Why is “governance of protected areas” such an crucial new

advertisement
Understanding and optimising governance: a Copernican
revolution for protected areas?
Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend
Why is “governance” such a crucial new concept in the programme of work on
protected areas (PAs) of the CBD? Why some believe it represents a sort of a
Copernican revolution for protected areas? There are at least three main reasons:
 the first is that it broadens the perspective on what can be included as part of a
national system of protected areas;
 the second is that it broadens the spectrum of the social actors recognised as
legitimate protected area managers;
 the third is that it introduces the consideration of principles and values, affecting
what is perceived as possible and desirable for protected areas.
Governance has to do with power, relationships and accountability, and reflects what
a society sees as fair, or is prepared to accept as such, in terms of the whos and hows
of authority and responsibility. In a protected area context, governance affects the
achievement of management objectives (effectiveness), the sharing of costs and
benefits (equity) and the generation and sustenance of community, political and
financial support. At the level of a protected area system or individual site,
governance depends on history, culture, access to information and informal influence
on decisions as much as on formal institutions and processes.
Since the World Congress on Protected Areas of 2003, a first cut at understanding
governance is made on the basis of “who holds relevant authority and responsibility
and can be held accountable”.1 In this sense, four main types of protected area
governance have been identified:
A.
Government managed protected areas (at various levels);
B.
Co-managed protected areas (in various forms and including transboundary
PAs);
C.
Private protected areas (for profit and not for profit);
D.
Community conserved areas (including areas conserved by indigenous
peoples).
Besides the well known IUCN category (defined on the basis of main management
objective), a protected area is thus characterised by its governance type (see Figure 1).
Field based analyses of different governance types reveal that all include examples of
major conservation value and that all types can be compatible with all IUCN
categories. In this sense, a protected area can be found to occupy any of the position
in the matrix of Figure 1. In particular, examples of Community Conserved Areas
harbouring unique biodiversity and safeguarding essential ecosystems can be found
all over the planet2 (see Figures 2-6) and are slowly becoming recognised as essential
elements in national conservation systems.3
Community Conserved Areas are the oldest form of governance of natural resources
and often reveal a symbiosis between communities and nature that some refer to as
“bio-cultural units” or “cultural landscapes/seascapes”. Characteristically, they are
established and managed by customary or otherwise locally-agreed organisations and
rules, following various interlocked objectives and values (spiritual, religious,
security-related, survival-related). They include “sacred” areas and resources but also
resources collectively managed for sustainable use by indigenous peoples and local
communities, both sedentary and mobile. Modernization processes have neglected
and devalued such forms of conservation, which are rarely included as part of a
national protected area patrimony and often under jeopardy today. Their “rediscovery” by the CBD is part of a broader movement that uplifts cultural diversity
and human rights. Coherently, the same movement also advocates for comanagement4 for the protected areas established by state governments.
Countries that take full advantage of all governance types can build a flexible and
responsive national system, capable of expanding the national PA coverage,
addressing its gaps, improving connectivity and enhancing the public support for
conservation.5 Arguments are also accumulating that an expansion of the national PA
system may be not only important for biodiversity and equity but also economically
advantageous.6 Yet, such countries are more the exception than the rule. Indigenous
management systems and community conserved areas are still generally
unrecognised, when not actively undermined.7 Many private protected areas receive
no incentive from the state. And co-management is often confined to marginal
experiments. Fortunately, with the impulsion of the CBD leadership, all this might
change.
The CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas not only stresses the need to
recognise and support different types of PA governance, and community conserved
areas in particular. It also encourages its parties to seek “good governance”. It
requires “not to harm” the indigenous, local and mobile communities living close to
the relevant biodiversity, in full respect of their human rights, and it calls for
“equity”, sharing in a fairer way the costs and benefits of PA management and
ensuring recourse to justice when conflicts ensue. Other principles include
“legitimacy and voice”— the capacity of men and women to influence decisions,
built on freedom of association and speech; “subsidiarity”— attributing management
authority and responsibility to the institutions closest to the resources at stake;
“accountability”— ensuring a transparent flow of information on processes and
institutions, with decision-makers assuming responsibility for their choices;
“performance”—meeting the needs and concerns of all stakeholders according to
agreed plans and while making a wise use of resources; and “direction”— grounding
long-term conservation strategies on ecological, historical, social and cultural
complexities.
With the lamppost of the principles of good governance and the full spectrum of
IUCN categories and governance types at their disposal, national protected areas
systems, indeed, can enter an era of renewed strength. Likely, the new challenge will
be harmonising protected area governance within the broader system of governance at
the landscape and regional level.8 Biodiversity conservation may even become a
widespread and quite “normal” consideration in managing natural resources— the
concern not only of expert professionals but of society as a whole.
IUCN
Category
(manag.
objective)
I - Strict
Nature
Reserve/
Wilderness
Area
II – National
Park
(ecosystem
protection;
protection of
cultural
values )
III – Natural
Monument
IV – Habitat/
Species
Management
V – Protected
Landscape/
Seascape
VI – Managed
Resource
C. Private Protected
Areas
Declared and run by local
communities
…by for profit organisations
(e.g. individual or corporate
land-owners )
Declared and run by
indigenous peoples
…by non-profit organisations
(e.g. NGOs, universities, etc.)
Collaborative management
(various forms of pluralist
influence)
Joint management (pluralist
management board)
B. Co-managed
Protected Areas
Declared and run by
individual land-owner
A. Government
Governance Managed Protected
Type Areas
Trans-boundary management
Government-delegated
management (e.g. to an NGO)
Local/ municipal ministry or
agency in change
Federal or national ministry or
agency in charge
Figure 1 The emerging IUCN classification system for protected areas,
comprising both management category and governance type.9
D Community
Conserved
Areas
Figure 2 to 6 [high resolution version to be sent separately]
Figure 2. Women collect and make sustainable use of wild plants in Kayan
Mentarang National Park (Indonesia), the first Indonesian protected area under a comanagement regime with the resident Dayak people. Courtesy Cristina Eghenter
Figure 3. Community members pull in the net in the Marine Extractive Reserve
(MER) of Arraial do Cabo (Brazil). This is the oldest of Brazilian MERs and is governed by
a local fishing community in collaboration with a federal environmental agency. The
resources remain under the exclusive access of the community that possesses customary
rights and developed through time a complex system of rules for their sustainable use.
Courtesy Patricia Pinto da Silva.
Figure 4. Indigenous leaders gathered in Yurayako-Caquetà (Colombia). The
Ingano peoples have themselves proposed to the Colombian government that their
traditional sacred territory is declared “protected area”. This was agreed, and now
Alto Fragua Indiwasi is a National Park managed by its traditional owners. Courtesy
Asociacion de Cabildos Tandachiridu Inganokuna—Jose Ignacio Giraldo
Figure 5. A sacred lake in the region of Toulear (Madagascar). This lake and several
sacred groves in the same region remain remarkably conserved within a territory
dominated by destructive and unregulated exploitation. Courtesy Claudine
Ramiarison.
Figure 6. US Forest Service Officials discuss with local residents a variety of
management issues, including a revised management plan for the San Juan National
Forest in Colorado. Courtesy Randall K. Wilson.
Notes
1
Borrini-Feyerabend, 2003; http://www.cbnrm.net/pdf/iucn_005_wpc2003_governancereport.pdf ;
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2004;
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Wkg_grp/TILCEPA/briefing%20notes%20on%20governance%20of
%20PAs.pdf
2
Stevens, 1997; Kothari et al.,1998; Posey, 1999; Pathak and Gour-Broome, 2001; Smyth and Jaireth,
2003; http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Wkg_grp/TILCEPA/community.htm; IUCN/CEESP, 2003;
Molnar et al., 2004.
3
Examples exist in all continents: Chapin, 2001; Alden Wily and Mbaya, 2001; Parques Nationales de
Colombia, 2001; Mitchell et al., 2002; Szabo and Smyth, 2003; http://www.regole.it ; Whande et al.,
2003; Ghana has just completed an official survey of 3000 sacred groves; similar endeavors are under
way in India (Pathak et al., 2005), Senegal (Thiaw et al., 2003) and under discussion in Madagascar.
4
Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2004a.
5
This is extensively discussed in Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2004b.
6
Carret and Loyer, 2003.
7
One example for all: the sacred groves of many countries in Africa are at times logged and destroyed
by religious zealots to “demonstrate” that the traditional beliefs that support them are not valid. See
also Colchester, 2003.
8
Sandwith et al., 2001; Van der Linde et al., 2001; Phillips, 2002; Brechin et al., 2003.
9
Reproduced from Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2004b.
References
Alden Wily, L. and S. Mbaya, Land, People and Forests in Eastern and Southern Africa at the
Beginning of the 21st Century. The impact of land relations on the role of communities in forest
future, Natural Resources International and IUCN, Nairobi, 313 pages, 2001.
Amadou, B., G. Vogt and K. Vogt, “Developing a ‘Community Conserved Area’ in Niger”, Parks, 13
(1): 16-27, 2003. http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Publications/Publications.htm#parks131
Borrini-Feyerabend, G., M. Pimbert, M.T. Farvar, A. Kothari and Y. Renard, Sharing Power: Learning
by Doing in Co-management of Natural Resources throughout the World, IIED and IUCN/CEESP,
500 pages, 2004a. http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Publications/sharingpower.htm#download
Borrini-Feyerabend, G., A. Kothari and G. Oviedo, Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected
Areas: towards Equity and Enhanced Conservation, IUCN, WCPA and CEESP, Best Practice
Protected Areas Guidelines no.11, 108 pages, 2004b.
http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/pubs/guidelines.htm
Borrini-Feyerabend, G., “Governance of protected areas… innovations in the air…”, Policy Matters
12: 92-101, 2003.
Brechin, S.R., P.R. Wilhusen, C.L. Fortwangler and P.C. West (eds.), Contested Nature. Promoting
international biodiversity with social justice in the twenty first century, State University of New
York Press, Albany, New York (USA), 321 pages, 2003.
Carret J.C. and D. Loyer, “Madagascar Protected Area Network Sustainable Financing: Economic
Analysis Perspective”, World Bank Report, Washington, DC, 12 pages, 2003.
Chapin, M., Defending Kuna Yala, 2001.
http://www.worldwildlife.org/bsp/publications/aam/panama/panama.html
Colchester, M., Salvaging Nature: Indigenous peoples, protected areas and biodiversity conservation,
World Rainforest Movement and Forest Peoples Programme, Moreton-in-Marsh (UK), 135 pages,
2003.
IUCN/CEESP Policy Matters 12, Community Empowerment for Conservation, 320 pages, 2003.
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Publications/Publications.htm#pm12
IUCN/CEESP Policy Matters No. 13, History, Culture & Conservation, 308 pages, 2004.
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Publications/Publications.htm
Jaireth, H. and D. Smyth (eds.), Innovative Governance, Ane Books, Delhi, 338 pages, 2003.
Kothari, A., R.V. Anuradha, N. Pathak and B. Taneja (eds.), Communities and Conservation: Natural
Resource Management in South and Central Asia, Sage Publications, New Delhi and London, 506
pages, 1998.
Mitchell N., B. Slaiby and M. Benedict, “Local community leadership: building partnerships for
conservation in North America”, Parks, 12 (2): 55-66, 2002.
http://iucn.org/themes/wcpa/pubs/pdfs/PARKS/parks12.2.pdf
Molnar, A., S.J. Scherr and A. Khare, Who Conserves thee World’s Forests?, Forest Trends,
Washington DC, 28 pages, 2004.
Parques Nationales de Colombia, Politica de Participation Social en la Conservation, Ministerio de
Meio Ambiente de Columbia, Bogota, 85 pages, 2001.
Pathak, N. and V. Gour-Broome, Tribal Self-Rule and Natural Resource Management. Community
based conservation at Mendha-Lekha, Maharashtra, India, Kalpavriksh, Pune (India) and IIED,
London, 118 pages, 2001.
Pathak, N., S. Chowdhury and R. Bandekar, Directory of Community Conserved Areas in India,
Kalpavriksh unpublished report, 2005.
Phillips, A., Management Guidelines for IUCN Category V Protected Areas: Protected Landscapes/
Seascapes, IUCN, Gland (Switzerland) and Cambridge, UK, 122 pages, 2002.
Posey, D.A. (ed.), Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity, UNEP, Nairobi and Intermediate
Technology Publications, London, 731 pages, 1999.
Sandwith, T., C. Shine, L. Hamilton and D. Sheppard, Transboundary Protected Areas for Peace and
Co-operation, IUCN/WCPA Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines, no. 7, 111 pages, 2001.
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Biodiversity Issues for Consideration in the
Planning, Establishment and Management of Protected Areas Sites and Networks, CBD Technical
Series no. 15, 160 pages, Montreal (Canada), 2004 http://www.biodiv.org/doc/publications/cbd-ts15.pdf
Stevens, S. (ed.), Conservation through Cultural Survival, Island Press, Washington D.C., 361 pages,
1997.
Szabo, S. and D. Smyth, “Indigenous Protected Areas in Australia”, 145-164 in Jaireth and Smyth,
2003.
Thiaw, W., S. Sylla and J. Larivière, “Les Aires du Patrimoine Communautaire : les paradoxes de la
conservation au Sénégal”, Policy Matters, 12 : 156-165, 2003.
Van der Linde, H., J. Oglethorpe, T. Danswith, D. Snelson and Y. Tessema, Beyond Boundaries:
Transboundary Natural Resource Management in Sub-saharan Africa, Biodiversity Support
Program, Washington DC, 166 pages, 2001.
Whande, W., T. Kepe and M. Murphree, Local Communities, Equity and Conservation in Southern
Africa, PLAAS, Africa Resources Trust and TILCEPA, Cape Town (South Africa), 74 pages,
2003.
Download