Pål Vedeld

Natural resource use, income and dependence among San and Mier communities bordering Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, southern Kalahari, South Africa

Contemporary strategies for natural resource management espouse the need to integrate local people and their livelihood needs into biodiversity conservation projects to achieve sustainable ‘development and ecological integrity’. Valuation of natural resource use provides empirical evidence and conceptual arguments of local peoples dependence on these resources, which could be factored into biodiversity conservation planning. Based on household surveys and key informant interviews, this study looked at the contribution of dryland natural resources to the livelihoods of two culturally different but neighbouring communities, the San and Mier, bordering Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. Overall, natural resources represented an important livelihood source for the San, contributing on an average 32% of total annual income, compared to 9% for the Mier. Fuelwood was the predominant contributor to natural resource incomes in both cases. Income quintile analysis showed that dependence on natural resources decreased moving to higher income groups for Mier households, but increased with income for San households. Well-off households still derived higher total income from natural resources; often from the more lucrative sources of such income, notably from fuelwood sales. Contextual factors such as culture and social institutions, among others, influenced access to, and consequently the use of, particular resources and the value of these to households. Sustainable natural resource management interventions should consider these disparities in patterns of natural resource dependence among different income groups.

An ontological crisis? A review of large felid conservation in India

The need for a solid knowledge base to inform conservation activity is now universally recognised. We critically scrutinised the scientific knowledge of large felids in India located in peer-reviewed research papers to assess the information available to make landscape-level management decisions that aid conservation, which is a stated goal of both the Indian government and the international community. We found two striking patterns: the biological sciences dominate in the published literature, and nearly all the research has been carried out in protected areas, though a substantial number of large felids also live outside protected areas. We argue that these patterns are not incidental, but the result of the dualistic ontology of science that uses processes of ‘purification’ and ‘translation’ to fit complex realities into disciplinary prerogatives organised around creating dichotomies (like nature–culture). In addition, since this body of scientific knowledge locates large felids in ‘pure’ biological landscapes, there is little or no insight from multi-use landscapes. These findings, we believe, highlight important knowledge gaps in our present research-based knowledge of large felids in India, which urgently need to be addressed if progress is to be made in conservation.

Can biodiversity conservation benefit local people? Costs and benefits at a strict protected area in Uganda.

This article examines the livelihoods and experiences of local people after two decades of living close to a strict protected area (PA). A total of 290 local PA neighbors and 60 key informants were interviewed. Findings reveal a limited access to assets and low incomes. An average PA neighbor earns US

REDD+ in Africa: contexts and challenges

0.5 per adult equivalent unit (AEU)/day. PA proximity is associated with lower incomes, mainly because of wildlife damages that cost an average household (HH) up to 10% of its annual income. Other recurrent PA costs include the “invisible” costs incurred to cope with crop raiding, and restricted access to PA resources, that jointly amount to 16% of an average HH’s annual income. PA benefits include the sharing of tourism revenues, integrated conservation and development projects, and park-related employment. In total, benefits constitute 3.5% of the total annual income of an average HH, a figure higher than the contribution of other PAs in Uganda. However, overall, an average HH accrues a net annual loss of 12.5% of its total income or a total loss of US

Institutional Sustainability in the Face of Climate Change: Empirical Insights from Irrigation Institutions in the Iringa Rural District, Tanzania

1.54 million for the 1,1875 HHs, yet the park sends up to US

Economic dependence on forest resources: A case from Dendi District, Ethiopia

7 million to the central treasury. This highlights the need for policy revisions of the political economy of PA management.

What is environmental income

REDD+, a climate change mitigation mechanism that values carbon in tropical forests, is expected to provide Africa with a range of environmental and socio-economic benefits. Drawing on a vast array of literature and personal experiences, this review analyzed particular features and challenges that REDD+ implementation has faced on the continent. The distinct contexts and major challenges regarding governance, finance and technical capacities are discussed, and mechanisms to fill these gaps are suggested. Radical land tenure reform and a perfect safeguard mechanism that transfers forest land and carbon to the communities are unlikely. REDD+ should rather look for systems that respect local institutional arrangements, and allow forest-based communities to participate in decision-making and benefit sharing, particularly benefits from emerging REDD+. Finances for REDD+ infrastructure and the results-based payment are in short supply. While negotiating for potential external sources in the short term, Africa should generate domestic financial resources and look for additional payments for ecosystem services. Africa should also negotiate for forest monitoring capacity building, while strengthening local community forest monitoring. This review contributes to an improved understanding of the contexts and challenges to consider in the capacity and policy development for REDD+ implementation.

Securitizing REDD+? Problematizing the emerging illegal timber trade and forest carbon interface in East Africa

Adaptation and mitigation have been proposed as strategies for addressing climate change, which is a predominant challenge facing society today. It has been found that an increase of 1 °C leads to a 5 % reduction in grain yield. From 1901 to 2010, the average sea level rose by 19 cm, and global emission of CO2 has increased by about 50 % since 1990. However, little attention has been paid to the link between institutional sustainability and climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper argues that effective adaptation to and mitigation of climate change depends on the sustainability of both formal and informal institutions. Institutional sustainability is used in this paper to mean the ability of institutions, under particular conditions, to continue guiding actors to achieve desirable goals. Sustainable formal and informal institutions provide a framework that guide interactions among actors, including organizations and individuals, for mitigating and adapting to climatic change. Literature has pointed out a number of conditions that ensure institutional sustainability during climate change. Drawing from empirical insights from a case study in Tanzania, it is demonstrated that institutional sustainability is possible in the face of climate change and can be achieved through evolution and change, legitimacy, bricolage and performance and embracing practices of polycentric governance. Furthermore, a multiple institutional logics of action (MILA) theoretical framework was recommended for assessing institutional sustainability in the face of climate change.