A Civic Conversation About Public Lands

Summary

Community-based ecosystem management (CBEM) is being offered as an alternative to agency-based public land management. Its fundamental premise is connecting communities to public lands for the purpose of increasing ecosystem stewardship and community sustainability. For CBEM to appropriately serve the public interest, new social and institutional relationships will need to be formed, collaborative learning will need to occur, and capacities in community participation and ecological literacy will need to be developed. A new civic conversation about public lands is essential to these relationships, learning, and capacities. Community governance processes, which guide these collaborative and participatory activities, must correspondingly reflect the community-based nature of CBEM, while preserving the national interests in public land resources.     

Governance and Institutions

Abstract

The institutional and governance issues that facilitate or impede community-based ecosystem management are discussed. Community-based ecosystem management has a variety of institutional models that differ in purpose, history, scope of interest, and capabilities. Several governance issues face these institutions, including: the adequacy of existing laws and policies; the role of government and policy tools such as money, messages, and mandates; mechanisms for cross-jurisdictional management; the effects of organizational culture and resources in organizations such as agencies and science; and power-distribution concerns that have made community-based ecosystem management politically contentious. For each of these issues a vision is presented for enhancing the precepts of community-based ecosystem management to ensure that it serves traditionally underrepresented populations and embodies democratic principles of open public deliberation, inclusiveness, and social justice. A significant number of success stories and innovations in dealing with these issues are documented as are barriers and challenges. Recommendations for addressing these challenges are made. While community-based ecosystem management reflects the Jeffersonian spirit of direct democracy, it also depends on individual civility and cannot be separated from the political pull and tug and the checks and balances of a complex federal system of representative democracy. The ultimate opportunity and challenge for community-based ecosystem management is to explicitly recognize its political dimensions and to continually experiment and innovate in ways to improve American democracy as well as long-term ecological sustainability.     

The Practice of Stewardship

Abstract

Community-based ecosystem management efforts are proliferating around the United States. While these projects differ greatly in style, substance, players, and places, they share common elements; the philosophy of stewardship appears to be one of the most powerful. The effort to promote stewardship of local ecosystems has shown remarkable power to engage broad and diverse interests. The authors hypothesize that the concept of stewardship is central to many community-based ecosystem management efforts, acting as the ‘glue’ that holds these efforts together. This chapter explores the emerging philosophy of stewardship, its defining characteristics, and how it differs for community-based ecosystem management efforts. It examines a framework for stewardship at the practitioner's level, with an emphasis on key concerns local practitioners need to address in their projects. The chapter closes with an examination of some of the largest challenges ahead-consistency and accountability, the economics of stewardship, and the need to build a favorable institutional environment-in the continued development of stewardship as an organizing principle for community-based ecosystem management.     

Process

Abstract

Process in community-based ecosystem management (CBEM) involves a fundamental reframing of human relationships with each other and with other ecosystem components. Inherent to this re-framing is a respect for diversity and for different ways of knowing, a willingness to meet others on their own terms, and a willingness to respect others' knowledge even while openly sharing one's own. CBEM process is characterized by an embracing of diverse cultural and social groups within a community, equal access to and open exchange of information, mutual learning, flexibility, and collective vision. CBEM process also is impeded by long-standing power imbalances inherent in our culture and in our governance systems. Overcoming these power imbalances will not be easy, and CBEM faces a number of process challenges. These include: lack of incentives for some parties to participate, traditionally disempowered groups, administrative bureaucracy, and legitimacy. To be sustainable, CBEM process ultimately will have to integrate the key dimensions of inclusiveness, accessibility, transparency, mutual learning, adaptability, and collective vision within existing social and governance processes.     

Developing a Community-Based Silvicultural System

Abstract

With the assistance of Maderas del Pueblo, the remote community of Chalchijapa in Oaxaca, Mexico is experimenting with an innovative forest management plan providing a long-term income source for the community, while emphasizing the importance of sustainable harvest guidelines. The plan is community-based in that ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the guidelines and monitoring of the process rests within the community. Under the forest management plan, Chalchijapan foresters apply single tree selection harvesting techniques. Currently, foresters are cutting the highest quality trees with the hope that the resulting gaps will be sufficient for regeneration. In order to be successful, planners and the community will have to overcome significant challenges. These challenges include: (1) fine-tuning selection criteria to the autecology of different species rather than assigning a cutting regime to cover entire plots of diverse species; (2) volume limitations that are constraining for the forester and result in high-grading practices which may lead to forest degradation over time; (3) inefficiency of tree removal and damage incurred by dragging logs into the village; and (4) designing a more equitable harvesting scheme to best serve the entire community. Although challenges remain, Chalchijapa has taken the first steps in using the resources in the surrounding forests while recognizing the importance of intelligent and well planned forestry practices.     

Global Linkages to Community-Based Ecosystem Management in the United States

Abstract

Community-based ecosystem management (CBEM) in the United States is closely tied to global processes. Increasing and shifting international market demands for ecosystem products and services together with global trends in climate change and biodiversity loss have tangible impacts in communities in every region of the country. Meanwhile, community-based natural resource management efforts in other parts of the world, particularly in developing countries, have a longer history than in the United States. This history, and the tools and techniques developed elsewhere for community-based resource management, can help to inform North American advocates and practitioners of CBEM. This paper has four objectives. The first is to identify key global trends that affect communities in the United States. These trends include demand and supply relationships (especially of forest resources) and environmental changes that will shape economic and policy choices in coming decades. Second, the paper examines countervailing forces of globalization and decentralization. How are shifting patterns of governance and control around the world affecting the prospects for sustainable community-based resource management? Third, the paper seeks to understand migration as a growing feature of many communities. What challenges and opportunities does migration pose for sustainable resource management? Finally, the paper summarizes a few of the tools and techniques used internationally that might have relevance in the United States.     

The “German model” of integrative multifunctional forest management—Analysing the emergence and political evolution of a forest management concept

Forest policy and management are subject to various and often conflicting demands, which internationally have led to distinct policy responses and related management paradigms. These range from a strong focus on commodity production complemented by economic rationalities – e.g. focusing on plantations – to community-based or social forestry approaches highlighting local participation and stakeholder engagement, to a focus on ecosystem services and conservation. A major challenge involves the potential orientation of the overall forest policy and management paradigm either towards integrating manifold demands more or less evenly across an area, or towards dividing the land base into forest areas with different management priorities. The specific reconciliation and integration of both sides of the spectrum have been at the centre of scientific and political discussion on forest policy and management for several decades.In this context, the “German model” of integrative and multifunctional forest management has received international attention. It is regarded as an example for integrating diverse (societal and ecological) demands into a timber-production-oriented management approach. At the same time, the model's primary focus on timber production has been criticised by some.In this paper, we analyse the political dimension of the German model by tracing the birth and evolution of the so-called LÖWE programme, a much noticed governmental forest management programme in the German state of Lower Saxony. LÖWE has frequently been presented as a particularly successful example of multifunctional forestry. We first assess the specific societal and political circumstances that led to the establishment of the programme 20 years ago. Subsequently, we assess its political function in forest policy debates about various demands on Lower Saxony's public forests. We show that the evolution of the programme can be interpreted in two distinct but non-exclusive ways. On the one hand, LÖWE was a strategic success story for the Forest Service because it aligned (and also appeased) conflicting demands in line with the changing political priorities. On the other hand, it also embodied a learning process towards environmental policy integration. By underlining LÖWE as an example of the German model of integrative multifunctional forest management, we reiterate the strategic importance of this model in the German context and also highlight future challenges and related research needs.     

An Introduction to Community-Based Ecosystem Management

Abstract

This paper introduces the concept of community-based ecosystem management and explores cases and trends reflecting this emerging approach to natural resource management. It presents the workshop tone as a disciplined inquiry and addresses several questions such as where community-based ecosystem management came from, what it looks like, its potential benefits, and its key challenges.     

Spatial mapping of the social value of forest services: A case study of northern Jordan

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing body of research on ecosystem services and their valuation, Jordan still faces many challenges with integration of ecosystem service concepts into forest sustainability policy and management planning. One major challenge is the incorporation of local communities into policy design, planning, and implementation. This article aims to provide information about the social value of forests’ provisioning and cultural services in a spatial context using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The study utilizes a new approach to mapping value in rural areas by projecting local forest value from interview data. A value index is created based on indicated importance of services as well as proximity to households, permitting interpolation of value in forested areas between survey points. The resulting maps illustrate ecosystem service “hotspot” areas of significance to planning and management. This mapping technique can be applied in other locations where homes are situated near and within the ecosystems being assessed. The resulting maps serve to inform forest management policy and planning by better integrating communities’ preferences into development and conservation efforts, ensuring more efficient utilization of ecosystem services.     

Inclusive Community Forest Management

Summary

Proponents of community-based natural resource management often use definitions of community that implicitly, if not explicitly, favor resident forest users over migrant forest users. This paper explores the shortcomings of the “fixed-in-place” model of community, using examples from ongoing community-based management projects in Mali. The author then summarizes strategies that these projects are using to expand migrant forest user participation in decisonmaking. The paper ends with a brief discussion of how these experiences in West Africa can enrich community-based natural resource management efforts in the United States.     

Community-based management of rural pine forests in a suburban village of Hiroshima prefecture, western Japan

Community-based management of a rural pine forest in a small suburban community, was examined and assessed. In particular, the study focused on theMatsutake project, which is an initiative seeking to help in the maintenance of a communal pine forest via the cultivation of theMatsutake mushroom by a local seniors’ group. From an ecological perspective, the maintenance work is found to be effective in the conservation and regeneration of the pine forest ecosystem, including its species diversity, especially in the herb layer. From a sociological perspective, theMatsutake project presented a valuable opportunity to strengthen connections not only within the seniors’ group, but also between senior citizens and other generations. However, subsidies for the project have tended to be gradually reduced, because it is difficult for non-involved community members to appreciate the benefits of the project. For the project to be sustainable, more widespread participation of the community is essential. A framework for wider analysis of local participatory forest management is also deemed necessary.     

Perspectives on Community-Based Forest Management in Oaxaca,Mexico

Abstract

This compilation of papers explores various aspects related to community-based natural resource management in a comparative analysis of two communities located in different regions of Oaxaca, Mexico: the Chimalapas and the Sierra Norte. The contrasting histories, cultures, and forest ecosystems in the two communities have led to diverse approaches to managing their natural resources. Our analysis highlights the existence of underlying principles driving participatory management approaches, as well as the importance of adapting these approaches to site-specific local conditions. One theme addressed in these papers is the development of appropriate silvicultural techniques that incorporate both the local peoples' needs and experiences with the ecological characteristics of the forest ecosystem. Other land use activities are then discussed that affect management decisions in the regions such as cattle ranching and the collection of medicinal plants within the context of managing for sustainable forest and human ecosystems in the two regions. Finally, the role of community organization and the formation of partnerships with external institutions in strengthening local management and conservation initiatives are also considered. Together, these papers provide a commentary on the potentials and constraints of emerging participatory approaches to managing high priority conservation areas, and which are providing new alternatives where previous models have often failed.     

Exploring Reinvestment from a Community-Based Watershed Perspective

Summary

Increasingly, urban and rural communities across the U.S. are looking at ecological systems as capital assets with values that are diminishing as they are degraded. Investments are needed so they can continue to provide ecological services critical to the environmental, social, and economic well-being of the communities.

This paper explores “reinvestment” as term encouraging the development of mechanisms for sustained and long-term investment in “natural capital,” as well as the other forms of capital on which communities and society depend. It raises important questions on which there are information gaps, such as the value of ecological services, the level of investment needed to restore and maintain ecological systems, the activities to which investment dollars should be allocated, and where public and private investment dollars might come from. These questions are discussed at national, regional, and local scales, focusing on water-an ecological resource with immense value that connects ecosystems and communities at many scales. The paper presents lessons and reinvestment mechanisms from studies in California's Sierra Nevada ecosystem and community-based efforts in its northernmost drainage, the Feather River watershed.     

By,For and Of the People

Abstract

This paper describes the development of two community-managed protected areas in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Specifically, it focuses on the diverse factors that have allowed the community-based reserves initiatives to unfold and analyzes some of the social-institutional structures that communities have constructed for autochthonous management of land and resources. The information for this paper was gathered through institutional analysis employing semi-structured, open-ended interviews with administrators, manager-practitioners, local farmers, and community representatives from the Chimalapas and Sierra Juárez regions of Oaxaca. The results of this study support the conclusion that, given strong social institutions, local communities can successfully form management partnerships for forest conservation and autochthonous development.     

Social Heterogeneity and Community Forestry Processes: Reflections from Forest Users of Dhading District, Nepal

Community forestry has been characterized as a successful model of community-based forest governance in Nepal that shifts forest management and use rights to local users, often socially heterogeneous in caste, gender and wealth status. This heterogeneity forms the basis of social groups, which differ in their needs, priorities and perceptions regarding community forestry implementation processes. This paper explores the dynamics of three community forestry processes—users’ participation, institutional development, and decision-making and benefit-sharing—among forest user groups as perceived by three social groups of forest users—elite, women and disadvantaged—from eight community forests of Dhading district, Nepal, using qualitative and quantitative techniques. It is found that social groups have differing levels of perception about community forestry processes occurring in their user groups. In particular, social elites differ from women and disadvantaged members of the group in users’ participation in community forestry activities and institutional development of forest user groups. An important policy implication of the findings is that social inclusiveness is central to the effective implementation of community forestry processes, not only to safeguard its past successes but also to internalize the economic opportunities it poses through reducing deforestation and forest degradation in the future.     

Theory and Methodology of Ecosystem Engineering

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Surviving the Transition

Summary

Community-based stewardship forestry (CBSF) on public lands in the United States is still a fledgling concept. Neither the number of projects completed nor the length of time that has passed since their initial implementation has been sufficient to draw definitive conclusions about the movement's success in improving economic, social, and environmental conditions in forest-dependent communities. What is of most concern now is whether the CBSF fledgling will have a chance to reach its full potential or will instead fall victim to organizational exhaustion, economic malnutrition, or political sniping. Experiences with stewardship collaboratives in northwest Montana have helped define 10 key factors CBSF groups must effectively address if they are to survive: (1) organizational burnout; (2) membership composition, expansion, diversification, and utilization; (3) change in organizational mission or focus; (4) financial viability; (5) responsiveness of federal decision makers to CBSF groups' legislative concerns; (6) continued skepticism among both industry and environmental communities; (7) movement from small demonstration projects to implementation on a larger scale; (8) need for procedural simplification; (9) outreach to the broader community; and (10) institutionalization of a meaningful role for communities in the natural resource policy making and management process. There are no simple solutions to these challenges, but the collective record of CBSF groups so far suggests a level of commitment and staying power sufficient to propel the fledgling through the transition and into full flight.     

Strategies for Managing Protected Areas

Abstract

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has assumed increasing importance in protected area management throughout the developing world. Largely a response to previous state-centered protectionist policies, CBNRM seeks to simultaneously promote community development and biodiversity conservation. Where human populations exist within state-controlled protected areas, successful application of CBNRM requires a legal basis for community participation in resource decision-making. Community management agreements (CMAs) are one contractual mechanism that can provide this foundation. Their goals are to: (1) resolve issues of land tenure; (2) devolve authority and guarantee rights of access to communities; and (3) establish conditions that promote subsequent management planning and activities. This chapter examines three case studies involving the use of CMAs within the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve (RECAY), part of the Condor Bioreserve of central Ecuador. CMAs were found to be successful in achieving the first two goals mentioned above, but had mixed success in achieving the third. CMAs should: (1) devolve decision-making, implementation, and conflict resolution powers to communities; (2) clearly define rights and responsibilities for all parties; and (3) guarantee continual government oversight and support. Although their applicability may be limited to certain circumstances, criteria should be developed to guide their future implementation in Ecuador and internationally.     

Precious Values: Integrating Diverse Forest Values into Forest Management Policy and Action (Ontario)

Abstract

Public participation has wide support among various stakeholder groups as a means of identifying diverse forest values. However, attempts to incorporate these values-especial ly non-commercial values-into decision-making have not been successful. The Non-Commercial Forest Values Colloquium was sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to redress this omission. Looking at a range of non-commercial values, the colloquium developed a set of Core Principles, viz.: respect the totality of interests embodied in a forest; adopt a holistic ecosystem perspective; guide forest policy through a set of Core Principles; give primacy to the preservation of ecosystem integrity; avoid irrecoverable harm in policy decisions; and develop accounting/evaluation systems that balance values in forest policy decision-making.     

广东省自然保护地人类活动变化及对策探讨

人类活动对自然保护地的生态系统、生物多样性等均造成较大的影响。采用遥感监测的方法对广东省自然保护地人类活动进行监测,获取自然保护地人类活动的变化情况,预警自然保护地存在的生态风险,为自然保护地开展日常监管等提供基础数据。基于自然保护地人类活动的变化情况,探讨控制和减少人类活动的相应对策,如加强管理监督、监测评估、科学绿化、解决历史遗留问题、社区共管和生态修复等,对于加强自然保护地管理和保护,提高自然保护地管护质量具有重要意义。