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PCLG Digest 

May 2018

The May 2018 edition of PCLG digest features 31 newly published resources. There’s a call to contribute to a special issue of the Sustainability Journal – Integrated Landscape Governance for Food Security.

Also, PhD studentship proposals (pdf) that adopt a political ecology/ environmental justice approach are invited by UEA, as well as openings for PhD students at the Human Ecology Department of Lund University. 

And, you have till 15th June to apply to 2 week course on Ethical Conservation in Kenya.

– Francesca (pclg@iied.org)
 

In this issue

Community-based conservation

1. Alexander S.M, Epstein G, Bodin, Ö, Armitage D and D Campbell (2018) Participation in planning and social networks increase social monitoring in community‐based conservation. Conservation Letters. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12562 (Open Access)

The authors draw upon the literature on common‐pool resources and social networks to assess the impacts of participation and network ties on the decisions of fishers to voluntarily report rule violations in two Jamaican marine reserves. The results suggest that local fishers are more likely to report illegal fishing if they participated in conservation planning and if they are directly linked to community‐based wardens in information sharing networks.

2. Schnegg M and RD Kiaka (2018) Subsidized elephants: Community-based resource governance and environmental (in) justice in Namibia. Geoforum. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.05.010 (Open Access)

The authors use the concept of environmental justice as a theoretical guide to explore the combined effects of community based natural resource management (CBNRM) policies have had for pastoralists in arid, rural Namibia. They suggest that looking at the combined effects of CBNRM policies for water and wildlife management, these policies are likely to lead to better resource management but greater economic inequality.

Conflict and conservation 

3. Soliku O and U Schraml (2018) Making sense of protected area conflicts and management approaches: A review of causes, contexts and conflict management strategies. Biological Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2018.04.011

The authors conduct a literature review to assess the similarities and differences that characterise protected area (PA) conflicts in developing and developed countries. Results indicate that the types of PA conflict vary between developed and developing countries - while PA conflicts in developing countries appear to be primarily driven by impacts on livelihoods, PA conflicts in developed countries appear to be driven by social considerations.

Conservation enterprises

4. Fröcklin, S., N. S. Jiddawi, and M. De la Torre-Castro. 2018. Small-scale innovations in coastal communities: shell-handicraft as a way to empower women and decrease poverty. Ecology and Society. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10136-230234 (Open Access)

The authors examine the potential of small-scale innovations, such as shell-handicraft, to foster transformation toward sustainability, decrease poverty, and increase women’s empowerment in Zanzibar (Tanzania). The authors note that, although the women interviewed were satisfied and had increased their standard of living, issues remain with scaling up, market constraints, and the kick-off process having external top-down elements.

Conservation Governance

5. Andrachuk M, Armitage D, Dung Hoang H, and N Van Le (2018) Building blocks for social-ecological transformations: identifying and building on governance successes for small-scale fisheries. Ecology and Society. DOI: 10.5751/ES-10006-230226 (Open Access)

The authors introduce building blocks as an approach to assess deliberative transformation pathways in linked systems of people and nature using two case study sites of similar small-scale coastal fisheries. The investigation reveals five building blocks that appear to be instrumental to success in the two case study communities: fisher approval of ecological conservation, cooperation among fishers, support from local government, secure funding, and effective leadership.

6. Baker DM, Murray G and A Agyare (2018) Governance and the making and breaking of social-ecological traps. Ecology and Society. DOI: 10.5751/ES-09992-230138 (Open Access)

This research characterises social-ecological traps from a local perspective, to describe how governance and management structures interact with and relate to those traps, and to discuss the strategies used and challenges encountered when community-based natural resource management initiatives seek to reverse persistent social-ecological traps. Findings from case studies in Ghana highlight how natural resource management is constrained by a lack of capacity to implement and enforce state policies, ongoing tension between customary and state institutions, and ambiguity regarding management responsibility and resource tenure.

7. Evans LS, Cohen PJ, Vave-Karamui A, Masu R, Boso D and S Mauli (2018) Reconciling Multiple Societal Objectives in Cross-Scale Marine Governance: Solomon Islands’ Engagement in the Coral Triangle Initiative. Society & Natural Resources. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2017.1383544

The authors interrogate Solomon Islands’ engagement in the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security to contribute new insight on the scalar politics of multi-level marine governance. They show how regional objectives are re-interpreted and prioritised as they translate into national policy and practice.

Culture, religion, tradition and conservation

8. Gavin MC, et al. (2018) Effective Biodiversity Conservation Requires Dynamic, Pluralistic, Partnership-Based Approaches. Sustainability. DOI: 10.3390/su10061846 (Open Access)

The authors argue that biocultural approaches to conservation can guide progress toward just and sustainable conservation solutions. They provide examples of the central principles of biocultural conservation, which emphasize the need for pluralistic, partnership-based, and dynamic approaches to conservation.

Ecosystem services and people

9. Ribeiro SMC, Soares Filho B, Costa WL, Bachi L, de Oliveira AR, Bilotta P, Saadi A, Lopes E, O'Riordan T, Pennacchio HL and L Queiroz (2018) Can multifunctional livelihoods including recreational ecosystem services (RES) and non timber forest products (NTFP) maintain biodiverse forests in the Brazilian Amazon? Ecosystem Services. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.03.016

The authors assess the links between recreational ecosystem services and the benefits for wellbeing of traditional livelihoods in the Brazilian Amazon. Their results show that, at the scale of the Brazilian Amazon, associations between recreational ecosystem services and extractivist activities of Brazil nut and rubber are very weak. However, qualitative analysis of the case studies reveals that where there are multifunctional livelihoods, recreational ecosystem services are helping to enhance non timber forest product extractivist social values that otherwise would be suppressed by prevailing “cattle ranching” lifestyles.

10. Schreckenberg K, Mace G and M Poudyal (2018) Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation – Trade-offs and Governance. Routledge, London. Available online: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429016295 (Open Access)

This book provides a review of current thinking on the links between ecosystem services and poverty alleviation. The authors address the evolving framings and contexts for the work, review the impacts of ongoing drivers of change, present new ways to achieve sustainable wellbeing, equity, diversity, and resilience, and evaluate the potential contributions from conservation projects, payment schemes, and novel governance approaches across scales from local to national and international.

Gender

11. Colfer CJP, Basnett B and M Ihalainen (2018) Making sense of ‘intersectionality’: A manual for lovers of people and forests. CIFOR Occasional Paper No. 184. Access online: https://www.cifor.org/library/6793/making-sense-of-intersectionality-a-manual-for-lovers-of-people-and-forests/ (Open Access)
This manual introduces ‘intersectionality’ to researchers working on forestry and agroforestry, and provides tips and strategies for applying it in their own work. The authors provide a brief and accessible overview of the major approaches and debates surrounding the term in gender studies. In applying the term, the authors propose a five-lens approach (cognitive, emotional, social, economic and political) to identify who the marginalised are and what sustains their marginalisation.

Human wellbeing

12. Beauchamp E, Woodhouse E, Clements T and EJ Milner-Gulland (2018) “Living a good life”: conceptualizations of well-being in a conservation context in Cambodia. Ecology and Society. DOI: 10.5751/ES-10049-230228 (Open Access)

The authors examine local conceptualisations of wellbeing in a conservation context across three sites in northern Cambodia. The results highlight village context as a key line of variation in individual wellbeing, rather than differences related to age, gender, or wealth. The authors suggest that conservation incentives that mirror people’s aspirations can balance out negative trade-offs linked to compliance and can contribute to wellbeing.

13. Silva JA, Loboda T and M Strong (2018) Examining aspiration’s imprint on the landscape: Lessons from Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park. Global Environmental Change. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.04.013 (Open Access)

This paper explores the role of aspirational capacity, one cognitive dimension of wellbeing, as a driver of deforestation among rural smallholders living in or near Mozambique’s portion of the Great Limpopo. The authors find limited aspirational capacity, manifested in expressions of helplessness and despair, a lack of perceived choices, and fewer agentive pursuits, is one dimension of poverty that contributes to cropland expansion.

Human wildlife conflict

14. Scheijen CP, Richards SA, Smit J, Jones T and K Nowak (2018) Efficacy of beehive fences as barriers to African elephants: a case study in TanzaniaOryx. DOI: 10.1017/S0030605317001727 (Open Access)

The authors tested the effectiveness of beehive fences in a farming community adjacent to Udzungwa Mountains National Park. They find mixed results suggesting that the shape, length and location of fences need to be carefully planned - fences need to be long enough to be effective and ensure that decreasing crop loss frequency is not outweighed by an increasing number of farms damaged per visit.

15. van de Water A and K Matteson (2018) Human-elephant conflict in western Thailand: Socio-economic divers and potential mitigation strategies. PLOS one. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194736 (Open Access)

To gain insights into variables that shape attitudes toward elephant conservation in Asia, the authors surveyed households and plantation owners in seven villages around the Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary, an area of high human-elephant conflict. In general, less supportive attitudes toward elephant conservation and coexistence were held by individuals older than 35 years of age, those who had previously had experienced negative interactions with elephants, those with lower incomes, and those working in the agricultural sector.

Hunting (subsistence, traditional, trophy)

16. Mavah GA, Funk SM, Child B, Swisher ME, Nasi R and JE Fa (2018) Food and livelihoods in park-adjacent communities: The case of the Odzala Kokoua National Park. Biological Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2018.03.036 

The authors gathered information on bushmeat consumption, income, material assets, and hunter perception of the state of wildlife at Odzala Kokoua National Park (Republic of Congo). They find that bushmeat species were consumed in 38–48% of meals, and 20–30% of households earned cash from hunting wildlife in most villages; more than any other single source of revenue, except cocoa.

Interesting methodological approaches

17. Evans EK, Guariguata MR and PH Brancalion (2018) Participatory monitoring to connect local and global priorities for forest restoration. Conservation Biology. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13110 (Open Access)

The authors synthesise current knowledge from literature searches and interviews to provide lessons for the development of a scalable, multisite participatory monitoring system. They suggest that participatory monitoring could provide a framework for linking global, national, and local needs, aspirations, and capacities for forest restoration.

18. Merlet P, Van Hecken G and R Rodriguez-Fabilena (2018) Playing before paying? A PES simulation game for assessing power inequalities and motivations in the governance of Ecosystem Services. Ecosystem Services. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.03.024

The authors present a ‘PES simulation game’ as an alternative methodology to enhance understanding of complex negotiations between diverse actors involved in ecosystem services governance. The authors discuss some of the main game dynamics as well as reflections generated by the game while examining a payments for ecosystem services (PES) intervention in the Nicaraguan agricultural frontier.

19. Pimenta NC, Barnett AA, Botero-Arias R and M Marmontel (2018) When predators become prey: Community-based monitoring of caiman and dolphin hunting for the catfish fishery and the broader implications on Amazonian human-natural systems. Biological Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2018.04.003

The authors present results of one year of participatory monitoring of bait-hunting in 12 communities in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. The authors highlight the potential for participatory research with local populations in formulating well-informed decisions for the conservation of natural resources and economic alternatives focused on the conservation of human-natural systems.

20. Redpath SM, Keane A, Andrén H, Baynham-Herd Z, Bunnefeld N, Duthie AB, Frank J, Garcia CA, Månsson J, Nilsson L and CR Pollard (2018) Games as Tools to Address Conservation Conflicts. Trends in ecology & evolution. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.005

The authors explore the utility of theoretical, experimental, and constructivist approaches to games to help to understand and manage these conservation conflicts. The authors suggest that games approaches can help to develop theory, understand patterns in conflict, and highlight potentially effective management solutions.

21. Schröter B, Hauck J, Hackenberg I and B Matzdorf (2018) Bringing transparency into the process: Social network analysis as a tool to support the participatory design and implementation process of Payments for Ecosystem Services. Ecosystem Services. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.03.007

The authors demonstrate how Net-Map, as a specific tool for Social Network Analysis can make actor relations visible within participation processes. They present how the results of participatory Net-Map Interviews can be used for payments for ecosystem services development, implementation and evaluation. In particular, they explain and discuss this for three case studies in Costa Rica.

22. Wesselow M and S Stoll‐Kleemann (2018) Role‐playing games in natural resource management and research: Lessons learned from theory and practice. The Geographical Journal. DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12248 (Open Access)

This article explores the diverse potentials of role‐playing games (RPGs) in natural resource research and management. A case study from Madagascar illustrates that land users can easily relate RPGs to their real lives. The participants in this case study reflected on their livelihood systems, collectively analysed problems, and discussed possible solutions.

REDD+

23. Benjaminsen G and R Kaarhus (2018) Commodification of forest carbon: REDD+ and socially embedded forest practices in Zanzibar. Geoforum. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.021

The authors present an investigation of the ways in which a REDD+ project in Zanzibar takes steps to establish the systems required to produce a forest carbon. The authors discuss how the commodification of forest carbon is at odds with local norms, practices and social relations at local level in Zanzibar, and show how commodification processes creates new uncertainties and relations of dependence.

24. Dawson NM, Mason M, Fisher JA, Mwayafu DM, Dhungana H, Schroeder H and M Zeitoun (2018) Norm Entrepreneurs Sidestep REDD+ in Pursuit of Just and Sustainable Forest Governance. Sustainability. DOI: 10.3390/su10061726 (Open Access)

The authors draw on interviews with intermediaries in Nepal and Uganda and find that recognition of local values and practices such as customary tenure systems are key justice concerns of forest-adjacent communities in each country. However, intermediaries perceive a low likelihood of advancing those claims through national or international climate and forest policy debates, such as REDD+.

25. Larson AM, Solis D, Duchelle AE, Atmadja S, Resosudarmo IAP, Dokken T and M Komalasari (2018) Gender lessons for climate initiatives: A comparative study of REDD+ impacts on subjective wellbeing. World Development. DOI:  10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.02.027 (Open Access)

This article uses data from a longitudinal study of subnational REDD+ initiatives in six countries to analyse their gendered impact on perceived wellbeing. Outcomes regarding wellbeing change suggest that perceived wellbeing decreased in REDD+ villages both for villagers and for women, relative to control villages, but the decrease was much worse for women.

26. Massarella K, Sallu SM, Ensor JE and R Marchant (2018) REDD+, hype, hope and disappointment: The dynamics of expectations in conservation and development pilot projects. World Development. DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.05.006 (Open Access)

The authors explore concepts from the sociology of expectations and then unpack expectations in a case study of REDD+ pilot projects in Tanzania. The study finds that once raised, expectations are dynamic and continually mediated by actors and social contexts, which conflicts with attempts to ‘manage’ them.

27. Satyal P, Corbera E, Dawson N, Dhungana H and G Maskey (2018) Representation and participation in formulating Nepal’s REDD+ approach. Climate Policy. DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2018.1473752 (Open Access)

The authors interrogate how newly articulated REDD+ governance processes established to guide the formulation of Nepal’s REDD+ approach address issues of participation for different social groups. They find that spaces for participation and decision-making in REDD+ have been dominated by government actors and influential civil society groups, whereas the influence of other actors, particularly marginalised groups such as Dalits and women’s organisations, have remained limited.

Social impacts of conservation 

28. Carmenta R, Coudel E and AM Steward (2018) Forbidden fire: Does criminalising fire hinder conservation efforts in swidden landscapes of the Brazilian Amazon? The Geographical Journal. DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12255

The authors explore the dynamics of fire management through a case study approach in three leading forest conservation initiative types, situated across diverse contexts in the Brazilian Amazon. They suggest that restrictive fire management policies do not replace the necessity of fire‐based agriculture and rather serve to disempower swidden farmers by making burning increasingly illicit.

Wildlife trade (legal and illegal) 

29. Niskanen L, Roe D, Rowe W, Dublin H and D Skinner (2018) Strengthening Local Community Engagement in Combatting Illegal Wildlife Trade - Case studies from Kenya. IUCN publication. Available online: https://www.iucn.org/files/flod-case-study-kenya (Open Access)

This publication provides two case studies from Kenya that have used the ‘Local communities: First Line of Defence against illegal wildlife trade (FLoD)’ methodology. The publication includes lessons learned from using the FLOD methodology.

30. Roe D, Dublin H, Niskanen L, Skinner D and A Vishwanath (2018) Local communities: the overlooked first line of defence for wildlife. Available online: http://pubs.iied.org/17455IIED/ (Open Access)

The long-term survival of wildlife, and in particular the success of efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) in high-value commodities such as elephant ivory and rhino horn, depends to a large extent on the support of local communities living alongside it. But communities themselves are rarely consulted on what they think about IWT and how best to tackle it. This briefing includes policy pointers for including local communities.

31. Skinner D, Dublin H, Niskanen L, Roe D and A Vishwanath (2018) Local communities: First Line of Defence against illegal wildlife trade (FLoD) Guidance for implementing the FLoD methodology. IIED Manual. Also available in Português, and Français. Available online: http://pubs.iied.org/14672IIED/ (Open Access)

This manual provides detailed guidance for implementing the ‘Local communities: First Line of Defence against illegal wildlife trade (FLoD)’ methodology. The FLoD methodology is designed to articulate, contrast and compare the assumptions, perceptions, and logic flows of communities and project designers/implementers that are engaging in projects to combat illegal wildlife trade (IWT).
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This newsletter is one of a number of information services published by PCLG, an IIED led initiative with support from the Arcus Foundation. For more information visit our website.
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