Biosphere reserves and the “Yucatán” syndrome: another look at the role of NGOs

Frazier, J.

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2004.09.010

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In some cases, this type of approach leads to ill-conceived and hasty promotion of community development by external government or nongovernment organizations, which can exacerbate preexisting inequities, often leading to the further concentration of power in the hands of local elite. The resulting outcomes can be quite contrary to stated objectives of conservation and social development (29,30).…”

Section: Drivers Of Reforestationmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Although the importance of understanding local social, cultural, and institutional contexts is acknowledged by policy makers, in practice, conservation projects are often designed and implemented by conservation biologists and natural resource managers with little or no input from anthropologists or other social scientists other than economists (3,29). In some cases, this type of approach leads to ill-conceived and hasty promotion of community development by external government or nongovernment organizations, which can exacerbate preexisting inequities, often leading to the further concentration of power in the hands of local elite.…”

Section: Drivers Of Reforestationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers of reforestation in human-dominated forests

Nagendra

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

171

105

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Tropical forest habitat continues to decline globally, with serious negative consequences for environmental sustainability. The small mountain country of Nepal provides an excellent context in which to examine trajectories of forest-cover change. Despite having experienced large-scale forest clearing in the past, significant reforestation has taken place in recent years. The range of biophysical and ecological environments and diversity of tenure arrangements provide us with a context with sufficient variation to be able to derive insight into the impact of a range of hypothesized drivers of forest change. This article draws on a dataset of 55 forests from the middle hills and Terai plains of Nepal to examine the factors associated with forest clearing or regeneration. Results affirm the central importance of tenure regimes and local monitoring for forest regrowth. In addition, user group size per unit of forest area is an important, independent explanator of forest change. These variables also can be associated with specific practices that further influence forest change such as the management of social conflict, adoption of new technologies to reduce pressure on the forest, and involvement of users in forest maintenance activities. Such large-N, comparative studies are essential if we are to derive more complex, nuanced, yet actionable frameworks that help us to plan better policies for the management of natural resources.community forestry ͉ group size ͉ institutions ͉ monitoring ͉ Nepal I n recent decades, humankind has witnessed unprecedented destruction of forest cover, with its accompanying fallout on global climate, health, biodiversity, air quality, soil fertility, water flow, and other environmental variables. Deforestation also impacts the lives and livelihoods of the many millions of forest-dependent inhabitants around the world. Awareness of the extent of forest clearing and the magnitude of the ensuing problems have led communities, governments, and international organizations to create an array of protection mechanisms that range from government-owned protected areas to private conservation parks and community reserves. These plans have had mixed success, and it is difficult to unambiguously attribute success or failure to a specific formal mechanism (1, 2). Yet, conservation organizations, indigenous communities, and policy makers continue to engage in often heated debates concerning the presumed single best approach to conserve forest biodiversity (3).The remarkable dearth of reliable large datasets on forest change only exacerbates the already heated deforestation debate. Until recently, estimates by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations were used for most global studies. These data are based on information provided by government agencies in Ͼ200 countries and have been strongly criticized for providing an inaccurate picture complicated by variations in methodology and frequently changing baseline definitions of forest (4). More reliable assessments of rates of tropical d...

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Section: Drivers Of Reforestationmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Drivers Of Reforestationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of reforestation in human-dominated forests

Nagendra

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

171

105

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“…Current trends in some countries, however, show increasing cooperation between ENGOs and states and growing (financial) support for ENGOs by states. As indicated by Reed (1997), Frazier (2006), and others, the environmental public goods provision by ENGOs is viewed as cheaper, more flexible, and transparent. On the other hand, governmental support for the whole sector brings numerous challenges for nongovernmental entities.…”

Section: Framing Engo Roles and Situationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, mandatory participation in environmental decisionmakingwithout access to additional funding may exhaust ENGO capacities (Spangenberg 2012;Cohen-Blankshtain et al 2013). Third, even the interests of large corporate donors may shape the agenda of ENGOs, factually trapping their representatives in the dilemma between influence (and resource access) and public goal fulfilment and ethical standards (Frazier 2006). This criticism, therefore, questions the factual "independency" of influential ENGOs in representing a variety of societal interests, providing that their dominant portion of funding does not consist of numerous small private donations (which is only rarely the case) (for more discussion on this point, see Frazier 2006).…”

Section: Framing Engo Roles and Situationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, even the interests of large corporate donors may shape the agenda of ENGOs, factually trapping their representatives in the dilemma between influence (and resource access) and public goal fulfilment and ethical standards (Frazier 2006). This criticism, therefore, questions the factual "independency" of influential ENGOs in representing a variety of societal interests, providing that their dominant portion of funding does not consist of numerous small private donations (which is only rarely the case) (for more discussion on this point, see Frazier 2006). Issues of representativeness and the transparency of decision making are treated differently depending on the scale on which an organization operates.…”

Section: Framing Engo Roles and Situationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Local environmental NGO roles in biodiversity governance: a Czech-German comparison

et al. 2017

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Recently, the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)s in environmental governance has been widely investigated, especially regarding the issue of mandatory public participation in policy-making within a European context. This paper aims to redirect scientific attention from their pure participation to their field actions, i.e., to the role they play in actual natural resource management, especially at the local level, and reframe local environmental NGO roles and positions based on the criteria for scale and influence. More specifically, this paper seeks to identify factors that promote NGOs as effective complements in the protection of state biodiversity and stresses local impacts of different governance schemes.Determining factors were investigated through a series of in-depth case studies undertaken in the Czech-German border region of the eastern Krušné hory Mts. (Erzgebirge, Ore Mts.). Rather than a quantitatively oriented survey among NGOs, this study focused primarily on a specific territory and, subsequently, on the identification of relevant actor performance (including NGO representatives) within this territory. The method applied for comparison was the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD Framework). This design enabled a comparison of different social practices in the homogeneous ecosystem present on both sides of the border and captured the influence of specific social and historical cross-border features on environmental NGO performance.

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Review of Wetland Management Roles, Functions, and Innovations

Smardon

2009

Sustaining the World's Wetlands

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Biosphere reserves and the “Yucatán” syndrome: another look at the role of NGOs

Cited by 10 publications

References 31 publications

Drivers of reforestation in human-dominated forests

Drivers of reforestation in human-dominated forests

Local environmental NGO roles in biodiversity governance: a Czech-German comparison

Review of Wetland Management Roles, Functions, and Innovations

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