Natural Services in local context: Opportunities and barriers to uptake
Organized by:
 Julia Born,
 Virginie Boreux,
 Smitha Krishnan
Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental Sciences, Zurich,
Switzerland
An ecosystem service approach has become the new paradigm for conservation. The
management of human dominated yet complex landscapes is crucial for conserving the
remnants of biodiversity which might play an important role in providing ecosystem
services. In recent years there have been dramatic advances in economic and ecological
research on ecosystem services. Yet there has been little practical transfer of the immense
scientific research output to the decision makers, the local community. So what are the
barriers of uptake at the local level? How do we overcome these barriers? Does an
ecosystem approach provide realistic opportunities for integrating land use and
conservation objectives?
Strategies and practical tools for integrating local stakeholders into
conservation and resource-use research
Karen A. Kainer1, Maria DiGiano1, Amy Duchelle1, Emilio Bruna1, Jonathan Dain1
and Lucia H. O. Wadt 2
1
University of Florida
2
Embrapa-Acre
Email: kkainer@ufl.edu
Many scientists studying tropical conservation consider the scientific process complete
once findings are published; indeed publications are central to fundraising and career
advancement. As a result, stakeholders who reside in biodiverse and resource-rich
ecosystems like tropical forests have often been neglected during the research process.
However, local communities are becoming an increasingly important stakeholder in
resource management and conservation efforts, particularly in the developing world. For
example, ~25% of tropical forests are owned or managed by communities, and this figure is
likely to increase considerably in the coming decades. While there is little evidence to date
that communities are optimal land stewards, it is also unlikely that forests will be conserved
without engaging those who depend directly on them for survival. We explored barriers
investigators often face in integrating local communities and organizations in their
conservation and resource-use research. We argue that a key hurdle to doing so is that many
researchers simply do not know how to go about developing a research program that
integrates local stakeholders at different stages of the research process. We also present a
brief historical synopsis of early efforts to integrate local learning and research, many
pioneered by investigators and institutions focusing on small-scale agricultural
development. We then review strategies and practical tools developed by academics,
graduate students and other scientists for making their conservation and resource-use
research programs more locally responsive. These include mechanisms to engage
communities in participatory research and return findings in formats that enhance learning.
For example, community-based venues create a comfortable space where local people are
on their home turf and in critical mass; appropriate interactive tools include storyboards,
maps, photographs and flipcharts. We close with an analysis of how these approaches
might be institutionalized in settings where greater integration of local stakeholders in the
research process is essential.
Keywords: community, dissemination, returning results, participatory research
Conserving biodiversity and services from tropical ecosystems: synergy
or conflict?
Patricia Balvanera
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Email: pbalvane@oikos.unam.mx
Increasing awareness on connections between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human
well-being have shifted conservation emphasis from focus on biodiversity only to
protection of the delivery of ecosystem services. Although this approach seems promising,
questions still remain whether they will coincide and reinforce each other or rather
contribute to conflicting management strategies. Such a question is particularly relevant for
the highly diverse tropical systems that provide crucial ecosystem services to local
populations and to the whole planet. Here I analyze potential synergy or conflict between
biodiversity and ecosystem services based conservation approaches, with emphasis on
tropical systems, from three different perspectives. The first one is the conceptual basis for
potential synergy of conflict. Biodiversity plays a crucial role in ecosystem functioning and
thus the delivery of ecosystem services; while increasing amount of evidence points to clear
positive relationships between them, very little of such evidence is available for tropical
systems. The second one is their potential spatial coincidence at the landscape scale, within
human dominated areas. Agroecosystems promote the delivery of provisioning ecosystem
services at the expense of regulating or supporting ecosystem services and sustain only a
biased fraction of biodiversity; instead, simultaneous management for multiple non-timber
forest products or for the delivery of ecosystem services such as water provision or may
contribute to the conservation of elevated biodiversity. The third one is the analysis of
synergy or conflict based on socio-economic drivers of ecosystem change such as economic
incentives and cultural perceptions. Economic incentives directed at the payments for
regulating ecosystem services may promote conservation of biodiversity, but not in all
cases. Cultural perceptions commonly include provisioning services, some regulating
services and often exclude supporting services and associated biodiversity. We conclude
that biodiversity and ecosystem services centered conservation approaches may be
complementary and potential for synergy must be reinforced.
Keywords: biodiversity, ecosystem services, tropical systems
Conflicts over natural resources in the Western Amazon: implications for
community forest management of non-timber forest products
Amy Duchelle1, Karen Kainer1 and Peter Cronkleton2
1
University of Florida
2
Center for International Forestry Research
Email: duchelle@ufl.edu
Forest management decisions are strongly influenced by security of forest property rights,
and best long-term management practices often hinge on strengthening control over forest
resources. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) is the most important non-timber forest product
(NTFP) in the tri-national region of Pando, Bolivia, Acre, Brazil and Madre de Dios, Peru.
This species simultaneously promotes forest conservation and forms the livelihood base for
rural communities. The current development of the Interoceanic highway, an extension of
the recently paved Brazilian BR-317 into Bolivia and Peru, will change the nature of this
formerly remote region by providing regional access to Pacific ports. Within this dynamic
context, it is essential to understand how property rights security affects short and longterm Brazil nut management in order to envisage the future of this important NTFP. We
evaluated Brazil nut collection and management practices in twelve communities in Bolivia
and Brazil by conducting interviews with extractivists and accompanying Brazil nut
harvests in 2006 and 2007. Results of this comparative study show that the central role of
Brazil nut in the Pando household economy, coupled with unclear property rights, creates
an extremely high degree of conflict during the harvest season. Such conflict affects both
the timing of Brazil nut collection, as well as management of the resource. Conversely, a
more secure land tenure system in Acre that reflects the concept of traditional tree tenure,
along with the availability of diverse livelihood options, have resulted in less conflict.
Participatory mapping can be used as a tool for communities to deal with tenure conflict,
visualize traditional forest use systems, and leverage integration of traditional practices into
formal land titling processes and decision-making.
Keywords: NTFPs, community forest management, land tenure, conflict, Amazon
Integrating the eco-service approach and models on social decision
making in humans
Claudia Rutte
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
The problems in conservation biology are often not of biological nature but arise from
social dilemmas. We therefore need to study human behaviour in social dilemmas to solve
problems such as climate change, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution.
Because human behaviour is difficult to model, empirical and experimental approaches are
required to help to solve existing conservation problems. The eco-service approach can
produce important facts that affect the decision makers in certain ways, if communicated to
the local communities. Game theory as a powerful tool to study social decisions in humans
could be applied to analyse how cooperative outcomes can be achieved in a given socioeconomic situation. Beside theoretical considerations, I will discuss some examples from
my field work in South India where I am studying community-based management of sacred
groves in Kodagu district of Karnataka.
Keywords: eco-services, human cooperation, game theory, community-based management
Fostering partnerships between regional government and science
Meg Lowman
New College of Florida.
Email: canopymeg@aol.com
What will your community look like in the year 2050? Getting involved in regional
government as a scientist is one important way to shape that outcome. A growing cadre of
biologists are serving their local communities by bringing science into regional decisionmaking. In this presentation, I describe ways to become involved with regional policy as a
biologist. Activities range from writing newspaper columns to serving on planning boards;
from leadership in science education to engaging citizen scientists; and from training with
the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program to joining your local Economic Development
Corporation. In Florida, the challenges of land use and climate change represent good
examples where professional ecologists need to be at the table with developers,
businessmen, and policy-makers. Biologists of the next generation will require new training
in public outreach, new job descriptions encouraging effective communication of science to
policy-makers, and skill sets to play effective roles in regional decision-making. Given the
high carbon emissions of air travel, working locally may become the most ethical choice
for many conservation practitioners.
Keywords: policy-makers, local government, ecosystem services, land use, human ecology
Transfer of ecological knowledge between local communities,
administrations and experts: barriers and uptakes at local level?
G. Kushalappa Cheppudira1 and Claude A. Garcia 2
1
University of Agricultural Sciences, College of Forestry
2
CIRAD, Forest Resources and Public Policies Research Unit / French Institute of
Pondicherry
Email: kushalcg@gmail.com
The transfer of the management of natural resources to local populations normally involves
the development of monitoring systems. Designing such a system based on local criteria
and indicators (C&I) means combining scientific expertise with traditional knowledge.
There are numerous methods developed to merge these two branches of knowledge, but the
difficulty lies in implementing and transferring those monitoring systems at the local level.
The district of Kodagu, in the Western Ghats of India, harbours more than one thousand
sacred forests (devarakadus). In December 2001, the Government of Karnataka adopted the
Joint Forest Management Plan for the devarakadus, thus creating Management Committees
at the village level. These newly formed local institutions lacking in resources, know how
and practical skills for forest ecosystem management yet having responsibilities over them,
provided us with the opportunity for developing such an indicator-based system.
We based our approach on three aspects: facilitation of the formulation of management
objectives, (i), identification of pre-indicators, the informal vectors thus far utilised for
collating decision-enabling data (ii) and co-construction of the toolset, to ensure final
appropriation by the end-user. The final proposal relied on knowledge of the local
communities, validated by scientific expertise to achieve balance between ecological and
social relevance and was adapted to the available human, material and organizational
resources. However, the toolset was not successfully transferred. Unless the transfer of
power, duties, responsibilities and benefits to the local populations is real and lasting, no
amount of traditional and technical ecological knowledge can make participative
management of natural resources a reality. Drawing lessons from this, a new strategy has
been developed. The Kodagu Model Forest Programme is an attempt to implement
sustainable natural resources management under the International Model Forest Network
initiative. Through a series of interactions a strategic plan for the different components has
been proposed.
Keywords: Criteria and Indicators, local monitoring, Participative management, Tropical
forests, knowledge transfer