For the first six years of its existence, the Dry Forest Project operated along similar lines, that is, with limited participation of the target population. Created in 1987 and located in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, the project was largely executed by a regional planning institute, INDESUR, in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). During its initial phase a forestry inventory was elaborated, groups of local forest dwellers, or "campesinos", became organized, and direct-marketing by these groups was promoted. All planning and decision-making processes, however, were made by a group of technicians comprised of members of INDESUR and the GTZ, usually including only a token representative of the campesino groups. Operating within a culture saturated by paternalism and "machismo" and a commercial climate dominated by middlemen (those buying, transporting and reselling forest products), large landowners and the national forest authority (administrated by the military), the results obtained in favor of the campesino were rather meager.

The need for new direction as well as swifter and more concrete action from the ground-level up was obvious but neither INDESUR nor the local NGOs previously involved with the project were prepared or willing to change tactics. Therefore, the GTZ project-team took the initiative and began to involve the campesino groups more intensively in a process of participative planning and decision-making transferring the execution of the majority of activities into their hands. Clear objectives which were economically meaningful to and understood by the campesinos were established and strategies for obtaining those objectives were discussed and mapped out slowly, step by step, over a period of time. The project-team quickly changed its role from one of developing planning procedures and executing and evaluating activities to one of coaching and supervising the campesinos as they gradually took over these activities

The communities promoted by the project are situated in an environment which, for the last four decades, has been exploited by people from other regions, leaving the local campesinos with very limited alternatives. Historically, they could either contribute labor for the timber industry or produce charcoal. As a result, 500,000 ha. of forest was gradually degraded into the secondary vegetation known today as the Dry Forest. It consists mainly of small thorny trees and shrubs, which are of little commercial value, as well as cactus. The entire region was in danger of desertification. Today, the timber industry no longer exists. Agriculture in the Dry Forest is no longer viable without irrigation and water has become increasingly scarce over the years. As a result, the campesinos survive basically on charcoal-burning, goat-keeping and day-laboring at the larger, irrigated farms in the valleys. Charcoal-burning is quite strenuous and unappealing labor which creates very little personal income. It’s considered a way of making a living only if there are no better alternatives.

The campesinos who live in the Dry Forest are amongst the poorest members of Dominican society, almost marginated, their living conditions unknown to the majority of the public. Ignorant of the proper procedures for the marketing of their products, they became completely dependent on traditional middlemen who organized groups of campesinos for charcoal burning. The campesinos received food in advance for their labor, but the majority of the profit from the sale of charcoal remained in the hands of the middlemen.

To implement the first step of sustainable management the Dry Forest required the initial extraction of the dry wood, conserving for some years all the living trees in the area. This procedure entails more labor input for every sack of charcoal produced. Somehow more income for the campesino families needed to be generated as a compensation for the extra labor and an incentive to apply a new and unproven procedure. It was vital at this point that the communities be involved in any discussions and decisions taken to achieve the overall establishment of the methods of sustainable management. The following four objectives are a result of those initial discussions.

1. The campesinos of the nine communities collaborating at this time with the project established a federation in order to defend their interests more effectively. Their associations at village level and this "Federation of Producers in the Dry Forest" (FEPROBOSUR) were to be organized as economically independent self-help groups.
2. Since the campesinos, due to lack of demand, could not produce more charcoal nor raise the price for their product on a highly competitive market, the only possible way to increase income was to sell directly to the distributors on the main market in Santo Domingo, bypassing the middlemen. The federation had to be in charge of the entire marketing process.
3. The campesinos came to understand that sustainable management is necessary in order to halt encroaching desertification and thereby to ensure a living for themselves and a future for their children in the Dry Forest. At this point, a very simple agreement on management practices comprised of only eight basic rules was established.
4. Living and working primarily on common- or state-owned land, the campesinos had no formal rights to use or to protect trees from cutting by people from other areas. To assure them the economic benefits of their efforts to practice sustainable management, title deeds had to be obtained for the village associations.

During the process of change it was made clear that the initiative of the campesinos was paramount; the project-team would only assist. The team explained that it would not work "for" the campesinos but "with" them in a collaborative relationship. There would be no gifts, rather the sharing of time, expertise and guidance, as well as assistance in the formation of connections to official institutions, the mass media and NGOs. Financial inputs would be available only to support specific activities for the benefit of the self-help groups.

Unlike earlier attempts of other institutions to improve the situation of the campesinos in the Dry Forest, available potentials in and around the villages were focused upon rather than the many problems and deficiencies present.

Planning of all the steps necessary to reach the defined objectives was carried out in close and constant cooperation with the campesinos at village level. As the federation emerged in a more executive form, the campesino representatives began to meet together in the newly acquired offices of the federation. Planning procedures were simple and the pace was set by the campesinos themselves. Many campesinos do not read or write, therefore, most agreements were made orally with very little being documented on paper. It was agreed that there would be a continuous process of planning, executing and evaluation of all the steps necessary to obtain the established objectives.

Priorities were established according to the needs identified by those living in the villages. Economic improvement was, by far, the highest priority. Therefore, the first activity planned and executed by the federation was the organization of the transport of charcoal to the capital. Immediately a conflict arose with the middlemen who were, for the first time, forced to negotiate with campesinos whom they had never considered as partners, let alone as competitors. The campesinos now obtained a far better share of the total profit, converting the middlemen into simple owners of lorries under contract. After this first important success, which seemed almost unbelievable to the campesinos, their enthusiasm as well as their young federation began to grow.

Today, after five years of cooperation between the project-team and FEPROBOSUR, the first objectives are close to being fully realized.

1. Government institutions and NGOs now recognize FEPROBOSUR as an important representative of the campesinos of the Dominican southwest. The federation maintains its economic independence by charging a fee for every product of the Dry Forest which is transported to the capital. It has its own office and staff, plus communication and transportation facilities, which, although obtained through various donors, are maintained by the federation. It is comprised of more than 80 associations from 40 villages. One third of its approximately 2,700 members are women, organized into their own groups as well as participating within the mixed groups.
2. In 1997, FEPROBOSUR sold almost U.S.$1 Million worth of products of the Dry Forest. Charcoal remains an important product for the campesinos, but others such as railway sleepers for the national sugar industry, fence posts, and wood for use in construction and agriculture, account for higher income on new markets. Marketing is the most important activity of the federation and the main reason for its existence. The middlemen, although reduced to the less lucrative role of carriers, have accepted their position and work well with the campesinos. Meanwhile, FEPROBOSUR has gained a regional monopoly on the wood trade as well as the respect of the national forest authority with whom it has developed a relationship of close cooperation.
3. The Dry Forest has responded well to the simple management rules established and executed by the campesinos in the last six years. Between 1992 and 1996 the availability of wood in the Dry Forest doubled. The increase in height, density and shading would be obvious to the casual observer, but it has also been measured by periodic checks of marked observation plots and validated by comparing satellite photos. The project-team and the federation now work on detailed management plans for every community.
4. In cooperation with the Dominican land reform institute (IAD), provisional title deeds were presented to most village self-help groups. They presently amount to 130,000 ha. while titles for another 50, 000 ha. are being prepared. The IAD is willing not only to change these into permanent titles but also to provide the villages with infrastructure, such as water and roads, which settlements under Dominican land reform usually receive.

It has to be pointed out that none of these results were obtained easily. Campesinos did not all decide to cooperate at once nor did the opponents of the project, such as middlemen and large landowners, give in simply for the sake of public welfare. Also, while most government institutions acknowledge the success of the project and its particular way of working with campesinos, they still do not actively support FEPROBOSUR nor do they take advantage of the experience gained by applying these methods in other regions of the country. Nevertheless, due to the struggle that was necessary to obtain these results, the members of FEPROBOSUR and especially of its managing board have gained experience, self-esteem, and pride in their accomplishments, while the lives of campesinos living in the Dry Forest have improved measurably. Their success is the best guarantee for the sustainability of the project.