Cross-scale Institutional Linkages Research Articles

“Nature brings us extreme events, some people cause us prolonged sufferings”: the role of good governance in building community resilience to natural disasters in Bangladesh

Disaster management and resilience-building initiatives have been hypothesized as more effective when integrated with local governance structures. However, factors shaping the institutionalization of disaster management remain poorly understood. We argue that success in such initiatives cannot be achieved without compliance with good governance criteria. We applied a qualitative research methodology following a Case Study approach, and data were collected using techniques from the Participatory Rural Appraisal toolbox from the field, and government and non-government organizational sources. We found that compliance with good governance criteria, financial and technical capacity (technology, tools and know-how skills) and autonomy and cross-scale institutional linkages are necessary conditions for successful local-level disaster management. Further policy and research attention require a closer examination of the dynamics of local-level institutions, which are on the front lines of disaster management and resilience building. In particular, special attention should be given to the integration of ‘governance’ and ‘resilience’ research streams.

Is REDD+ Redefining Forest Governance in Nepal?

In this paper, I argue that the Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD)+ readiness process in Nepal has reconfigured forest governance in subtle ways and posed risks of its recentralization. Powerful actors, especially the government, consultants and donor entities, have influenced the REDD+ process and policy debates, and have jointly marginalized local communities and civil society organizations (CSOs). This paper reveals that Nepal’s REDD+ architecture is primarily shaped by imperatives and ambiguities in the international negotiations and funding mechanisms. Building on the theoretical frameworks of institutional interplay, cross-scale institutional linkages, and institutional design, this paper analyses how interplay and interactions of national institutions and stakeholders influence the REDD+ readiness process, its emerging institutional architecture, and decentralized forest governance. The analysis has been informed by evidence from the author's own research and engagement in REDD+ policy processes in Nepal. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v10i1.8602 Journal of Forestry and Livelihood Vol.10(1) 2012 74-87

Monitoring the Governance Dimension of Natural Resource Co-management

The governance outcomes of natural resource co-management have been neither systematically monitored nor rigorously assessed. We identified system attributes and key variables that could form the basis for monitoring the governance dimension of adaptive co-management. A methodology for collaboratively monitoring these system attributes and key variables was tested in four localities in South Africa. Our results suggest that creating the conditions that facilitate self-organization, and particularly cross-scale institutional linkages, is the major challenge facing attempts to initiate adaptive co-management. Factors requiring greater attention include community perceptions of support from outside agencies, access to long-term funding for adaptive decision making, and access to reliable information about changes in natural resources and legal options for the formation of decision-making bodies. Longterm and well-funded social facilitation is key to achieving this.

Community-Based Conservation and Development: Lessons Learned from the 2004 Equator Prize

Common features of successful community-based conservation and development initiatives are drawn from the finalists of the 2004 Equator Prize program managed by the UNDP. Through interviews, factors that contributed to the success of 24 finalists' initiatives are identified, focusing particularly on community organization and cross-scale institutional linkages. Factors include motivation and commitment of individuals concerned, participation, partnership and co-operation, funding, and capacity-building in organization and management. Emerging biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction research issues are raised.

Spatial planning on the North Sea: A case of cross-scale linkages

Abstract The North Sea Regional Advisory Council (NSRAC) is the main forum through which fisheries interests are involved in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) on the North Sea. The NSRAC is a relatively new and fragile forum involving various stakeholders. MSP confronts this group with a series of broader issues such as inter alia wind farms, transportation, and marine protected areas. The spatial focus involves both a reduction and a multiplication of the levels of geographical scale at which information for management must be resolved. The ongoing development of these institutions provides lessons about facilitating the evolution of cross-scale institutional linkages that strengthen adaptive, eco-system-based management.

Evaluating the Impacts of Mangrove Rehabilitation in Cogtong Bay, Philippines

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been hailed worldwide as vehicles toward sustainable development (SD) in coastal zones. The prominent model by which MPAs operate is through a comanagement approach, a shift from traditional top-down management. This paradigm shift must be reviewed continuously to evaluate its social and ecological impacts, thereby allowing adaptive management. We evaluated the perceived impacts of the Cogtong Bay Mangrove Rehabilitation Project (CBMRP; Philippines) by using 12 perception indicators categorized into 3 comanagement impact criteria (equity, efficiency, and sustainability). We also collected 16 contextual attributes of each respondent to determine the correlates of perceived impacts. Our results showed that there were significant improvements in all indicators under the efficiency criterion but mixed impacts in the equity and sustainability criteria. Access to resource and household income (equity) and fisheries abundance (sustainability) were perceived to have decreased during the last 15 years and were not expected to improve in the future. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the asymmetries of the perceived impacts of the CBMRP were principally caused by disparities in perceptions by gender and by location (Candijay and Mabini). This highlighted the importance of cross-scale institutional linkages between Cogtong Bay municipalities to systematically address baywide management issues. Our results further demonstrated the necessity of integrating gender issues into the evaluation of MPA impacts to ensure a robust evaluation. Finally, we recommend that a rigorous evaluation of MPAs using a common set of impact indicators should be encouraged to allow comparison of studies both spatially and temporally.

Mountain hazards and the resilience of social–ecological systems: lessons learned in India and Canada

Mountain regions are subject to a variety of hazardous processes. Earthquakes, landslides, snow avalanches, floods, debris flows, epidemics and fires, among other processes, have caused injury, death, damage and destruction. They also face challenges from increased populations, and expansion and intensification of␣activities, land uses and infrastructure. The combination of a dynamic bio- geophysical environment and intensified human use has increased the vulnerability of mountain social–ecological systems to risk from hazards. The ability of social–ecological systems to build resilience in the context of hazards is an important factor in their long-term sustainability. The role of resilience building in understanding the impact of hazards in mountain areas is examined and illustrated, in part, through examples from Canada and India. Resilient social–ecological systems have the ability to learn and adjust, use all forms of knowledge, to self-organize and to develop positive institutional linkages with other social–ecological systems in the face of hazards. The analysis suggests that traditional social–ecological systems built resilience through avoidance, which was effective for localized hazards. The more recent development and implementation of cross-scale institutional linkages is shown to be a particularly effective means of resilience building in mountain social–ecological systems in the face of all hazards.

Cross-scale linkages and adaptive management: Fisheries co-management in Asia

Abstract The present paper reviews research done in Asian countries during the second phase of the Worldwide Collaborative Research Project on Fisheries Co-management. Building on the results of the first phase, the paper focuses on stakeholder conflict, and social and geographical scale. Several conclusions emerge from common patterns. Community motivations for co-management are often related more to the protection of fisheries resources from outsiders than to conservation. Access rights are important but exclusion from food resources in a context of widespread poverty should be approached carefully. Cross-scale institutional linkages make adaptive management possible by bringing together groups with broad local foci and ones with narrow trans-local mandates. The role of the government is balancing interactions between these various groups. This is not a role that is compatible with top-down management.