ABSTRACT. Biological resource monitoring systems are implemented in many countries and often depend on the participation of local people. It has been suggested that these systems empower local participants while promoting conservation. We reviewed three wildlife monitoring systems in indigenous lands and sustainable development reserves in Brazilian Amazonia and one in Namibian Caprivi conservancies, analyzing the strategies adopted and conditions that facilitated local empowerment, as well as potential impacts on conservation. This provided insights into potential avenues to strengthen empowerment outcomes of monitoring systems in Latin America and Africa. We assessed four dimensions of empowerment at individual and community scales: psychological, social, economic, and political. The conditions that facilitated local empowerment included the value of natural resources, rights to trade and manage resources, political organization of communities, and collaboration by stakeholders. The wide range of strategies to empower local people included intensifying local participation, linking them to local education, feeding information back to communities, purposefully selecting participants, paying for monitoring services, marketing monitored resources, and inserting local people into broader politics. Although communities were socially and politically empowered, the monitoring systems more often promoted individual empowerment. Marketing of natural resources promoted higher economic empowerment in conservancies in Namibia, whereas information dissemination was better in Brazil because of integrated education programs. We suggest that practitioners take advantage of local facilitating conditions to enhance the empowerment of communities, bearing in mind that increasing autonomy to make management decisions may not agree with international conservation goals. Our comparative analysis of cases in Latin America and Africa allows for a greater understanding of the relationships between resource monitoring systems, local empowerment, and conservation.
Amazon floodplains have a long history of exploitation of crocodilians, particularly of large species such as the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) and spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus). Historically, legal but uncontrolled trade resulted in a drastic reduction of wild populations of both species, which eventually led to the collapse of the commercial trade. In 1967, prohibition of commercial use of wild fauna through changes in Brazilian and international laws allowed caiman populations to slowly recover across much of their original range. Several studies on caiman populations greatly improved knowledge about the species, offering scientific bases for crocodilian management in the wild. Although protective legislation should only be altered using extreme caution, the creation of Sustainable Development Reserves (SDR) at the end of last century made it possible to manage wildlife for commercial purposes, albeit under strict population monitoring regimes. This category of protected area was established to improve welfare of local communities and strengthen their participation in conservation. Along with involvement in caiman monitoring programs, the engagement of local hunters and buyers is essential for participatory management plans. Even with development of SDRs, monitoring of crocodilian populations is still restricted to a few State Reserves, and traditional knowledge of stakeholders has been insufficiently incorporated into management and monitoring activities. We believe that stronger participation of local actors can help to improve the experimental harvesting initiatives that have been carried out thus far by local authorities. Community-based monitoring programs, which reflect local reality, are being developed in a simple and costeffective way. Key word: Amazon, crocodilians, participatory monitoring, local community Resumo A Amazônia possui um histórico de exploração de crocodilianos, principalmente as espécies jacaré-açu (Melanosuchus niger) e jacaretinga (Caiman crocodilus).No passado a caça legal e descontrolada levou a uma drástica diminuição das populações silvestres ao longo da distribuição natural das espécies, resultando em uma extinção comercial. Graças à proibição decidida pela legislação brasileira e internacional do uso e comércio da fauna, nas ultimas três décadas as populações de jacarés estão se recuperando lentamente em muitas localidades. A criação de Unidades de Conservação da categoria Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável e pesquisas científicas permitiram um melhor conhecimento da biologia e ecologia dos jacarés amazônicos e introduziram a possibilidade do manejo de fauna na região. A falta de réplicas nestas pesquisas e seus altos custos ainda limitam o conhecimento sobre o real potencial de exploração comercial de maneira sustentável. O conceito de manejar a fauna é novo para a maioria das comunidades ribeirinhas. O envolvimento de caçadores, associações locais, lideranças e comerciantes é fundamental para elaborar planos de manejo participativos. O monitoramento d...
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