Two Sides of the Same Coin: Formal and Informal Institutional Synergy in a Case Study of Wildlife Governance in Ghana

Abstract

There has been the call to forge a synergistic relationship between local ecological knowledge and formal institutions in the governance of natural resources. How do informal institutions complement the efforts of formal state regulation of natural resources? How does this complementation foster a regularized human–wildlife interaction? Adopting an ethnographic design, this study assesses the role of institutional complementation in natural resource governance using the case of Boabeng–Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (BFMS) in Ghana, West Africa. We purposively selected 33 informants relevant to the BFMS governance process. The study observes that the synergy between formal and informal institutions strengthens wildlife protection in BFMS and the surrounding villages. The usefulness of informal rules is enhanced if appropriately complemented with a formal institutional arrangement. Over time, it becomes necessary for informal rules to grow in dynamism to depict the principles of collaboration, inclusivity, and benefit arrangements.     

New Modes of Environmental Governance in Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation in Oregon

Abstract

Natural resource challenges often span administrative jurisdictions and include actors and processes operating at different spatial and political scales. We applied concepts of new environmental governance to analyze Oregon’s approach to greater sage-grouse conservation. Through one in-depth case study in Lake County, we traced features of new environmental governance (cross-scale interactions, decentralization, and capacities of actors) through different governance levels. Interviews and qualitative analysis revealed that decentralization of administrative functions facilitated cross-scale interactions and relied on intermediaries, gap-filling, and perceptions of legitimacy at lower levels. State and agency guidelines steered the effort and were accompanied by financial and technical resources from multiple arenas, which increased local capacity. This study adds to the understandings of environmental governance for implementing multi-actor, multi-level conservation arrangements in resource-dependent communities. Further exploration of connections between higher levels and local contexts will reveal important, new ways to link policies with on-the-ground outcomes.     

The importance of being reliable – Local ecological knowledge and management of forage plants in a dryland pastoral system (Morocco)

In dryland rangelands with their high environmental variability, local ecological knowledge of forage plants is essential for management decisions. Ecological apparency hypothesis (EAH) predicts plants' availability and visibility to be important criteria for local valuation. However, EAH has mainly been tested in low-variability systems. We ask whether EAH is valid for forage plants in drylands; which other local criteria exist; and how criteria are connected to management decisions.In a Moroccan pastoral system, we applied a novel ethnobotanical method by calculating the Cognitive Salience Index (CSI) for plants' valuation (CSI_antro) and availability (CSI_eco). To evaluate explicit criteria, we correlated palatability and nutritive value to CSI_anthro. ANCOVAs related CSI_anthro to EAH criteria (CSI_eco and lifetime) and to plant occurrence on pasture types. We found EAH criteria to better predict CSI_antro than explicit criteria. Apparent plants from semi-arid pastures were more valued than those from arid pastures (HSD; p < 0.05). We introduce the criterion of reliability into EAH to explain this, and demonstrate how pastoralists adjust management decisions to resource reliability. Linking resource valuation to management decisions can thus improve our understanding of resilience mechanisms. Our study also confirms the validity of EAH for forage species and dryland environments.     

In Situ Maintenance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Malekula Island,Vanuatu

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) guides resource management across the globe, but is at risk amid social and ecological change. This has prompted numerous calls for TEK maintenance efforts, but these remain largely unexamined in the literature. Here, we discuss three examples of in situ TEK maintenance from Malekula Island in Vanuatu, locally known as kastom schools. Based on qualitative data, we find that the kastom schools may create several opportunities to maintain TEK (e.g., establishing local control over education), and argue that they represent the creative and adaptive management of tradition in dynamic social–ecological contexts. However, a number of challenges, both practical (e.g., lack of funding) and epistemological (e.g., changing modes of cultural transmission), threaten the efficacy of the kastom schools. We argue that in situ modes of TEK maintenance have promise, but that issues of power and heterogeneity require serious consideration if such measures are to succeed.     

The role of social resource of indigenous people in local ecological resource management in China: A preliminary case in Zhangye, Northwestern China

Social resources of indigenous people are valuable wealth, including the social norms, the relational network, belief, attitude as well as the social system which is accumulated from generation to generation. Those social resources are very important for local ecological resource management, which can help diffuseness and communion of skills and traditional conservation techniques for conserving and restoring the ecological sites. Social capital is one indicator of social resources, which is accepted widely. In order to investigate the role of social resources of indigenous people in local ecological resource management, the authors studied the relation between social capital of indigenous people and local ecological resource management, taking Zhangye City as an exam-ple. In this paper, social capital of indigenous people is quantified by constructing social capital index, composed of structural so-cial capital and cognitive social capital; local ecological resource management is quantified by constructing "Grain for Green Pro-ject" performance index. Based on correlation analysis approach and logistic regression analysis approach, the authors analyzed the relation between social capital and "Grain for Green Project" performance index, as well as the relations between "Grain for Green Project" performance index and other factors such as per capita net income, medical treatment and so on. Results showed that the correlation between social capital and "Grain for Green Project" performance index was positive, the coefficient was 0.761, with P<0.01. An increase of 1 unit in social capital is associated with an increase of 1.550 units in "Grain for Green Project" per-formance. With factor, such as faction, per capita net income, medical treatment, increasing 1 unit, the "Grain for Green Project" performance index will increase 3.912, 1.039 and 1.005 units, respectively.     

Assessing participatory GIS for community-based natural resource management: claiming community forests in Cameroon

This paper critically reviews and analyses participatory GIS (PGIS) and participatory mapping applications within participatory spatial planning for community-based natural resource management in developing countries. There is an often implicit assumption that PGIS use is effective, in that it meets content needs, satisfies underlying local stakeholder interests and therefore is a tool for better governance. The analytical framework looks at participatory spatial planning performance with respect to key dimensions of governance, especially the intensity of community participation and empowerment, equity within communities and between 'governed' and 'governing', respect for indigenous knowledge, rights, ownership, legitimacy, and effectiveness. Specific development focus is given by a case study using participatory mapping and PGIS in community forest legitimization, planning and management in Tinto, Cameroon. 'Good governance' criteria are applied ex-post to the implementation procedures, the geo-information outputs, and the longer-term outcomes of the PGIS processes. Impacts of incorporating PGIS were examined in terms of the types and degrees of participation in the process; access to, and the uses made of, the geographic information; whether the information outputs met stakeholders' requirements; and the overall changes in equity and empowerment in the community. It was found that PGIS/participatory mapping processes contributed – positively, though not comprehensively – to good governance, by improving dialogue, redistributing resource access and control rights – though not always equitably – legitimizing and using local knowledge, exposing local stakeholders to geospatial analysis, and creating some actor empowerment through training. PGIS promoted empowerment by supporting community members' participation in decision-making and actions, and by enabling land use planning decisions beyond community forestry itself.     

Arctic climate change discourse: the contrasting politics of research agendas in the West and Russia

In this paper we explore how Western scientific concepts and attitudes towards indigenous knowledge, as they pertain to resource management and climate change, differ from the prevailing view in modern Russia. Western indigenous leaders representing the Inuit and Saami peoples are actively engaged in the academic and political discourse surrounding climate change, whereas their Russian colleagues tend to focus more on legislation and self-determination, as a post-Soviet legacy. We contribute to the debate with data from the Nenets tundra, showing how different research has employed the three crucial Western research paradigms of climate change, wildlife management and indigenous knowledge on the ground. We suggest that the daily practice of tundra nomadism involves permanent processes of negotiating one's position in a changing environment, which is why "adaptation" is woven into the society, and cosmology as a whole, rather than being separable into distinct "bodies" of knowledge or Western-designed categories. We argue that research agendas should be placed in their proper local and regional context, and temporal framework: for example, by collaborating with herders on the topics of weather instead of climate change, herding skills instead of wildlife management, and ways of engaging with the tundra instead of traditional ecological knowledge.     

Are traditional and modern forestry institutions complementary or do they prescribe contradictory rights in Trans-Himalayan Nepal? A lesson to be learned for REDD+ implementation

Rights to forest products are difficult to decide in situations when traditional management institutions exist parallel to formal ones. Such situations raise the question of whether the institutions are complementary or prescribe contradictory rights and management principles. Based on a household survey and key informant interviews, the article focuses on how diverging management principles can be harmonized to satisfy national forestry goals in Nepal. Villages in the Trans-Himalayan district of Mustang used to manage forests according to their traditional institutions but after 1993 they were included in a new management regime called Conservation Area Management Committees (CAMCs). The findings revealed that the villagers appreciated development initiatives undertaken by the CAMCs but three disjunctions regarding forest management existed between the CAMCs and traditional institutions: there was a disjunction between the two sets of rules for forest resource utilization; there were role dilemmas of local residents who were entrusted with CAMC implementation; and there were spatial disjunctions when formal administrative forest borders did not coincide with customary ones. The simultaneous existence of two institutions thus blurred the rights to forest resources. The author concludes that knowledge of the disjunction between parallel institutions is vital for accommodating new management schemes such as REDD+.     

Understanding Causes of Conflict Over Common Village Pastures – A Comparative Analysis of Property Rights in Azerbaijan and Georgia

Abstract

Conflicts in the management of renewable natural resources are situations in which actors have diverging opinions on issues of natural resource use. In the literature, among the causal factors for conflicts discussed are resource wealth or scarcity and the role of governance. The evidence, however, is contradictory. In order to analyze the role of governance in more detail, we propose a combined analysis of property rights and conflicts. In this way, an improved understanding of the causes of local conflicts over renewable natural resources can be achieved. We use comparative case study data from pasture management in the Caucasus region, first, to classify conflicts according to the bundle of property rights approach and, second, to explore how the causal factors resource scarcity and current governance contribute to those conflicts.     

Effects of Traditional Ecological Knowledge on the Drought- resistant Mechanisms of the Hani Rice Terraces System

The Hani Rice Terraces System is one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites which can successfully resist extreme droughts. The reason is not only that the forests and terraces have the important function of water conservation, which provide and conserve adequate water resources for this complex ecosystem, but also that Hani traditional ecological knowledge plays an important role in the drought-resistance process. In this paper, drought-resistant mechanisms of the Hani Rice Terraces System have been analyzed first, then Hani traditional ecological knowledge has been analyzed based on a comprehensive literature review, a questionnaire survey and key informant interviews. The results show that the Hani nationality has developed knowledge of water management techniques, including water conserving construction, water allocation and ditch management. The Hani people are also highly conscious of water resources protection. There is a good deal of forest resource management knowledge and worship of forests, which have effectively helped in protecting the forest ecological system. In the reclamation and maintenance of Hani terraced fields, the Hani people have developed a series of farming systems, which have effectively protected the terrace ecosystem. Through analyzing this knowledge of water management, forest resource management and Hani terraced fields management, our paper confirms the important role that traditional ecological knowledge plays in maintaining stability of the system and realizing the efficient use of water resource. This is not only helpful for preserving cultural heritage, but is vital for protecting the Hani Rice Terraces System as a whole.     

Community clusters in wildlife and environmental management: using TEK and community involvement to improve co-management in an era of rapid environmental change

Environmental change has stressed wildlife co-management systems in the Arctic because parameters are changing more rapidly than traditional scientific monitoring can accommodate. Co-management systems have also been criticized for not fully integrating harvesters into the local management of resources. These two problems can be approached through the use of spatially-defined human social units termed community clusters, which are based on the demographic or ecological units being managed. An examination of polar bear management in Nunavut Territory, Canada, shows that community clusters provide a forum to collect and analyse traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) over a geographic area that mirrors the management unit, providing detailed information of local conditions. This case study also provides examples of how instituting community clusters at a governance level provides harvesters with social space in which to develop their roles as managers, along the continuum from being powerless spectators to active, adaptive co-managers. Five steps for enhancing co-management systems through the inclusion of community clusters and their knowledge are: (1) the acceptance of TEK, science, the precautionary principle and the right of harvesters not to be constrained by overly-conservative management decisions; (2) data collection involving TEK and science, and a collaboration between the two; (3) institutionalization of community clusters for data collection; (4) institutionalization of community clusters in the management process; and (5) grass-roots initiatives to take advantage of the social space provided by the community cluster approach, in order to adapt the management to local conditions, and to effect policy changes at higher levels, so as to better meet local objectives.     

Communication,Partnerships, and the Role of Social Science: Conservation Delivery in a Brave New World

Abstract

The Saginaw Bay Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) in Michigan is an innovative conservation effort organized to address water quality impairments involving a unique collaboration between conservation organizations, agronomists, universities, commodity groups, and agribusinesses. We track the evolution and adaptation of the Saginaw Bay RCPP, and the collaboration among the traditional and nontraditional conservation partners. Our reflections are organized around three key lessons: vertical and horizontal communication challenges; contextual and structural constraints; barriers that remain between private and public sector entities for this and alternative conservation-delivery models. Lessons from this evaluation will inform the design of future collaborative/multi-stakeholder watershed management efforts. We also demonstrate that rather than being used as an ad-hoc approach, social science evaluation was integrated into conservation planning and practice, hence increasing the salience and legitimacy of the conservation social science in collaborative watershed management.     

Emerging customs: Small-scale fishing practices in Aceh,Indonesia

Off the western coast of Sumatra among the islands of Pulau Banyak, fishing is the primary occupation for the men of Haloban. They are self-described “traditional” fishers, using low-tech gear and small boats to catch fish, octopus, lobster, and other sealife in the nearby coral reefs and mangroves. Women also regularly venture out into the deep mud of the mangroves to collect clams. Their efforts to extract livelihoods and subsistence from the reefs take place in an open-access commons with few formal institutions or enforcement mechanisms to regulate resource use. While explicit regulations and customary limitations on fishing in the coral reef commons are lacking, Haloban fishers improvise some common etiquette and practices that are adaptable to the shifting context.This case study presents Haloban fishers' use of the commons as situated practices, unarticulated and embedded within a complex social–ecological system. These practices reflect fishers' understanding of, and relationship with, their environment, and may represent a nascent form of local “rules-in-use”, informing behavior without direct social mechanisms for enforcement. This paper presents research collected using ethnographic methods, including participant observation at sea. As NGOs and government agencies work to craft management plans that share use of the reefs with tourism and conservation, a better understanding of actual resource use and fishing practice may inform more nuanced, adaptable, and truly “local” community-based management.     

Science and the St Elias: an evolving framework for sustainability in North America's highest mountains

The past, present, and future contributions of science in the St Elias Mountains, and its relationship with regional development, resource management, and traditional ecological knowledge is examined. Science has evolved from an early foundation of exploration, through stages of resource inventories and surveys, to deductive scientific research and, more recently, a promising reconnection with traditional knowledge. Directly and indirectly, events such as the Klondike Gold Rush, construction of the Alaska Highway, creation of the Arctic Institute of North America's Kluane Lake Research Station, and establishment of protected areas have helped foster scientific activities in the region. In turn, this scientific perspective has influenced regional development by providing detailed information that has been utilized, to varying degrees, in resource use, planning, and decisionmaking. Over the past decade, management of the region has become less sectoral and more cooperative in nature, due partly to the implementation of co-management agreements, regional land use planning, and settlement of first nations' land claims. Incorporating both science and traditional knowledge into this process through collaborative endeavours such as long-term ecological monitoring, adaptive management, and information integration will contribute to ecosystem-based management of the St Elias and ensure that both perspectives play an integral role in sustainable development of the region.     

Revitalizing ecological capital

Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography 111(2):149–167, 2011

The modernization of agricultural food production has diminished and is diminishing the sustainable use of the local natural resource base, resulting in the fragmentation of landscapes and the decline of biodiversity. In this paper we analyze the revitalization of ecological capital, which provides insights into how effective adjustments in land-use and farming practices can stimulate a reconnection between farming, nature and society. The paper focuses on a case study about endogenous knowledge on the relation between farm activities and the reproduction of the landscape and its flora and fauna in the (Dutch) Friesian Woodlands. We suggest that building adequate, local institutional frameworks that strengthen landscape structures, regional identity and the ‘branding’ of food products will sustain rural development in the area. The results should be of value for increasing the understanding among researchers and policymakers of the potential of endogenous knowledge in governing the increase of the ecological stock in an area.     

The role and value of local knowledge in Jamaican agriculture: adaptation and change in small-scale farming

Local knowledge has played an active role in the lives of rural communities in virtually every part of the world. In Jamaica, traditional cropping systems based on local informal knowledge have been practiced since the days of slavery and play a vital role in meeting food security. Yet, some negative attitudes remain about the legitimacy and relevance of small-scale farmers' local and traditional knowledge. This paper discusses some conceptual and empirical issues related to the application of local knowledge among small-scale food farmers in central Jamaica. The paper argues that contextually speaking, local and traditional knowledge is valuable, adaptable and necessary in coping with risk and uncertainty in a changing world, while cautioning against a misguided notion of traditional knowledge as a panacea to all the ills of local agriculture.     

Field Trips as Valuable Learning Experiences in Geography Courses

Abstract

Field trips have been acknowledged as valuable learning experiences in geography. This article uses Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning model to discuss how students learn and how field trips can help enhance learning. Using Kolb’s experiential learning theory as a guide in the design of field trips helps ensure that field trips contribute to internalizing relevant geographical theory and concepts. Three types of field trips are presented: an informal survey of a neighborhood, a more formal scavenger hunt, and a virtual field trip using Google Earth.

Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.

—Kolb (1984)     

Capturing Farmers’ Knowledge: Testing the Analytic Hierarchy Process and a Ranking and Scoring Method

Abstract

Integrating local and Indigenous knowledge into land-use planning and the assessment of ecosystems services requires reliable, quantitative data. We tested two approaches to obtain such data by quantifying farmer opinion of different land-covers in Eastern Panama using (1) the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and (2) a simpler ranking and scoring technique. Both methods produce a set of numerical values reflecting the ability of land-covers to deliver ecological and socio-economic criteria. We present our experience with both methods and offer recommendations for researchers looking to quantify landholder opinion. The AHP survey was relatively long (on average it took 19?min to complete per criterion) and we faced problems with inconsistent responses. In contrast, the ranking and scoring method was much quicker (only 3?min per criterion) and therefore may be more suitable for gathering more data from a larger number of farmers.