Stakeholder Participation In Management Research Articles

Anti-Poaching for Endangered Megafauna Conservation in Assam, India: Examining Stakeholder Perception

India is the stronghold for endangered species and poaching and illegal trade have seriously threatened wildlife conservation. Against this backdrop, Indian regulatory authorities have strengthened workforce capacity for monitoring and enforcement actions against poaching, employed patrolling systems, and adopted lethal deterrence-based policies. However, efforts to control poaching and conserve biodiversity are often at odds with local communities' needs and interests, and stakeholder participation in management is integral to successful wildlife conservation. This research aims to understand stakeholder perception of anti-poaching management practices and tribal customs in protected areas. A survey was conducted to gather information from forest staff and fringe villagers at the four national parks and one wildlife sanctuary in Assam, India. The results indicate that villagers around protected areas generally perceive that the Forest Department and patrolling effectively prevent poaching. However, stakeholders' perceptions of the lethal deterrence-based policies and tribal customs were split, depending on the local communities' unique social, economic, and political situations. Leveraging these responses, wildlife managers in India can collaborate with villagers around the protected areas to address the threats of poaching to wild megafauna. Further, this research underpins the reason to strengthen the enforcement capacity of forest staff, as they stand at the frontline of endangered species protection in biodiversity-rich, developing countries.

Stakeholder Participation in Management of Invasive Vertebrates

Stakeholders are increasingly involved in species conservation. We sought to understand what features of a participatory conservation program are associated with its ecological and social outcomes. We conducted a case study of the management of invasive vertebrates in Australia. Invasive vertebrates are a substantial threat to Australia's native species, and stakeholder participation in their management is often necessary for their control. First, we identified potential influences on the ecological and social outcomes of species conservation programs from the literature. We used this information to devise an interview questionnaire, which we administered to managers of 34 participatory invasive-vertebrate programs. Effects of invasive species were related to program initiator (agency or citizen), reasons for use of a participatory approach, and stakeholder composition. Program initiator was also related to the participation methods used, level of governance (i.e., governed by an agency or citizens), changes in stakeholder interactions, and changes in abundance of invasive species. Ecological and social outcomes were related to changes in abundance of invasive species and stakeholder satisfaction. We identified relations between changes in the number of participants, stakeholder satisfaction, and occurrence of conflict. Potential ways to achieve ecological and social goals include provision of governmental support (e.g., funding) to stakeholders and minimization of gaps in representation of stakeholder groups or individuals to, for example, increase conflict mitigation. Our findings provide guidance for increasing the probability of achieving ecological and social objectives in management of invasive vertebrates and may be applicable to other participatory conservation programs.

Themes of stakeholder participation in greywater management in rural communities in Jordan

This paper aims at documenting the experience of the Environmental Research Center at the Royal Scientific Society in stakeholder participation in greywater management (treatment and reuse) in the rural communities in the northeastern Badia of Jordan. Stakeholders participating in the management process included local people, nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations, governmental authorities, scientists and experts from universities and research institutions. The local stakeholders committee, NGOs, CBOs and local people have participated in capacity-building programs, data collection, situation analysis, problems identification, selection of types and locations of treatment technologies and construction and operation of treatment units and reuse projects. Experts, scientists and governmental entities contributed to the development of a treatment technology selection matrix and identification the best technology that suits the study area. The study reveals that the incorporation of input from a broad range of sectors and stakeholders during the project insured cooperative management of the greywater resources and enhanced project quality and ownership.