Network governance of endangered species conservation: A case study of Rebun Lady's-Slipper

Abstract

Since networks among stakeholders significantly affect the performance of natural resource governance, including endangered species conservation, effective co-management by diverse stakeholders is a crucial challenge. Using social network analysis, this study analyzes how stakeholders’ networks influence the performance of collaborative endangered species conservation. Conservation activities regarding the Rebun Lady's-Slipper (Cypripedium macranthos var. rebunense) are used as a case study, in which conservation activities are implemented under two formal institutions: the Rebun Lady's-Slipper Program and the Alpine Flowers Council. The former is responsible for overall policy-making, and the latter conducts monitoring and educational activities. I asked 38 actors involved in Rebun Lady's-Slipper conservation to assess the network activities. Most respondents evaluated “monitoring and patrol” and “educational activities” as good, while less than half of the respondents evaluated “policy-making arena” as good. The social network of the Alpine Flowers Council that conducts “monitoring and patrol” and “educational activities” was highly closed and heterogeneous; the network is dense, having a high proportion of ties between actors in different subgroups. This indicates that bonding and bridging social capital are developed, thus fostering the collaborative relationship necessary for monitoring and educational activities. Conversely, the network of the Rebun Lady's-Slipper Program is less closed, but is also heterogeneous. Furthermore, the network is separated into subnetworks, indicating the lower performance of the policy-making arena. Finally, these results indicate that the performance of Rebun Lady's-Slipper conservation activities is closely related to the social network structures.