Environmental Management in India: Recent Challenges to the Indian Forest Service

This paper examines the impact of various social, economic and political changes on the work of the Indian Forest Service, the elite organization concerned with environmental management in India. It is noted that whilst many leading authors criticize this organization, nobody has taken the time to analyse the role of the Indian Forest Service and the way it has responded to the many challenges it has faced in the last 20 years. This paper seeks to rectify this by focusing on three key challenges: (1) due to economic liberalization the actual work that the forest officer is expected to undertake has changed beyond recognition; (2) political manipulation and correspondingly accusations of corruption have increased; (3) social changes and their impact on recruitment into the Indian Forest Service. It is concluded that, despite the many challenges which the Indian Forest Service has faced over the years, it is remarkably resilient and remains the most powerful agent in rural India.     

Applying a values-based decision process to facilitate comanagement of threatened species in Aotearoa New Zealand

Ko koe ki tēnā, ko ahau ki tēnai kīwai o te kete (you at that, and I at this handle of the basket). This Māori (New Zealanders of indigenous descent) saying conveys the principle of cooperation—we achieve more through working together, rather than separately. Despite decades of calls to rectify cultural imbalance in conservation, threatened species management still relies overwhelmingly on ideas from Western science and on top-down implementation. Values-based approaches to decision making can be used to integrate indigenous peoples’ values into species conservation in a more meaningful way. We used such a values-based method, structured decision making, to develop comanagement of pekapeka (Mystacina tuberculata) (short-tailed bat) and tara iti (Sternula nereis davisae) (Fairy Tern) between Māori and Pākehā (New Zealanders of European descent). We implemented this framework in a series of workshops in which facilitated discussions were used to gather expert knowledge to predict outcomes and make management recommendations. For both species, stakeholders clearly stated their values as fundamental objectives from the start, which allowed alternative strategies to be devised that naturally addressed their diverse values, including mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge and perspectives). On this shared basis, all partners willingly engaged in the process, and decisions were largely agreed to by all. Most expectations of conflicts between values of Western science and Māori culture were unfounded. Where required, positive compromises were made by jointly developing alternative strategies. The values-based process successfully taha wairua taha tangata (brought both worlds together to achieve the objective) through codeveloped recovery strategies. This approach challenges the traditional model of scientists first preparing management plans focused on biological objectives, then consulting indigenous groups for approval. We recommend values-based approaches, such as structured decision making, as powerful methods for development of comanagement conservation plans between different peoples.