Beyond fortress conservation: The long-term integration of natural and social science research for an inclusive conservation practice in India

Nitin, D.; Devy, M. Soubadra; Ganesh, T.; Ganesan, R.; Setty, Siddappa; Hiremath, Ankila J.; Khaling, Sarala; Rajan, Priyadarsanan Dharma

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108888

Cited by 28 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In the absence of an explicit consideration of agency, recommendations or alternative solutions will have a tendency to focus on technocratic or top-down approaches that minimize or ignore the centrality of people (Chappell 2018). This has also been observed in fortress conservation narratives (Siurua 2006, Rai et al 2021) that prioritize biodiversity conservation and result in the exclusion of people, or the industrialization and intensification of agriculture to increase food production while dispossessing smallholders and destroying their livelihoods (Loos et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Operationalizing agency in livelihoods research: smallholder farming livelihoods in southwest Ethiopia

Manlosa¹

2022

E&S

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Livelihoods are activities and practices in which social and environmental factors interlink, and they play a key role in achieving human well-being and environmental conservation. Livelihood analyses are therefore important to social-ecological systems research. With a few exceptions, however, the concept of agency has been largely missing in research applying the social-ecological systems approach. This is an important gap to address, because humans are not passive victims of broader sociopolitical trends and environmental changes, but rather play causative roles that shape history. This paper presents a conceptual framework that enables the explicit integration of agency into livelihood analyses, and is useful for examining the extent to which livelihoods enable people to be agents of their own well-being, and stewards of their environment. The framework has four pillars of agency: preconditions (referring to capital assets and resources, or CARs); processes (feedbacks and dynamics); power (the social and political fabrics, and relations in which livelihoods are embedded); and possibilities (the extent to which a present livelihood expands into future options, and builds the ability to act on options). The framework is then applied to a case study analyzing smallholder farming livelihoods and food security in southwest Ethiopia. The case study is based on empirical work involving quantitative survey, in-depth interviews, and focus-group discussions. This paper demonstrates the applicability of the framework to identifying agency constraints in smallholder farming, and helps determine areas where agency can be further strengthened. Beyond the case study, the framework may also be applied in other contexts and to other livelihood types. Its application can strengthen the contribution of livelihood analysis to social-ecological systems research by providing a way to operationalize and foreground agency.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Operationalizing agency in livelihoods research: smallholder farming livelihoods in southwest Ethiopia

Manlosa¹

2022

E&S

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“…The history of conservation is riddled with examples of international actors arriving in distant communities with their baskets already full of mission statements, research questions, project objectives, methodologies, and solutions that they apply across contexts, often inappropriately and against the wishes of local people. For example, “fortress conservation,” a Western approach to protecting “wilderness” through the exclusion of human activity, has generated harm in communities across the globe (Rai et al., 2021). A researcher arriving with an empty basket listens before acting, recognizing that environmental values are not universal, that conservation can take different forms, and that local needs and values need to be prioritized to avoid reproducing harms.…”

Section: Lessons From Palaumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For both local and international conservationists, there is value in partnership. For international researchers, partnership is not only the ethical approach to working in foreign countries, but it also yields practical benefits: partnering produces more culturally competent planning and solutions, increases engagement with local knowledge holders—including local people trained in Western science, reduces conflict within communities, and increases the legitimacy of conservation solutions (Bennett & Dearden, 2014; Brechin et al., 2002; Heck et al., 2012; Rai et al., 2021). For local researchers, partnerships can bring additional human and financial capacity, including technical or methodological expertise that is not available locally, and provide an opportunity to teach outsiders about local ways of knowing and interacting with the environment.…”

Section: The Value Of International Research Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons from Palau to end parachute science in international conservation research

Singeo¹,

Ferguson

2022

Conservation Biology

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“…But if well adapted to conservation management, it can be one of the most cost-effective options, both economically and socially, for many farming-dependent communities in protected areas. Therefore, when the global conservation discourse shifted from fortress conservation to more socially-inclusive conservation, the continuation and optimization of traditional agricultural industries seemed possible and even necessary to address the legal right of resource use by the local people and to avoid illegal resource use behaviors and hostile attitudes toward conservation policies by community residents (Redpath et al, 2013;Rai et al, 2021). At this time, policymakers and conservation managers, i.e., the major external stakeholders, did not regard traditional agricultural industries as inefficient and even harmful to the environment due to their dependence on biodiversity and natural resources (Colchester, 1996;Vedeld et al, 2012) anymore, and the challenge was to empower the local community and people, i.e., the local stakeholders, to adapt to the rapidly growing needs of conservation by mitigating or eliminating the negative impacts from disordered traditional agricultural industries (Folke et al, 2010), and mainstreaming local communities in resource use and benefit sharing (Mariki, 2013;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict or coexistence? Synergies between nature conservation and traditional tea industry development in Wuyishan National Park, China

Wang

HE²,

Min³

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Traditional agricultural industries in protected areas (PAs) provide opportunities for both nature conservation and the wellbeing of local residents. However, knowledge about the synergies between nature conservation and traditional agricultural industries is still limited. This research takes the traditional tea industry in Wuyishan National Park as a case to identify and examine the synergistic mechanism between forest conservation and industrial development, why traditional agricultural industries are necessary to the regional economy, and how they secure local livelihoods as well as achieve conservation goals. We conducted literature research and semi-structured interviews with Wuyishan National Park Authority, local government administrations, enterprises and small-scale farmers. The results were obtained through a two-stage mixed method of grounded theory and system dynamics. The findings revealed that: (1) Traditional agricultural industries in PAs were resilient and adaptable in the face of external changes, in which traditional culture and ecological awareness played an important role. (2) Small-scale agri-industries were vulnerable to external shocks, but they also have advantages in terms of moderate agglomeration and standardization, risk perception and response, and market-based diversification of production. (3) The synergetic process of traditional agricultural industries and conservation is mainstreaming biodiversity by cooperation among the government, the park agency, and local people. Thus, we suggested that the local government should work together with the PA management agencies to re-evaluate the existence of traditional agricultural industries for their necessity in the regional economy and the feasibility of improving local livelihoods.

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Beyond fortress conservation: The long-term integration of natural and social science research for an inclusive conservation practice in India

Cited by 28 publications

References 29 publications

Operationalizing agency in livelihoods research: smallholder farming livelihoods in southwest Ethiopia

Operationalizing agency in livelihoods research: smallholder farming livelihoods in southwest Ethiopia

Lessons from Palau to end parachute science in international conservation research

Conflict or coexistence? Synergies between nature conservation and traditional tea industry development in Wuyishan National Park, China

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