ABSTRACT
THIS CHAPTER LOOKS AT THE EFFECTS OF the human diversity variable on the process of adaptive collaborative management (ACM). We initially imagined diversity as primarily a local-level issue. However, it soon became clear that diversity had implications beyond the village level. A diversity of stakeholders can affect a forest, often through different management goals. It seemed important to examine the variations along this dimension to see whether such complexity made a more or less hospitable environment for the ACM process. We were unsure whether homogeneity or heterogeneity might be preferable. Would the ease of communication in a homogeneous group or the range of talents and contacts provided by a heterogeneous group make an ACM process more desirable, feasible, and effective? What were the implications of many versus few human differentiations?
