Paying attention to pigs: negotiating equity and equality in global environmental governance in Suau,Papua New Guinea

The idea of ‘equity’, largely grounded in Western legal tradition, has come to permeate evaluations of what is fair and just within environmental governance programmes. But what constitutes equity in climate change and conservation projects? And does everyone affected by such projects see equity as desirable? Local encounters with global environmental governance interventions in Suau, Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea, provide an entry point to explore these questions. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with communities implicated in the Central Suau Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Pilot Project and in Save the Forest conservation projects, we examine tensions around conceptions of equity and equality between project proponents and local communities, as well as between individuals within those communities. By paying attention to talk about pigs in Suau, and tracing the intersections between reciprocity and trade, we explore how people negotiate equity and equality. We emphasize that this negotiation is central to Suau ideas of fairness. While the REDD+ and Save the Forest projects work to ensure ‘equitable’ distribution of benefits among supposedly equivalent actors, we show how this may actually close down possibilities for negotiation of outcomes that local people consider fair.     

Factors shaping the tolerance of local Tibetan herders toward snow leopards

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) have long co-existed with livestock herding people across Asia’s high mountains. Multiple use landscapes however imply potential competition for shared resources, livestock predation, and the risk of retaliatory killing of predators. Community-based conservation is a central pillar for supporting people’s livelihoods and safeguarding predators and their habitat. Based on the theory of planned behavior, we examined the factors that shape herders’ tolerance of snow leopards. Our questionnaire-based study was conducted in the Sanjiangyuan Region, China, encompassing four communities with varying livelihoods, experiences with livestock depredation and levels of exposure to community conservation interventions. Our results showed that respondents generally held positive views towards snow leopards, although women tended to have relatively more negative views towards snow leopards compared with men. Current household income was largely dependent on caterpillar fungus rather than livestock. Social norms around religion and the role of community leaders in our study area seemed to be the main determinants of the generally benign association of people with wildlife, overshadowing potential influences of community-based conservation interventions. Our work suggests that conservations programs will be aided through collaborations with communities and religious institutions, and that conservationists must proactively engage with women as significant actors in conservation.     

Measuring the impacts of community-based grasslands management in Mongolia's Gobi

We assessed a donor-funded grassland management project designed to create both conservation and livelihood benefits in the rangelands of Mongolia's Gobi desert. The project ran from 1995 to 2006, and we used remote sensing Normalized Differential Vegetation Index data from 1982 to 2009 to compare project grazing sites to matched control sites before and after the project's implementation. We found that the productivity of project grazing sites was on average within 1% of control sites for the 20 years before the project but generated 11% more biomass on average than the control areas from 2000 to 2009. To better understand the benefits of the improved grasslands to local people, we conducted 280 household interviews, 8 focus group discussions, and 31 key informant interviews across 6 districts. We found a 12% greater median annual income as well as a range of other socioeconomic benefits for project households compared to control households in the same areas. Overall, the project generated measurable benefits to both nature and people. The key factors underlying project achievements that may be replicable by other conservation projects include the community-driven approach of the project, knowledge exchanges within and between communities inside and outside the country, a project-supported local community organizer in each district, and strong community leadership.     

Ethnobotany of Atlantic Forest Coastal Communities: II. Diversity of Plant Uses at Sepetiba Bay (SE Brazil)

This is an ethnobotanical study of Atlantic Forest coastal communities located at Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Atlantic Forest remnants are top priority conservation areas, and include native communities that depend on fish and small-scale agriculture. We conducted fieldwork in the community of Calhaus (Jaguanum Island) from 1989 to 1991, and interviewed adults on their use of plants. We examined the diversity of medicinal plants used among communities of different islands and found results similar to previous research at Gamboa (Itacuruçá Island); communities living in smaller islands and on islands further from the coast use a lower diversity of plants. Also, older islanders show a deeper knowledge of medicinal plants than younger islanders.     

Classifying conservation targets based on the origin of motivation: implications over the success of community-based conservation projects

Community-based conservation (CBC) projects represent one approach to biodiversity conservation when working with indigenous and local people. This method aims to achieve conservation and development goals simultaneously, however whether both types of goals can be met or whether competition between the two precludes success is an issue of much discussion. Conservation targets are one of the most important elements upon which a conservation project is built. We propose that one way to link biodiversity conservation with human development goals is to consider people’s needs and interests in the selection of the conservation target. Here, we present three categories of conservation targets that vary according to the origin of motivation that drives indigenous and local people to conserve the target. According to the type of target selected, the level of participation, integration of traditional ecological knowledge, level of external intervention and long-term sustainability will vary. We encourage conservation practitioners to understand the motivations that lead indigenous and local people to participate in conservation projects, and to develop and design CBC projects from these incentives.     

Rain Forest Conservation in a Tribal World: Why Forest Dwellers Prefer Loggers to Conservationists

In Papua New Guinea, the fate of forests is governed by forest-dwelling tribal societies. A rapidly increasing pace of logging compels us to ask why tribal communities prefer logging to conservation. In the absence of feasible development opportunities, remote communities become quickly enthusiastic about conservation projects, but once an area is opened up to logging few such projects survive. Direct payments to forest owners to cover the costs of missed opportunities for economic development are advocated here to make conservation competitive. A conservation royalty scheme would deliver a higher proportion of the conservation funds to the resource owners than the management-intensive community development projects currently favored. Such an approach requires a profound cultural change within conservation organizations from a ‘development aid’ approach to one more oriented toward business.     

Applied Ethnobotany：Participatory Approach for Community Development and Conservation

Applied ethnobotany is a new subject in ethnobiological sciences referring to the transferring,reviving and cultivating ethnobotanical knowledge among different social groups within intra-and-inter-communities.Much research related to biodiversity in many countries is largely devoted to the gathering of more academic information,rather than to more incise studies focusing on finding answers to pressing challenges related to the use of plants by communities.China is country possessing rich biodiversity and cultural diversity.The long history of Chinese traditional medicine,diversity of cultivated crops and utilization of wild plant species are great cultural traditions to the country.Today,many societies of the country are still intricately linked to the natural environment economically as well as societies and groups within China.However,China is facing major changes in modernization of the coutry‘s economy,and globalization to form part of the world exchange system.Increasingly high levels of consumptions of natural plants,as well as national and international traes on plant products have resulted,space in over-harvesting of wild resources and accelerated environmental degradation.Local social structures and cultural traditions have also changed in order to cope with policy changes.In this background,over the last decade,applied ethnobotany for rural community development and conservation has been employed in different field projects and ethnic minority communities in Yunnan province of China.The applied ethnobotany has focused on work at community level to achieve sustainable use of naural resources and conservation.This presentation discusses findings and lessons learned from the projects on alternatives and innovations to shifting cultivation in Xishuangbanna,southwestern China.     

Bees, farmers, tourists and hunters: conflict dynamics around Western Tanzania protected areas

Following important donor funding in Tanzania since the 1990s to support community based natural resource management, several cooperation agencies have implemented projects aiming at developing innovative conservation strategies combining protected and sustainable use areas. Based on data gathered in the Katavi Rukwa Lukwati and Ugalla core areas of Western Tanzania, this paper compares and analyses how projects developed their strategy and objectives to address conflicts between local population and conservation agents, and how this led to changes in conservation practices. The projects managed to achieve their objectives in conservation and poverty reduction at various degrees. Enhanced conflict resolution capacity involving private stakeholders, conservation agents and local communities, as well as improved collaboration between projects, helped to solve part of the conflicts. This was the case with the negotiation of rights of access for beekeepers to Rukwa game reserve. However, enduring sector based approaches continue to hinder opportunities for developing multiple use approaches. Contrasted results of the projects can be explained by factors inherent to projects’ planning and management, but also by factors that are beyond projects’ influence such as the historical and contemporary context in terms of governance of natural resources and more globally, of power relationships between the state, private organisations and the communities.     

Dietary use and conservation concern of edible wetland plants at indo-burma hotspot: a case study from northeast India

Background

The wetlands of the North East India fall among the global hotspots of biodiversity. However, they have received very little attention with relation to their intrinsic values to human kind; therefore their conservation is hardly addressed. These wetlands are critical for the sustenance of the tribal communities.

Methods

Field research was conducted during 2003 to 2006 in seven major wetlands of four districts of Manipur state, Northeast India (viz. Imphal-East, Imphal-West, Thoubal, and Bishnupur). A total of 224 wetland-plant-collectors were interviewed for the use and economics of species using semi-structured questionnaires and interview schedules. Imphal, Bishenpur and Thoubal markets were investigated in detail for influx and consumption pattern of these plants. The collectors were also inquired for medicinal use of wetland species. Nutritive values of 21 species were analyzed in laboratory. The vouchers were collected for all the species and deposited in the CSIR-NEIST (Formerly Regional Research Laboratory), Substation, Lamphelpat, Imphal, Manipur, India.

Results

We recorded 51 edible wetland species used by indigenous people for food and medicinal purposes. Thirty eight species had high medicinal values and used in the traditional system to treat over 22 diseases. At least 27 species were traded in three markets studied (i.e. Imphal, Thoubal and Bishenpur), involving an annual turnover of 113 tons of wetland edible plants and a gross revenue of Rs. 907, 770/- (US$1 = Rs. 45/-). The Imphal market alone supplies 60% of the total business. Eighty per cent of the above mentioned species are very often used by the community. The community has a general opinion that the availability of 45% species has depleted in recent times, 15 species need consideration for conservation while another 7 species deserved immediate protection measures. The nutrient analysis showed that these species contribute to the dietary balance of tribal communities.

Conclusions

Considering the importance of wild wetland plants in local sustenance, it is suggested to protect their habitats, develop domestication protocols of selected species, and build programs for the long-term management of wetland areas by involving local people. Some medicinal plants may also be used to develop into modern medicines.

     

Complementary and alternative medicine research,prospects and limitations in Pakistan: A literature review

This review article is an effort to analyze the status of medicinal plants research in Pakistan. According to an estimate, about 6000 plant species are present in Pakistan of which about 700 have medicinal importance. The majority of the local population in Pakistan depends on therapeutic plants. Various Pakistani institutes are conducting research on medical plants. Pakistan is at the center of the international herbal market. The Pakistan position in the international herbal market in import is 9th and in export is 10th. In 2002 the market value of therapeutic and aromatic plants sold globally was estimated at 62 billion US$, and 2018 it had increased to 131.4 billion. This means medicinal plants are the income source for people, and if the medicinal flora is not managed properly, this may result in habitat destruction, as well as species extinction. For ex-situ conservation of medicinal plants, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan is working with universities to establish botanical gardens. The government also needs to take steps to enforce stricter laws for conservation, to find sustainable ways to harvest medicinal plants from the wild, to educate native collectors in suitable collection methods, to train the local community how to grow therapeutic herbs, and to eliminate the middle-men from the trading chain.     

Cultural responsibility in the preservation of local economic plant resources

Understanding the relationships between indigenous people and their threatened economic plants can aid the conservation effort on many levels. Understanding ethnic perceptions of the taxon is critical toin situ andex situ conservation projects and enhances the accompanying educational effort. Examples are discussed from the experience of a grassroots conservation group in southwestern United States, Native Seed/SEARCH. Four levels of economic plant vulnerability are examined among 1) wild-harvested plants, 2) husbanded wild plants, 3) domesticates, and 4) wild relatives of domesticates. Legal interpretations of endangered husbanded and domestic plants are discussed, and further documentation encouraged. Genetic dynamism of threatened indigenous crops is examined and the concept of Systems Conservation (i.e. the plant/human interactive systems) is introduced. Guidelines are offered for incorporating better cultural responsibility intoex situ conservation strategies. The concept of Biocultural Restoration is introduced with an example from an O'odham community. Examples are given of ways indigenous peoples and their knowledge can assist in the conservation effort.     

Medicinal Plant Knowledge Among Lay People in Five Eastern Tibet Villages

Tibetans in five villages in the Mount Khawa Karpo area of the Menri (Meili Xueshan in Chinese) range, Northwest Yunnan, People’s Republic of China, were interviewed about their knowledge of a number of medicinal plants and their uses. There was large variation in people’s knowledge with significant differences among the villages and between men and women. Most of the reported knowledge focused on a small number of commercial plants and their uses. In comparison with Tibetan doctors, villagers generally knew fewer applications and focused on general health remedies. Many people collected medicinal plants for their own use as well as for sale, but also obtained medicinal plant remedies from markets and Tibetan doctors, and often used traditional Tibetan healthcare in conjunction with biomedical treatment.     

西双版纳傣族曼仑村植物遗传资源研究:现状与保护策略

本文采用民族植物学和文化人类学的方法, 对地处我国西南边陲西双版纳勐仑镇的傣族村寨曼仑村的植物遗传资源进行了调查和研究, 结果表明: 当地仍然保存有十分丰富的植物遗传资源, 栽培植物有68个科, 136个属, 204个种, 地方品种也较丰富, 集中分布在葫芦科、天南星科、禾本科等8个科; 当地人与植物遗传资源的形成和发展关系密切, 随着社会变迁、经济发展和人口膨胀等各种因素的影响, 原本丰富的植物遗传资源锐减, 从而使与之共存的传统知识也面临消亡的危机。作者认为只有充分调动当地人的积极性, 主动参与到植物遗传资源的保护领域, 才能进行有效保护。     

Impacts of Trade in Non-timber Forest Products on Cooperation among Caboclo Households of the Brazilian Amazon

Trade in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been touted as promoting forest conservation and enhancing the well-being of local residents through increased cash income, which is considered a positive outcome. However, research on cooperation has demonstrated that increased market access and income may strengthen or weaken cooperation. Because cooperation is essential for community resilience in small-scale societies, negative effects on people’s well-being can be expected if increased NTFP trade reduces cooperation. To evaluate whether NTFP trade affected cooperation, we used household data (survey and systematic observations) to compare the frequency of cooperation in two communities of Brazilian Amazon Caboclos, one of which engaged in NTFP trade, while the other did not. Cooperation was less frequent in the community trading NTFPs, but neither household cash income nor household participation in NTFP exploitation was associated with cooperative behavior. Decreased frequency most likely derived from indirect effects of NTFP trade, such as less time to fish or socialize, or other outcomes observable only at the community level, such as income inequality, the influx of new residents and consequent population growth. Our results indicate that conservation and development projects based on NTFP trade may negatively impact social and economic well-being of local communities.     

Unsustainable collection and unfair trade? Uncovering and assessing assumptions regarding Central Himalayan medicinal plant conservation

The trade in medicinal plants for herbal remedies is large and probably increasing. The trade has attracted the attention of scientists and development planners interested in the impact on plant populations and the potential to improve rural livelihoods through community based management and conservation. This has resulted in a large number of publications and development activities, ranging from small NGO projects to new government policies. Through a review of 119 references from Nepal, 4 common assumptions regarding the medicinal plant collection and trade have been identified: I. The commercial medicinal plant resource base is becoming ever more degraded as a consequence of collection; II. The medicinal plants are an open-access resource; III. Cultivation can contribute to conservation of commercially collected medicinal plant species; and IV. Medicinal plant harvesters are cheated by middlemen. The frequency of the assumptions is documented, their empirical support is evaluated, and the consequences of their presence for conservation and rural livelihoods are discussed. It is concluded that the empirical backing for the assumptions is weak, and that some reviewed references use logically flawed argumentation. It is argued that the assumptions are leading to misguided conservation efforts, and an inclusive approach to conservation of commercial central Himalayan medicinal plant species is briefly outlined. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Challenges of Conserving Blue Bull (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Boselaphus tragocamelus</Emphasis>) Outside the Protected Areas of Nepal

Blue bull, or ‘Nilgai’ (Boselaphus tragocamelus, Pallas, 1766) is the sole member of its genus. It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and while there are major populations in northern India, there are also smaller populations in Nepal and Pakistan. It is now extinct in Bangladesh. The Nepalese population is sparsely distributed, mostly in the lowland Terai areas, and outside of Nepal’s protected area network. Conflict with local farming communities because of crop damage by nilgai has created conservation challenges and our aim was to document the distribution of nilgai and to explore the conflict between nilgai and the human population in lowland Nepal. Our study focused on the Rupendehi District of Nepal during March to August 2016, where a total of 303 nilgai were counted. The highest population of nilgai was in the community forests and lowest in areas of cultivated land. The distribution pattern of nilgai was clumped, with an average herd size of 5.6 individuals per herd. Crop raiding damage by nilgai created a serious problem in the municipalities, known as village development committees which are located close to potential nilgai habitat. The projected crop yield loss due to nilgai in the study area was NRs (Nepali Rupees) 7,275,507 (US$ 68,633) from March 2015 to March 2016. Vegetable and pulses crops were those most damaged by nilgai, contributing to 14.48 and 10.38% of the total losses, respectively. The local people held mixed perceptions of nilgai. The most negative views were held by people who had experienced some extent of crop loss. Suitable protective measures to minimize crop loss are required such as changing cropping patterns and crop composition, particularly cultivation of medicinal plants are suggested as priorities in highly effective zone. The study noted that there were many threats to nilgai including illegal hunting, poisoning, electric fences and habitat deterioration. Successful nilgai conservation will require further education, gaining support from local people and possibly new crop management techniques.     

高黎贡山五加科的植物地理学研究

本文从属、种及地史文献资料三方面对高黎贡山五加科植物进行了植物地理学研究。结果表明：1．高黎贡山五加科植物包括15属56种及13变种。2．从起源来看,高黎贡山五加科植物以热带起源为主,热带属占66.7％(10属）,温带属占33.3％（5属）,而与地中海地区和中亚地区的联系十分微弱。3．从种的分布区式样来看：高黎贡山五加科植物以温带分布型为主,温带分布型的物种占全科种数的88.4％（61种）,这一统计结果与属的统计结果（66.7％)的属系热带属）形成很大的反差,其原因在于掸邦一马来亚板块上的高黎贡山植物区系源于赤道热带,在板块位移过程中,随着高黎贡山的北移,喜马拉雅山脉的强烈隆升,五加科这一起源于热带的古老木本植物,因不适于比赤道带冷得多的气候环境而先后被淘汰,部分属种则在新的环境中经过适应、演化和重新分化,除个别热带属的北缘种在高黎贡山北端独龙江河谷中幸存下来（如树参属Dendropanax)以外,其余新分化出来的植物则是温带性的（如常春木属Merrilliopanax),因此,现在高黎贡山五加科植物区系中,热带起源的属多于温带属,但温带种大大多于热带种。所有这些成分中,中国一喜马拉雅分布的成分(15种）和中国特有的成分（43种）构成了高黎贡山五加科植物区系的基本骨架,这些成分标志着高黎贡山五加科植物区系的东亚温带性质。4．高黎贡山五加科植物特有现象突出。一方面表现在种类丰富,计有中国特有类群22种和变种,云南特有类群12种和变种,高黎贡山特有类群9种,另一方面表现在特有类群的丰富度与纬度成正比,就高黎贡山特有种来说,北段（贡山）的特有类群（8种和变种）远远多于南段的腾冲（仅1种）。5．由于掸邦一马来亚板块位移对高黎贡山生物区系的影响,部分高黎贡山五加科植物从滇东南或滇南至高黎贡山的一些连续分布区被间断为滇西北与滇东南的对角分布式样（如少毛云南 木Aralia thomosonii var. glaerescens,单枝五叶参Pentapanax leschenaultii var.simplex,拟白背叶鹅掌柴Schefflerahy poleucoides),而与此同时,在云南形成了一条从滇西北一滇东南走向的生态地理对角线,由于该对角线的形成,导致部分五加科植物仅能在对角线以西及以南生存和繁衍（如大叶鹅掌柴Schefflera macrophylla)。     

Wild-ing the Ethnography of Conservation: Writing Nature’s Value and Agency In

When reading ethnographic literature on nature conservation, one may wonder: where has nature gone? Social anthropologists have written nuanced ethnographies of how the environmental projects of governments and transnational NGOs encounter, dispossess, clash culturally with, and try to govern native people across the world. Yet, these diverse ethnographies often say little about what motivates those encounters firstly: local and global nature, especially wildlife, plants, and the planet’s ecological crisis. Thus, this paper seeks ways how ethnographic writing on conservation practice could better reflect that the planet’s many self-willed, struggling, and valued non-humans, too, enter conservation’s encounters. To find paths toward such a ‘wild-ing’ of ethnography, the paper locates and reviews disparate materials from across the social-anthropological literature on biodiversity conservation. The review is structured through three questions: How does and could the ethnography of conservation represent nature’s value? How can it show that animals, plants, and other nature make and meet worlds? How can it incorporate natural science data about non-human worlds and ecological crisis? Altogether, we understand nature conservation clearer through the interdisciplinary and more-than-human ethnography of world-making encounters. Such wilder ethnography may also better connect people’s suffering and nature’s vanishing – as problems both for anthropology and conservation science.     

云南高黎贡山怒族对植物传统利用的初步研究

采用民族生物学和文化人类学等方法,广泛调查和研究了云南西北部高黎贡山地区怒族对植物的传统利用形式。结果表明：怒族对植物的传统利用主要表现在食用、药用、观赏、宗教祟拜和文化利用等方面。讨论了怒族的传统文化在当地植物多样性利用和管理中的作用和意义,并探讨了在植物多样性管理中传统管理和现代管理之间的关系以及在我国利用文化多样性进行自然生态环境保护的可能性、必要性和可行性。此外,面对优秀的传统文化知识和文化多样性逐渐消失的现实,作者建议加以拯救和广泛的研究。     

A bioeconomic analysis of community wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe

This paper uses a bio-economic model to analyze wildlife conservation in two habitats adjacent to a national park by two types of communities in Zimbabwe. One community is made up of peasant farmers operating under a benefit-sharing scheme such as CAMPFIRE, while the other is made up of commercial farmers practicing game farming in a conservancy. Both communities exploit wildlife by selling hunting licenses to foreign hunters but with different levels of success. The park agency plays a central role by authorizing the harvest quota for each community. We formulate a bio-economic model for the three agents, optimize the market problem for each agent and compare the outcomes with the social planner’s solution. Our results show that the level of anti-poaching enforcement by the park agency is suboptimal, while anti-poaching effort exerted by the conservancy community achieves social optimality. CAMPFIRE communities exert more poaching effort than what the social planner would recommend. Our model shows that institutional reforms in benefit-sharing schemes could result in the decisions of CAMPFIRE communities gravitating towards the social optimum.