Community-based Monitoring Systems Research Articles

Alert-Driven Community-Based Forest Monitoring: A Case of the Peruvian Amazon

Community-based monitoring (CBM) is one of the- most sustainable ways of establishing a national forest monitoring system for successful Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) implementation. In this research, we present the details of the National Forest Conservation Program (PNCB—Programa Nacional de Conservación de Bosques para la Mitigación del Cambio Climático), Peru, from a satellite-based alert perspective. We examined the community’s involvement in forest monitoring and investigated the usability of 1853 CBM data in conjunction with 445 satellite-based alerts. The results confirm that Peru’s PCNB contributed significantly to the REDD+ scheme, and that the CBM data provided rich information on the process and drivers of forest change. We also identified some of the challenges faced in the existing system, such as delays in satellite-based alert transfer to communities, sustaining community participation, data quality and integration, data flow, and standardization. Furthermore, we found that mobile devices responding to alerts provided better and faster data on land-use, and a better response rate, and facilitated a more targeted approach to monitoring. We recommend expanding training efforts and equipping more communities with mobile devices, to facilitate a more standardized approach to forest monitoring. The automation and unification of the alert data flow and incentivization of the participating communities could further improve forest monitoring and bridge the gap between near-real-time (NRT) satellite-based and CBM systems.

Incentives and barriers for participation in community-based environmental monitoring and information systems: A critical analysis and integration of the literature

The reliance of environmental management on comprehensive, high quality, timely and (ideally) affordable data and information has given rise to the need for ‘shared environmental information systems’ (SEIS). Community-based monitoring and information systems or ‘citizen observatories’ are a form of SEIS whereby citizens are involved in new roles such as data collection for environmental monitoring, data and knowledge sharing for joint decision- making, and cooperative planning. Despite the technological advances and the notional potential, many efforts to implement community-based monitoring systems (CBM) are facing difficulties with engaging the core stakeholder. The success of CBMs relies on the active participation and commitment of all involved stakeholders: citizen, decision and policy makers, and (private) data aggregators and scientists. This requires in-depth understanding of their motivations, incentives and barriers for participating.This paper draws on the Theory of Planned Behaviour as an organising theoretical framework and reviews the (dispersed) empirical insights from the literature in order to generate an integrated overview of the incentives and barriers of the aforementioned stakeholders to participate in CBMs. The insights from the literature allow us to take stock of the state of research into motivations for CBM participation, to identify complementary and conflicting incentives for the respective actors, and to indicate gaps to be addressed in future research.

How to Achieve Effective Participation of Communities in the Monitoring of REDD+ Projects: A Case Study in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Developing countries that implement the Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are required to ensure the effective participation of all stakeholders including indigenous peoples and local communities. Community-based monitoring (CBM) of REDD+ projects could contribute to meeting REDD+ monitoring, reporting, and verification requirements and to ensuring effective community participation. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the most advanced country in REDD+ implementation in the Congo Basin region, but the role of forest communities in REDD+ monitoring has not been adequately defined. Based on a Delphi survey, this study aimed to explore the factors that are crucial in achieving effective community participation in the monitoring of REDD+ projects. Out of 65 experts with in-depth knowledge of REDD+ and CBM in the DRC and elsewhere, 35 agreed to participate in the study. In three rounds, 19 feedbacks were received from the first round, 17 from the second and 14 from the third. Data were analyzed in a qualitative (MAXQDA) and quantitative (Microsoft Excel) manner. There was consensus among experts that, per definition, effective participation of communities in the monitoring of REDD+ projects must be a process characterized by a free and prior informed consent (FPIC), recognition of traditional knowledge and community rights, and involvement of communities in all steps of the monitoring process. In practice, the latter point poses several challenges as it requires capacity building, careful selection of indicators, adequate local institutional arrangements and a benefit-sharing system. Ideally, local CBM systems should be nested within the national forest monitoring system, but this will require more strategic efforts at the national level in the DRC, including a framework concept for the role of communities and CBM in REDD+ that can be further adapted to particular circumstances on the ground.

Synergizing community-based forest monitoring with remote sensing: a path to an effective REDD+\xa0MRV system

BackgroundThe reliable monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon emissions and removals from the forest sector is an important part of the efforts on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). Forest-dependent local communities are engaged to contribute to MRV through community-based monitoring systems. The efficiency of such monitoring systems could be improved through the rational integration of the studies at permanent plots with the geospatial technologies. This article presents a case study of integrating community-based measurements at permanent plots at the foothills of central Nepal and biomass maps that were developed using GeoEye-1 and IKONS satellite images.ResultsThe use of very-high-resolution satellite-based tree cover parameters, including crown projected area (CPA), crown density and crown size classes improves salience, reliability and legitimacy of the community-based survey of 0.04% intensity at the lower cost than increasing intensity of the community-based survey to 0.14% level (2.5 USD/ha vs. 7.5 USD/ha).ConclusionThe proposed REDD+ MRV complementary system is the first of its kind and demonstrates the enhancement of information content, accuracy of reporting and reduction in cost. It also allows assessment of the efficacy of community-based forest management and extension to national scale.

Integrating CBM into Land-Use Based Mitigation Actions Implemented by Local Communities

In 2009, the conference of the parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recognized the need to engage communities and indigenous groups into the systems to monitor, report and verify the results of REDD+. Since then, many countries have started to prepare for REDD+ implementation. This article reviews early experiences under development in 11 projects financed by the Alliance Mexico REDD+ located in four Early Action Areas to identify the potential integration of Community Based Monitoring (CBM). The evaluation of the projects is made based on a multi-criteria analysis which considers the potential to produce information relevant for national monitoring systems and the prospects for sustained monitoring practices over time. Results indicate there are challenges to harmonizing monitoring practices and protocols between projects since activities proposed differ greatly from one project to another. Technical specifications for integrating local data into national systems are thus required. The results of these projects can help to identify best practices for planning and implementing REDD+. Findings indicate that in general, resources and capacities to gather, analyse and report information as part of CBM systems are in place in the projects, but usually these reside with non-local experts (i.e., NGOs and Academia); however, there are notable examples where these capacities reside in the communities. If national forest monitoring systems are geared to include information gathered through locally-driven processes REDD+ should promote activities that produce local benefits, but countries would need to build local capacities for managing and monitoring natural resources and would also need to create agreements for sharing and using local data. Otherwise, national systems may need to rely on monitoring practices external to communities, which depend on the continued availability of external financial resources.

Unintended Consequences of Community-Based Monitoring Systems: Lessons from an HIV Prevention Intervention for Sex Workers in South India

Studies have examined whether community-based monitoring systems impact desired program outcomes but few provide field-based evidence on the implementation process itself. This paper fills the gap using ethnographic data on the community-based monitoring tools developed by an HIV prevention NGO for sex workers in south India. The tool was well conceptualized with potential to enhance community participation in program design. Yet despite best intentions our findings show that the quantification process undermined community ownership discredited existing and locally informed sex work practices and rather than empowering monitoring became a means to discipline and judge sex worker peer educators. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

“Humla Development Initiatives” for Better Livelihoods in the Face of Isolation and Conflict

Humla, situated in the north-western corner of Nepal on the border with China, is one of the poorest and least developed districts of Nepal. Constraints are imposed by low agricultural productivity in mountainous terrain under harsh climatic conditions. Food subsidies and other forms of external support have created a state of dependency, stifling local initiative and reducing reliance on local resources. Development efforts were hampered until recently by the Maoist insurgency. It was under such conditions that “Humla Development Initiatives” was formed to identify problems by conducting a needs assessment and work out solutions in close cooperation with local communities. Introducing improved water mills, promoting local food to substitute for subsidized rice, and cultivating nontimber forest products (NTFPs) on marginal farmland are some of the activities recently carried out to increase food security while reducing dependency on external support. Future activities include the establishment of community-based monitoring systems and cooperatives as the basis for the sustainability of the program as well as for transferring ownership to the villagers.

Community-Based Monitoring Frameworks: Increasing the Effectiveness of Environmental Stewardship

This article presents an adaptable community-based monitoring (CBM) framework. The investigators used a well-tested conceptual CBM framework developed by the Canadian Community Monitoring Network (CCMN) as a basis from which to work. With the use of feedback from various types of CBM groups in the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada, obtained through surveys and interviews, the CCMN framework was modified into a document that attempts to address current disparities and inefficiencies within most CBM systems. The need for such a framework was underscored by the lack of stewardship groups' use of standardized monitoring protocols and inability to effectively provide information to decision makers. From the information collected through the survey, it was concluded that the proposed framework must be a functional, multiparty form of CBM that addresses the key concerns of a standardized monitoring and communication program and must be able to be fed into the environmental-management system.