Abstract
In the Amazon, environmental governance (EG) is an important multi-stakeholder approach to the sustainable management of natural resources. There is by now a large theoretical literature on the many requirements for effective EG. There is also extensive empirical literature on EG in the Amazon. While empirical work in the Amazon has advanced our understanding of EG, it also has important limitations. There remains a need to unpack the many requirements for effective EG to identify violations of governance criteria to explain cases where EG is ineffective. There is also a need for multi-case comparative analyses of EG across diverse parts of the Amazon to identify common explanations for ineffective EG. Therefore, we review multi-criteria frameworks for the evaluation of EG, noting their contributions and differences. We draw on three recent frameworks for evaluating EG to suggest an integrated framework that can be applied to multiple cases for comparative evaluation. We argue that the use of an integrated framework for the identification of violations of specific criteria for effective EG can guide targeted conservation action. We then briefly discuss five study cases in the Amazon to outline how we could apply the integrated framework to identify unmet criteria to account for ineffective EG. We identify commonly unmet criteria for ineffective EG across the five cases. The identification of common criteria violated across cases can provide a basis for broader conservation strategies to improve EG.
Highlights
In regions like the Amazon, where diverse stakeholders make competing claims on natural resources, and where socio-environmental conflicts are common, governance approaches can be especially valuable
Our goal was to present an integrated framework for the evaluation of the effectiveness of environmental governance (EG)
Our point for present purposes is that an integrated framework for evaluation of EG permits a comparative analysis across cases to identify unmet criteria
Summary
In regions like the Amazon, where diverse stakeholders make competing claims on natural resources, and where socio-environmental conflicts are common, governance approaches can be especially valuable. Evaluation frameworks honor theoretical accounts that posit the importance of many different aspects of EG processes Another contribution is that multi-criteria frameworks offer a set of indicators by which EG processes can be evaluated, which affords a basis to identify multiple possible explanations for ineffective EG in terms of criteria not being met. While all three sources include participation, inclusion, and accountability, Bennett and Satterfield (2018) add criteria for adaptation and flexibility; Waddington et al (2019) and Vizeu Pinheiro et al (2020) include transparency The latter pays particular attention to the role of the state in regulation, rights, and justice.
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