SWITZERLAND May 12th ~ 15th, 2002

4. INTRODUCTION • Forest resources: • 85% before 1881 - depleted ~ 44% in 1950 and 24% presently • Due to land use, population, settlements, socio-economic change and illicit felling • 60% of forestland (895,000 ha.) degraded land • PR has gained recognition in Forest Management • PR consider as tool for: • Damage Control • Crisis Management • PR gives professional status to professional practice   Con…...

5. Forest Authority in Sri Lanka is still: • Consider PR less important • Less understand PR functions • Little understand PR scope and skills of Forester • And, there is no PR division • Important to discuss need for strategy concepts for effective PR

6. THE PUBLIC • A group has actual or potential interest in or impact on FA • Facilitate or impede FA to achieve goals

7. A.Media Public • Newspapers, magazines, radio, television station • Facilitate better media coverage for forest related news • Favorable news features on new management strategies

8. B. CITIZEN - ACTION PUBLIC • Citizen's organization, Environmental groups, NGOs etc. • Control unforeseeable practices and conditions • Eg: Intensive logging of natural forest according to Forest Master Plan in 1986 was criticized

9. C. LOCAL PUBLIC • Forest neighborhood residents and Community organizations • Very important to control encroachments and illicit felling • Main actor in forest resource management

10. D. GENERAL PUBLIC • Concern towards environment, forest products & services, management practices etc. • Eg: Logging ban in natural rain forest in 1990 • Need to have strong corporate citizen's image

11. PUBLIC RELATIONS • A broad operation rather than a narrow communication •  Establishes and maintains mutual beneficial relationships between FA and public • Highly innovative to establish and manage forest plantations • Review and analysis FA goals, objectives, policies and procedures • Identifying harmony between FA and public & social environment • About truth that will have to be shared with its publics

12. ENVIRONMENT FOR PR A.POLICY ISSUES • Should be part and parcel to implement strategies effectively • Give secure title for tenure rights and usufruct rights • "Joint forest management" and "leasehold forestry" in Forestry Policy in 1995 • Forestry Master Plan in 1997 public in decision for policies, plans and processes • People-driven, people-centered, and based on "bottom-up" planning and decision making • Extension initiatives shows government commitment

13. B. ECONOMIC SYSTEM • Opportunity cost of conserving 10,000 ha/yr. Rs. 45 million • Forest prevent environment degradation, promote economic development and alleviation poverty • Management should change from tree management to ecosystem management

14. C. LEVEL OF ACTIVISM • "Taungya System" / "Co-operative Reforestation Scheme" • Scheme abandoned due to agitation by environmental groups • Modified system implemented by lease holding participants • Community and participatory forestry on a small scale • Incentives: employment in planting and sharing produces • Production capacity expanded with financial assistance • Participatory tree growing in environmentally sensitive areas • Planted trees in non-forest lands

15. D.CULTURE • Values expressed in people's relationship to themselves, others, institutions, society, and nature • Sub-cultures shared values from special experiences or circumstances • Effective conservation is very difficult with pressure by people • Managed under common property regime with complex of norms and conventions to regulate individual rights • Forest management has to thrive on public opinion • Foresters have to broaden concept of forestry and address problems thrown up by a changing society • Integrating PR into forest management should consider: • Existing rights to lands and resources; • History of people's use • Claims and counter-claims on current and future use

16. E.MEDIA CULTURE • Forest extension envisage PR through media • Media culture discuss: • Who own the media • Who control the media • The outreaches of media • Access to media • Mass Media is equally owned by government and private sector • Government has the full control over the media on public issues • Reach public widely through infrastructure network in the small island • 92% literacy and social status create high access to media

17. A. BUILD AWARENESS MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES OF PR • Media to bring attention of the public towards • Forest products and services • Management organization and management ideas • Extension education programs utilized to reach public • Community forestry project in 1982 attempted to act as catalyst in creating community awareness

18. B. BUILD CREDIBILITY • Add credibility to Foresters by communicating messages concerning forest management

19. C. STIMULATE FORESTERS • Boost enthusiasm by creating public recognition of their strategic effort

20. D. HOLD DOWN COST OF EXTENSION SERVICES • Cost is less than direct-communication and media advertising • Not only efficient but also an effective communication strategy

21. FUNCTIONS OF PR • A PR Division has to be established in Forest Authority • Deal with public-stockholders, legislators, community leaders • All the employees have to involved in PR • The major functions of PR division are:

22. A. MEDIA RELATIONS • Place newsworthy information into the news media

23. B.PRODUCT OR SERVICE PUBLICITY • Publicize specific benefits and services • Various products and services to various publics • Education is imparted at every level • School children and adults • Villagers and town dwellers • Bureaucrats and technocrats • Variety of environmental problems including deforestation • Extension attention on social repercussions of forest utilization

24. C. CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS • A two-way system, not just giving or disseminating information • Communication is the base of PR • Communication is influenced by the culture • Promote understanding among staff and publics • Communication for motivation, leadership and productivity • National Forestry Extension Service established covering administrative districts

25. D. MANAGEMENT LOBBING • Legislators and officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation • Public Action Committee (PAC) lobby government and put pressure on FA • Study and deal with public interest groups and issues • Focus on the social repercussions

26. E. COUNSELING • Advising FA about public issues and position • Image of the PR Division

27. A. PROVIDE EXPERT PRESCRIPTIONS BASIC ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR PR FUNCTIONS • Not merely silviculture but effective management • Collaboration with research organizations to: • Develop strategy and institution to involve public • Disseminating results and information effectively • Establish mechanism for linking research and extension • Technologies for conservation and multiple production systems • Technologies economically feasible, technically sound and benefits of public • Concern agriculture, energy, environment and forestry • Increased awareness about seriousness of forest crisis

28. B.EVOLVE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS • Monitor attitude of public and communicate to build goodwill • Act as a trouble-shooter with knowledge and goodwill • Play dynamic role encompassing broad spectrum of social, economical and political aspects • Understanding of land use management with local economy • Assess needs of people which earlier met with forest lands • Develop organizational structure and management mechanism to bring together other institutes and organizations to devise cooperate plan and policies

29. C.FACILITATE COMMUNICATION • Finding effective ways and means of communicating public • Established Forest Extension for community development • Participatory Forestry Project to strengthen adaptive and on-farm research, extension & education • People’s forestry based on effective communication through bottom-up planning and decision making • Non-personal communication carry important messages • Media, Atmospheres, Events • Arrange news conference, exhibition etc. to convince the policy makers, interest groups, citizens groups and media

30. EVALUATING RESULTS OF PR A. EXPOSURES • Easiest measure of effectiveness of campaign • Number of exposures to information • Indicate how many people actually read, heard, or recall the message and what they thought afterward

31. B. AWARENESS / COMPREHENSION / ATTITUDE CHANGE • Change in awareness, comprehension and attitude resulting from PR campaign • How many people recall hearing the news item? • How many people told others about it? • How many changed their mind after learning it?

32. C. BENEFIT CONTRIBUTION • Public support in forest management to reap environmental, social and economic benefits through PR campaign

33. A.PR SKILLS FORESTERS AS PR OFFICER • Possess scope of PR and PR skills in forest management • Have a planned and sustained effort to maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between FA and public • Acceptance of research evaluation and dialogue between FA and public • No longer concern of only technical forest specialist • Act as a Community Relation Officer • Become middle level manager, policy maker, community leader and rural folk • Expertise from other disciplines such as ecology, economics, law, community development etc

34. B. PERSONAL QUALITIES • PR practice is discipline, which looks after reputation • Forester is known as a reputation manager

35. C. POSITIVE ATTITUDE • Look at forest management and his service favorably • Attitude of Forester, FA and Public should react and determine mutual relationships to implement strategies • Favorable attitude in terms of productivity, job tenure and other criteria related to forestry

36. MATTERS NEED ANALYSES • How much of the responsibilities in practice do actually fall within the forest officer? • Whether we have foresters who are capable of performing these tasks? • How much can a forester do within the prevailing organizational culture in the FA? Con…..

37. The end results of all these activities are aimed at maintaining and strengthening reputation of an organization through utilizing to the maximum, a carefully selected set of methods based on sound research

38. THANK YOU