The Event Book System: A Community-based Natural Resource Monitoring System from Namibia

Namibia's Community Based Natural Resource Management program is a joint venture between government, national non-governmental organisations and rural communities. A component of the program involves communities in monitoring various aspects of their conservancy, ranging from wildlife numbers, through economic returns, to patrolling records and infringements of the rules. A main feature of community monitoring is the Event Book System, which differs from conventional monitoring in that the community dictates what needs to be monitored, and scientists only facilitate the design process and conservancy members undertake all data analysis. The system has been adopted with good results by more than 30 communal conservancies in Namibia, covering almost seven million ha, and is now also being piloted in six national parks. Continued emphasis is needed on enhancing community interpretation and use of data for active adaptive management, particularly where conservancy leaders are transient due to the democratic nature of local organizations. Moreover, because the system is driven by local priorities, it does not cover all aspects of a comprehensive biodiversity monitoring programme. Where society deems other biodiversity values worth monitoring, conservancies must either be willingly persuaded to act on this, or external systems must be established to cater for these needs. If a community already has a monitoring system of its own, a win–win solution might be for the community to be sub-contracted to undertake these ȁ8external modules' on behalf of national agencies.     

Effects of Community-Based Natural Resource Management on Household Welfare in Namibia

Biodiversity conservation, as an environmental goal, is increasingly recognized to be connected to the socioeconomic well-being of local communities. The development of a widespread community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) program in Namibia makes it an ideal location to analyze the connection between conservation and socioeconomic well-being of local communities. Namibia’s CBNRM program involves the formation of communal conservancies within rural communities and previous studies have found it to be successful on both ecological and economic fronts. In order to broaden the understanding of the program’s impact to include social factors, we have conducted a comparative analysis to determine the effects of this program on household welfare outcomes. Data from two rounds of the Namibia Demographic and Health Surveys (2000 and 2006/07) and quasi-experimental statistical methods were used to evaluate changes in various health, education and wealth outcomes of those living in conservancies, relative to non-conservancy comparison groups. Regression results indicate mixed effects of the conservancy program at the household level. The program had positive effects on some health outcome variables, including bednet ownership, which was twice as likely to increase over time in conservancy compared to non-conservancy households. Program impacts were negative for education outcomes, with the proportion of school attendance of conservancy children being 45% less likely to increase over time than non-conservancy children. Wealth outcome results were inconclusive. Our findings highlight the importance of analyzing community conservation programs at a variety of scales when evaluating overall impact, as community-level benefits may not necessarily extend down to the household level (and vice versa).     

Entrepreneurs, Elites, and Exclusion in Maasailand: Trends in Wildlife Conservation and Pastoralist Development

Maasai pastoralists in Kenya are rapidly diversifying. Maasai may now derive their main livelihoods (and sometimes considerable income) from farming, wildlife tourism, and/or the leasing of land for large-scale cereal cultivation. The spread of large-scale commercial cultivation competes with wildlife for grazing land, and wildlife populations around protected areas are rapidly declining as a result. This paper presents new data to analyse the way returns from different land uses, and the social structures affecting their distribution, influence the land-use choices being made by Maasai around the Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Returns to different interest groups from livestock, cultivation, and wildlife enterprises, seen in the light of current social, economic, and political trajectories, can help to clarify likely future land-use trends in the Mara. In particular, community conservation initiatives that seek to make conservation worthwhile to reserve-adjacent dwellers inevitably have a strong economic dimension. However, the choices made by Maasai landowners are not a simple function of the economic returns potentially accruing from a particular enterprise. They are as much or more influenced by who is able to control the different flows of returns from these different types of enterprise. These findings are relevant not only for the wider Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem, but also for pastoral livelihoods and wildlife conservation elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Ecological outcomes and livelihood benefits of community‐managed agroforests and second growth forests in Southeast Brazil

The Forest and Landscape Restoration movement has emerged as an approach to reconcile biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services provisioning and human well‐being in degraded landscapes, but little is known so far about the potential of different reforestation methods to achieve these objectives. Based on this gap, we assessed the ecological outcomes and local livelihood benefits of community‐managed agroforests and second growth forests to assist natural regeneration in the coastal Atlantic Forest of Brazil. We investigated and compared agroforests and secondary forests according to their structure and floristic composition in 51 circular plots of 314 m², their role in supporting local livelihoods (45 semi‐structured interviews) and the use and cultural importance of plant species (61 interviews). Agroforests and, more remarkably, managed secondary forests (1) re‐established a well‐developed forest structure, with a higher density of tree‐sized individuals and similar basal area compared to nearby old growth forests; (2) were composed by a rich array of native species, including five threatened species, but had lower species richness than old growth remnants; and (3) improved local livelihoods by supplying market valuable and culturally important plants, including 231 native ethnospecies. Overall, local production systems showed remarkable potential to engage smallholders of developing tropical countries in Forest and Landscape Restoration and contribute to achieve its overall goals. We advocate the promotion of these systems as effective Forest and Landscape Restoration approaches in multi‐scale programs and policies.     

西南地区少数民族传统生计变迁与农户生计安全

少数民族农户生计及其安全对于民族地区的生态建设、区域发展和文化保护有着重要意义。在总结中国西南地区少数民族传统生计及其特点、传统生计变迁及其主要驱动力的基础上,主要从环境行为/生态后果、文化适应两方面分析了生计变迁的影响。资源配置家庭化是少数民族生计变迁后的一个显著特点,因此对于农户生计的研究应受到重视。当前针对农户生计的研究主要围绕可持续生计分析框架和农户生计安全而开展。农户生计安全是农村社会可持续发展的微观基础,与可持续生计密切相关。在考虑西南地区生态安全的背景下,生态脆弱性和生计后果是相关研究需要重点关注的内容,而针对少数民族生计的研究还需要突出民族文化的特点和作用。民族文化资本化是保护民族文化、发展民族地区经济的有效途径,将民族文化作为生计资本并纳入可持续生计分析框架将是对西南少数民族生计研究的有效补充。     

“How Could I Live Here and Not Be a Member?”: Economic Versus Social Drivers of Participation in Namibian Conservation Programs

Economic goals form a critical component of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programs, but many studies question whether these initiatives actually deliver economic benefits to local communities. This presents a puzzle regarding why rural residents remain in CBNRM programs, and raises the possibility that non-economic incentives also influence participation. We address this question in a study of two Namibian communal conservancies, analyzing survey and interview data collected between 2009 and 2011. We find that economic incentives explain participation in one conservancy, whereas social motivations take precedence in the other. Our findings indicate that strong attachment to place and preferences for social cohesion can motivate people to comply with CBNRM even when economic incentives fail to materialize.     

Assessing environment and development outcomes in conservation landscapes

An approach to assessing the environmental outcomes and changes in peoples’ livelihoods resulting from landscape-scale conservation interventions was developed for three locations in Africa. Simple sets of performance indicators were developed through participatory processes that included a variety of stakeholders. The selection of indicators was designed to reflect wider landscape processes, conservation objectives and as local peoples’ preferred scenarios. This framework, combined with the use of social learning techniques, helped stakeholders develop greater understandings of landscape system dynamics and the linkages between livelihood and conservation objectives. Large scale conservation and development interventions should use these approaches to explore linkages and improve shared understanding of tradeoffs and synergies between livelihood and conservation initiatives. Such approaches provide the basis for negotiating and measuring the outcomes of conservation initiatives and for adapting these to changing perspectives and circumstances.     

Socio-economics and wildlife conservation of a peri-urban national park in central Kenya

The support, perceptions, values and aspiration of the local people, especially those who neighbour protected areas is increasingly recognised as critical for long-term biodiversity conservation in many countries. As such, conservation agencies are keen to understand the linkages and interactions between wildlife conservation and socio-economics of local communities. We assessed the socio-economic, demographic factors and livelihood status of the households of communities bordering Oldoinyo Sapuk National Park in central Kenya, and evaluated their willingness to support wildlife conservation. We randomly interviewed households that neighbour the Park on a wide range of socio-economic, livelihood and demographic factors. The majority of respondents were small-scale farmers practicing crop farming and livestock keeping. Most respondents considered the Park to have great potential for the future economic development of the area, especially through ecotourism as a potential avenue to support local livelihoods.     

The role of modelling in resource management within the livelihood-conservation nexus: A socio-ecological systems approach to Sand Forest harvesting,Northern KwaZulu-Natal

Divergences between community livelihoods and conservation efforts often result in changes to the access and use of natural capital in affected areas, negatively affecting the respective livelihoods. New tools and interdisciplinary approaches are more frequently required for solving these conflicts. In this paper, the socio-ecological systems (SES) perspective along with Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) have been used to model the interdependencies that exist within the livelihood-conservation nexus to determine if this method can improve synergy between community livelihood requirements and conservation targets in an era of unsustainable decline of natural resources, using the livelihood-conservation nexus of informal Sand Forest harvesting in Northern KwaZulu-Natal as a case study. Results suggest BBNs have great potential for use in socio-ecological and resource management studies concerning the livelihood-conservation nexus. The results of the sensitivity analysis of the BBN showed that employment and income are the greatest socio-economic drivers in terms of Sand Forest harvesting, while preference (i.e. behaviour) for energy sources and building materials has the greatest overall influence on Sand Forest usage. The BBN scenario comparison further demonstrated the influence of preference (i.e. behaviour) on the SES. Finally, the conservation effectiveness assessment using the BBN showed the significant contribution of accessibility and availability of Sand Forest (i.e. conservation) to the system. Information provided by the BBN allowed for suitable areas for conservation to be identified given conservation targets and the utilisation needs of the communities (i.e. greater synergy), through the mapping of two livelihood management approaches (i.e. community conservation and formal conservation). The results of mapping the different management objectives have shown that community conservation is more suitable for moving the system towards synergy and should be considered for a Sand Forest resource management approach to compliment any conservation planning.     

Where Do the Poorest Go to Seek Outpatient Care in Bangladesh: Hospitals Run by Government or Microfinance Institutions?

Introduction

Health programs implemented by microfinance institutions (MFIs) aim to benefit the poor, but whether these services reach the poorest remains uncertain. This study intended to investigate the socioeconomic distribution of patients in hospitals operated by microfinance institutions (i.e. MFI hospitals) in Bangladesh and compare the differences with public hospitals to determine if the programs were consistent with their pro-poor mandate.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, we used the convenience sampling method to conduct an interviewer-assisted questionnaire survey among 347 female outpatients, with 170 in public hospitals and 177 in MFI hospitals. Independent variables were patient characteristics categorized into predisposing factors (age, education, marital status, family size), enabling factors (microcredit membership, household income) and need factors (self-rated health, perceived needs for care). We employed Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to evaluate how these factors contributed to MFI hospital use.

Results

Use of MFI hospitals was associated with microcredit membership over 5 years (OR=2.9, p<.01), moderately poor household (OR=4.09, p<.001), non-poor household (OR=7.34, p<.01) and need for preventive care (OR=3.4, p<.01), compared with public hospitals. Combining membership and income, we found microcredit members had a higher tendency towards utilization but membership effect pertained to the non- and moderately-poor. Compared with the group who were non-members and the poorest, microcredit members who were non-poor had the highest likelihood (OR=7.46, p<.001) to visit MFI hospitals, followed by members with moderate income (OR=6.91, p<.001) and then non-members in non-poor households (OR=4.48, p<.01). Those who were members but the poorest had a negative association (OR=0.42), though not significant. Despite a higher utilization of preventive services in MFI hospitals, expenditure there was significantly higher.

Conclusion

Inequity was more pronounced in MFI hospitals than public ones. MFI hospitals appeared to miss their target population. We suggest that MFIs reorganize health programs toward primary health care to make care equitable and universally accessible. This study holds practical implications for governments, development agencies and microfinance practitioners working at the grassroots level.     

The Prospects for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Vietnam: A Look at Three Payment Schemes

Global conservation discourses and practices increasingly rely on market-based solutions to fulfill the dual objective of forest conservation and economic development. Although varied, these interventions are premised on the assumption that natural resources are most effectively managed and preserved while benefiting livelihoods if the market-incentives of a liberalised economy are correctly in place. By examining three nationally supported payment for ecosystem service (PES) schemes in Vietnam we show how insecure land tenure, high transaction costs and high opportunity costs can undermine the long-term benefits of PES programmes for local households and, hence, potentially threaten their livelihood viability. In many cases, the income from PES programmes does not reach the poor because of political and economic constraints. Local elite capture of PES benefits through the monopolization of access to forestland and existing state forestry management are identified as key problems. We argue that as PES schemes create a market for ecosystem services, such markets must be understood not simply as bald economic exchanges between ‘rational actors’ but rather as exchanges embedded in particular socio-political and historical contexts to support the sustainable use of forest resources and local livelihoods in Vietnam.     

Elephants classify human ethnic groups by odor and garment color

Animals can benefit from classifying predators or other dangers into categories, tailoring their escape strategies to the type and nature of the risk. Studies of alarm vocalizations have revealed various levels of sophistication in classification. In many taxa, reactions to danger are inflexible, but some species can learn the level of threat presented by the local population of a predator or by specific, recognizable individuals. Some species distinguish several species of predator, giving differentiated warning calls and escape reactions; here, we explore an animal's classification of subgroups within a species. We show that elephants distinguish at least two Kenyan ethnic groups and can identify them by olfactory and color cues independently. In the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya, young Maasai men demonstrate virility by spearing elephants (Loxodonta africana), but Kamba agriculturalists pose little threat. Elephants showed greater fear when they detected the scent of garments previously worn by Maasai than by Kamba men, and they reacted aggressively to the color associated with Maasai. Elephants are therefore able to classify members of a single species into subgroups that pose different degrees of danger.     

A community perspective on participatory conservation in western Tanzania

Local participation is a key component of sound management of protected areas. The starting point for achieving this goal is to establish factors influencing it. In the Ugalla ecosystem of western Tanzania, the government in collaboration with other conservation organisations has initiated efforts to engage local people in conservation. However, the area is under increasing pressure especially from local livelihood activities and exploitation of natural resources. This study used focus group discussions and key informants to explore factors that would promote local engagement in conservation. Fifty-two activities were mentioned and ranked in terms of their effectiveness in reducing illegal use of natural resources. Improving household-level livelihoods ranked highest, followed by improving subsistence agriculture and stopping game rangers from harassing villagers. Reducing land use conflicts between local people and conservation authorities was also commonly mentioned. Capacity building and alternative sources of livelihood cannot be overstated. Additionally, Ugalla should be managed appropriately and transparently, and used effectively to improve participatory conservation. Overall, local communities were interested in a participatory conservation that would strike a fair balance between the improvement of their living standards and the conservation of natural resources. Further, research should include household interviews to reveal household level factors that affect participation in conservation.     

Maintaining customary harvesting of freshwater resources: sustainable Indigenous livelihoods in the floodplains of northern Australia

Freshwater resources underpin multiple livelihood systems around the world, particularly in highly productive tropical floodplain regions. Sustaining Indigenous people’s access to freshwater resources for customary harvesting, while developing alternative livelihood strategies can be challenging. The sustainable livelihoods approach was applied to examine the ways in which multiple livelihoods in the East Alligator River floodplain region in northern Australia influence Aboriginal people’s access to freshwater resources for customary harvesting. Interviews with Aboriginal residents were conducted to understand changes to freshwater customary harvesting practices. The dominant floodplain-based livelihoods analysed were pastoralism, biodiversity conservation and tourism and they were found to generate both opportunities and constraints for sustaining freshwater customary harvesting. Opportunities were provided through facilitating regular access to floodplain country and opportunistic access for harvesting, which assists in sustaining bio-cultural knowledge. Partnerships developed through these mainstream livelihoods built human capacity that enhanced all livelihood resource capitals (natural, human, social, financial and physical). Three key ways the dominant livelihoods constrained access to key freshwater resources were identified. Tourism required sacrificing certain hunting places and had to accommodate recreational fishing pressure. The successful recovery of the saltwater crocodile population through biodiversity conservation policy has inadvertently reduced people’s customary access to in-stream resources. Pastoralism on the floodplain had restricted traditional floodplain burning practices associated with accessing aestivating long-necked turtles, affecting access and abundance. These findings highlight the need for the development of remote Indigenous livelihood strategies to make explicit their influences on freshwater customary harvesting practices, to better support their maintenance amongst multiple, non-customary floodplain livelihoods.     

Cocoa farms in the Mount Cameroon region: biological and cultural diversity in local livelihoods

A study was undertaken around Mt Cameroon to examine the role of biological and cultural diversity in the livelihood strategies of indigenous villagers and migrants to the region. Surveys of resources consumed and sold by 118 households were undertaken in five villages over the course of 1 year, the perspectives and practices of cocoa farmers documented, and useful tree species retained or planted on six cocoa farms mapped. Cocoa farms in this region generate more significant benefits for biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods than commercial plantations, but also place pressure on forest reserves and require chemical inputs. Roughly 50 tree species are commonly retained or planted on cocoa farms, primarily for timber or food, with many of these having high conservation value. Average tree density of non-cocoa trees was 15 trees per hectare, with tree densities higher, and a larger percentage of species used, on indigenous Bomboko farms than migrant farms. Both migrant and indigenous households rely on forest as a complement to farm income, but indigenous households do this to a far greater extent, while also making extensive use of fallow and home gardens. Indigenous households also derive roughly four times the income from wild and native species compared to migrants. While diversified cocoa farms contribute to conservation and livelihoods in the region, indigenous livelihoods grow from and require the conservation of a broader range of species and habitats, including natural forest.     

Shifting Baselines on a Tropical Forest Frontier: Extirpations Drive Declines in Local Ecological Knowledge

The value of local ecological knowledge (LEK) to conservation is increasingly recognised, but LEK is being rapidly lost as indigenous livelihoods change. Biodiversity loss is also a driver of the loss of LEK, but quantitative study is lacking. In our study landscape in SW China, a large proportion of species have been extirpated. Hence, we were interested to understand whether species extirpation might have led to an erosion of LEK and the implications this might have for conservation. So we investigated peoples'' ability to name a selection of birds and mammals in their local language from pictures. Age was correlated to frequency of forest visits as a teenager and is likely to be closely correlated to other known drivers of the loss of LEK, such as declining forest dependence. We found men were better at identifying birds overall and that older people were better able to identify birds to the species as compared to group levels (approximately equivalent to genus). The effect of age was also stronger among women. However, after controlling for these factors, species abundance was by far the most important parameter in determining peoples'' ability to name birds. People were unable to name any locally extirpated birds at the species level. However, contrary to expectations, people were better able to identify extirpated mammals at the species level than extant ones. However, extirpated mammals tend to be more charismatic species and several respondents indicated they were only familiar with them through TV documentaries. Younger people today cannot experience the sights and sounds of forest animals that their parents grew up with and, consequently, knowledge of these species is passing from cultural memory. We suggest that engaging older members of the community and linking the preservation of LEK to biodiversity conservation may help generate support for conservation.     

Expansion of human settlement in Kenya's Maasai Mara: what future for pastoralism and wildlife?

Aim Wildlife and pastoral peoples have lived side‐by‐side in the Mara ecosystem of south‐western Kenya for at least 2000 years. Recent changes in human population and landuse are jeopardizing this co‐existence. The aim of the study is to determine the viability of pastoralism and wildlife conservation in Maasai ranches around the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR). Location A study area of 2250 km² was selected in the northern part of the Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem, encompassing group ranches adjoining the MMNR. Emphasis is placed on Koyake Group Ranch, a rangeland area owned by Maasai pastoralists, and one of Kenya's major wildlife tourism areas. Methods Maasai settlement patterns, vegetation, livestock numbers and wildlife numbers were analysed over a 50‐year period. Settlement distributions and vegetation changes were determined from aerial photography and aerial surveys of 1950, 1961, 1967, 1974, 1983 and 1999. Livestock and wildlife numbers were determined from re‐analysis of systematic reconnaissance flights conducted by the Kenya Government from 1977 to 2000, and from ground counts in 2002. Corroborating data on livestock numbers were obtained from aerial photography of Maasai settlements in 2001. Trends in livestock were related to rainfall, and to vegetation production as indicated by the seasonal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. With these data sets, per capita livestock holdings were determined for the period 1980–2000, a period of fluctuating rainfall and primary production. Results For the first half of the twentieth century, the Mara was infested with tsetse‐flies, and the Maasai were confined to the Lemek Valley area to the north of the MMNR. During the early 1960s, active tsetse‐control measures by both government and the Maasai led to the destruction of woodlands across the Mara and the retreat of tsetse flies. The Maasai were then able to expand their settlement area south towards MMNR. Meanwhile, wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) from the increasing Serengeti population began to spill into the Mara rangelands each dry season, leading to direct competition between livestock and wildlife. Group ranches were established in the area in 1970 to formalize land tenure for the Maasai. By the late 1980s, with rapid population growth, new settlement areas had been established at Talek and other parts adjacent to the MMNR. Over the period 1983–99, the number of Maasai bomas in Koyake has increased at 6.4% per annum (pa), and the human population at 4.4% pa. Over the same period, cattle numbers on Koyake varied from 20,000 to 45,000 (average 25,000), in relation to total rainfall received over the previous 2 years. The rangelands of the Mara cannot support a greater cattle population under current pastoral practices. Conclusions With the rapid increase in human settlement in the Mara, and with imminent land privatization, it is probable that wildlife populations on Koyake will decline significantly in the next 3–5 years. Per capita livestock holdings on the ranch have now fallen to three livestock units/reference adult, well below minimum pastoral subsistence requirements. During the 1980s and 90s the Maasai diversified their livelihoods to generate revenues from tourism, small‐scale agriculture and land‐leases for mechanized cultivation. However, there is a massive imbalance in tourism incomes in favour of a small elite. In 1999 the membership of Koyake voted to subdivide the ranch into individual holdings. In 2003 the subdivision survey allocated plots of 60 ha average size to 1020 ranch members. This land privatization may result in increased cultivation and fencing, the exclusion of wildlife, and the decline of tourism as a revenue generator. This unique pastoral/wildlife system will shortly be lost unless land holdings can be managed to maintain the free movement of livestock and wildlife.     

自然保护地社区生计转型与产业发展

良好的社区与自然保护地关系首先建立在社区生计的公平与可持续发展上。为促进社区认同、接受乃至参与自然保护地建设与管理，我国自然保护地管理逐渐重视社区利益，推动其生计转型发展与生态保护相协调。社区居民从事产业活动、进行生产经营、参与产业分工，是维持和改善生计的重要方式之一。研究采用质性内容分析方法，从不同研究视角、地理空间和政策背景的案例研究中提取自然保护地社区生计转型及其产业发展路径的内在逻辑，形成内容、激励机制、政策保障、结果、成败分析、发展对策六个核心范畴，以动因与形式、结果与原因来归纳总结前5个范畴的核心事实，根据发展对策提出自然保护地社区生计转型和产业发展原则，并结合国家公园特征和管理目标提出建议。研究表明，在社区层面协同保护与发展本质上来说是降低农户面临的自然、政策和市场风险的过程，生计可持续性和公平性双重目标可以通过产业生态化，产业部分替代或完全替代来实现。以产业发展带动生计转型具有经济、社会、文化多重效益，但其实现需要尊重本土文化，保障社区基本权利，多方参与协作，匹配和提升居民差异化能力。在国家公园体制建设中社区生计发展特别需要依托本地资源，对标市场需求，推进产业生态化，拓展传统产业功能，从自然和半自然生态系统的协同中寻求生态和文化价值向经济价值转化。