Community Development - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 620

understanding of an ore body will lead to inefi ciencies or incomplete recoveries, dei cien-
cies in understanding the community will lead, at best to wasted resources and at worst to
community opposition and alienation. Understanding involves collection and compilation
of relevant information on the community, its history, attitudes, and aspirations and in a
general sense, on the prevailing environmental, social, and political setting. While litera-
ture reviews and community surveys contribute valuable insights, the most important con-
tributions to understanding follow from day-to-day interactions between people which,
given goodwill on both sides, lead to mutual understanding and trust. This process should
commence at the outset of the exploration programme.
Since an exploration project is organized to develop information systematically, it
should be no signii cant burden to add collection of information on the community to the
programme. During exploration and, more particularly, from the day it becomes clear that
a mine may be built, the community starts changing. Expectations build, and land specula-
tion and speculative in-migration may soon become evident. It is important to understand
the changes that happen, but this is only possible with an understanding of who and what
were originally there. Also, the company on its own can do little to prevent speculation and
in-migration except with the total support and co-operation of the community. Similarly,
if and when NGO opponents of the project arrive, their opposition can only be effectively
counteracted if the company is trusted and enjoys strong relationships in the community.
However, support based on 'blind trust' is not sufi cient. More important is 'informed sup-
port' wherein the community understands the project and its impacts, and the rationale
behind the decisions that have been made. With such information the community is less
likely to be inl uenced by counter arguments put forward by NGOs opposed to a mine.
When feasibility and environmental studies begin, additional studies that will be valuable
in planning for CD may be conducted. Environmental and social baseline and impact assess-
ment studies carried out simply to satisfy regulations will not be adequate. Important activi-
ties include in-depth socioeconomic and socio-cultural studies and aptitude surveys, which
also provide basic information for labour force plans. Other relevant studies include surveys
of natural resource use and land capability. One of the purposes of detailed soil surveys is to
serve as a base for a master land-use plan, while an agricultural census serves as the basis for
an agricultural development and diversii cation plan. This will assist in the development of
a food supply plan. An integrated community development strategy may also include a con-
l ict analysis to assess the underlying causes of conl icts in the larger project area to ensure
that mine development and CD programmes do not increase the likelihood of conl ict.

Just as defi ciencies in
understanding of an ore body
will lead to ineffi ciencies
or incomplete recoveries,
defi ciencies in understanding the
community will lead, at best to
wasted resources and at worst
to community opposition and
alienation.

From the day it becomes clear
that a mine may be built, the
community starts changing.

Participatory Planning

In the past, mine developers as well as governments simply decided what would be in the
best interests of a community which was then informed of the decision(s). Community
development programmes based on this out-dated model fail even though they may be well-
intended and well-suited to particular needs. Modern community development initiatives
are based on a participatory, or a 'bottom-up' approach. Potential programmes emerge from
discussions with community members. Community members are involved in the actual
planning stages of programmes, from identifying needs, specii c actions to correct problems,
and resource requirements. Community development becomes community driven.
This is not necessarily straightforward as communities may have completely unreal-
istic aspirations. The 'Cargo Cult' phenomenon of some Melanesian communities is an
extreme example, but unrealistic expectations are widespread. Accordingly, as part of
their involvement, community members need to be fully informed so that they develop

Modern community
development initiatives are
based on a participatory, or
a 'bottom-up' approach.