Attitudes and perceptions of indigenous fishermen towards marine resource management in Kuna Yala,Panama

The Kuna are a strong and independent culture, however outside influences are imposing growing pressure on their people. Overpopulation and large-scale overfishing are among the most severe threats. The Kuna have developed their own management strategies to address these pressing issues. This study presents local perceptions and attitudes towards marine resource management of six indigenous fishing communities in Kuna Yala, Panama. Results highlight significant general and comparative differences in fishermen's attitudes and perceptions based on socio-cultural structures of communities, occupation and role in local decision-making. The level of cultural survival in communities was a strong indicator for different priorities and attitudes. Differences were also evident based on the level of marine resources used for income generation. Participation in local decision-making processes had positive impacts on levels of knowledge and information, and fostered critical thinking among participants. In addition, the results also denoted that conservation and development were more effective in the long term if the host population could develop strategies and plans for biodiversity conservation. Ownership and empowerment were strong indicators that influenced local livelihood to promote sustainable use of marine resources.     

The Northwest Forest Plan as a Model for Broad-Scale Ecosystem Management: a Social Perspective

Abstract:  I evaluated the Northwest Forest Plan as a model for ecosystem management to achieve social and economic goals in communities located around federal forests in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. My assessment is based on the results of socioeconomic monitoring conducted to evaluate progress in achieving the plan's goals during its first 10 years. The assessment criteria I used related to economic development and social justice. The Northwest Forest Plan incorporated economic development and social justice goals in its design. Socioeconomic monitoring results indicate that plan implementation to achieve those goals met with mixed success, however. I hypothesize there are two important reasons the plan's socioeconomic goals were not fully met: some of the key assumptions underlying the implementation strategies were flawed and agency institutional capacity to achieve the goals was limited. To improve broad-scale ecosystem management in the future, decision makers should ensure that natural-resource management policies are socially acceptable; land-management agencies have the institutional capacity to achieve their management goals; and social and economic management goals (and the strategies for implementing them) are based on accurate assumptions about the relations between the resources being managed and well-being in local communities. One of the difficulties of incorporating economic development and social justice goals in conservation initiatives is finding ways to link conservation behavior and development activities. From a social perspective, the Northwest Forest Plan as a model for ecosystem management is perhaps most valuable in its attempt to link the biophysical and socioeconomic goals of forest management by creating high-quality jobs for residents of forest communities in forest stewardship and ecosystem management work, thereby contributing to conservation.     

武夷山自然保护区资源管理中社区参与机制的探讨

武夷山自然保护区在处理自然保护与社区发展之间的关系以及推动社区参与保护区管理方面已取得了一些成功的经验。但是,从当地现有的社区参与管理的模式来看,不仅社区参与程度较低,而且在某种程度上处于被动参与状态,保护区缺少一种激励机制来引导群众自觉参与保护。作者提出了在保护区建立旅游股份合作制公司的构想,并阐述了其运行机制。     

A roadmap for knowledge exchange and mobilization research in conservation and natural resource management

Scholars across all disciplines have long been interested in how knowledge moves within and beyond their community of peers. Rapid environmental changes and calls for sustainable management practices mean the best knowledge possible is needed to inform decisions, policies, and practices to protect biodiversity and sustainably manage vulnerable natural resources. Although the conservation literature on knowledge exchange (KE) and knowledge mobilization (KM) has grown in recent years, much of it is based on context‐specific case studies. This presents a challenge for learning cumulative lessons from KE and KM research and thus effectively using knowledge in conservation and natural resources management. Although continued research on the gap between knowledge and action is valuable, overarching conceptual frameworks are now needed to enable summaries and comparisons across diverse KE‐KM research. We propose a knowledge‐action framework that provides a conceptual roadmap for future research and practice in KE/KM with the aim of synthesizing lessons learned from contextual case studies and guiding the development and testing of hypotheses in this domain. Our knowledge‐action framework has 3 elements that occur at multiple levels and scales: knowledge production (e.g., academia and government), knowledge mediation (e.g., knowledge networks, actors, relational dimension, and contextual dimension), and knowledge‐based action (e.g., instrumental, symbolic, and conceptual). The framework integrates concepts from the sociology of science in particular, and serves as a guide to further comprehensive understanding of knowledge exchange and mobilization in conservation and sustainable natural resource management.     

Seed plant phylogenetic diversity and species richness in conservation planning within a global biodiversity hotspot in eastern Asia

One of the main goals of conservation biology is to understand the factors shaping variation in biodiversity across the planet. This understanding is critical for conservation planners to be able to develop effective conservation strategies. Although many studies have focused on species richness and the protection of rare and endemic species, less attention has been paid to the protection of the phylogenetic dimension of biodiversity. We explored how phylogenetic diversity, species richness, and phylogenetic community structure vary in seed plant communities along an elevational gradient in a relatively understudied high mountain region, the Dulong Valley, in southeastern Tibet, China. As expected, phylogenetic diversity was well correlated with species richness among the elevational bands and among communities. At the community level, evergreen broad‐leaved forests had the highest levels of species richness and phylogenetic diversity. Using null model analyses, we found evidence of nonrandom phylogenetic structure across the region. Evergreen broad‐leaved forests were phylogenetically overdispersed, whereas other vegetation types tended to be phylogenetically clustered. We suggest that communities with high species richness or overdispersed phylogenetic structure should be a focus for biodiversity conservation within the Dulong Valley because these areas may help maximize the potential of this flora to respond to future global change. In biodiversity hotspots worldwide, we suggest that the phylogenetic structure of a community may serve as a useful measure of phylogenetic diversity in the context of conservation planning.     

Identifying Reefs of Hope and Hopeful Actions: Contextualizing Environmental, Ecological, and Social Parameters to Respond Effectively to Climate Change

Abstract:  Priorities for conservation, management, and associated activities will differ based on the interplay between nearness of ecosystems to full recovery from a disturbance (pristineness), susceptibility to climate change (environmental susceptibility [ES]), and capacity of human communities to cope with and adapt to change (social adaptive capacity [AC]). We studied 24 human communities and adjacent coral reef ecosystems in 5 countries of the southwestern Indian Ocean. We used ecological measures of abundance and diversity of fishes and corals, estimated reef pristineness, and conducted socioeconomic household surveys to determine the AC of communities adjacent to selected coral reefs. We also used Web-based oceanographic and coral mortality data to predict each site's ES to climate warming. Coral reefs of Mauritius and eastern Madagascar had low ES and consequently were not predicted to be affected strongly by warm water, although these sites were differentiated by the AC of the human community. The higher AC in Mauritius may increase the chances for successful self-initiated recovery and protective management of reefs of this island. In contrast, Madagascar may require donor support to build AC as a prerequisite to preservation efforts. The Seychelles and Kenya had high ES, but their levels of AC and disturbance differed. The high AC in the Seychelles could be used to develop alternatives to dependence on coral reef resources and reduce the effects of climate change. Pristineness weighted toward measures of fish recovery was greatest for Kenya's marine protected areas; however, most protected areas in the region were far from pristine. Conservation priorities and actions with realistic chances for success require knowledge of where socioecological systems lie among the 3 axes of environment, ecology, and society.     

Changing forest conservation and management paradigms: traditional ecological knowledge systems and sustainable forestry: Perspectives from Chile and India

This paper first explores the shift now occurring in the science that provides the theoretical basis for forest conservation and management. The paper then presents the concepts of traditional ecological knowledge and traditional management systems and practise to provide background for two case studies that examine traditional knowledge and forest management practices of tribal communities in the Sariska region (Rajasthan, India) and of the indigenous Mapuche Pewenhce communities in the Andean mountains of southern Patagonia in Chile, underlining the special relationship these tribal and indigenous communities maintain with the forest and their usefulness in community-based native forest conservation. These examples of traditional ecological knowledge and traditional management systems suggest that it is important to focus on managing ecological processes, instead of products, and to use integrated ecosystem management. Recommendations to move forest management paradigms beyond the current view of ‘timber’ or ‘reserves’ and toward one of truly integrated use that adapt conservation approaches to local cultural representations of the environment are made.     

Avoiding Re‐Inventing the Wheel in a People‐Centered Approach to REDD+

One important debate regarding Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries concerns the manner in which its implementation might affect local and indigenous communities. New ways to implement this mechanism without harming the interests of local communities are emerging. To inform this debate, we conducted a qualitative research synthesis to identify best practices (BPs) from people‐centered approaches to conservation and rural development, developed indicators of BPs, and invited development practitioners and researchers in the field to assess how the identified BPs are being adopted by community‐level REDD+ projects in Latin America. BPs included: local participation in all phases of the project; project supported by a decentralized forest governance framework; project objectives matching community livelihood priorities; project addressing community development needs and expectations; project enhancing stakeholder collaboration and consensus building; project applying an adaptive management approach; and project developing national and local capacities. Most of the BPs were part of the evaluated projects. However, limitations of some of the projects related to decentralized forest governance, matching project objectives with community livelihood priorities, and addressing community development needs. Adaptive management and free and prior informed consent have been largely overlooked. These limitations could be addressed by integrating conservation outcomes and alternative livelihoods into longer‐term community development goals, testing nested forest governance approaches in which national policies support local institutions for forest management, gaining a better understanding of the factors that will make REDD+ more acceptable to local communities, and applying an adaptive management approach that allows for social learning and capacity building of relevant stakeholders. Our study provides a framework of BPs and indicators that could be used by stakeholders to improve REDD+ project design, monitoring, and evaluation, which may help reconcile national initiatives and local interests without reinventing the wheel. Evitar la Reinvención de la Rueda en un Acercamiento a REDD+ Centrado en Personas     

Socioeconomic Thresholds That Affect Use of Customary Fisheries Management Tools

Abstract:  Customary forms of resource management, such as taboos, have received considerable attention as a potential basis for conservation initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. Yet little is known about how socioeconomic factors influence the ability of communities to use customary management practices and whether socioeconomic transformations within communities will weaken conservation initiatives with a customary foundation. We used a comparative approach to examine how socioeconomic factors may influence whether communities use customary fisheries management in Papua New Guinea. We examined levels of material wealth (modernization), dependence on marine resources, population, and distance to market in 15 coastal communities. We compared these socioeconomic conditions in 5 communities that used a customary method of closing their fishing ground with 10 communities that did not use this type of management. There were apparent threshold levels of dependence on marine resources, modernization, distance to markets (<16.5 km), and population (>600 people) beyond which communities did not use customary fisheries closures. Nevertheless, economic inequality, rather than mean modernization levels seemed to influence the use of closures. Our results suggest that customary management institutions are not resilient to factors such as population growth and economic modernization. If customary management is to be used as a basis for modern conservation initiatives, cross-scale institutional arrangements such as networks and bridging organizations may be required to help filter the impacts of socioeconomic transformations.     

试论自然保护区与社区协调发展

概括了自然保护区与社区的统一性和矛盾 ,分析了自然保护区与社区协调发展存在的主要问题 ,提出了自然保护区与社区协调发展的途径与方法 ,总结了一些保护区与社区协调发展的有效模式 ,包括政区合署模式、协调机构模式、保护与扶贫相结合模式、经济上双赢模式和公众参与模式     

Impact of community-based approaches to wildlife management: case study of the CAMPFIRE programme in Zimbabwe

The objective of this study was to elicit community perceptions on the effectiveness of the CAMPFIRE programme, a community initiative, designed to benefit rural communities in Gonono ward in the Zambezi valley. Five villages and 76 respondents were selected from the ward using simple random sampling. Data collection included a structured questionnaire administered to households, semi-structured interviews with key informants, such as chiefs, headmen and local council staff, transect walks and participant observations. The results of the study revealed that, although the CAMPFIRE concept has been instrumental in creation of employment and infrastructure, the local community considers that no significant changes have occurred to their livelihoods. The findings suggest that the current model of wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe is not promoting total community participation. Future models need to focus on total involvement and independence from government structures. However, this can only happen when there is sufficient capacity building in communities on a wide number of issues, including general management, to ensure long-term sustainability.     

Insights for Integrated Conservation from Attitudes of People toward Protected Areas Near Hwange National Park,Zimbabwe

Increase in human settlements at the edge of protected areas (PAs) is perceived as a major threat to conservation of biodiversity. Although it is crucial to integrate the interests of surrounding communities into PA management, key drivers of changes in local populations and the effects of conservation on local livelihoods and perceptions remain poorly understood. We assessed population changes from 1990 to 2010 in 9 villages located between 2 PAs with different management policies (access to natural resources or not). We conducted semi‐directive interviews at the household level (n =217) to document reasons for settlement in the area and villager's attitudes toward the PAs. We examined drivers of these attitudes relative to household typology, feelings about conservation, and concerns for the future with mixed linear models. Population increased by 61% from 2000 to 2010, a period of political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. Forty‐seven percent of immigrants were attracted by the area; others had been resettled from other villages or were returning to family lands. Attitudes toward PAs were generally positive, but immigrants attracted by the area and who used resources within the PA with fewer restrictions expressed more negative attitudes toward PAs. Household location, losses due to wild animals, and restrictions on access to natural resources were the main drivers of this negative attitude. Profit‐seeking migrants did not expect these constraints and were particularly concerned with local overpopulation and access to natural resources. To avoid socio‐ecological traps near PAs (i.e., unforeseen reduced adaptive capacity) integrated conservation should address mismatches between management policy and local expectations. This requires accounting for endogenous processes, for example, local socio‐ecological dynamics and values that shape the coexistence between humans and wildlife. Percepciones para Conservación Integrada a Partir de las Actitudes de las Personas hacia Áreas Protegidas cerca del Parque Nacional Hwangem Zimbabwe     

Poaching Risks in Community‐Based Natural Resource Management

Poaching can disrupt wildlife‐management efforts in community‐based natural resource management systems. Monitoring, estimating, and acquiring data on poaching is difficult. We used local‐stakeholder knowledge and poaching records to rank and map the risk of poaching incidents in 2 areas where natural resources are managed by community members in Caprivi, Namibia. We mapped local stakeholder perceptions of the risk of poaching, risk of wildlife damage to livelihoods, and wildlife distribution and compared these maps with spatially explicit records of poaching events. Recorded poaching events and stakeholder perceptions of where poaching occurred were not spatially correlated. However, the locations of documented poaching events were spatially correlated with areas that stakeholders perceived wildlife as a threat to their livelihoods. This result suggests poaching occurred in response to wildlife damage occurred. Local stakeholders thought that wildlife populations were at high risk of being poached and that poaching occurred where there was abundant wildlife. These findings suggest stakeholders were concerned about wildlife resources in their community and indicate a need for integrated and continued monitoring of poaching activities and further interventions at the wildlife‐agricultural interface. Involving stakeholders in the assessment of poaching risks promotes their participation in local conservation efforts, a central tenet of community‐based management. We considered stakeholders poaching informants, rather than suspects, and our technique was spatially explicit. Different strategies to reduce poaching are likely needed in different areas. For example, interventions that reduce human‐wildlife conflict may be required in residential areas, and increased and targeted patrolling may be required in more remote areas. Stakeholder‐generated maps of human‐wildlife interactions may be a valuable enforcement and intervention support tool. Riesgos de Cacería Furtiva en el Manejo de Recursos Naturales Basado en Comunidades     

Levels of community participation and satisfaction with decentralized wildlife management in Idodi-Pawaga Wildlife Management Area,Tanzania

Participatory approaches to conservation are viewed as a plausible alternative to the old ‘fortress conservation’ approach. The design and implementation of these approaches in developing countries have tended to embrace community participation through decentralized governance mechanisms in the past three decades. However, sustainable conservation approaches that maintain community livelihoods while conserving biodiversity are challenged with meeting both objectives. In addressing this challenge, little attention has been given to an empirical analysis of community’s satisfaction levels on how they participated in the design and implementation of this approach. In this article, we use a mixed method approach using both quantitative and qualitative data to examine levels of satisfaction and participation of local communities in the Idodi-Pawaga Wildlife Management Area (WMA), south-western Tanzania. We find that social economic factors (e.g. age, household size, gender, number of years living in the same location and participation/non-participation) influence, in different ways, the satisfaction levels of community’s participation towards the WMA creation. Due to inadequate participation, we find that the WMA design and implementation process failed from the beginning to actively involve the local communities and this has resulted in the near absence of the promised economic benefits from wildlife conservation. We suggest that participation should go beyond the simple information sharing to actively engage the local communities in key planning activities from the beginning of any WMA programme. It is also important to take into consideration their levels of satisfaction with the process of decision-making if meaningful decentralized governance is to be achieved.     

Common property resources in drylands of India

Common property resources are areas of land or water being used by a community or a group of communities. These have special significance to peoples and communities who depend on them for their livelihood. The commons in all arid districts of India include village pastures, community forests, wasteland, common threshing grounds, waste dumps, watershed drainage, village baoris¹, talabs², nadis³ and ponds, and tanks, rivers, rivulets, wetlands, riverbeds, community conserved areas, protected areas, Dhaam⁴ or Dhooni⁵, culturable wastelands, barren & un-culturable land, etc. The area under commons often ranged from 9 to 28% of total village area. Appropriation of the commons by the state for building essential infrastructure such as schools, clinics, veterinary hospitals, housing for government functionaries, SEZ and industrial corridors, etc. is a cause of serious concern. Presently the ownership rights over CPRs are not clear and there are many who claim ownership, some at State level but also like local bodies. The 12^th plan of the Planning Commission of India recognized and highlighted the need for favourable land tenure arrangements, institutional design and programme architecture in order to achieve effective governance and management of the commons. The revitalization of CPRs is crucial for protecting livelihoods, as well as for biodiversity conservation and for the improvement in arid microclimatic conditions. Dialogue continues on the status of common property resources, the available legal framework and some policy related issues for its conservation through strengthening of local institutions and capacity building for stakeholders.     

Natural resource use,income and dependence among San and Mier communities bordering Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park,southern Kalahari,South Africa

Contemporary strategies for natural resource management espouse the need to integrate local people and their livelihood needs into biodiversity conservation projects to achieve sustainable ‘development and ecological integrity’. Valuation of natural resource use provides empirical evidence and conceptual arguments of local people's dependence on these resources, which could be factored into biodiversity conservation planning. Based on household surveys and key informant interviews, this study looked at the contribution of dryland natural resources to the livelihoods of two culturally different but neighbouring communities, the San and Mier, bordering Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. Overall, natural resources represented an important livelihood source for the San, contributing on an average 32% of total annual income, compared to 9% for the Mier. Fuelwood was the predominant contributor to natural resource incomes in both cases. Income quintile analysis showed that dependence on natural resources decreased moving to higher income groups for Mier households, but increased with income for San households. Well-off households still derived higher total income from natural resources; often from the more lucrative sources of such income, notably from fuelwood sales. Contextual factors such as culture and social institutions, among others, influenced access to, and consequently the use of, particular resources and the value of these to households. Sustainable natural resource management interventions should consider these disparities in patterns of natural resource dependence among different income groups.     

Wildlife and wildlife management in Tanzania

Tanzania, arguably mainland Africa's most important nation for conservation, is losing habitat and natural resources rapidly. Moving away from a charcoal energy base and developing sustainable finance mechanisms for natural forests are critical to slowing persistent deforestation. Addressing governance and capacity deficits, including law enforcement, technical skills, and funding, across parts of the wildlife sector are key to effective wildlife protection. These changes could occur in tandem with bringing new models of natural resource management into play that include capacity building, corporate payment for ecosystem services, empowering nongovernmental organizations in law enforcement, greater private‐sector involvement, and novel community conservation strategies. The future of Tanzania's wildlife looks uncertain—as epitomized by the current elephant crisis—unless the country confronts issues of governance, embraces innovation, and fosters greater collaboration with the international community.     

Assessment of forest vegetation and conservation priorities of communities in part of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve,West Himalaya. Part I

In most protected areas of the Indian Himalayan region site/habitat characteristics, community diversity and distribution pattern, vegetation composition (richness of native and endemic species), structural patterns, economic importance of forest communities and community priorities have rarely been studied. Therefore, the present study has focused on these in the buffer zone of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Seventy-six woody species (trees: 24; shrubs: 52) and 13 forest communities have been recorded between 2300–3800 m asl. Tree density ranged from 533–1220 ind ha-¹, tree basal area from 14.68-80.28 m²ha-¹ and shrub density from 1490–6695 ind ha-¹. Mean density of trees was significantly lower in temperate forests in comparison to subalpine forests. Richness of trees ranged from 3–18 and shrubs from 5–29. Species diversity (H') of trees ranged from 0.45-2.08 and shrubs from 0.90-3.14. In the temperate zone, species richness and altitude had significant positive correlations whereas in the subalpine zone the two variables were negatively correlated. The native species were high in the area (> 65% species) and in communities (> 70% species), and was highest for the Picea smithiana-Pinus wallichiana mixed community, whereas the maximum numbers of natives and endemic species were recorded in the Pinus wallichiana community. The density and richness of non-natives were found to be significantly lower in comparison to the natives. Economic importance and conservation value of the communities were assessed and communities prioritized. Monitoring of the identified habitats, species, populations and communities, and development of appropriate strategies for their conservation and management are suggested.     

Effects of law enforcement and community outreach on mammal diversity in a biodiversity hotspot

Management activities such as law enforcement and community outreach are thought to affect conservation outcomes in protected areas, but their importance relative to intrinsic environmental characteristics of the parks and extrinsic human pressures surrounding the parks have not been explored. Furthermore, it is not clear which is more related to conservation outcomes—the management itself or local people's perceptions of the management. We measured objective (reports by park staff) and subjective (reports by local people) levels of community outreach and law enforcement based on responses to 374 questionnaires. We estimated mammal abundance and diversity of 6 protected areas based on data from 115 camera traps in Xishuangbanna, southwest China, a biodiversity hotspot with high hunting and land-conversion pressures. We then examined correlations among them and found that local people's perception of law enforcement was positively related to the local abundance of 2 large, hunted species, wild boar (Sus scrofa) (β = 15.22) and muntjac (Muntiacus vaginalis) (β = 14.82), but not related to the abundance of smaller mammals or to objective levels of enforcement. The subjective frequency of outreach by park staff to local communities (β = 3.42) and park size (β = 3.28) were significantly and positively related to mammal species richness, whereas elevation, human population density, and subjective frequency of law enforcement were not. We could not conclude that community outreach and law enforcement were directly causing increased mammal abundance and diversity. Nevertheless, the patterns we detected are some of the first empirical evidence consistent with the idea that biodiversity in protected areas may be more positively and strongly related to local perceptions of the intensity of park management than to either intrinsic (e.g., elevation, park size) or extrinsic (e.g., human population density) environmental factors.