Adaptive co-management as an approach to tourism destination governance – a case of protected areas in Bangladesh

Abstract

Tourism in protected areas can accelerate development opportunities by providing various direct and indirect ecological, socio-economic and cultural benefits, particularly in developing countries (Dudley, 2008; Newsome & Hassell, 2014; Tosun, 2000; WWF [World Wide Fund For Nature], 2014). However, developing countries, and their protected areas, are often characterised by poor governance systems that impede the development of these locations as tourism destinations and therefore affect those (poor) people living in and around these areas (Eklund, Arponen, Visconti, & Cabeza, 2011; Parnini, 2006). Therefore, policy or institutional arrangements are required which promote better governance systems and enable local people to obtain socio-economic and ecological benefits from tourism activities (Figgis & Bushell, 2007). Consequently, a paradigm shift is occurring within protected area planning and management with a transition from traditional top-down to participatory bottom-up approaches to ensure the participation of local stakeholders in decision-making, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and ultimately benefit-sharing (Eagles, McCool, & Haynes, 2002; Niedzialkowski, Paavola, & Jedrzejewska, 2012). As such, these institutional arrangements can promote better governance systems for local communities to improve their living standards as well as facilitating effective protected area management planning systems (Dearden, Bennett, & Johnston, 2005). ‘Adaptive co-management’ (ACM) is a dynamic process whereby institutional arrangements and ecological knowledge are continually tested and revised through a process of ‘learning-by-doing’ (Armitage, Berkes, & Doubleday, 2007b). ACM has been suggested as a more inclusive alternate approach to governance which can better facilitate the management and protection of natural resources (Armitage, Berkes, Dale, Kocho-Schellenberg, & Patton, 2011; Plummer & Fitzgibbon, 2004a). ACM has also been advocated due to the fact that it can provide a means to empower local stakeholders and enhance collaboration with other stakeholder groups. This is achieved through more flexible systems that encompass complex cross-scale linkages (Olsson, Folke, & Berkes, 2004; Wood, Butler, Sheaves, & Wani, 2013). ACM has several attributes or principles. Social learning is one of the key principles and is based on the creation of cooperative and collaborative frameworks that can facilitate iterative learning amongst diverse groups of stakeholders (Ruitenbeek & Cartier, 2001; Schusler, Decker, & Pfeffer, 2003). Social learning is particularly relevant for tourism development in protected areas as tourism is multiple stakeholder activity requiring collaboration (Haddock-Fraser & Hampton, 2010; McCool, 2009). Both ACM and social learning have only recently been explored in tourism although the concepts have yet to be linked to tourism destination governance generally (Chen, Ku, & Chen, 2016; Fennell, Plummer, & Marschke, 2008; Lai, Hsu, & Wearing, 2016; Pennington-Gray, Schroeder, & Gale, 2014) or protected area governance specifically (Lai et al., 2016; Plummer & Fennell, 2009). Addressing the identified research gaps, the overarching aim of this qualitative study is to investigate the impacts of the ACM approach on tourism destination governance in the context of two protected areas of Bangladesh; Lawachara National Park and Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuary. This research follows the style of three interconnected manuscripts. Manuscript one presents a review and synthesis of the ACM literature and in doing so identifies four inter-connected principles of the ACM approach: communication and collaboration; social learning; shared rights, responsibility and decision-making; and building adaptive capacity and resilience. A conceptual framework of tourism destination governance that incorporates ACM principles, process, variables and outcomes is developed. Manuscript two aims to empirically investigate the extent to which an ACM approach was able to enhance the achievement of key governance principles such as participation, social learning, accountability, transparency, power, and rule of law. Stakeholder interviews showed that the ACM approach provided a congenial environment that facilitates iterative learning amongst stakeholders, and for some, resulted in attitude and behaviour change towards protected area conservation. Manuscript three is an exploratory study that sought to analyse how social learning is embedded in the governance of a protected area tourism destination. The empirical findings show that social learning allows for diverse stakeholder groups to interact together to create new knowledge, develop awareness and empower local communities. The findings reinforce the importance of social learning for tourism destination governance. The overall theoretical and practical implications of this research are the application of ACM as an approach that can enhance tourism destination governance. Enhanced governance systems are crucial for contributing to sustainable tourism development objectives, as well as protected area conservation and management.