Gordon M. Hickey

Evaluating the social capital accrued in large research networks: the case of the Sustainable Forest Management Network (1995-2009).

This paper examines the social capital that evolved in the Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN), one of the Canadian Networks of Centres of Excellence. Our longitudinal study shows a sevenfold increase in the total number of researchers and a high density of relationships among (researchers from) provinces across the country. The results of a social network analysis revealed that 52.6 percent of the network researchers maintained the same number of collaborators while 46.7 percent increased their number of collaborators enormously: the maximum increase in number of collaborators being 6900 percent and the minimum 6 percent. A bibliometric analysis suggested that the number of publications was strongly correlated to measures of social capital. From a science and innovation policy perspective, the finding that more than half of the researchers in the SFMN did not increase their personal networks of collaborators raises important questions. A theoretical model is proposed to examine whether funding agencies should focus on fostering various network structures and evolutions or rely on competition in the distribution of research funds through networks. The proposed model is designed to measure the impact of various network structures on the development of social capital and research output.

Saving the superstar: a review of the social factors affecting tiger conservation in India.

Tiger conservation in India represents an excellent case study of the many challenges facing conservation programs internationally. It is well understood that tigers are sensitive to human disturbances and large areas of habitat need to be protected for their conservation. Such protected areas in India are managed by the governments using an exclusionary approach. However, this approach is known to create several issues with local communities, including historical, legal, livelihood and management issues; with a volume of literature suggesting the inclusion of local communities in management. Yet, other evidence suggests that inclusion of communities in tiger conservation may lead to anthropogenic disturbances that can jeopardize tigers. The gravity of the situation is reflected in the recent disappearance of tigers from two key protected areas in India, the Sariska and Panna Tiger Reserves. This review paper connects the key literature from conservation biology, environmental history, management sciences, policy and political sciences to underline the gridlock of tiger conservation: it needs exclusive protected areas that antagonize communities, and it depends on the support of the same communities for success. We examine the possibility of reconciliation between these disciplines, and assert that research on tiger conservation needs to allow for an increasingly interdisciplinary approach. We call for a more integrated approach to tiger conservation, to examine the values inherent in conservation and to shed more light on the social factors that affect tiger conservation schemes.

The Importance of Climate Change when Considering the Role of Forests in the Alleviation of Poverty

SUMMARY Forests could play a major role in the alleviation of poverty in many different parts of the world. However, forests are dynamic, and their rate of change is accelerating as a result of anthropogenic activities. Climate change, for example, will alter the nature of many protection forests in mountainous areas, exposing the inhabitants to increased risk from natural hazards. It will also affect the viability of plantation forests established in drier areas to combat desertification. Many forests are showing increased productivity, although the causes remain unclear. Sea-level change will destabilize coastal forests, particularly mangroves, reducing their effectiveness in coastal protection. Air pollution has already destabilized many forests, and is likely to be an increasing problem in the forests surrounding urban areas in developing countries. Many impacts remain uncertain, and there remains a great need to integrate the biophysical knowledge that currently exists with socioeconomic information associated with the impact on forest-dependent communities.

Quantifying the research impact of the Sustainable Forest Management Network in the social sciences: a bibliometric study

This research note presents the results of a bibliometric analysis that was conducted to better understand the impact that Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN) funded research had in the forest-related social and Aboriginal research communities. We applied two indicators of research impact: (i) research outputs and (ii) citations. Our results suggest that the SFMN’s research outputs were highest in the fields of economics, sociology, and political science and law. The number of research articles that acknowledged the SFMN was 30% of the total research output of the SFMN-funded Principal Investigators. These articles represented 3% of the social science articles published in the Forestry Chronicle (the journal most frequently used by SFMN-funded Principal Investigators). Research output related to Aboriginal forestry indicated that the SFMN had a significant influence on the development of the field. Our citation analysis indicated that the average number of citations per SFMN-acknowledged publicat...

Addressing food and nutrition insecurity in the Caribbean through domestic smallholder farming system innovation

Abstract Smallholder farmers are key actors in addressing the food and nutrition insecurity challenges facing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), while also minimizing the ecological footprint of food production systems. However, fostering innovation in the region’s smallholder farming systems will require more decentralized, adaptive, and heterogeneous institutional structures and approaches than presently exist. In this paper, we review the conditions that have been undermining sustainable food and nutrition security in the Caribbean, focusing on issues of history, economy, and innovation. Building on this discussion, we then argue for a different approach to agricultural development in the Small Island Developing States of the CARICOM that draws primarily on socioecological resilience and agricultural innovation systems frameworks. Research needs are subsequently identified, including the need to better understand how social capital can facilitate adaptive capacity in diverse smallholder farming contexts; how formal and informal institutions interact in domestic agriculture and food systems to affect collaboration, co-learning, and collective action; how social actors might better play bridging and linking roles that can support mutual learning, collaboration, and reciprocal knowledge flows; and the reasons underlying past innovation failures and successes to facilitate organizational learning.

Strengthening the Role of Science in the Environmental Decision-Making Processes of Executive Government

Internationally, there is a growing call to embrace more participatory and democratic approaches to environmental science and policy to improve sustainability outcomes. This presents a particular challenge in Westminster-based systems of government, where participatory and inclusive structures for policy making are considered inherently difficult due, in part, to the high concentration of power in the executive and political elite. To better understand this challenge, we conducted exploratory research into the science–policy experiences of former environment ministers (politicians) and senior bureaucrats who have held executive roles in provincial/ state and federal governments across Canada and Australia and the national governments of New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Our results suggest that government organizations could further strengthen a culture of policy-relevant research and evidence-based policy on environment issues by fostering more decentralized approaches to policy and more democratic approaches to scientific knowledge production that better accounts for the complexity of environmental decision making.

Factors affecting the innovation potential of smallholder farmers in the Caribbean Community

Abstract The need for domestic smallholder farming systems to better support food and nutrition security in the Caribbean is a pressing challenge. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) faces complex socio-ecological challenges related to historical legacies of plantation agriculture, small population sizes, geographic isolation, jurisdictional diversity, and proneness to natural disasters, all of which underscore the importance of fostering system-wide innovation potential. This paper explores the factors that are impacting the innovation potential of smallholder farming households in four CARICOM small island developing states (St. Lucia, St. Kitts-Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana) using data collected through producer household surveys, focus groups, and key informant interviews. Results indicate that a systemic lack of access to finance, markets, and knowledge networks is perceived as limiting smallholder innovation potential in the region. Compounding these challenges was a pervasive lack of trust reported between actors and institutions throughout the agricultural innovation system, hindering the potential for collective action. Our findings point to the need for more decentralized governance approaches that are capable of establishing stronger relationships between actors and institutions to enhance knowledge flows in support of regional rural development and food and nutrition security objectives.

Community Action and Tiger Conservation: Assessing the Role of Social Capital

Tiger conservation often requires local-level support to avoid facing serious political challenges. In order to address the political challenges, the social capital of communities can be utilized to create community action and to help understand local dynamics. We studied the social capital in two villages bordering Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Our results indicate that social capital of local communities is a significant determinant of potential for community action to support or oppose tiger conservation outcomes. Our results also indicate that specific components of social capital (solidarity, reciprocity and cooperation, networks, and mutual support) were critical in this potential community action. Further, the data suggest that the decline of social capital was led by the financial disparities created by unplanned growth of tourism outside the reserve boundaries. We suggest that policy and management interventions should consider social capital of local communities and ways in which it may support tiger conservation in India.

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT EFFECTIVENESS AND THE INITIATIVE FOR THE INTEGRATION OF REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA (IIRSA): A MULTIPLE CASE REVIEW

Over the last decade, South American countries have been promoting physical integration of the territory in response to regional export-driven industrialisation policies and the global demand for agriculture products, livestock, and energy sources. A prominent example of this is the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), which was launched at the Meeting of South American Presidents in 2000. At the time of writing, 514 infrastructure projects (including roads, pipelines, waterways, dams and telecommunications systems), with an estimated investment of US

Social network analysis: A useful tool for visualizing and evaluating forestry research

69 billion, had been initiated. Importantly, previous similar development processes in the region have caused serious negative environmental and social impacts. Therefore, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been mandated to ensure that the social and environmental issues are adequately addressed in the project planning process. This paper identifies the conditions under which: (a) the SEAs of the IIRSA projects have been undertaken, and (b) the Action Plans have been (or will be) implemented. Using case studies, it analyses whether the SEAs that have been carried out for the IIRSAs projects can be considered effective under these conditions. Finally, drawing on the case study findings, potential ways for improving SEA performance and maximising effectiveness in South America are discussed.