Community Conservation Projects Research Articles

Civil society organizations' institutional climate capacity for community-based conservation projects: Characteristics, factors, and issues

This literature review explores civil society organizations' (CSOs) climate adaptive capacity, fundamental characteristics, factors contributing to various frameworks for assessing their institutional climate capacity. Identifying the factors and characteristics influencing CSOs' institutional capacity with regard to community conservation projects is crucial in addressing their gaps and strengthening the adaptive climate capacities of organizations and communities. Hence, this study assesses vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity frameworks and approaches by renowned institutions and researchers. The general findings imply that multiple dimensions and criteria govern and regulate CSOs' climate capacity. The study's arguments also revealed that significant dimensions, such as organizational structure, governance, coordination arrangements, infrastructure, and human resources, drive the flexibility and adaptivity of CSOs' climate adaptive capacity. Hence, the proposed analytical framework attempts to address these issues by focusing on the constraints and application of SWOC analysis in enhancing their institutional climate adaptivity. The outcome summarizes the realities and existing gaps in these CSOs and the developed frameworks that govern the implementation of participatory models providing valuable reference points to strengthen institutional adaptive capacities and resilience.

In memory of Judith Masters and Fabien Génin.

In memory of Judith Masters and Fabien Génin.

Influence of Women Participation on Sustainability of the Community Conservation Project Implemented by Jaldesa Community Conservancy in Marsabit County, Kenya

Biodiversity conservation is a new paradigm shift in the management of Community wildlife resources as a tool to sustainable growth of the economy, improved livelihood, and preservation of nature. The study established the role of women participation in projects and the sustainable wildlife conservation project at Jaldesa community in Marsabit County, Kenya. The study utilized four variables that included women in decision making, control & access to resources, project implementation and capacity building of women leaders &sustainable Jaldesa community conservation project. The design approach in the study was a cross-sectional survey having a mixed mode of research methods characterized with qualitative and quantitative. The Participatory and Ecological Feminism Theory were significant for the study. The probability and non-probability sampling were utilized to obtain sample size of 443 samples drawn from a target population of 19,860. Pilot study was obtained using a fraction of the sample. The reliability analysis was attained through Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of α>0.7. The research instrument was utilized. The researcher herself collected the Primary data using questionnaires and focus group discussions as research instrument. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed with SPSS version 25. The Pearson’s moment correlation concluded that Access & Control of Resources, Capacity Building, Decision Making and Implementation has a significant influence on the sustainable conservation of Jaldesa community projects in Marsabit County, Kenya and there is a strong relationship. The study recommends that the authorities at national and county government of Marsabit County involve women in decision making, leadership roles, attend meeting, be party to decisions made by the conservancy board and making them well versed on the decision-making processes. Also, recommends that women manage, control, and have full access to resources through financial liberty, have voice on access to and control of resources and giving them right to resources and ownership.

Intergenerational community conservation projects, STEM identity authoring, and positioning: the cases of two intergenerational teams

ABSTRACT This research aimed to better understand the interaction between positioning and STEM identity authoring as intergenerational teams collaborated to complete community conservation projects, following a two-day conservation and geospatial technology workshop. Scientists and science educators supported these learners as they developed the focus, resources, timeline, and methods used to accomplish their negotiated pursuits at the two-day workshop and throughout their subsequent community project as a form of public engagement. To better understand the ways in which intergenerational teams located or positioned themselves and their partners, the ways in which teens and adults engaged in STEM identity authoring, and the interplay between positioning and STEM identity authoring a two-case study was completed. In this, field observations, interviews, and project artifacts were collected as the primary data sources. Findings emerging from the qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed how positioning and STEM identity authoring were found to be entangled and concurrently reinforcing even at the outset of the intergenerational teams’ work. Additionally, positioning and STEM identity authoring in intergenerational teams were influenced by societal and cultural norms. These findings as well as recommendations emerging from the findings are further elaborated with the aim of supporting future intergenerational work of teens and adults in informal STEM learning contexts.

Mobonda Community Conservation Project: Chimpanzees, oysters, and community engagement in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone constitutes the western boundary to the West Africa Upper Guinea Rainforest, one of 35 global biodiversity hotspots. The country is home to the third-largest western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) population, a subspecies upgraded to Critically Endangered on the 2016 IUCN Red List. The main threats facing chimpanzees in Sierra Leone are habitat loss and increasing interactions with humans. The Mobonda Community Conservation Project (MCCP) is a component of Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary's Community Outreach Program and Kids Environmental Education Program. The aim of MCCP is to promote community-based forest management in combination with wildlife conservation through carefully designed programs that benefit communities, wildlife, and ecologically significant habitats. MCCP also aims to promote self-sustained and integrated community landscape conservation, to facilitate policy discussions to strengthen wildlife laws, and to build the capacity of the Government to implement community-based wildlife and forestry protection projects. Since Tacugama began collecting data in Moyamba District in June 2015, the project has evolved into an assembly of components. MCCP currently works with five communities, running programs including environmental education, ecological research, biomonitoring including wildlife law enforcement, habitat rehabilitation through reforestation of identified wildlife corridors, improved sustainable livelihoods, and ecotourism initiatives. These programs contributed to a reduction in the threats facing wildlife in the area; the project has seen stable chimpanzee numbers where decrements to chimpanzee populations continue to be experienced elsewhere. Other MCCP outcomes include boosted sustainable agricultural production and higher oyster yields while decreasing the negative impact on the mangrove ecosystem allowing it to recover and support an array of important fauna and flora.

Conservation science and technology identity instrument: Empirically measuring STEM identities in informal science learning programs

AbstractOur research centered on developing the Conservation Science and Technology Identity (CSTI) instruments as an empirical way to measure STEM identities and the intersection of identity constructs such as competence, performance, recognition, and ways of seeing and being. The surveys were used in a large funded multi‐year project for teens and adults learning geospatial technologies and conservation science to use in intergenerational community conservation projects. We investigated whether an informal STEM learning program was developing new STEM identities or advancing well‐developed identities. The instruments’ content validity was determined through a vetting process from national STEM identity research experts. Reliability was estimated with Cronbach coefficient alpha. Mann‐Whitney and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to determine participants’ STEM identities and the workshop’s effect on specific identity constructs. We found teens and adults had historically similar STEM identities, with stronger conservation science than technology. Both science and technology competences, as well as technology ways of seeing and being, significantly increased, suggesting CSTI can be a valuable instrument in empirically assessing STEM identities.

Economic Benefits, Local Participation, and Conservation Ethic in a Game Management Area: Evidence From Mambwe, Zambia

This study examines views on economic benefits, local participation in wildlife management and conservation ethic among 267 residents of three chiefdoms in Mambwe district, Eastern Zambia. Results show that 68% of the residents who live in the Lupande Game Management Area are not in any way involved in community wildlife management. For those involved, the main reason advanced for participating was economic benefit (79%). Only a small minority of 17% of the residents participated due to motivations to conserve wildlife. Human-wildlife conflicts induced by wild animal crop raiding, property destruction, and loss of human life, and perceived low or non-existent economic benefits seemingly precluded the development of a conservation ethic among residents. The local chiefs asserted wildlife ownership, lamented low wildlife benefits and justified its illegal uptake. Proponents of community conservation projects could encourage pro conservation attitudes among residents by addressing human-wildlife conflicts and raising awareness on intrinsic values of wildlife.

Communicating for conservation: circumventing conflict with communities over domestic dog ownership in north Morocco

Conservationists consider open and direct communication as best practice even when their data conflict with local beliefs. However, ensuring the effective delivery of a controversial message without overtly challenging community identity is difficult. Such a scenario needs high levels of meaningful contact and trust-building dialogue between conservationists and communities as well as innovative means of communicating controversial information. Indirect communication is one such strategy, allowing people to draw their own conclusions about controversial information. We present an example of successful indirect communication of such information in the context of a long-term Barbary macaque community conservation project in Morocco. Dogs in the area kill macaques and domestic livestock in the forest, and local shepherds believed these dogs to be feral. However, our observations identified these dogs as being owned, free-roaming village dogs rather than feral dogs. To impart this controversial information, we developed a dog health programme to communicate our findings and improve the health of domestic dogs to safeguard human and animal health. We administered rabies vaccinations to dogs in three villages and provided their owners with brightly coloured dog collars. After observing collared dogs hunting in the forest, the shepherds realised the dogs had owners. Community participation was high and we vaccinated 242 dogs achieving 60–81% vaccination coverage. An additional benefit of the activity was to successfully convey the message that the conservation team is committed to local people’s welfare as well as to Barbary macaque conservation.

Shared visions: can community conservation projects’ outcomes inform on their likely contributions to national biodiversity goals?

Shared visions: can community conservation projects’ outcomes inform on their likely contributions to national biodiversity goals?

Contribution of Community Conservation and Ecotourism Projects on Improving Livelihoods and Sustainable Biodiversity Conservation in and around Nyungwe National Park (NNP)

The Rwanda Development Board has established the Revenue Sharing Scheme to create a win-win approach in protected areas conservation and management. Through this scheme, RwF 1,133,195,986 have been invested in 152 Community Based Conservation Projects (CBCs) and Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs). This paper provides inputs for improving the prospects of ICDPs by giving consideration to each of the five capitals namely natural, social, human, built, and financial. The language of ICDPs has been adopted by development agencies of all persuasions. There is now some urgency to identify the characteristics of the environment and the community in which success is most likely. This paper assesses the contribution of Revenue Sharing Scheme in strengthening CBCs and ICDPs around Nyungwe National Park. We looked at the efficiency and effectiveness of the mentioned projects. The study was guided by the following key objectives; to examine the social economic impact of tourism revenue sharing program towards the development on local communities, and analyse the challenges faced by local administration and beneficiaries in management of these revenue sharing. To archive the set objectives, a cross sectional research design was used, combined with qualitative and quantitative approach. We collected secondary data from RDB. The study adopted descriptive and statistical approaches in processing data and Special Program for Social Scientist (SPSS) computer program was employed in data analysis. The findings show that above 50% of community conservation projects that were funded through revenue sharing scheme are not any more there because there was no strategy for monitoring and impact evaluation. The findings also show that there is no significant contribution of revenue sharing to reducing the threats to biodiversity in Nyungwe National Park. RDB put a lot of efforts in law enforcement than in community conservation. As a recommendation, RDB needs to increase efforts in community conservation and review the revenue sharing scheme to make it more successful given that it will increase to 10% from the fiscal year 2018-2019.

English

Executive Summary: The connection between the outdoor environment and general well-being has been intuitively recognized for centuries. Recent research has built a body of knowledge supporting the role of parks and trails in public health regarding physical, mental, social and ecological health domains. However, different populations and communities use parks and trails in varying ways and to different degrees. Understanding these differences can play an important role in guiding systematic park and trail system planning for maximizing beneficial health outcomes. In light of this, a collaborative process involving the National Park Service (NPS) Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) and North Carolina State University (NCSU), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was used to identify potential health measures associated with public parks and trails that could be used for future surveillance, advocacy, and planning. This literature review is the initial step in the process of recommending measures that are both valid and feasible for practitioner and planning use. A systematic strategy was utilized to search for studies that incorporated measures of health or well-being related to parks and trail system planning. A total of 37 study measures were identified that focused on one of five health categories: physical, psychological, social, ecosystem services, and the built environment. Current practices for allocating parks and trails in the planning process are not based on empirical evidence and may or may not support the goals of public health and well-being that were a large part of the original impetus for providing public parks and trails. The health problems agencies are trying to address are not going away, and may be exacerbated by new ones as cities continue to grow and change. The intent of this study is to identify validated metrics, which link parks and trails to public health goals. The collection of park and trail data related to these public health outcomes could be used to inform policies, practices, guidelines, and other strategies for the allocation and management of parks and trails. Results from this research have four important implications for professionals and advocates in the fields of parks, recreation, trails, greenways, open space, and health: (1) to help make the case for public health goals related to park and trail system planning; (2) guide practitioners in their efforts to provide health-related recreation opportunities; (3) support community recreation and conservation projects; and (4) encourage more productive conversations among planners, advocates, managers, and researchers.

Measuring Success in a Community Conservation Project: Local Population Increase in a Critically Endangered Primate, the Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix Flavicauda) at La Esperanza, Northeastern Peru

The yellow tailed woolly monkey ( Lagothrix flavicauda) is one of the world's most threatened primate species. It is endemic to a small area of montane forest in northern Peru, an area with high immigration and deforestation rates. Since 2007, community conservation actions have been implemented in the area of Yambrasbamba, a farming community in Amazonas department. These actions included the signing of voluntary pledges by local villagers to control hunting and forest clearance. A first population density survey was carried out in 2008/9, shortly after the implementation of these pledges; a second survey in the same area that replicated the methods used in the previous survey was carried out in 2012/13. Using transect width estimation from line transects and a Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) from satellite images, we compared population density and deforestation rates between surveys. Results showed an increase in the L. flavicauda population at the study site, with significant increases in densities of infant ( P <0.001) and juvenile individuals ( P = 0.019). This suggests that increases are from natural population growth rather than the in-migration of groups or individuals from outlying areas. The NDVI showed low levels of deforestation still occurring in the area, but at a lower rate than the regional and national averages. Our results provide compelling evidence that Community Conservation projects can be successful in highly populated areas, and we urge conservation practitioners to involve local actors when planning and implementing initiatives.

The bats (Mammalia:Chiroptera) of the lower Waria Valley, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea: a survey and comparison across habitat types using mist nets

From June 2007 to February 2009 the Waria Valley Community Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods Project completed a mist net survey of bats in the lower Waria Valley, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The Waria Valley is located on the north coast of the Morobe Province ~190 km south-east of Lae, and still has large tracts of intact lowland hill and plain rainforest. Four broad habitats (agricultural, secondary forest edge, primary forest edge and primary forest) were surveyed using mist nets. A total of 596 individuals representing 11 species were caught, measured and identified over 8824 net-m h–1 across 99 nights. Within the limitations of this method, primary forest edge sites in general showed the highest degree of species richness and diversity and along with secondary forest edge sites were more even in species composition. Primary forest and agricultural sites were each dominated by a single species, Syconycteris australis and Macroglossus minimus respectively. Most captures were megachiropterans and microchiropterans were underrepresented, presumably in part because of the survey method employed.

Bird Communities of the Lower Waria Valley, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea: A Comparison between Habitat Types

From June, 2007, to February, 2009, the Waria Valley Community Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods Project (WVCP) completed an inventory survey of the birds of the lower Waria Valley, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Four land use types – agricultural, secondary forest edge, primary forest edge and primary forest – were surveyed using Mackinnon list surveys. In total, 125 species representing 43 families were identified, of which 54 (43.2%) are endemic to the islands of New Guinea and the Bismark Archipelago. The avifauna of primary forest edge and primary forest was more species rich and diverse than that of agricultural habitats. Agricultural habitats also differed significantly in both overall community composition and some aspects of guild composition compared to all three forested habitats. Nectarivores and insectivore-frugivores formed a significantly larger proportion of species in agricultural habitats, whereas obligate frugivores formed a significantly greater proportion in forested habitats. We propose further survey and management initiatives that could help contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the area's important biological resources.

Foucault in the forest: Questioning environmentality in Amazonia

ABSTRACTIn this article, I analyze the encounter between the Field Museum of Natural History and Amazonian Ecuador's Cofán people to question the concept of “environmentality”: the idea that environmentalist programs and movements operate as forms of governmentality in Michel Foucault's sense. I argue that, although the Field Museum's community conservation projects constitute a regulatory rationale and technique, they do not transform Cofán subjectivity according to plan. By exploring Cofán people's critical consciousness of environmentalist interventions, I aim to cast doubt on the governmentality paradigm's utility for analyzing the complexities of cultural difference, intercultural encounter, and directed change.

The role of participant learning in community conservation in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya

While the community conservation approach has gained broad acceptance, questions regarding its effectiveness persist. Many of the changes that community conservation projects seek to impart among participants correspond with their values and attitudes. This paper proposes the use of transformative learning as one of the measures of the success of a community conservation project in terms of promoting learning that leads to significant changes in a participant's values and attitudes. Using the ASSETS programme in coastal Kenya as a case study, we focused on participant learning and the extent to which such learning resulted in a more positive attitude towards conservation of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Participation in ASSETS resulted in instrumental learning and communicative learning, as described in the transformative learning theory. Findings show that participation in ASSETS led to a variety of learning outcomes, such as learning new information about the forest, and learning to question local cultural norms and speak out for conservation.

Piloting a health promotion youth corps

For 20 years the Nova Scotia government, through the Department of Environment, has run a successful Youth Conservation Corps that teams up Nova Scotia youth between the ages of 17–24...

Conservation in zoo shops today and in the future: a case study and discussion

Issues relating to current ethical and environmental trading standards and certifications, and their prevalence and relevance to zoos today, are introduced. This is followed by a case study of the Payamino community conservation project and its sustainable production of handicrafts as part of a conservation-friendly range of ‘Zoos Go Wild’ products, distributed by HMJ Design of Denmark. The project aims to protect the high levels of biodiversity in a pristine and remote 60 000 ha territory of Ecuadorian upper lowland rainforest. Handicraft production is just one of the forms of income that the project promotes to support the sustainable development of this community, enabling it to keep oil, timber and gold companies out of its territory, and removing the need to hunt and sell illegal bushmeat. Although HMJ Design no longer distributes these or other handicrafts, it hopes that lessons can be learnt from its experiences. In light of the issues raised in the case study, a discussion then follows on how conservation and sustainability could be better integrated into and supported by zoo shops in the future.

The International Dimension of the Politics of Wildlife Conservation in Kenya, 1958–1968

The period 1958–1968 was an important turning point for wildlife conservation in Africa. Having been dominated by preservationist ideas since its inception at the beginning of the colonial era in the late nineteenth century, wildlife conservation in Africa became an important focus for the ideas of rational use propagated by a resurgent international conservationist lobby since the late 1940s. This endeavour entailed convincing the hitherto marginalized African communities, which were starting to attain political independence from the late 1950s, that wildlife conservation was not only key to future prosperity but could be integrated into other socio-economic activities. Consequently, a variety of programmes were initiated with a view to making wildlife conservation amenable to African communities. These efforts, which culminated in the signing of the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources by the Organization of African Unity in 1968, led to the establishment of a number of community conservation projects in Kenya whose legacy persists to date. This paper highlights the factors that renewed international concern for wildlife conservation in Africa from the late 1950s and assesses the impact of the new ideas on the conservation programme in Kenya. The paper argues that local factors were significant in the evolution of the ideas that have come to dominate wildlife conservation in Africa.

Community conservation: practitioners’ answer to critics

AbstractBased on ethical, theoretical and practical concerns, community-based conservation projects have developed over the past 2 decades as alternatives to traditional protected areas. Recent criticisms of such programmes by biologists and social scientists involve a debate on who should manage our natural resources. Such criticisms have focused on large integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) and have largely ignored the successes of small community conservation projects. Practitioners of ICDPs have also been disappointed with the results of their projects and are seeking answers from ICDP failures. Two important differences separate community conservation projects and ICDPs and have led to the success of the smaller projects: (1) community conservation projects see local rural people as the solution to habitat degradation whereas ICDPs see them as the problem, (2) the scale of the smaller projects is at the community level but can use the same methods regionally, whereas ICDPs are large in scale and cost. We discuss, from a practitioner’s viewpoint, the strengths that contribute to the successes of community conservation projects, including actually functioning at the community level, creating an empowered community group to carry on the social sustainability of the project, continuous basic level funding, and the importance of monitoring.