Local Communities In Management Research Articles

Sustainable Development and Eco-friendly Waste Disposal Technology for the Local Community

With the lack of a management budget and weak policy for waste management of local communities in developing countries, especially for clusters that have the amount of garbage less than 5 tons per day, open dumping or open burning is the most common municipal solid waste (MSW) management, leading to severe impact on the environment. This study focuses on the sustainable development and eco-friendly waste management concept for these local communities. First, public participation campaigns with the 3R's concept (Reduced, Reuse and Recycle) must be launched to reduce and separate waste from households to be mixed with combustible waste, organic waste, and recycled waste. If the separation at the source is successful, the treated waste of about 2.5 tons is divided into wet and dry fractions. The wet fraction can be easily treated by conventional composting to produce soil conditioners and generate income for communities. The dry fraction must be treated by an incinerator. However, due to the high moisture content and low heating value of the waste, the incinerator needs to run with additional fossil fuel, causing high operating costs. Therefore, a novel hybrid incineration-gasification system has been introduced in this study to use Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) prepared by dry fraction as feedstock to a downdraft gasifier. The producer gas generated from the gasifier can be used to substitute fossil fuel. This sustainable and eco-friendly model of waste management can be used as a prototype model for other rural areas in low or low-middle income countries.

Mapping Social and Economic Vulnerability in Forest and Peatland Fire Disaster in Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province

The aims of this research are (1) analyzing social and economic vulnerability of forest and peat land fire disaster in Bengkalis Regency; (2) Mapping social and economic vulnerability of forest and peat land fire disaster in Bengkalis Regency. Research Variable is social and economic vulnerability. The data that used is primary and secondary data with survey method. Analysis method is scoring and weightings. After that classified based on the value of the score to determine the level of vulnerability. The analysis based on the head of National Agency for Disaster Management (Perka BNPB) Number 02.2012 and literatures study. The results of research show that social vulnerability of forest and peat land fire in Bengkalis Regency is medium vulnerability because it has value of social vulnerability is 0.46663. While economic vulnerability in Bengkalis Regency is low vulnerability because economic vulnerability is 0.3333. In addition, required mitigation that is quick and appropriate by governments of Bengkalis Regency and the local community in management of forest and peat land fire disaster.

Vulnerability assessment of mangroves to climate change and sea-level rise impacts

Climate change, particularly its associated sea level rise, is major threat to mangrove coastal areas, and it is essential to develop ways to reduce vulnerability through strategic management planning. Vulnerability has three dimensions of exposure to stresses, associated sensitivity, and related adaptive capacity, and ways to measure components of each were trialled at sites in Africa and the South Pacific to develop an analysis procedure based on ranking. The approaches of the ranking system for vulnerability assessment of mangrove systems integrate biotic and abiotic factors along with human management components, using validated methods previously developed for other research questions. These include determining mangrove forest health, adjacent ecosystem resilience, the extent and effects of human impacts, and the environmental conditions of different mangrove settings. Results of the vulnerability assessment ranking using up to 20 measurements found all sites to have some components of vulnerability. Douala Estuary, Cameroon showed the highest vulnerability, owing to low tidal range, impacts from non-climate stressors, and evidence of moderate seaward edge retreat. Tikina Wai, Fiji showed inherent vulnerability owing to location on a subsiding coastline with a low tidal range, but this was offset by strong local community management capacity. Rufiji Delta, Tanzania showed inherent resilience owing to location on an uplifting coastline with a macrotidal range, but showed vulnerability from human impacts and lower local community management capacity. The most critical components to the vulnerability assessment were found to be exposure components of relative sea level trends and sediment supply, and sensitivity components of forest health, recent spatial changes and net accretion rates. The results provide a baseline against which to establish long-term ongoing monitoring, allowing continued assessment of the complex dynamics of climate change impacts, and providing an information base for strategic management decisions.

Ecological status of the Mount Afadjato–Agumatsa range in Ghana after a decade of local community management

Ecological status of the <scp>M</scp>ount <scp>A</scp>fadjato–<scp>A</scp>gumatsa range in <scp>G</scp>hana after a decade of local community management

Deforestation and landscape structure changes related to socioeconomic dynamics and climate change in Zagros forests

The Zagros region of western Iran has been affected by the recent changes both in amount and in structure of forest cover. We evaluated the influence of several driving forces on forest cover and structure, including socioeconomic (urban and rural population and rural income) and climatic (mean annual rainfall and mean annual temperature) variables. We acquired all time series Landsat images of a study site from 1972 to 2009. The images were classified to produce a land cover map of each year. We calculated landscape and patch metrics and identified independent sets of metrics to describe forest change. The most influential driving force for forest loss was urban population and climatic variables to some extent. These challenges should be addressed at broader scales than those associated with the livelihoods and traditional management of local communities. Rural population had a significant association with landscape structure which should be considered in designing restoration projects.

The new neighbourhood in the internet era: network communities serving local communities

The past two decades have witnessed many attempts to transform online communities in new neighbourhoods of the Internet era. In particular, one of the most interesting applications of Internet Technologies in this field have been ‘network communities’, that differ from online communities because they refer to a specific territory and, for this reason, serve as a social catalyst for the corresponding territorial community. Network communities, as virtual neighbourhoods, have the purpose of allowing a better understanding of physical ones, contributing to the creation and the proliferation of services most suited to the needs of residents. For this reason, municipalities and local governments should consider the opportunity to exploit network communities as useful tools for local community management. Following this lead, this article analyses a real case study and highlights the existence of a positive correlation between a constructive utilisation of a network community by its members, their sense of community and the degree of their involvement in local problems.

Applying adaptive management in resource use in South African National Parks: A case study approach

South African National Parks (SANParks) has a history of formal and informal natural resource use that is characterised by polarised views on national conservation interests and benefits to communities. Current efforts aim to determine the sustainability of existing resource use in parks and to formalise these activities through the development of resource use protocols. The resource use policy of SANParks outlines principles for sustainable resource use, including greater involvement of local communities in management of protected areas and an adaptive management approach to determining sustainable use levels. This paper examines three case studies on plant use in national parks with regard to the development of criteria and indicators for monitoring resource use, and the role of thresholds of potential concern in measuring effectiveness of managing for sustainable use levels. Opportunities and challenges for resource use management are identified. Findings show that platforms for discussion and knowledge sharing, including research committees and community associations, are critical to building relationships, trust and a shared vision of sustainable resource use between stakeholders. However, additional capacity building is needed to enable local community structures to manage internal social conflicts and jealousy, and to participate fully in monitoring efforts. Long-term monitoring is essential for developing flexible harvest prescriptions for plant use, but this is a time-consuming and resource-intensive exercise. Flexible management strategies are difficult to implement and sometimes command-and-control measures are necessary to protect rare or endangered species. A holistic approach that considers resource use in national parks as a complement to broader community development initiatives offers a way forward.Conservation implications: There is no blueprint for the development of sustainable resource use systems and resource use is often addressed according to multiple approaches in national parks. However, the SANParks resource use policy provides a necessary set of guiding principles for resource use management across the national park system that allows for monitoring progress.

Allies, not aliens: increasing the role of local communities in marine protected area implementation

SUMMARYVarious management approaches have been proposed to address the alarming depletion of marine coastal resources. Prominent among them are community-based management and the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs). The overall poor performance of MPAs can be traced to a failure to effectively include local communities in the design and implementation of relevant measures. Recent efforts have incorporated aspects of community-based management into a hybrid form of management, which ideally builds upon existing local management practices. A key challenge lies in the development of appropriate frameworks that allow for the successful participation of local communities in management. A review of studies on MPA design and community-based marine resource management and fieldwork observations provides suggestions on how to address current socioeconomic shortcomings in MPA design and implementation, successfully involving local communities in order to provide a better local basis for effective larger MPA networks. A combination of MPA tools as the formal frame and community-based natural resource management as the adaptive core that recognizes local communities as allies, not aliens, is needed to develop successful conservation approaches.

A Challenge of Mutual Knowledge Development in Implementation of the Yonmenkaigi System for Sand Mining Management in Local Community of Merapi Volcano

This paper introduces a challenge of mutual knowledge development in the implementation of the Yonmnekaigi system as a participatory workshop method to improve sand mining management of local communities in Merapi Volcano of Indonesia. It was applied for the formulation of action plans on community-based sand mining management in Pilot Project implemented by Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia under Urgent Disaster Reduction Project for Mt. Merapi, Progo River Basin (JICA Loan No.: IP-524) executed by Directorate General of Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works, Indonesia. A participatory workshop method called the Yonmenkaigi system method, originally developed in a local community in Japan, has the following main steps: carrying out SWOT analysis, completing a Yonmenkaigi Chart, debating between groups, and presenting the group action plan. A case study carried out in the Kemiren village, Yogyakarta, Indonesia in August 2009, demonstrates how residents who are interested in disaster mitigation and management in a local community can collaboratively develop an implementable action plan for Sand Mining Management of local community. Based on the above case study, this paper categorically itemizes and formalizes two types of knowledge development needed for introducing the Yonmenkaigi system method to the cases in Indonesia. The first type of knowledge development is that type of knowledge which is generated as an outcome through the process of implementing a whole set of the Yonmenkaigi system. The second type is shown to be modeled as mutual knowledge development between “seed knowledge providers” and “custom knowledge providers”. Illustrations are made from the field work results and the two types of knowledge development have been speciÞ cally described and analyzed.

Possibilities and Challenges for Policy Assessment Based on Conjoint Analysis of Local Governments

How to make policy assessment is one of the biggest issues for local governments. Questionnaire surveying has been one of the main means to surface the needs from local residents for the local government or community and the survey results have been utilized to draw out concrete policies or measures in almost all local governments in Japan. However, an empirical research made by our research group has suggested that questions which ask satisfaction and importance level for residents' living environment items by means of ordinal scale tend to overestimate their needs due to external effects from local public facilities and services such as option value and prestige value and thus we proposed the introduction of quantification methods such as CVM(Contingent Valuation Method), AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and Conjoint Analysis to surface local issues and make local community management effective. In this study, we considered the policies in local governments to be a package of concrete measures for attaining goals in various policy fields and verified the applicability of conjoint analysis to policy assessment. Based on a questionnaire survey we conducted in Tatsuno, Hyogo Prefecture in 2006, we maintain that conjoint analysis is a viable method to grasp the preferences of residents for policies made by local governments. The results of conjoint analysis are presented and some tips for carrying out conjoint analysis through the questionnaire survey which we conducted. As a further extension of this study, we plan to propose a viability of GIS based feedback system of questionnaire results to local residents. The goal of our research study is to verify the concept of “Informed Decision by Informed Citizens through GIS” and support local residents to participate all the steps of local community management process: Plan, Do and See or Check and Action.JEL Classification: C35, R22, R58

A CROSS‐REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING ECOLITERACY: IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE

The value of accumulated ecological knowledge, termed ecoliteracy, is vital to both human and ecosystem health. Maintenance of this knowledge is essential for continued support of local conservation efforts and the capacity of communities to self- or co-manage their local resources sustainably. Most previous studies have been qualitative and small scale, documenting ecoliteracy in geographically isolated locations. In this study, we take a different approach, focusing on (1) the primary factors affecting individual levels of ecoliteracy, (2) whether these factors shift with economic development, and (3) if different knowledge protection strategies are required for the future. We compared non-resource-dependent communities in the United Kingdom with resource-dependent communities in India and Indonesia (n=1250 interviews). We found that UK residents with the highest levels of ecoliteracy visited the countryside frequently, lived and grew up in rural areas, and acquired their knowledge from informal word-of-mouth sources, such as parents and friends, rather than television and schooling. The ecoliteracy of resource-dependent community members, however, varied with wealth status and gender. The least wealthy families depended most on local resources for their livelihoods and had the highest levels of ecoliteracy. Gender roles affected both the level and content of an individual's ecoliteracy. The importance of reciprocal oral transfer of this knowledge in addition to direct experience to the maintenance of ecoliteracy was apparent at all sites. Lessons learned may contribute to new local resource management strategies for combined ecoliteracy conservation. Without novel policies, local community management capacity is likely to be depleted in the future.

Surfacing Local Issues by Applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Make Local Community Management Effective

Questionnaire surveying has been one of the main means for surfacing the needs of local residents by the local government or community and these survey results have been utilized to make policies in almost all local governments in Japan. In this study, based on a questionnaire survey conducted in Shingu Town, Hyogo prefecture in 2004, we found questions that ask satisfaction and importance level of 55 living environment items by means of ordinal scale tend to overestimate residents' needs. This is because of external effects from local public facilities and services such as option values and prestige values. Therefore we propose the introduction of quantification methods such as CVM (Contingent Valuation Method), AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and Conjoint Analysis to determine the local issues and create a local community that is effectively managed. Particularly, we examined the applicability of an extended version of AHP named “Relative Position Measurement Approach” which has been proposed by A. Mori, S. Suzuki, K. Suzuki and H. Igarashi. To do this, firstly, we designed a question asking local residents for marking relative importance of 6 different living environment fields such as social infrastructure, health and welfare, education and culture, and public participation on a 0 to 10 cardinal scale. Then answers from 680 respondents out of 4,860 households in Shingu Town were processed through AHP weighting process to calculate importance weights for 6 living environment fields. Finally, statistical analysis such as multiple regression analysis and correlation analysis were applied to compare the relationship between estimated importance weights over 6 living environment fields calculated by applying AHP and importance levels evaluated over 55 living environment items which are grouped into 6 upper rank living environment fields. The results strongly supported our hypothesis that each importance evaluation on ordinal scale overestimates the real needs for local public facilities and services. Furthermore, a question that value of calculated weights might be affected by the structure of evaluation items or attributes hierarchy is raised. As a further extension of this study, we discuss the viability of a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) based feedback system to provide questionnaire results to local residents.JEL Classification: C35, R22, R58

Factors influencing farmers’ participation in forestry management programs: A case study from Haiti

Forêt des Pins Reserve, a state-owned natural forest in Haiti, has suffered severe degradation due to an ongoing influx of people seeking fertile agricultural land and off-farm employment opportunities. Participation by local communities in management has widely been considered as a means of sustaining protected areas. The purpose of this study is to examine the setting in which farmers are likely to participate in forest management in Forêt des Pins Reserve using factor analysis and multiple regression equations. Data from 243 farmers inside the Reserve were used in the empirical analysis. Results showed that the participatory management process of Forêt des Pins Reserve can be enhanced by providing information about benefits from the forests, increasing annual income, improving education, strengthening organizational memberships, and increase the involvement of women in the forest management process. Results also revealed that policies designed to improve technical assistance is essential to strengthen farmers’ participation in forestry program.

The Roles of Local Community Management Association in Managing of Housing Environment at Brentham Garden Suburb

The Roles of Local Community Management Association in Managing of Housing Environment at Brentham Garden Suburb

Natural resource use, crop damage and attitudes of rural people in the vicinity of the Maputo Elephant Reserve, Mozambique

Participation by local communities in management is widely considered a means of sustaining protected areas. In parts of the world with a history of armed conflict, the chances of such an approach being successfully adopted might seem remote. One such area is the Maputo Elephant Reserve in southern Mozambique. The aim was to improve understanding of the local people's use of natural resources and perceptions of the Reserve's impact. Interviews and questionnaires distributed in four different villages were used to estimate the relative value of these resources in relation to the attitude of the local people towards the Reserve. The people gave a relative value rank for each specific use of each plant, animal and fish resource. On average 60% of the households exploited more than two different resource categories. The plant resources of the Reserve were used by 71% of the households and were valued more highly than animal and fish resources. Plants were used for many purposes; construction material, fuelwood and fruits had the highest relative values. Antelopes, hippopotamus and elephants were valued highest amongst a range of animal species which were hunted by 21% of households. Amongst uses of animals, consumption, use of the skins and commercial sale of the meat were especially important. When asked if they liked the Reserve, 88% of respondents answered positively. The attitude towards the Reserve was correlated with crop damage experiences; people with crop damage caused by elephants, hippos or bushpigs, were more negative. Attitude of respondents was inversely related to the number of species invading their agricultural fields. Resource use intensity, use purpose, resource value and attitude were different amongst sites and dependent on site-specific circumstances, different management strategies could be necessary for the four sites. A resource management plan should be drawn up, local people should be included in the management team and steps should be taken to improve the relationship between the Reserve's authorities and the local population generally.

Fisheries and the evolution of resource management on the lower Amazon floodplain

Traditionally, the ribeirinhoeconomy has been based on strategies of multiple resource use including agriculture, fishing, and small-scale stock raising. In the last two decades though, ribeirinhostrategies of resource management have undergone major changes due to the decline of jute production (the principal cash crop), and the intensification of the commercial fisheries. As a result of these trends, there has been a shift of ribeirinholabor from agriculture to commercial fishing. Today, the diversity which once characterized ribeirinhosubsistence strategies is disappearing, and fishing has become the primary economic activity for the great majority of varzeafamilies. As pressure on varzeafisheries has increased, ribeirinhocommunities have attempted to assert control over local varzealakes and exclude fishermen from outside the community. In a number of cases, ribeirinhocommunities have closed lakes to outsiders and established informal lake reserves under local community management. These lake reserves are a promising strategy for managing lake fisheries on a sustainable basis.

Applying adaptive management in resource use in South African National Parks: A case study approach

South African National Parks (SANParks) has a history of formal and informal natural resource use that is characterised by polarised views on national conservation interests and benefits to communities. Current efforts aim to determine the sustainability of existing resource use in parks and to formalise these activities through the development of resource use protocols. The resource use policy of SANParks outlines principles for sustainable resource use, including greater involvement of local communities in management of protected areas and an adaptive management approach to determining sustainable use levels. This paper examines three case studies on plant use in national parks with regard to the development of criteria and indicators for monitoring resource use, and the role of thresholds of potential concern in measuring effectiveness of managing for sustainable use levels. Opportunities and challenges for resource use management are identified. Findings show that platforms for discussion and knowledge sharing, including research committees and community associations, are critical to building relationships, trust and a shared vision of sustainable resource use between stakeholders. However, additional capacity building is needed to enable local community structures to manage internal social conflicts and jealousy, and to participate fully in monitoring efforts. Long-term monitoring is essential for developing flexible harvest prescriptions for plant use, but this is a time-consuming and resource-intensive exercise. Flexible management strategies are difficult to implement and sometimes command-and-control measures are necessary to protect rare or endangered species. A holistic approach that considers resource use in national parks as a complement to broader community development initiatives offers a way forward. Conservation implications: There is no blueprint for the development of sustainable resource use systems and resource use is often addressed according to multiple approaches in national parks. However, the SANParks resource use policy provides a necessary set of guiding principles for resource use management across the national park system that allows for monitoring progress.