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Abstract
ABSTRACTConflicts over natural resources are likely to escalate under changing socio-economic contexts and climate change. This paper tests the effectiveness of what we term Adaptive Learning and Deliberation (ALD) in understanding and addressing conflicts over the local management of forests and water, drawing on experimental work in Nepal. Based on a three-year action research project, the paper offers policy and practical insights on how complex and protracted conflicts can be addressed through the researcher-facilitated enquiry and deliberative processes that form the core of the ALD approach. The conflicts included in the study are a result of diverse environmental, political and economic factors. We analyze experimental practices in two sites, where our research team facilitated the ALD process, gathering evidence in relation to conflicting institutional issues, all of which was then fed into researcher-mediated and evidence-informed deliberations on conflict management. The analysis shows that the ALD process was helpful in rearranging local institutions to accommodate the interests of the conflicting groups and, to some extent, to challenge some of the underlying exclusionary provisions of forest and water institutions in Nepalese society. We also identify three key limitations of this approach – transaction costs, the need for strong research and facilitative capacity within the research team, and researchers’ engagement with the conflicting stakeholders.Key policy insightsNatural resource-based conflicts are intensifying in Nepal in recent years, due to heavy reliance of people on these resources for livelihoods, poor governance, and protection-oriented policies.Improved ways to facilitate cooperation among conflicting stakeholders are needed, as standard methods have often failed to address socio-environmental drivers of conflicts.The ALD approach can potentially help mitigate conflict and foster cooperation in natural resource management.
Highlights
Conflicts over natural resource management are growing as climate change impacts coincide with a number of social and economic changes as well as some historical continuities that privilege certain actors and particular land uses over others (Ribot, 2014)
While IPCC still seeks more research for stronger conclusions on direct connections between climate change and conflict, it acknowledges that climate change in combination with other socio-economic factors is already causing conflict (IPCC 2014)
This paper presents some insights from Nepal case studies experimenting with adaptive learning and deliberation (ALD) in managing natural resources conflicts, with a focus on local management of forests and water
Summary
Conflicts over natural resource management are growing as climate change impacts coincide with a number of social and economic changes as well as some historical continuities that privilege certain actors and particular land uses over others (Ribot, 2014). Even prior to the realisation of climate change impact, natural resources were highly contested, as increasing numbers of actors claim their stakes (Leach et al, 1999) Such conflicts are further compounded by persistent trade-offs between poverty and the environment and associated challenges (Casillas & Kammen, 2010). In Nepal, increasing cases of conflicts over forest and water have been reported in the past decade (Satyal-Parvat & Humpreys, 2012; Domènech et al 2013) Most of these conflicts are the result of poorly defined resource tenure and poor governance, in the context of changing patterns of local livelihoods and shifting political regimes (Shrestha and Conway 1996; Upreti 2004; Lawoti 2007; Sharma et al 2014). In the reminder of the paper, we present the conceptual framework of ALD, followed by a description of how we applied this in Nepal, and a discussion of the results and relevance of the ALD approach in relation to managing conflicts in natural resources management in general and in the particular context of climate change
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