Sustainable Development and Wildlife Conservation in Tanzanian Maasailand

Many current wildlife conservation efforts in Africa focus on providing local communities with economic incentives to utilize wildlife as a form of land use in order to achieve the twin goals of ecological preservation as well as sustainable human economic development. Tanzanian Maasailand is home to some of the greatest concentrations of large mammals remaining outside National Parks and reserves, as well as a uniquely traditional human culture in the form of the Maasai themselves. Both are increasingly threatened by a variety of factors; poaching and habitat loss for wildlife, and the increasing marginalization of their pastoralist economy with regards to the Maasai. The fundamental cause of declining wildlife populations and biodiversity loss is that the Maasai have little economic or social interest in wildlife due to centralized management and financial benefits which are directed primarily to the Tanzanian state. Maasai pastoralism is highly compatible with wildlife, and the potential for the local communities to sustainably manage and benefit from this resource is promising. However, implementation of effective community-based natural resource management in the area faces political, cultural, and economic obstacles which will be critical in determining the outcomes of both conservation and community development efforts in Maasailand.     

Formative Coorientation Research: A Tool to Assist with Environmental Decision Making

A growing body of research recommends interaction between managers and stakeholders to improve natural resource management decisions. While formative stakeholder research and summative evaluations of communication efforts have been well-studied, less research has included formative evaluations comparing managers and stakeholders to inform communication efforts. This study applies the communication concept of coorientation to the case of deer management on open-space lands owned by Cornell University and develops an approach to coorientation analysis for use with small decision-making teams. Mail surveys were used to assess the level of agreement and accuracy between decision makers and residents of nearby communities. Decision makers and residents varied in the topics for which they accurately predicted each other's responses; these differences have implications for approaches to communication. This study also illustrates the utility of coorientation research to reveal areas of difference within the decision-making team, as well as with the public.     

Effectiveness of short-term knowledge communication on Baltic Sea marine genetic biodiversity to public managers

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of two forms of short-term knowledge communication—lectures and group deliberations—on public managers’ policy beliefs regarding genetic biodiversity in the Baltic Sea. Genetic biodiversity is a key component of biological variation, but despite scientific knowledge and far-reaching political goals, genetic biodiversity remains neglected in marine management. Previous research highlights lack of knowledge among managers as one explanation to the implementation deficit. This multidisciplinary study builds on the identified need for an improved knowledge transfer between science and ongoing management. A basic knowledge package on genetic biodiversity in the Baltic Sea was presented as either a lecture or a deliberative group discussion to two separate samples of public managers who are involved in Baltic Sea and other biodiversity management at the regional level in Sweden. The empirical findings show that the communicated information has an impact on the public managers’ beliefs on genetic biodiversity of the Baltic Sea. Lectures seem more efficient to transfer knowledge on this theme. Those who received information through a lecture strengthen their confidence in area protection as a management tool to conserve genetic diversity. They were also more convinced of the obligation of authorities at national and regional level to take on larger responsibility for genetic conservation than those managers who participated in a deliberative discussion.

     

The Role of Communication in Preparation for Wildland Fire: A Literature Review

Fire regimes are needed for healthy forest ecosystems, but citizens who live parallel to public forests do not always understand or favour the mechanisms land managers use for fire prevention and preparation. One way that land managers and citizens may share concerns and overcome barriers is through effective communication, allowing both parties to adequately prepare for a wildfire event. While collaboration between land managers and citizens has been well studied, the research on communication between citizens and among land managers is less prevalent yet equally important. The lack of research on communication between these parties creates an incomplete picture of the spectrum of communication that takes place in preparation for a wildland fire event. This paper reviews the current literature on communication between and among citizens and land managers before a wildfire event.     

Just Blowing Smoke? Residents’ Social Construction of Communication about Wildfire

This study uses social constructionism as a basis for understanding the effectiveness of communication about wildfire risk between agency officials and wildland–urban interface (WUI) residents. Risk communication literature demonstrates a well-documented difference in the way land managers and stakeholders conceptualize risk. This is especially true of fire because management of these hazards have changed so drastically in past decades; fire managers have typically struggled to clearly articulate the current management policy to the public or integrate their specific knowledge in the risk management process. This study contributes to an understanding of how WUI residents construct communication about wildland fire and agency effectiveness in communicating the new era of fire inclusion. Specifically, we explore the personal and professional sources of information residents’ use to understand their fire risk and the subjects they would like more information about. We also explore the continued viability of Smokey Bear, the most enduring symbol of fire management.     

Co-Partnership in Forest Management: The Gwira-Banso Joint Forest Management Project in Ghana

The involvement of local communities, as well as the private sector and the government in forest management is now an important principle of tropical forestry policy and practice and a major component of most international forestry aid programmes. This paper present an analysis on the Joint Forest Management Project initiated by two timber companies (Ghana Primewood Products Ltd and Dalhoff Larsen & Horneman) in collaboration with local people in Gwira-Banso of Ghana. Conditions required for enhancing responsibility for and commitment to local forest management, and for an effective local participatory process were also analysed. The study began with the premise that incentives and good communication will enhance participation in joint forest management.The assumption was valid and the results from the survey showed that five broad issues prioritised by respondents to be essential for co-partnership in forest management are communication, financial support, tree planting, multiple land use and benefit sharing. The Project enjoys a great deal of support from the local community, but a number of factors make the continued support of local people a challenging task, including questions of immediate livelihood sources and tenure arrangements. Although this participatory forest management has been implemented over a relatively short period, there is evidence that government and private sectors can successfully involve local people in sustainable management of the forests.     

Making the user more efficient: design for sustainable behaviour

User behaviour is a significant determinant of a product's environmental impact; while engineering advances permit increased efficiency of product operation, the user's decisions and habits ultimately have a major effect on the energy or other resources used by the product. There is thus a need to change users' behaviour. A range of design techniques developed in diverse contexts suggest opportunities for engineers, designers and other stakeholders working in the field of sustainable innovation to affect users' behaviour at the point of interaction with the product or system, in effect ‘making the user more efficient’. Approaches to changing users' behaviour from a number of fields are reviewed and discussed, including: strategic design of affordances and behaviour‐shaping constraints to control or affect energy‐ or other resource‐using interactions; the use of different kinds of feedback and persuasive technology techniques to encourage or guide users to reduce their environmental impact; and context‐based systems which use feedback to adjust their behaviour to run at optimum efficiency and reduce the opportunity for user‐affected inefficiency. Example implementations in the sustainable engineering and ecodesign field are suggested and discussed.     

Creating a Place for Environmental Communication Research in Sustainability Science

Environmental communication scholarship is critical to the success of sustainability science. This essay outlines three pressing areas of intersection between the two fields. First, environmental communication scholarship on public participation processes is essential for sustainability science's efforts to link knowledge with action. Second, sustainability science requires collaborations across diverse institutional and disciplinary boundaries. Environmental communication can play a vital role in reorganizing the production and application of disciplinary knowledge. Third, science communication bridges environmental communication and sustainability science and can move communication processes away from one-way transmission models toward engaged approaches. The essay draws on Maine's Sustainability Solutions Initiative to illustrate key outcomes of a large project that has integrated environmental communication into sustainability science.     

Managing tricky decentralised competencies: case study of a participatory modelling experiment on land use in the Lake Guiers area in Northern Senegal

We describe an action-research project whose objective was to help stakeholders at different organisational levels achieve sustainable land management by developing mediation models and tools. We chose to test a specific approach called companion modelling in the framework of a multidisciplinary research partnership and a formal local partnership (a ‘users committee’) involving an array of stakeholders at different organisational levels. The study area covers 10,000 km² of agro-pastoral land around Lake Guiers in northern Senegal. We conducted studies to update the knowledge base of the area and organised six field workshops that clearly revealed three important tool functions to support decision-making on land use at different scales, i.e. understanding maps, monitoring and evaluating land tenure, and foreseeing changes in land use. We found that a toolbox approach was the best way to implement the three functions and overcome the constraints faced by the research team and those linked to the timing of the project. Therefore, we produced five simple complementary tools aimed at various users: a farm-level optimisation model (for researchers and technical services), a database for land allocations and a discussion tool to assess the impact of land allocation decisions (for the rural council), a paper atlas (for local players) and a regional land use change simulation model (for regional and national planners). Participants were able to work with paper maps, to interpret computer-generated simulations of land use change and understand the strengths and limitations of each. Self-assessment of the research process emphasised the importance of the context and the critical role played by social capital at both the research and the field level, which, in turn, emphasised the need for major improvements in the design and implementation of a quality process for participatory modelling. It turns out that action-research may be an effective way to undertake sustainability science.     

Land Community Participation: A New “Public” Participation Model

This essay presents a new “public” participation model that responds to contemporary participation problems. The author extends criticism of a false nature/culture dualism and responds to calls for pragmatic ways to expand participation to an expressive land community. The essay draws on existing scholarship that treats a range of direct to indirect forms of participation in environmental decision-making to argue for and explicate the land community participation model (LCP). The model features participation, power, and chronemics along three distinct and intersecting continua that bind and constitute participatory communication in environmental decision-making. Combining professional field experiences with rhetorical criticism, the author pilots the LCP model in a wilderness dispute resolution case study and suggests additional ways for using LCP as an interpretive guide and design tool in pursuit of environmental democracy.     

Perceived Collective Efficacy and Trust in Government Influence Public Engagement with Climate Change-Related Water Conservation Policies

Water insecurity, induced or intensified due to climate change, has emerged as a key policy challenge in poor and developing countries such as India. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this paper examines the role of perceived collective efficacy—people's shared beliefs about their group's capabilities to accomplish collective tasks—and trust in government as factors influencing Indians' engagement with government water conservation policies. Using a national survey of Indians (N = 4031), we found that individuals with high levels of perceived collective efficacy and trust in government are more likely to support government water conservation policies. Moreover, for individuals with low trust in government, higher collective efficacy is associated with greater policy support. Perceived collective efficacy is also associated with activist behaviours, while distrust is not. Increasing collective efficacy beliefs, for example through mass media channels and targeted campaigns, could help increase citizens' engagement with climate change adaptation policies.     

How Aware Are Other Nations of Climate Change? Analyzing Germans’ Second-Order Climate Change Beliefs About Chinese,US American and German People

ABSTRACT

What people believe about the beliefs of other people – second-order beliefs – has been acknowledged as a key factor that shapes public support for international climate policy. However, very little is known about their origins. Based on data from an online survey (n?=?935), we analyzed how German citizens assess the climate change awareness in their own nation as compared to those of the US and China. Even if the public climate change awareness in the US and China factually differs, we found that German citizens equivalently rate both nations similar and much lower than their own, a finding which can be explained with social identity processes and “in-group”/“out-group” biases. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrate that the attention individuals pay towards television and social media predict second-order beliefs on climate change awareness positively, while attention to print media is a negative predictor.     

基于城乡统筹的农村土地综合整治研究——以南京市靖安街道“万顷良田建设”为例

通过实地调查和定性分析考察南京市靖安街道“万顷良田建设”实践,科学界定农村土地综合整治的概念,探讨如何通过制度安排协调和处理农村土地综合整治中出现的社会关系和社会矛盾,探索城乡统筹的新路径。研究表明,农村土地综合整治不仅是包含田、水、路、林、村等建设工程,更重要的通过制度安排协调和处理工程建设中出现的社会关系和社会矛盾。农村土地综合整治是个系统工程,通过万顷良田建设、城乡建设用地增减挂钩和农用地整理等重大工程,实施耕地资源集聚、建设用地资源集聚、劳动力资源集聚、市场需求与服务资源集聚,实现资源失配格局、传统农耕作业方式、农村固有散居模式和既往城乡发展路径的转变。实现农村土地综合整治的目标,需要相应的政策供给,主要包括多元化融资、资金管理制度、户籍改革、社会保障、培训就业、权属调整、技术支撑和监督管理等制度安排。在全国范围内推进农村土地综合整治规划的背景下,科学界定农村土地综合整治的概念,探讨实现农村土地综合整治目标的制度安排无疑具有重要的理论意义和实践意义     

Local communities' participation in decision-making processes through planning and budgeting in African countries

Community participation and community based management are topical themes in current policy and discussion revolving around decision-making processes especially those dealing with natural resources management.This review shows that while governments have accepted the need to either cede or devolve control and management of natural resources to the local communities,the communities are not part and parcel of the planning and budgeting which are crucial in decisionmaking.Communities were seen to be more involved in the implementation of natural resource management programs but lacked ownership of the projects.This causes lack of commitment to the programs and at times hostile reaction from the communities.The communities are always at the receiving end when it pertains to losses in the exchange.Community participation was shown to be effective when the local population is involved not as co-operating users but as natural resource managers or owner managers.     

基于CE的不同流向下农地城市流转负外部效应研究

发展与保护的权衡是土地资源配置中难以回避的棘手问题。农地城市流转在为城镇化的快速推进提供土地要素的同时,却也在社会、生态方面引起一系列外部性损失,已有研究认为该损失的大小与农地城市流转的用途和周围环境有关,但并未进一步定量揭示其关联程度。鉴于此,本文将农地城市流转的去向归纳为住宅及商服用地、工矿仓储及交通运输用地、公共管理与公共服务用地三类,以武汉市和鄂州市作为研究区域,运用选择实验法(CE)以及多元Logit模型(MNL)识别了受访者对于农地城市流转负外部效应治理方案的偏好,从而间接测度了不同流向下农地城市流转负外部效应的经济总量,以期为实施农地城市流转的用途和规模管制提供依据。结果表明:1不同流向下农地城市流转产生的交通状况恶化、噪音污染、公共设施不足等七种类别负外部效应在类型和强度上有所差异;2绝大多数居民对治理农地城市流转的负外部性具有支付意愿,且在参与程度和参与强度(支付额)方面因农地城市流转的不同流向而有所区别,并且居民的受教育程度和家庭收入水平对选择效用的影响具有显著性且呈正相关关系;3不同流向下农地城市流转所产生的负外部效应的经济总量不容忽视,三种流向的负外部效应从大到小依次为农地流转为工矿仓储及交通运输用地、公共管理与公共服务用地、住宅及商服用地。因此,作为农地城市流转的管制主体,各级政府应当采用经济性管制与社会性管制并举的多样化管制手段对农地城市流转的用途和规模予以调控和管制。     

Of Catholicism,Forest and Management: An Analysis of Imaginaries in the Discussion of the Native Forest Law in Chile

The relationship between media and the construction of environmental policy has been studied acutely in the Global North. However, less attention has been paid to deeper cultural symbols displayed in public policy discussions in the Global South. Through qualitative examination of 100 letters to the editor (LTE) of the Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio, this study examined the imaginaries in the public discussion of the Native Forest Policy in Chile. Although such a discussion was often framed as a technical debate, the letters to El Mercurio were embedded within Catholic imaginaries, condensed into two main sets. The first one constructed forests as endangered due to human action and called for immediate protection, contending that humans shall not destroy God's creation. The second set depicted a degraded forest in need of rational management to satisfy the needs of God's children. This study suggests that, in a mediated public discussion, religion might play an important role in communicating environmental issues. This work contributes to our understanding of environmental imaginaries and discourses in the context of environmental controversies, to the understanding of the functions of the LTE, and to the social construction of forest policy in recent post-autocratic regimes.     

Beyond Frames: Recovering the Strategic in Climate Communication

Recent calls for communication scholars and practitioners to identify effective communication means for mobilizing constituencies to address climate change often fall to distinguish between communicative acts that “mobilize” and mobilization that enables a particular end. The latter presupposes an account of the intentional or strategic alignment of mobilization, that is, the predicted or assumed relationships among a mobilized public, the mode(s) of influence or leverage this creates, and the expected consequences of such influence, i.e., how specific communicative efforts are related to outcomes or “effects” within a system. This essay argues that the neglect of strategic alignments in some recent climate communication campaigns have caused these campaigns to be non-adaptive at the scale and/or urgency required. Drawing on case studies of the 2007 Step It Up initiative and the Sierra Club's “Beyond Coal” campaign, the essay proposes viewing the strategic as an heuristic for identifying openings within networks of contingent relationships and the potential of certain communicative efforts to interrupt or leverage change within systems of power.