Community-based conservation (CBC) institutions are widely regarded as transformative bodies that benefit social and ecological processes in coupled social-ecological systems. Yet, limited empirical evidence for this claim exists, especially on the African continent where community-based conservancies (CBCs) are being rapidly adopted in diverse institutional forms across multiple countries. We provide the first large-scale systematic review of CBC outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. We review the literature on CBCs and develop a conceptual model that illustrates the nested scales of interaction in which CBCs are embedded, the institutional processes ("conditions") reported as important for success, and the outcomes of CBCs on social and ecological systems. The mixed-method approach consists of inductive/deductive textual analysis of cases, geospatial visualization, descriptive statistics, and correlational analysis. Results indicate that more often than not, establishment of CBCs in Africa has led to negative or a mixture of positive and negative social outcomes, whereas ecological outcomes have been largely positive. The research conducted on CBC institutions has overwhelmingly focused on social outcomes, using qualitative methods. Monetary and nonmonetary incentives seem to be important but not sufficient on their own for positive outcomes. Devolution of rights to the local community is significantly associated with CBC outcomes but was not present in many cases, despite this feature being a hallmark of CBCs. A number of conditions were not reported in the cases reviewed, including leadership, social learning, consideration of cultural worldviews, and diverse partnerships. We provide indepth examples of the types and diversity of outcomes and contexts underpinning the presence or absence of societal processes, highlight important gaps in the existing research, and offer guidelines for research and evaluation moving forward.

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This study assesses the nutritional status of Maasai pastoralists living in a period of great social, economic and ecological changes in Kajiado County, southern Kenya. Data on weight, height, skinfolds, and circumferences were collected from 534 individuals in the year 2000. The data were used to describe mean differences in human nutrition between ages, sexes, and within and among three Group Ranches. Nutritional data and diet recall data were compared with past studies of Maasai nutrition from 1930 to 2000. Results indicate that nutritional status is poor and has remained so despite numerous changes to the social-ecological system including livelihood diversification, sedentarization, human population growth and decreased access to vegetation heterogeneity. Imbirikani Group Ranch had better access to infrastructure and markets and some measures of nutritional status were better than for individuals in other group ranches. However, nutritional status remains poor despite transitioning to greater market integration.

Aim We examine hominin presence in Central Asia during the late Pleistocene in order to identify the abiotic characteristics that best predict site distribution during interglacial and glacial periods. Our goal is to build a preliminary framework for climate-mediated hominin dispersals in this understudied part of the Old World.Location Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.Methods We developed an ecological niche model using presence-only data to explain the spatial relationship of abiotic variables and hominin locations (n = 15) during glacial-interglacial transitions. The model was evaluated using the Cram er-von Mises goodness-of-fit statistic and empirical K-function.Results Hominin locations were spatially aggregated during both glacial and interglacial periods. Of the abiotic variables analysed on a small scale (30-m resolution), only distance to water differed significantly between glacial and interglacial periods, although most locations were within 5 km of water. At a coarse scale (5-km resolution), hominin locations appear to have been constrained by low temperatures during glacial periods, but not during interglacials.Main conclusions Hominin groups did not abandon Central Asia during colder periods. This suggests one of three possibly complementary scenarios: (1) late Pleistocene hominin groups had a more flexible behavioural repertoire than previously anticipated and were able to buffer climatic instability culturally; (2) our study area was not as hostile an environment as traditionally considered; and (3) the area examined here represents a refugium during late Pleistocene glaciations.

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