Over the past few decades, the literature has pointed out pathways to success in co-management processes based on key conditions. Rather than offering prescriptive conclusions for successful ...co-management in protected areas, in this article, we highlight the importance of the “process” and certain elements that contribute to advancements of formal and informal co-management. We analyzed the trajectory of two protected areas for sustainable use in coastal Brazil - Extractive Reserves of Prainha do Canto Verde and São João da Ponta. Advancements of co-management were understood as processes of shared environmental and territorial governance, with levels of community participation and/or social control. Advancements were observed in both formal co-management arenas, such as deliberative boards for protected area management, and informal spheres, such as the implementation of projects and other actions involving traditional populations and partners. Drawing on Grounded Theory, the advancements were explained based on two categories of inter-related factors: (i) catalytic factors – crises, threats and other factors of social mobilization, emancipatory partnerships, and political identity, and (ii) structural factors, based on resources of community power and citizenship. Beyond diagnoses or rankings of success, the explanatory dimension of these phenomena highlights their inherent complexity.
•Co-management evaluations of protected areas need to be further complexified.•Co-management advancements were observed in both formal and informal co-management arenas.•Catalytic and structural factors explain co-management in the long term.•The trajectory analysis is relevant to evaluate co-management advancements of protected areas.
Stewardship has been increasingly used in the realm of conservation and sustainable land use as an important pathway for action. Ecosystem stewardship, a specific application of this concept, is an ...approach for natural resource management, but the lack of empirical examples is a shortcoming to its applicability. With this work, we aimed at investigating whether environmental initiatives taking place in a rural watershed in southeast Brazil can be framed as ecosystem stewardship and, if so, whether they address key social-ecological feedbacks that influence the quality of critical local ecosystem services (water, food production, soil, forests). Drawing on data from direct and participant observation at community and technical meetings, nine unstructured interviews, and gray literature, we demonstrated that three initiatives encompass all elements of ecosystem stewardship to some extent (dual goals of ecosystem resilience and human well-being, integration of processes across scales and emphasis on actions that shape the future). Only one initiative, a multi-stakeholder network, fully entails all elements of ecosystem stewardship. The initiatives overlap in space and time and entail pressing and non-urgent issues, therefore they promote, as a group, complementary ecosystem stewardship practices at various levels in the territory. They also address the key feedbacks responsible for the degradation of water, food production, and soil. Knowledge, relational values, and care are salient ingredients that combine in different ways, shaping each initiative. Our findings suggest that ecosystem stewardship arises from local social-ecological challenges combined with stakeholders' knowledge and understanding of the system dynamics. Collaboration among initiatives can strengthen their effects on undesired feedbacks and enable the design of joint strategies to tackle the erosion of relational values. Actions focusing on reconnecting local communities and forests may safeguard the flux of ecosystem-service bundles on both the short and long term.
In face of complex socio-environmental issues experienced in different social-ecological systems, we ask if comprehensive lessons could be learned from cases of community self-organization that were ...successful in solving collective problems at the local level. Considering that the trajectory of each community is unique and self-organization develops in distinctive settings, we sought to identify the common elements shared by six case studies in Brazil and investigate how they interact (i.e., if they generate feedback that amplifies self-organization), synthesizing the lessons drawn from each case so they may be applied to other contexts. In all cases, community self-organization provided good conditions to overcome crisis and led to desirable changes regarding the problem in question. We explored the underlying mechanisms of successful community self-organization from a social-ecological and community resilience standpoint and identified six elements in common: ability and/or willingness to find opportunities in crisis; partnerships with external actors; human and social capital within the community; generation of income opportunities and/or guarantee of rights; existence of spaces that favor social interaction; and agency oriented to collective mobilization and problem solving. Elements were interconnected and often reinforced one another, generating amplifying feedback, which is seen in the repetition and improvement of practices and attitudes over time and space. Agency was a prominent catalyst for self-organization by generating amplifying feedback that positively affected other elements; it was an element of the feedback chain reinforced by the benefits reaped at the individual level. When collective interests prevailed over individual ones, it was less likely to generate feedback that inhibited self-organization. We argued that ordinary relationships related to different cultural practices and livelihoods were important exercises of collective action that provided communities with a repertoire of responses that could be activated in times of crisis, thus enhancing their capacity to self-organize.
In this paper, we describe and analyze the co-management institutional framework at 21 Brazilian Marine Extractive Reserves (MERs) and present the dramas of its implementation from the local ...manager's perspective. We categorized the governance instruments of MERs into (i) instruments for land/sea tenure and beneficiaries' recognition, (ii) territorial use planning, (iii) institutional arenas for discussion and deliberation, as well as (iv) public policies. Although the legal arrangements of these protected areas address fundamental dimensions of governance, we present the challenges of its implementation based on the voice of local managers. The managers are the bridge between the central government and communities, dealing with the implementation of the institutional framework in a reality of multi-level and multi-scale drama: from local to national dilemmas, from organizational to structural ones. We explore these dramas and highlight the institutional dilemmas based on the paradoxes between legalism and social emancipation.
•Institutional change is an essential element to understand environmental governance.•Institutional change analysis based on the Bricolage concept may be more suited to the real-world ...dynamics.•Bricolage process shapes interaction between bureaucratic and socially built institutions.•The governance of the protected areas reveals the need for institutional flexibility and creativity.
Institutional Bricolage can be a useful concept to understand how institutional change has occurred in natural resource governance. As an adaptive process, agents involved in governance blend rules, traditions, norms, symbolisms, and authority relationships, modifying old arrangements and inventing new ones. In this paper, we use the concept of Institutional Bricolage to analyze how institutional change has occurred during the implementation of marine extractive reserves in Brazil. We present examples of institutional adjustments, when formal or bureaucratic institutions interact with those socially built, in process of aggregation, alteration and/or articulation. We also discuss the influence of power, political and party dynamics on shared governance, and bring reflections on the governance of protected areas through the lens of Critical Institutionalism. Our findings reveal the importance of more flexible institutional designs, exploring questions that may guide a new research agenda on community conservation that is more coherent with local realities.
Abstract Hunting has been banned in Brazil by a Federal Law (No. 5197), except in a few cases where it has been regulated, for over 50 years now. Since then, the country suffered dramatic land use ...change, especially in its Central-South region. In this study we investigate the possible influence of land use change on hunters’ socioeconomic profile (e.g., education, income) and motivation (e.g., leisure or subsistence) in the Central-South Brazil since the implementation of the ban policy. On a systematic literature review we found 18 papers about hunting activities and hunters’ profile in this region, one third of which presented evidence of change in hunting activities or in hunters’ profile somehow related to land use change since 1967. With this small number of articles, it was not possible to fully assess whether there was a change in hunting culture in the target region as a result of changes in land use. However, the found studies present consistent evidence of changes in hunting culture, especially in regard to a trade on the hunted species, hunting techniques and hunters’ profile. Considering the relevance of hunting in agricultural landscapes for wildlife conservation, we hope the present results stimulate further studies on this field.
Resumo A caça é uma atividade proibida no Brasil por uma Lei Federal (nº 5.197), exceto em alguns casos onde é regulamentada, há mais de 50 anos. Desde então, o país sofreu uma mudança dramática no uso da terra, especialmente na região Centro-Sul. Neste estudo investigamos a possível influência da mudança no uso da terra no perfil socioeconômico (e.g., educação, renda) e motivação (e.g., lazer, subsistência) dos caçadores no Centro-Sul do Brasil desde a implementação da política de proibição. Em uma revisão sistemática da literatura encontramos 18 artigos sobre atividades cinegéticas e o perfil dos caçadores nesta região, sendo que um terço apresentou evidências de alguma mudança nas atividades cinegéticas ou no perfil dos caçadores, relacionada à mudança do uso da terra desde 1967. Com este pequeno número de artigos, não foi possível avaliar plenamente se houve mudança na cultura cinegética na região-alvo em decorrência de mudanças no uso da terra. No entanto, os estudos encontrados apresentam evidências consistentes de mudanças na cultura da caça, principalmente no que diz respeito ao comércio das espécies caçadas, técnicas de caça e perfil dos caçadores. Considerando a relevância da caça em paisagens agrícolas para a conservação da vida selvagem, esperamos que os presentes resultados estimulem novos estudos nesta área.
In Brazil, as in many other tropical countries, coastal communities have been dealing with a complex dynamics of change, mostly related to the degradation of ecosystems, growing tourism and changing ...government policies, with consequences for natural resources conservation and management. Understanding how these communities are dealing with such change and the trade-offs provide insights for building resilience. In this paper, we investigate how a Caiçara community (traditional group of mixed heritage) has been dealing with social-ecological changes over the last 50 years, and how these changes have affected the livelihood resilience. Livelihood pathway analysis revealed how the system behaved historically and how the past dynamics influenced and may continue to influence resilience building. In face of challenges and disturbances, the coping and adaptive strategies used by this community have helped to maintain the diversity of livelihood options and ecosystem services, which contributed to resilience. Self-organization, collective action and political agency were important components to deal with crises mainly related to territorial disputes concerning overlap with protected areas. The trade-offs in social-ecological system dynamics were related to the geographical isolation of the community (located on an island), the creation of protected areas, and the use of tourism income as a livelihood strategy. Over the years, social cohesion has weakened due to increased economic rationality and conflicts – which may undermine social-ecological system resilience in the future.
•Livelihood diversification was an important component of resilience.•Self-organization, collective action and agency were important to deal with crisis.•Trade-offs were related to the geographical isolation, protected areas and tourism.
In Paraty (Brazil), where small-scale fisheries and protected areas management are intertwined, government agencies have shown an intention to transition towards participatory management schemes. ...Regardless of fishers' great interest in participation, the low number of fishers attending meetings is a recurrent theme. The objective of this paper is to contribute to understanding why small-scale fishers do not participate in meetings with the government (or rarely do). The research was based on a case study in two adjacent communities in Paraty: Praia Grande and Ilha do Araújo. Data came from three main sources: interviews with fishers; participant observation during a Consultative Council meeting of the Tamoios Ecological Station (a no-take protected area) in which a participatory process was initiated; and interviews with officers of the protected area. Fishers' reasons for why they do not participate in meetings with the government, or why there is low fisher participation in such meetings, were numerous and divide into three themes: (1) hierarchical governance (legislation and fishers–government relationship); (2) fisher-related barriers (fishers' feelings/emotions or perceptions towards meetings, incompatibility between fishers' way of life and meetings, and representativeness); and (3) process deficiency (previous to the meeting, during the meeting, and meetings' outcomes). Our research sheds light on the non-participants' viewpoints about government meetings, contributing to filling a research gap in the participation literature, while also contributing to knowledge about barriers to the emergence of co-management (e.g. conflictual relationships between the two parties, and the nature of the meetings). Based on fishers' opinions about meetings they would definitely participate in, the analysis of fishers' reasons for not participating as well as the managers' perspectives, and the evaluation of the meeting (using Rowe and Frewer's framework), we propose guidelines for developing participatory processes in fisheries management: (i) the convening of the meetings should be appropriate; (ii) the facilitation of the whole participatory process must be unbiased; (iii) the transparency of the process should be ensured both internally and externally; and (iv) the objectives, procedures and intended outcomes must be clearly defined. Recommendations for future actions in the transition towards co-management are also made, such as capacity building initiatives involving fishers and managers.
•Small-scale fishers would like to be involved in fisheries management.•Low fisher participation is a barrier to co-management in Paraty (Brazil).•Hierarchical governance, fisher-related barriers, and meetings' deficiency, explained low participation.•Fishers and government officers need capacity building for participation.•Non-participants' viewpoints should be included when evaluating participatory processes.
Abstract This paper aims to assess the area of ethnoecology within funding provided by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) to projects and events in order to discuss the importance of this ...area for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the opportunity to advance this area of knowledge, The paper presents a retrospective analysis of the 75 projects and 21 events organized in the area of ethnoecology that received support from FAPESP in the last 60 years. For this purpose, a search was performed in the FAPESP databases using the keywords Ethnoecology, Ethnobiology, Ethnoscience, Ethnoichthyology, Ethnotaxonomy, Ecological Anthropology, Ethnobotany, Ethnozoology, Ethnopharmacology, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Indigenous Knowledge, Ethnography, Human Ecology and Ethnoarcheology. Research Support modality accounted for most of the projects (88%), with 45.3% of funding occurring in the decade of 2000–2009. No project was supported in the first two decades and only eight were part of the BIOTA Program. The main areas of submission were Biological Sciences (46.7% of projects and 47.6% of events) and Humanities (38.7% of projects). The research questions and methods of the projects developed over the last four decades were analyzed critically and comparatively. Given the data collected, an increase of ethnocecological projects supported by the BIOTA Program and through the thematic modality may contribute to advance this area of knowledge and to cross the path from inter to transdisciplinar science.
Resumo O artigo objetiva avaliar a área da etnoecologia dentro dos financiamentos de projetos e eventos apoiado pela Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) com vista a discutir a importância da área para a conservação e uso sustentável da biodiversidade e as oportunidades para avançar esta área do conhecimento, O artigo traz uma retrospectiva dos 76 projetos e 21 eventos organizados na área de Etnoecologia, que receberam apoio da FAPESP nos últimos 60 anos. Para tanto, foi realizada uma busca nas bases de dados da FAPESP considerando as palavras-chave: Etnoecologia, Etnobiologia, Etnociência, Etnoictiologia, Etnotaxonomia, Antropologia Ecológica, Etnobotânica, Etnozoologia, Etnofarmacologia, Conhecimento Tradicional, Conhecimento Ecológico Tradicional, Conhecimento Indígena, Etnografia, Ecologia Humana e Etnoarqueologia. A maior parte dos projetos foram desenvolvidos na modalidade Auxílio à Pesquisa (88%), sendo a década de destaque a de 2000–2009 (44,7%). Nenhum projeto foi localizado nas duas primeiras décadas, e apenas 8 fizeram parte do Programa Biota. As principais áreas de submissão foram as Ciências Biológicas (46% dos projetos e 47% dos eventos) e as Ciências Humanas (38% dos projetos). As perguntas de pesquisa e métodos dos projetos desenvolvidos ao longo das quatro últimas décadas foram analisados de forma crítica e comparativa. Diante dos dados levantados, um aumento de projetos etnoecológicos apoiados pelo programa Biota e na modalidade Temático pode contribuir para um avanço desta área do conhecimento e para cruzar o percurso da interdisciplinaridade à transdisciplinaridade.
Participatory approaches to fisheries management are gaining increasing support from researchers, non-governmental organizations, and governments in Latin America, and different forms of ...participatory monitoring have been implemented over the last few decades. Among several advantages, these initiatives allow incorporation of fishers’ knowledge on ecology, fishing practices, social aspects, markets, regulations, into different stages of management. In this paper, we analyze key features of participatory monitoring programs in small-scale coastal fisheries in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay) through a literature review complemented by expert opinion. Our review considered the fisheries and variables monitored; objectives, duration, institutional context of the monitoring programs; and factors that affect the extent of fishers’ participation and the incorporation of fishers’ knowledge. We found 14 case studies described in the literature, most of which correspond to benthic fisheries. Most cases focused on ecological and/or catch and effort variables; few initiatives included social variables. Initiatives were mainly driven by researchers in partnership with fishers and other stakeholders under formal or informal institutional arrangements. Institutional arrangements were largely responsible for the effectiveness of participation. In most cases, fishers’ participation in monitoring was fostered as a component of a broader participatory co-management approach. Despite the challenges, participatory monitoring approaches are gaining traction in South America, receiving significant support from researchers in most cases, and from nongovernmental organizations in some cases. Increased governmental support for implementing and sustaining long-lasting participatory monitoring programs would strengthen monitoring initiatives that emerge locally.
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