Abstract
Community-based conservation is generally implemented on public land and aims to empower local people in the management process. Within the Biosphere Reserve of Camargue (Rhone river delta, southern France), a private research centre on Mediterranean wetland conservation has changed this structure and has attempted to implement a community-based conservation project on its private land. The motivation behind this decision is based on the need to improve wetland conservation and the local public acceptance of the wetland research centre. The project methodology has been adapted from the integrated coastal zone management framework, with the aim of balancing conservation, local development, and social adhesion objectives. This article analyses the results of this project and the cost-benefits of such an endeavour from a private landowner's perspective. This study can help other private landowners or organisations developing future community-based conservation projects on private lands.
Highlights
There has been a trend, over the last four decades, for development projects to change their implementation strategies
The permanent project team is composed of a facilitator, a team leader and community members
Occasional experts were periodically implicated in the project; these experts contributed as needed in Community-based conservation in action / 207
Summary
There has been a trend, over the last four decades, for development projects to change their implementation strategies. Following the green revolution during the 1960s, experts and scientists developed participatory approaches to improve farming productivity, mainly through technological transfers (Lavigne-Delville et al 2000). During the 1970s and early 1980s, the technological approach changed progressively, with the development of more systemic approaches and farming system research (Collinson 2000). Despite a stronger involvement of the local population, participatory development and research projects continued to be a process where decisions were supported primarily on technical and economical bases and were made by experts and central decision-makers. Interventions, taking into account the social context, increased in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s (Chambers 1983; Chambers et al 1989), actively bringing the community into the management process.
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