Abstract
Market-based forest governance mechanisms such as reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) are implemented in many forests rich countries to conserve biodiversity and mitigate against global climate change. The assumption is that communities will be better motivated to participate in forest conservation if monetary payments are provided to compensate for past efforts or future improvements against pre-defined carbon reference levels. In this paper, I utilized Q methodology to identify discourses of forest values and motivations for forest conservation in selected REDD+ pilot communities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Data from interviews and focus group discussions are also used to support the analysis. The aim is to examine communities' motivations for practicing conservation initiatives and the extent to which such motivations are shaping their participation in the REDD+ program. The analysis uncovers five main discourses namely: forest for survival, forest is beautiful, no pay no care, conservation volunteers, and we care but pay us. I discussed these discourses around three themes: livelihoods dependence, financial incentives, and place attachment and social norms. Results indicate that the reasons why communities practice conservation are complex and subjective, and payment of monetary incentives or lack thereof will not necessarily motivate them to participate in the REDD+ program. I suggest that values such as place attachment, nature connectedness and social norms matter in the success of REDD+ particularly in communities that have long history of practicing voluntary conservation initiatives.
Highlights
Tropical deforestation and poor land use management are the second largest sources of pollution after fossil fuels consumption (Stern and Stern, 2007; Pan et al, 2011)
Results show that motivations are complex, and they transcend the desire for monetary incentives to include intrinsic motivations that are rooted in place identities, nature connectedness, social norms, and the need to sustain community livelihoods
This is in sharp contrast to popular market environmentalism discourses championed by the REDD+ proponents which portrays communities as harbingers of values and practices that are usually detrimental to forest conservation which should be modified using monetary incentives
Summary
Tropical deforestation and poor land use management are the second largest sources of pollution after fossil fuels consumption (Stern and Stern, 2007; Pan et al, 2011). In addition to addressing climate change, REDD+ aims to improve biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development of indigenous forest communities (Gupta, 2012; Phelps et al, 2012) Under this mechanism, financial compensation is given to participating countries in proportion to either measurable performance against pre-defined carbon reference levels, or for sustaining past conservation efforts (Angelsen, 2008; Karsenty and Ongolo, 2012; Neeff et al, 2014). Financial compensation is given to participating countries in proportion to either measurable performance against pre-defined carbon reference levels, or for sustaining past conservation efforts (Angelsen, 2008; Karsenty and Ongolo, 2012; Neeff et al, 2014) This led to a phenomenal growth in the number of incentive-based ecosystem management projects in many West African countries under various funding arrangements
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