An Interpretive Approach to Developing Volunteer-based Coastal Monitoring Programmes

The concept of sustainable development has highlighted the need to involve those who use a natural resource in helping to manage and maintain it. This has prompted the development of monitoring programmes involving volunteers who collect scientific data on the state of the natural environment. This paper argues that interpretation theory and practice provide a sound basis for the design and implementation of volunteer-based coastal monitoring programmes. Integration of multiple interrelated objectives in programmes relies on sound 'audience' research, including planned evaluation procedures. Three case-studies are presented which serve to identify and highlight the benefits of broadening the primary scientific focus of monitoring programmes to include greater consideration of participant motivations, skills and knowledge in the design and delivery of programmes. Discussion in this paper focuses on coastal monitoring programmes but the stated benefits might also be expected when applying this approach to other natural resource monitoring programmes.     

Sustainable coasts? Perceptions of change and livelihood vulnerability in Nordland,Norway

ABSTRACT

Northern coastal regions are facing multiple challenges from accelerating global environmental and socioeconomic changes, such as ecosystem degradation, climate change, intensified resource extraction, land use change and declining populations. Based on interviews with 13 farmers, fishers and aquaculture employees from coastal Nordland, northern Norway, this study demonstrates how the local stakeholders’ perceptions of change and experiences of vulnerability are closely linked to their livelihood values and worldviews. What the informants consider a sustainable and meaningful way of coastal living does not coincide with national goals for sustainable, natural resource dependent development of the region. The article demonstrates the importance of attending to local values if policymakers and managers are to ensure successful local mobilisation, reduce vulnerability to ongoing and future processes of change, and ensure legitimacy and consistency in development goals of coastal zone management. Insights from this study are useful for local and regional decision makers with responsibility for natural resource policies and development efforts.     

“Coal is in our food,coal is in our blood”: everyday environmental injustices of rural community gardening in Central Appalachia

ABSTRACT

Central Appalachia's historical dependence on natural resource extraction industries has contributed to a long history of under- and uneven development, including trends of persistent poverty, cycles of unemployment, weakened local governance, environmental degradation, and severe social inequalities relative to the rest of the nation. Though these trends have been well documented at structural and community-levels, scholarship is more limited in assessing how the conditions of natural resource dependency may shape the everyday experiences of those who live in such regions and how those everyday experiences may illuminate challenges for future development. Employing an embedded case study design, this study examines how everyday environmental injustices may be experienced via community gardening activities, a sustainable development-oriented activity celebrated in urban locations but largely unexplored in rural environments. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 43 gardening programme coordinators and participants, the findings demonstrate that everyday environmental injustices are experienced across four distinct, yet overlapping and mutually reinforcing, dimensions: natural, built, human health, and socioeconomic environments. These factors in turn constrain programme participation and beneficial programme outcomes, particularly for more disadvantaged households that are affected by chronic illness, geographic isolation, and environmental hazards. Although the interviewees viewed many of these challenges as further justification for pursuing grassroots initiatives like community gardening programmes, these constraints also interacted in a way that limited the success of these locally-oriented sustainable development efforts, particularly for individuals who are the most socially, economically, and environmentally marginalised.     

Aquacultural development in tropical Asia

Differences between inland and coastal aquacultural production systems in Asia are discussed in terms of market orientation, resource allocation and property rights, and scale of operations. The production of shrimp grown in coastal brackish water ponds has featured prominently in aquacultural development programmes in Asia. Emphasis placed on capital-intensive shrimp production for export, however, has distracted attention from the potential of inland freshwater aquaculture to generate employment opportunities for rural people and food production for domestic consumers. The paper concludes with a discussion of an alternative policy direction for promoting aquacultural development on a socially sound basis, recognizing the need to balance equity and human nutrition with profitability and foreign exchange earnings.     

Sustainable Management for the Eastern Mediterranean Coast of Turkey

The objective of this article is to propose a program for the integrated coastal zone management that is required to stimulate and guide sustainable development of the Mediterranean coastal zone of Turkey. Improved data collection, quality control, analysis, and data management will provide a firm basis for future scientific understanding of the East Mediterranean coast of Turkey and will support long-term management. Various innovative procedures were proposed for a promising ecosystem-based approach to manage coastal wetlands in the Mediterranean: remote data acquisition with new technologies; environmental quality monitoring program that will provide a baseline for monitoring; linking a Geographic Information System (GIS) with natural resource management decision routines in the context of operational wetlands, fisheries, tourism management system; environmental sensitivity analysis to ensure that permitted developments are environmentally sustainable; and use of natural species to restore the wetlands and coastal dunes and sustain the system processes. The proposed management scheme will benefit the scientific community in the Mediterranean and the management/planning community in Eastern Turkey.     

Drivers of local people’s participation in sustainable natural resource management: a case study in central Iran

The driving forces behind natural resource management (NRM) vary among countries. Most NRM programmes focus on biophysical drivers such as soil, water and vegetation, with little attention directed towards the nuanced sociocultural and religious drivers of sustainable natural resource management (SNRM) practices. This paper explores those understudied drivers that influence local people’s participation (LPP) in SNRM in Isfahan, Iran. Using a multi-stage stratified sampling method, we selected 200 natural resource experts and natural resource users to complete a questionnaire about their perceptions of SNRM. Results reveal that sociocultural and religious beliefs are the major drivers of SNRM. The results also indicate that subsidiary drivers include: a sense of responsibility towards SNRM; the conviction that natural resources belong to God and should therefore be preserved; participation to preserve natural resources because of training courses and media influence; a long-established custom of preserving natural resources; and the specific impact of environmental television programmes. Demographic analysis finds a significant relationship between educational level and LPP in SNRM. This study’s results therefore suggest that natural resource managers would benefit from a deeper understanding of the local sociocultural and religious contexts that motivate people to participate in SNRM.     

'Capacity for Change': Testing a Model for the Inclusion of Social Indicators in Australia's National Land and Water Resources Audit

The complexity of relationships between social change and natural resource management has generated interest in the identification of indicators that might provide more streamlined means for monitoring and planning. In the case of Australia's National Land and Water Resources Audit, interest has focused on the capacity of resource managers to implement more sustainable resource-use practices. This paper reports on an attempt to develop indicators of 'capacity for change' that are statistically reliable and both meaningful and useful to resource managers at a variety of scales. It will be argued, however, that social, spatial and temporal variability in change processes means that no discrete list of social indicators can achieve this task. At the same time that rigorous testing is needed to challenge common-sense assumptions about who is capable of change and where to target capacity-building programmes, data collection and interpretation must be embedded in processes of ongoing negotiation and adaptation among all those involved in, or affected by, resource management.     

Turning Scientific Approaches into Practical Conservation Actions: The Case of Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico

Optimum natural resource management and biodiversity conservation are desirable goals. These, however, often exclude each other, since maximum economic benefits have promoted drastic reductions in biodiversity throughout the world. This dilemma confronts local stakeholders, who usually go for maximizing economic inputs, whereas other social (e.g., academic) sectors are favor conservation practices. In this paper we describe the way two scientific approaches—landscape and participatory research—were used to develop sound and durable land use scenarios. These two approaches included expert knowledge of both social and environmental conditions in indigenous communities. Our major emphasis was given to detect spatially explicit land use scenarios and capacity building in order to construct a decision support system operated by stakeholders of the Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro in Mexico. The system for decision-making was fed with data from inventories of both abiotic and biotic biodiversity components. All research, implementation, and monitoring activities were conducted in close collaboration with members of the indigenous community. As a major result we obtained a number of forest alternative uses that favor emerging markets and make this indigenous community less dependent on a single market. Furthermore, skilled members of the community are now running the automated system for decision-making. In conclusion, our results were better expressed as products with direct benefits in local livelihoods rather than pure academic outputs.     

人海和谐视角下沿海城市国土空间开发建设适宜性评价研究——以江苏省沿海地区为例

国土空间开发适宜性评价对合理开发国土空间、优化国土空间利用格局具有重要的科学指导价值。遵循陆海统筹原则,采用短板原理、线性加权求和法、空间叠加分析法,从自然环境适宜性、资源环境承载力两个方面构建适宜性评价指标体系,通过对经济社会统计数据、空间数据的处理叠加,对江苏省沿海城市南通、盐城、连云港国土空间开发适宜性进行评价与分析。研究结果表明,国土空间开发适宜性空间分异明显,江苏沿海地区不适宜、基本不适宜、基本适宜、适宜区域面积分别为14 710.37 km²、3376.18 km²、6776.30 km²、5695.64km²,分别占陆域国土总面积的46.76%、10.73%、21.54%、18.10%,各地级市外围区域保护与发展之间的矛盾较为突出。     

Local Environmental Investments and Sustainable Development: The evaluation of environmental projects in Scotland supported by the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund

In the UK for the period 1994-99, a broad range of environmental projects were given financial support through the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund under the Objective 1 and Objective 5b programmes. This paper is concerned with the ex-post evaluation of these projects set within a Sustainable Development framework. The aim was to identify project types or characteristics that offered the greatest return on investment. A classification of six broad project types was adopted. The evaluation revealed that there were significant differences between individual projects with respect to the type and scale, and temporal and social distribution of the benefits they delivered. In particular, as well as delivering environmental and economic benefits, many projects made a significant contribution to the development of human and social capital. The paper concludes that it is possible to improve the basis for future project selection in order to maximise the returns on environmental investments in the context of sustainable development.     

Emerging Tools for Continuous Nutrient Monitoring Networks: Sensors Advancing Science and Water Resources Protection

Sensors and enabling technologies are becoming increasingly important tools for water quality monitoring and associated water resource management decisions. In particular, nutrient sensors are of interest because of the well‐known adverse effects of nutrient enrichment on coastal hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and impacts to human health. Accurate and timely information on nutrient concentrations and loads is integral to strategies designed to minimize risk to humans and manage the underlying drivers of water quality impairment. Using nitrate sensors as the primary example, we highlight the types of applications in freshwater and coastal environments that are likely to benefit from continuous, real‐time nutrient data. The concurrent emergence of new tools to integrate, manage, and share large datasets is critical to the successful use of nutrient sensors and has made it possible for the field of continuous monitoring to rapidly move forward. We highlight several near‐term opportunities for federal agencies, as well as the broader scientific and management community, that will help accelerate sensor development, build and leverage sites within a national network, and develop open data standards and data management protocols that are key to realizing the benefits of a large‐scale, integrated monitoring network. Investing in these opportunities will provide new information to guide management and policies designed to protect and restore our nation's water resources.     

The role of citizen scientist in nature resource decision-making: Lessons from the spruce budworm problem in Canada

Summary An increased role for citizen participation in natural resource decision-making has been advocated by, amongst others, the United Nations (Brundtland Commission) as a means of initiating fundamental changes in the way we exploit natural resources. However, attempts at meaningful participation by the public are met with resistance, commonly by the dominant elites who control environmental and economic policies. Citizen groups press for involvement, only to be dismissed by local establishments as ill-informed amateurs. The resulting conflicts seldom lead to innovations in policy or to constructive cooperation in the face of new environmental problems. This leads the author to feelings of pessimism about prospects for genuine public participation in the absence of political change. In arguing in support of such change, a case study is offered which illustrates the unfortunate consequences that ensue when participation is sought and rejected. The paper closes with recommendations for the way in which citizen groups could contribute in a meaningful way to natural resource decision-making, were they to be given the opportunity.Dr Alan Miller is currently Professor of Psychology at the University of New Brunswick. He has published previously in this journal on the topic of Ideology and Environmental Risk Management (The Environmentalist,5(1), 21–30.)     

Monitoring in adaptive co-management: Toward a learning based approach

The recognition of complexity and uncertainty in natural resource management has lead to the development of a wealth of conceptual frameworks aimed at integrated assessment and complex systems monitoring. Relatively less attention has however been given to methodological approaches that might facilitate learning as part of the monitoring process. This paper reviews the monitoring literature relevant to adaptive co-management, with a focus on the synergies between existing monitoring frameworks, collaborative monitoring approaches and social learning. The paper discusses the role of monitoring in environmental management in general, and the challenges posed by scale and complexity when monitoring in adaptive co-management. Existing conceptual frameworks for monitoring relevant to adaptive co-management are reviewed, as are lessons from experiences with collaborative monitoring. The paper concludes by offering a methodological approach to monitoring that actively seeks to engender reflexive learning as a means to deal with uncertainty in natural resource management.     

Exploring risk,resistance and the power of myths among coastal fishing communities in Kerala,India

This paper attempts to capture the socially constructed nature of risk by analyzing the discourses embedded in community beliefs, myths and experiential narratives regarding coastal hazards and fishworkers' livelihoods. This paper draws insights from the works of James Scott on power and resistance in the everyday life of marginalized populations. Qualitative data for the study was collected using semi‐structured interview schedules, in‐depth group interviews, oral histories and storytelling across twenty marine fishing villages in Kerala. A significant finding of the study is that the communal discourse of coastal hazards or kolu is an integral part of fishworkers' resistance against formal authority and scientific knowledge systems in coastal management. The myths and beliefs of fishworkers are expressions of their concerns about present forms of development and coastal resource management.     

A critical review of the theory and application of social learning in participatory natural resource management processes

Social learning is increasingly cited as an essential component of sustainable natural resource management and the promotion of desirable behavioural change. This paper attempts to contribute to the current debate about social learning and public participation by reviewing the many perspectives on social learning and associated claims and benefits. Based on this analysis the paper identifies conceptual and practical weaknesses of the concept of social learning and their implications for the design of participatory processes in natural resource management.     

Review of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in coastal zones of the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions of the United States with management implications

Groundwater serves as the primary drinking water source for over half of the coastal populations of the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions, two of the fastest growing regions in the United States. Increased demand for this resource has exceeded sustainable yields in many areas and induced saltwater intrusion of coastal aquifers. A process associated with coastal groundwater, submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), has been documented as a source of subsurface fluids to coastal ocean environments throughout the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions and is potentially a significant contributor to nearshore water and geochemical budgets (i.e., nutrients, carbon, trace metals) in many coastal regions. The importance of groundwater as a drinking water source for coastal populations and the influences of submarine groundwater discharge to the coastal ocean warrant increased research and management of this resource. This paper highlights findings from recent SGD studies on three hydrogeologically different continental margins (Onslow Bay, NC, southern Florida, and the Louisiana margin), provides background on the common methods of assessing SGD, and suggests a regional management plan for coastal groundwater resources. Suggested strategies call for assessments of SGD in areas of potentially significant discharge, development of new monitoring networks, and the incorporation of a regional coastal groundwater resources council.     

Integrating fisheries into the national development plans of Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Ten years on from Barbados

The development and effective introduction of strategies designed to ensure the ecologically and economically sustainable utilization of coastal and marine resources is perhaps the major challenge for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In response, the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) called upon the SIDS to implement appropriate coastal and marine strategies and, crucially, ensure that such strategies were integrated into sustainable national development plans (NDPs). This article examines the extent to which contemporary NDPs and donor support programmes have incorporated the fisheries sector — arguably the most important coastal/marine resource for many SIDS — into such documents. Applying an assessment methodology, originally developed to identify levels of environmental mainstreaming within World Bank country assistance strategies to NDPs and donor support programmes, we are able to identify those SIDS who have most effectively integrated the fisheries sector into such documents. Comparison with data indicating the importance of the sector to the national economy (in terms of generating foreign exchange, employment generation and/or supporting domestic protein consumption levels) enables us to pinpoint those countries with substantial fisheries sectors, but a correspondingly lower than expected degree of sectoral mainstreaming. We suggest that the January 2005 review of the BPoA offers an opportune moment for such countries to redress these omissions.     

Use of Small-area Data to Support a Community Agenda in Boston Chinatown

Boston Chinatown is a community that grapples with a constant pressure from the downtown area to build new and larger buildings. The effort to preserve the residential aspect of Chinatown has used data analysis in recent years by forming partnerships with academics. This has allowed for more sophisticated studies of traffic injuries, scientific surveys of residents about environmental health, the measurement of noise levels and the construction of physical and electronic mapping of data. While not the only factor contributing to the community's efforts to question the role of development, these data have added useful tools that reduce, but do not eliminate, the disparity between what the community brings to discussions about the environmental impact of development and what the developers have at their disposal.     

Cumulative environmental impacts and integrated coastal management: the case of Xiamen, China

This paper examines the assessment of cumulative environmental impacts and the implementation of integrated coastal management within the harbour of Xiamen, China, an urban region in which the coastal zone is under increasing pressure as a result of very rapid economic growth. The first stage of analysis incorporates components of a cumulative effects assessment, including (a) identification of sources of environmental impacts, notably industrial expansion, port development, shipping, waste disposal, aquaculture and coastal construction, (b) selection of a set of valued ecosystem components, focusing on circulation and siltation, water quality, sediment, the benthic community, and mangrove forests, and (c) use of a set of key indicators to examine cumulative impacts arising from the aggregate of human activities. In the second stage of analysis, the paper describes and assesses the development of an institutional framework for integrated coastal management in Xiamen, one that combines policy and planning (including legislative and enforcement mechanisms) with scientific and monitoring mechanisms (including an innovative 'marine functional zoning' system). The paper concludes that the integrated coastal management framework in Xiamen has met all relevant requirements for 'integration' as laid out in the literature, and has explicitly incorporated consideration of cumulative impacts within its management and monitoring processes.     

Complex property rights and Coasean bargaining in natural resource management

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to the debate on whether private or common property rights are better for advancing the sustainable management of natural resources. This contest between public and private ownership is often exaggerated, we claim, because in the real world, complex entitlements with varying degrees of privateness/publicness prevail. Property rights belonging to families, companies, clubs, corporations, and communities are simultaneously common to the members/shareholders and private to the entities. We call these entitlements private-common entitlements. When we acknowledge this complexity, it becomes evident that neither private nor common ownership rights are alone responsible for resource depletion. Instead, depletion is caused by freeriding or evading the payment of the full price of natural resources. This invites Coase’s solution to resource allocation. Therefore, the key problem is whether and how Coasean bargaining is employed to allocate ownership over resources threatened by depletion. We contribute to the debate by showing that Coase’s approach promotes not only economically efficient but also ecologically sustainable resource management. Often, this approach would lead to the establishment of largely private property or control rights by largely collective/public entities. We apply this theoretical framework to the development of a ski resort in Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria.