Application of Ostrom’s Social-Ecological Systems Framework in Nature Reserves: Hybrid Psycho-Economic Model of Collective Forest Management

Abstract

Nature reserves (NRs) are complex social-ecological systems (SESs). In China, many collective forests (CFs), owned by villagers, are bound within NRs. This paper aimed at carrying out a dynamic analysis of three case studies of CF management based on Ostrom’s SES conceptual framework. The hybrid psycho-economic model is designed within this context and tested. Results indicate that CF management is determined jointly by the interaction of all levels of governance based on subsystem characteristics (i.e., resource system, resource units, and actor system) specific to the local social, economic, and political settings. Use of the hybrid psycho-economic model compares one classified harmonious NR scenario with two conflictual ones. The model indicated the scenario with the harmonious NR as having less CF value at the resource level, less dependence on villagers for CF resources, stronger environmental awareness, lower levels of involvement from new actors, overarching governance control (i.e., by the NR administration), greater levels of self-organization (i.e., within villages), and augmented economic compensation and regulation from outside influences. The conflict-oriented NRs mostly revealed opposite sets of interaction. Different public policies, including the ecosystem service payment, are recommended for improving management of CFs in NRs.

Factors Influencing Asia-Pacific Countries’ Success Level in Curbing COVID-19: A Review Using a Social–Ecological System (SES) Framework

“…The study primarily employed a qualitative content analysis to study institutionalsocial-ecological attributes using Ostrom's 8 design principles [6] as one of the theoretical underpinnings. To aid the comparative analysis, we constructed a coding system, based on both textual and quantitative evidence, and used it to determine IAD-based SES attribute occurrence in each country, meaning that each attribute was assigned with a code on the basis of the ratio or percentage of DP/attribute presence/occurrence [45], i.e., mostly absent/absent (A) (with 0-29%), sometimes/partially present (PP) (with 30-69%), or mostly present or present (P) (with 70-100%). This coding process, particularly for the comparative analysis of a limited number of cases where a statistical inferential analysis is not possible, is scientifically appropriate and relevant since it is based on several SES scholars' systematic methodologies that have been widely applied in different resource management contexts [46][47][48].…”

Use of a Socio-Ecological Framework and MFA to Assess the Resilience of Local Food Chain Systems

“…The construction of the social-ecological system framework begins with three steps, namely: 1) defining the study system according to the relevant spatial and temporal scale; 2) identifying the drivers of social and ecological system attributes embedded in the four food subsystems; and 3) developing the SES-food conceptual model framework, by analysing and interpreting the final data according to the SES template developed by McGinnis and Ostrom (2014) [6][7]. For attribute characterisation in two-level system coding, four key components, namely system unit, resource unit, governance unit, and resource user unit, will be applied.…”

Special Issue Sustainable Interdisciplinarity: Human–Nature Relations

“…The contributions were thoroughly refereed and accepted via single-blind review in adherence with MDPI's review guidelines. A synopsis of the Special Issue consists of the following contributions: Xie et al [13] conceptualized the use of Ostrom's [14] social-ecological systems framework in the context of nature reserves in China by presenting a novel approach (i.e., the hybrid psycho-economic model) and interlinking collective forest management via a dynamic analysis of three case studies. Kim et al [15] examined the notion of sustainable transformative economy based on community-based ecotourism in a remote area of eastern Cambodia.…”