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- Convenors:
-
Natasha Constant
(RSPB)
Sorrel Jones (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)
Maarten Voors (Wageningen University)
Esther Mokuwa (Wageningen University)
Paul Richards (Njala University, Sierra Leone)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 26 October, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
The panel explores the implications of incentive-based conservation programmes to support forest resource use and management and alternative livelihoods for local communities. We also discuss how local participation can lead to greater inclusion of local knowledge and values in forest conservation.
Long Abstract:
Natural forests are under increasing global pressure due to economic and population growth and shifts in consumption patterns. It thus becomes important to design and implement conservation programmes to provide incentives to encourage participation in sustainable forest use and management, and to support local livelihoods. REDD+ is as a set of policies and activities implemented to prevent or slow deforestation and degradation, and increase forest carbon stocks for example, through agro-forestry and reforestation. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) schemes have also been developed to address solutions to biodiversity loss outside of protected areas, and in response to the failure of top-down conservation approaches, by devolving control of forest resources to local communities. Benefits from these programmes can include direct revenue from environmental protection, and the maintenance of ecosystem services such as watershed protection and livelihood diversification. However, many forest dependent communities may experience positive or negative changes to their livelihoods because of these schemes. Costs from these programmes can include displacement of local communities due to increased human-wildlife conflict, restricted access to natural and cultural resources, and changes in land tenure and resource use patterns. Significant costs can also be incurred by communities if management and institutional capacity is lacking, and issues of governance and tenure are not resolved. Involving local communities in the planning and implementation of forest conservation is important for integrating local voices in decision making, and ensuring that financial or other benefits are equitably shared to develop sustainable solutions to deforestation.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 26 October, 2021, -Paper short abstract:
I explore delivery of livelihood projects from a village perspective. Engagement of REDD+ with local governance structures had far-reaching consequences for perceptions and participation. Communication modes, value systems and geographic remoteness should be key concerns for conservation programmes.
Paper long abstract:
International efforts to address climate change emphasise the role of forests through Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) programmes. These use carbon credit sales to finance sustainable forest management and aim to address livelihood needs of forest-dependent communities alongside conservation and climate goals. A key challenge is how to distribute benefits equitably and promote social development. This requires an implementing organisation, with its own ideologies and resources, to engage effectively with local governance and resource management systems, which have their own power structures, networks of influence, rules of engagement and value systems. Building a relationship that can deliver REDD+ goals in a way that satisfies all parties is therefore challenging and requires solutions be tailored to the local context. Using a case-study in Gola forest, Sierra Leone, I examine the programme-community relationship from the perspective of forest-edge communities that are beneficiaries of REDD+ financing through livelihood support programmes. I show that perceptions of benefit sharing processes can be instrumental in determining attitudes and participation in wider programme activities. Important factors include the way information is shared within and between groups, the values and meaning assigned to different types of ‘benefit’ and the social and practical consequences of geographic remoteness. The findings add to arguments that conservation-development initiatives such as REDD+, should consider carefully how an implementing organisation engages with existing social systems. Specifically, communication and negotiation approaches must suit local settings, and project design and delivery must be based on clear understanding of communities’ perceptions and values.
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores the role of decentralised community-based care systems in Sierra Leone, arguing that such a system is more effective in prevention, early diagnosis, and response to co-emergence of diseases, climate change, deforestation etc, that require adaptive human-environment interactions.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the role of decentralised community-based care systems in achieving sustainable healthcare in resource-poor areas. Based on a case study from Sierra Leone the paper argues that a community-based system of healthcare is more effective in prevention, early diagnosis, and primary care in response to the zoonotic and infectious diseases associated with extreme weather events as well as their direct health impacts. Community-based systems of care have a more holistic view of the determinants of health and can integrate responses to health challenges, social wellbeing, ecological and economic viability. While much work still needs to be done in defining and measuring successful community responses to health and other crises, we identify two potentially core criteria: the inclusion and integration of local knowledge in response planning and actions, and the involvement of researchers and practitioners, e.g. community-embedded health workers and NGO staff, as trusted key interlocuters in brokering knowledge and devising sustainable community systems of care. The case study profiled in this paper reveals the importance of expanding notions of health to encompass the whole environment (physical and social, across time and space) in which people live, including explicit recognition of ecological interests and their interconnections with health.
Paper short abstract:
We give a case study example of how the integration of local knowledge and values of Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLC's) in forest restoration planning can inform the development of culturally sensitive solutions to deforestation.
Paper long abstract:
Protecting and restoring ecosystems for Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLC's) is critical to support their livelihood, health, food sovereignty and well‐being. In South Africa, government incentive based ecological restoration programmes have gained political support by aligning restoration goals with development priorities. Restoration on community rangelands in complex for reasons of land tenure, shared user rights and management institutions necessitating a different approach that integrates local priorities and values. The study illustrates how participatory social science research can be used to mobilise indigenous knowledge and cultural practices in forest restoration planning processes. The study explores (1) plant uses, practices and belief systems developed among the indigenous Vhavenda for supporting local livelihoods, and sustaining and restoring indigenous plant species, and (2) motivations for restoring forest ecosystems. Participatory mapping exercises, semi-structured interviews and comparisons with published works explored cultural practices, institutions and belief systems governing plant and forest use, and priorities for the replanting of indigenous plant species. The Vhavenda possess a range of practices for managing plant resources that can be attributed to taboos preventing the use of selected species, promotion of sustainable harvesting practices, and the propagation of plant species. Vhavenda motivations for forest restoration included preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services, building alliances and education. Trade-offs also exist between economic valuations of forests and intangible values emphasising the spiritual importance of forests. Participation of IPLC's in scientific research can inform the development of a culturally sensitive approach for forest restoration planning through greater inclusion of local knowledge and values.