Participatory Natural Resource Management Research Articles

Perceptions and attitudes of local people towards participatory natural resources management in the Jemma Watershed, North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

Perceptions and attitudes of local people towards participatory natural resources management in the Jemma Watershed, North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

Assessing the Transformative Potential of Extractive Sector Transparency Initiatives: Evidence from Local Oil Revenue Management in Indonesia

Transparency initiatives are frequently proposed to enhance citizen participation in natural resource management and ensure that resource revenue spending meets its economic and social goals. Many transparency initiatives, however, have failed in achieving their goals. This article develops an analytical framework emphasizing information disclosure, citizen action, and state response in making transparency initiatives effective in promoting change. We portray these three dimensions in the transparency cube to illustrate their simultaneous roles and the different aspects of these dimensions. The article applies the framework to analyse a subnational revenue transparency initiative designed and implemented by the oil-rich Bojonegoro District of Indonesia. We find that the initiative’s strengths were its requirements to disclose information related to the petroleum sector and its establishment of avenues for engagement. The information, however, did not address the public’s needs and preferred ways of receiving information and engaging with their leader. Consequently, citizens did not actively seek to express their concerns about oil revenue management. The article concludes that transparency initiatives need to include context-specific measures to disclose relevant and actionable information and promote active citizenry and consider local political dynamics to sustain government responsiveness as part of its design.

Participatory management of natural resources in Africa: an imperative policy direction for sustainable development

PurposeThe quest for Africa's desire to achieve innovative and transformative ways in the use of natural resources and the implications this might have on people's lives for the present and future generations is now more critical than ever. This paper aims that in order to let African countries attain an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena, it is imperative that a coherent policy direction be set between individual countries and continental framework for participatory management of resources in order to address the global challenge of climate change.Design/methodology/approachThis article employs literature review of various sources, to get a deeper understanding of the situation of management of natural resources for sustainable development within the global and African development agenda.FindingsThe literature review indicates that nearly 1 out of every 9 people on Earth go to bed hungry every night; there is a challenge of having access to safe and affordable drinking water; fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions drastically result into climate change; more than half the world's population lives in cities posing a challenge to affordable public housing, upgraded slum settlements and investment in public transport, creation of green spaces; every country in the world is witnessing the drastic effects of climate change; fish stocks are overexploited and oceans are becoming more acidic.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on findings from literature review, specifically in line with the global development agenda and African agenda on sustainable development. More studies are needed to include findings from Africa and elsewhere so as to get a clearer global perspective about resource exploitation and sustainability.Practical implicationsThe work is expected to provide practitioners concerned with environmental conservation and development with the theoretical and policy gaps that need to be addressed when dealing with environmental management for sustainable development.Originality/valueThe review structures extant natural resource management literature and highlights its critical importance in development management research. Topical gaps in the literature are identified as areas for future research.

Lleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Management and Market Promotion of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Swat, Pakistan

Background: District Swat, Pakistan is a potential hub of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) which can substantially contribute to social, economic and cultural uplift of local communities. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explore the market potential for MAPs in the study area. Methods: Interviews were conducted with medicinal plant collectors, dealers and hakims to gather information about medicinal properties, pattern of collection and market status of MAPs in the study area. For this purpose, extensive field surveys were carried out in the study area and questionnaires were developed as a tool for interviews and data collection. Results: The study reported 58, 38 and 64 plant species at collectors’, dealers’ and hakims’ level. These plants are being used as medicines by local inhabitants to overcome their health problems and traded to subsidize low income for their basic needs. However, it was revealed that collectors had very little marketing skills and were unaware of high market value of their products, therefore, received minimum financial reward in the trade chain of medicinal plants. Increasing pressure on natural resources and decreasing trend in availability of important MAPs was also observed. Conclusion: An urgent need to investigate links between overexploitation of species and quality of herbal medicines in the global market and to develop conservation strategies for MAPs is suggested. It is also recommended to develop training programs for collectors of medicinal plants in order to improve sustainability, trade monitoring and community participation in natural resource management. Keywords: Medicinal plants, herbal market, quality trade monitoring, resource management

Fostering co-operation through participation in natural resource management. An integrative review

Fostering co-operation through participation in natural resource management. An integrative review

Evaluation of a Structure Providing Cultural Ecosystem Services in Forest Recreation: Quantitative Text Analysis of Essays by Participants

Cultural ecosystem services are nonmaterial benefits that individuals acquire from the ecosystem, such as recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, and tourism. The quantification of cultural services is considered difficult to accurately make compared to other forest ecosystem services. Although some studies evaluate cultural services from forest recreation, “simple quantification” based on easy-to-obtain data is criticized for disregarding the local context and missing essential details. Therefore, this study evaluates a structure providing cultural services, and the local or detailed factors missed by simple quantification, while illustrating objective and statistical evidence with careful observations and a comprehension of local society. This study focuses on urban resident participation in natural resource management through recreational activities in Japanese mountain villages, using Fujiwara District, Minakami Town, Japan, as a case study, and by conducting a quantitative text analysis of 424 essays containing participants’ experiences and impressions. Using the software KH Coder, the Jaccard index is used to calculate co-occurrence relationships between frequently used words, visualizing the results in a network diagram. Additionally, several codes are added to keywords that characterize this case, and correlations between each code are examined. From the analysis, we discovered that social factors, such as interaction with comrades and locals, considerably influence participants’ positive emotions.

The Evolution of India's Environmental Policy

Environmental policies are influenced by a multitude of factors and determine how environmental resources are accessed, apportioned, consumed, conserved and governed. Using existing literature, the paper tracks the evolution of India's environmental policy post-independence. We discuss the key milestones in the country's environmental journey and their drivers. We found that India's environmental policy took shape in the 1970s and 1980s when environmental obligations were included in the constitution and federal laws were framed. It led to the creation of an extensive protected area network, albeit by overlooking the needs of the forest dwellers. In the 1990s, the judiciary innovated by creating space for civil society to take up environmental issues and played an active role. This period also saw a gradual shift towards participatory natural resource management and collaboration between the state and the civil society. However, by the early 21st century this bonhomie weakened when civil society successfully secured the tenurial rights of the forest dwellers. The last decade has seen a weakening of participatory forest management, a shift towards re-centralization, and a relentless tussle between a strong state and a resilient civil society. The key influencing factors of environmental policy change were discerned as international diplomacy, political leadership, judicial activism, civil society advocacy and environmental disasters.

Świadomość ekologiczna społeczeństwa polskiego w zakresie zasobów naturalnych i ich ochrony (przegląd badań)

<p>The article comprises an analysis of public opinion surveys concerning the environmental awareness in Polish society concerning natural resources and their protection, which issue has not been presented to date comprehensively in the literature on the subject. To this end, i.e. to present the degree of this awareness, the results of opinion surveys on the following topics have been presented and analysed: environmental protection as a social problem and the sources of knowledge on this subject, climate change, natural resources as sources of energy, attitude to the nuclear power plant construction, and air quality. The study has been based on representative surveys carried out by public opinion polling centres. The above-mentioned analysis has been preceded by terminological findings on such terms as “environmental security”, “natural resources”, “environmental awareness” and “public opinion”, with a proposal for a new definition of environmental awareness, referring to elements of legal awareness. It has been assumed that the knowledge of the degree of public awareness is useful in designing legal solutions conducive to environmentally sound behaviour and in taking decisions on a gradual increase in the extent to which public participation in natural resource management is allowed. The research hypothesis that awareness of natural resources among the Polish population is not optimal but is gradually increasing was confirmed. It has been pointed out that legal measures to promote environmental measures need to be complemented and strengthened by instructional and educational measures.</p>

Struggling for an ideal dialogue. An analysis of the regional dialogue processes within Sweden's first National Forest Program

In 2018, a strategy for Sweden's first National Forest Program was launched. As part of its implementation, County Administrative Boards have initiated dialogue processes for drafting regional forest strategies. Stakeholder deliberation is ascribed the potential to promote trust and mutual understanding, lead to more robust decisions and smoother implementation. We examine the dialogue processes, focusing on the two regions of Västra Götaland and Gävleborg, by posing three questions: 1) How are the current regional dialogue processes within the National Forest Program designed, and why in this way? 2) To what extent do the dialogues hitherto live up to key conditions needed to reach communicative action as articulated by Habermas and best practices as identified in the academic literature on stakeholder participation in natural resource management and policy? 3) What implications could these findings have for the potential of the dialogue processes to contribute to reconciling the overriding goal conflicts as they play out in Swedish forestry? For the inquiry, we used semi-structured interviews, document analysis and a survey.The study concludes that a clear effort is made to include a variety of actors in the process. However, for successful dialogues important preconditions need to be addressed; long-term funding for the dialogues needs to be secured, and the overall role of the NFP and of the regional dialogue processes should be clarified. The analysis also shows that fundamental goal conflicts in the Swedish forestry sector, primarily between timber production and conservation goals, should be handled more explicitly at the national level.

Challenges facing community participation in managing natural resources in Omoku, Nigeria

The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges facing community participation in natural resource management in Omoku Town, Rivers State. The study adopted a survey research design. Three Hundred and Eight Three (383) questionnaires were distributed in the sixteen (16) communities in the study area. The study adopted the purposive sampling techniques in selecting the twenty-four (24) respondents in each community. Three Hundred and Eighteen (318) questionnaires were retrieved from the respondents. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics. The study found that change, complexity, uncertainty and conflict are the factors militating against community participation in managing natural resources in Omoku. The study concluded that community participation in managing natural resources in Omoku is minimal and practiced to some extent by a few well-known institutions and community groups. The study recommends that the effective participation of the community in managing natural resources will ensure the sustainability of natural resources, benefit all stakeholders, improve livelihoods and reduce poverty in the study area.

The Development of Attitudes Toward Scientific Models During a Participatory Modeling Process – The Impact of Participation and Social Network Structure

Scientific models are increasingly being used to support participatory natural resources management decision making processes. These models allow stakeholders and scientists to explore potential policy and management options and can help facilitate discussion surrounding concerning uncertainty and different sources of knowledge. The unique benefits of participatory modeling processes, however, are contingent upon stakeholders understanding of, engagement with, and willingness to use the scientific models as sources of knowledge and information. Little is known, however, about how stakeholders view scientific models within these processes. We examined changes in stakeholders’ attitudes towards scientific models over the course of OysterFutures, a two-year, facilitated participatory modeling process that aimed to create consensus recommendations for oyster management in the Choptank River Complex, Maryland, USA. Five ordered logistic regression models were used to test hypotheses concerning the impact of social network measures, factors related to the participatory modeling process itself, and stakeholder characteristics on salience, credibility and legitimacy (SCL) attitudes towards models. Results suggested that stakeholders’ ways of knowing was a significant driver of salience, credibility and legitimacy elements of attitudes towards models. Additionally, acting as a gatekeeper within the social network resulted in significantly lower attitudes towards model credibility. These results indicate that the scientific model acted as a boundary object that facilitated discussion during the participatory modeling process. By better understanding the factors that influence model attitude formation, these processes can adjust their design and function to better take advantage of these models. Additionally, practitioners can have more realistic expectations concerning the role of models within participatory, collaborative natural resources decision-making processes.

Making ecosystem services approach operational: Experiences from Dhauladhar Range, Western Himalaya.

Payment for ecosystem services (PES) has emerged as a promising tool to participatory natural resource management and sharing of benefits among the stakeholders. However, very few successful models of PES are available for replication. This study deals with an analysis of a PES model currently operational in the Dhauladhar Range, Western Himalaya, where upstream villagers are paid for maintaining the spring-shed that supplies drinking water to the downstream township. To understand the flow of various ecosystem services (ES), institutional mechanism, and governance, we conducted an in-depth analysis of this project. The study identified lack of monitoring and weak governance as factors affecting smooth operation of PES. To revamp the PES model more effectively at the present and new sites in future stakeholder integration, valuation of ES and inputs in terms of capacity building of primary and secondary stakeholders would be critical.

Epistemic justice and the integration of local ecological knowledge for marine conservation: Lessons from the Seychelles

This article applies the concept of epistemic justice to stakeholder participation in natural resource management, in particular in relation to the marine environment. It explores the dynamics involved in promoting ‘epistemic justice’ in the governance of public policy for sustainability. This is illustrated using a case study exploring the role of local ecological knowledge of artisanal fishers for marine spatial planning in the Seychelles. Qualitative data was first collected through interviews with key informants and in participatory stakeholder workshops exploring the key threats, trade-offs, and challenges for promoting sustainable futures in the marine environment. Secondly, focus groups with local fishers explored the impacts of marine policy upon access to natural resources and local livelihoods, and detailed the role of local ecological knowledge for supporting marine conservation practice. An analysis of grey literature provided additional, contextual data. The case study demonstrates that local ecological knowledge has an important role in informing fine grained, spatial, and temporal management approaches for marine spatial planning. However, in the absence of trust between state planners and fishing communities', knowledge sharing can be challenging. These factors are exacerbated by restrictions that marine policies place on local livelihoods, and the dominance of western paradigms for conservation that marginalises alternative knowledge contributions. The research points to the importance of promoting epistemic justice practices that bring respectful synthesis in knowledge sharing through addressing issues of credibility, trust, transparency, power inequalities, and accountability of state institutions.

Assessment of Woody Species Composition and Tree Species with Highest Carbon Stock Potential in Kubayo Forest, Bale Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia

Back Ground: Climate change, mainly caused by global warming, is the most pressing environmental problem of the world today and it is a phenomenon partly resulting from abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The problem of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide can be addressed in a number of ways. One of such actions is forestry development and forest management undertakings that can contribute to climate change mitigation. Objective: Assessment of Woody Species Composition and Tree Species With highest Carbon Stock Potential in Kubayo Forest of Bale Zone was carried out in 2018. This study was conducted in Kubayo Forest, with the objectives of identifying the composition of woody plant species and identifying tree species with highest carbon stock potential in the area. Methodology: Data were collected from the field by measuring plants with a DBH of ≥ 5 cm and the carbon stocks of each plant was analyzed. Aboveground biomass was estimated by using allometric models. A systematic sampling method was used to conduct the woody species sampling. In order to collect woody species data, a total of 63 quadrats, each with the size of 20 m x 20 m at an interval of 100 m were laid along the established transects at 200 m apart. The result was analyzed by SPSS software, version 20. Result: The findings of the study revealed that, Juniperus procera was the most dominant and Ficus sycomorus was the least dominant one. Juniperus procera store the highest average carbon 39.76 ton/ha and the lowest carbon was recorded from Dodonaea viscosa 0.30 ton/ha among 24 tree species studied. The maximum and minimum above ground carbon stock potential of Kubayo forest was 172.53 and 81.03 ton/ha respectively. The mean above ground carbon stock of the study area was 141.06 ton/ha. The maximum and minimum AG carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sequestration of the study site was 633.18 and 297.40 ton/ha respectively. The mean above ground carbon dioxide sequestration of the study area was 517.68 ton/ha. Recommendation: As a recommendation, regional and federal administrations should have to give attention on rising awareness to the local people regarding participatory forest management and sustainable use of natural resources. Keywords: Aboveground carbon stock, Woody species, Kubayo forest, DOI : 10.7176/ALST/77-05 Publication date: January 31 st 2020

Social learning as a link between the individual and the collective: evaluating deliberation on social values

The role of social learning in deliberative processes is an emerging area of research in sustainability science. Functioning as a link between the individual and the collective, social learning has been envisioned as a process that can empower and give voice to a diverse set of stakeholder viewpoints, contribute to more adaptive and resilient management decisions and foster broader societal transformations. However, despite its widespread use in the context of participatory management of natural resources, the empirical properties of social learning remain understudied. This paper evaluates the role of social interaction and social capital in achieving transformative learning in discussions about social values. We employ a longitudinal design involving three consecutive surveys of 25 participants of an expert workshop focused on social values, as well as approximately 12 hours of transcribed audio and video recordings of participant interactions. Our mixed methods approach demonstrates the potential of using changes in social networks and definitions of social values that emerge from qualitative coding as indicators of social learning. We find that individuals with a weaker conceptual understanding of social values are more likely to change their definitions of the concept after deliberation. Though slight, these changes display a shift towards definitions more firmly held by other group members.

Local participation in community forest management using theory of planned behaviour: evidence from Udon Thani Province, Thailand

Effective participatory management of natural resources is critical for long-term environmental sustainability and the well-being of the local population. This study used the theory of planned behaviour to examine participation in community forest management. Primary data were collected through household survey, and hypotheses were tested by using the structural equation modelling approach. The empirical results revealed that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy are significant predictors of local participation. The results further showed that individuals aged 46–60 years, farmers and those earning at least 20,001 Thai Baht per month were more likely to have positive attitudes towards participation in community forest management programs. Therefore, the government should consider intensifying efforts to engage these groups in participatory policy-making.

Does stakeholder participation increase the legitimacy of nature reserves in local communities? Evidence from 92 Biosphere Reserves in 36 countries

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to investigate if stakeholder participation increases the legitimacy of nature reserves in the surrounding community. Most previous studies of the effects of stakeholder participation in natural resource management have relied on case studies, but in this paper we use a combination of panel data from a two-wave survey (2008 and 2013) of 92 Biosphere Reserves (BRs) in 36 countries and semi-structured interview data from 65 stakeholder respondents in a sub-sample of 10 BRs to systematically investigate the effects of stakeholder participation on the legitimacy of the natural reserve in the local community. The data cover four levels of stakeholder participation: (1) Information, (2) Implementation, (3) Involvement and (4) Representation. These levels roughly correspond to rungs on Arnstein’s ladder of participation, and the expected outcome is that the legitimacy of the nature reserve will increase in the surrounding local community as the degree of participation increases. However, findings suggest that there is no linear relationship between participation and legitimacy: climbing upwards on Arnstein’s ladder of participation does not uniformly enhance the level of legitimacy of the nature reserve in the local community. Instead, a practice-based form of participation is what seems to increase legitimacy.

Using the systemic-resilience thinking approach to enhance participatory collaborative management of natural resources in tribal communities: Toward inclusive land reform-led outdoor tourism

Community participation is at the heart of environmental governance as it facilitates and promotes a sense of ownership in a society's decision making and social development issues. This paper, using both primary and secondary data collected through methods inspired by participatory research, set out to discuss a methodological approach aimed at understanding how common pool natural resources are managed by multi-actors and stakeholders in a developing country context in an effort to promote inclusive land reform-led outdoor tourism. It combines two ‘soft-systems’ schools of thought, systemic thinking and resilience thinking, to analyse the effectiveness and efficiency of collaborative management of natural resources in tribal communities established through land reform processes in South Africa. It is argued in the paper that the two schools of thought can play key roles in identifying and informing the development of appropriate intervening measures and strategies that can contribute towards the adoption of effective and sustainable systems of community natural resource management and bring about more meaningful community development through community-based tourism. These observations have been made within the broader and contemporary arguments of sustainable environmental management and community development. Management implications•The systemic-resilience approach appears to be critical for increasing stakeholder participation in conservation endeavours aimed at outdoor recreational activities and tourism.•The intervention approach in complex tribal communities is key for establishing accommodations that will enable developing action plans to enhance stakeholder participation in co-managing common pool natural resources earmarked for community-based ecotourism.•The systemic-resilience approach promotes strong and genuine grassroot-grown community participation in environmental management decision making, thereby promoting stakeholder participation of interested actors in outdoor recreation and tourism.•Systemic-resilience facilitates the attainment of social capital elements which are key to the successful co-management of natural resources, i.e. participation, transparency, reciprocity and effective communication.

Exploring the influence of an extended theory of planned behaviour on preferences and willingness to pay for participatory natural resources management

In this paper we explore the role of the theory of planned behaviour in the context of preferences for a decentralized governance of natural resources. A choice experiment was carried out to elicit preferences of the tourists for alternative options of natural resource management in a case study in Italy and data were collected by means of personal interviews. Indicators to assess the planned behaviour of respondents were collected by means of Likert scales that were then included in the choice model. Differently from previous research on planned behaviour we use an extended version of the theory that includes moral norms and explicitly account for endogeneity of the indicators with a hybrid mixed logit model, in which a latent variable is used to explain both answers to the indicators and management choices. Results suggest a general preference of respondents for local governance and indicate that the latent variable has a significant effect on explaining preference heterogeneity and improve model fit. In addition, results suggest that the theory of planned behaviour is appropriate to model individuals' behavioural intention and can be used to tailor marketing activities aiming at increasing people's pro-environmental behaviours.

Participatory natural resource management in rural China: Making and unmaking environmental narratives

Environmental and development discourses in China can be categorised into three narrative motifs framing human–nature relationships: peasant, indigenous, and community. Indigenous and community narratives have been widely adopted by environmental NGOs (eNGOs) in China in promoting community‐based natural resource management projects, but there has been very limited critical research on such phenomena. Analysis of socio‐economic change in two ethnic minority communities in Yunnan shows that neither narrative theme is fully internalised by the relevant communities. Instead narratives may be strategically modified or even rejected by local communities. This is due to different agendas being held by local communities and eNGOs, and two factors pertinent to rural China: the incompatibility of concepts of ‘community’ in Chinese and international contexts results in confusion, and a lack of recent territorial and cultural claims by rural communities since the collectivist era makes it difficult to construct the identity of a community. It remains challenging for eNGOs in China to advocate either community or indigenous narratives in contexts of rapid socio‐economic change.