National Conservation Goals Research Articles

Simple Tribal Co-Management: Using Existing Authority to Engage Tribal Nations in Co-Management of Federal Public Lands

Each year Native American tribal nations enter hundreds of federal contracts worth billions of dollars to run federal Indian programs. By substituting tribal governments for federal agencies, these “self-determination contracts” have been enormously successful in improving the effective delivery of federal programs in Indian country. However, tribal governments wish to do more. Tribes wish to co-manage federal public lands, including lands that lie outside their reservations, and they have a lot to offer in this area. For example, a tribe might seek to contract with the Fish & Wildlife Service to operate a wildlife refuge, or with the National Park Service to manage a park or monument or even with the Bureau of Reclamation to operate a federal dam. Tribes are natural partners for much of this work. Many federal units are located on lands that are, or were, tribal aboriginal lands. Although the federal government has had the legal authority to enter such contracts since 1994, federal agencies have been slow to enlist tribes in the management of federal public lands. A review of the few existing successful cases suggests that tribes confront dramatically different dynamics when seeking to contract functions with agencies beyond the Bureau of Indian Affairs or Indian Health Service and other agencies providing services to Indian people. At a time when indigenous-led conservation is crucial to addressing climate change and our national conservation goals, this article examines the obstacles to tribal co-management of public lands and proposes solutions.

Rural innovations in biosphere reserves – A social network approach

Today, peripheral rural areas are indispensable to achieve global and national conservation goals or a post-carbon transition while simultaneously struggling for quality of life and economic development. Biosphere Reserves have the ambition to overcome this dichotomy of environmental protection and regional development by fostering and upscaling (social) innovations within their World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR). This study explores how these innovations resp. innovative firms and projects are stimulated and embedded in practice. A standardized survey and social network analysis (SNA) with these firms in two Biosphere Reserves reveals that innovations in the peripheral regions are multi-level arrangements where the Biosphere Reserves (1) provide platforms for new ideas and needs, (2) foster the development, funding and diffusion of products or services and (3) act as gatekeepers between actors of different areas and spatial scales. We therefore conclude that the role of the Biosphere Reserve in the two regions goes far beyond the protection of nature, providing the ‘institutional thickness’ for successful regional development. Additionally, they are social innovations themselves, which support the co-production of knowledge and learning. However, if UNESCO's Man and Biosphere program truly wants to have an impact on sustainability transitions, the integration of local actors and their projects into their WNBR has to be their top priority for the future.

The future of food production research in the rangelands: challenges and prospects for research investment, organisation and human resources

Food production research in rangelands depends heavily on the National Agricultural Research System for its research and development outcomes. Future outcomes are uncertain as funding sources are limited and much of the expertise is entering the retirement phase without a succession plan. Private research investment has contributed to some extent but there remains a need for governments to continue to support those aspects that deliver public good or address market failure. This review considers the varying contexts in funding and research organisation globally while using Australia as a case study for more detailed analyses of trends in livestock production research capacity in the rangelands. The major concern expressed is that the availability of a well educated and trained workforce is uncertain and this may hamper rangelands from contributing sufficiently to global food security and national conservation goals.

How can social and environmental services be provided for mobile Tibetan herders? Collaborative examples from Qinghai Province, China

Tibetan herders have lived for centuries in the high grasslands of Central Asia, yet many development programs are currently transforming their lives. One of the main assumptions of government policy, in China and around the world, is that the provision of social services is best provided in settled, urban environments. Such drastic changes from traditional pastoral livelihoods, however, may introduce some less-desired outcomes, including high levels of unemployment, loss of hope and cultural loss. Social stability may be affected, and in numerous instances it has been observed that the originally desired benefits (especially the provision of social services such as health care and education) have not been achieved. The case study presented here seeks to demonstrate that social services can be provided to Tibetan herding communities in rural (remote) areas of the Tibetan plateau, at the same time as encouraging and enabling genuine partnerships between local herders and higher-level conservation authorities such as the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve. An analytical approach borrowed from 'participatory action research' and a modified 'balanced scorecard' framework has assisted in project evaluation. With the commitment of key stakeholders, and with sufficient time allowed for trust and understanding to develop, it is possible for various forms and styles of partnerships (collaborative management) to be developed, such that both national conservation goals as well as local development goals may be achieved simultaneously. Further trials of such a collaborative approach should be encouraged, leading to expanded application throughout the Sanjiangyuan region in the future.