Community‐based management of the environment: lessons from the past and options for the future

Abstract

ABSTRACT1. Traditional community-based systems of managing coastal fisheries were (or in some cases are) successful in managing resources at sustainable levels. These systems are used as models in the present study.2. They were (or are) under-pinned by a sense of ownership and intimate knowledge of the environment in local people.3. Such features have been largely lost, as subsistence economies have been replaced by capitalist ones, and environmental management responsibilities have shifted from local communities to national or international government.4. There are, nevertheless, some examples of community-based management systems that still operate successfully and we believe that modern management practices, in general, would benefit from increased community involvement. This will require renewed emphases on feelings of ownership and increased knowledge of the environment in the general public.5. Environmental education will have a fundamental role to play in achieving this goal. However, its impact in schools and universities has been disappointingly ineffective so far in promoting a population that is sufficiently knowledgeable and well-motivated to partake meaningfully in environmental management processes.6. It is argued that educational initiatives, which involve all ages and sections of society, are required. Five promising possibilities are: (i) the participation of community groups in scientific projects; (ii) increased emphasis on life-long learning; (iii) educational campaigns; (iv) citizens' juries; and (v) the involvement of community groups in environmental planning and management processes.7. Wide-scale adoption of innovations of these kinds will require funding and this will be achieved only by national re-assessments of educational needs and priorities.

The ability of A-level students to name plants

“…In these times of great global concern for our environment both scientists (Evans and Birchenough, 2001) and MPs (House of Commons, 2001) agree that the lay public need to be more engaged in environmental debate and decisions. This can only realistically occur if the general public is environmentally literate.…”

Unite research with what citizens do for fun: “recreational monitoring” of marine biodiversity

“…Participation in citizen-science projects provides a forum in which participants engage in thought processes similar to those that are part of science investigations, and increase their knowledge of ecology and environmental issues (Trumbull et al 2000, Evans and Birchenough 2001, Brossard et al 2005. Participation in citizen-science projects provides a forum in which participants engage in thought processes similar to those that are part of science investigations, and increase their knowledge of ecology and environmental issues (Trumbull et al 2000, Evans and Birchenough 2001, Brossard et al 2005.…”

Use of local ecological knowledge in the management of algal blooms

“…By encouraging public participation, the community is also more likely to accept policy change in the future, and the process provides a medium to inform and educate the local community (Evans & Birchenough 2001;Kapoor 2001). We found that most of the participants in our interviews greatly valued the opportunity to 'contribute' to the management of algal blooms, and appreciated that their knowledge was recognized as a valuable tool to address the issue.…”

“…Benefits of using LEK as an instrument in natural resource management span a wide range of social, practical and economic aspects, including among other things: (1) enhancing public participation and early conflict resolution, (2) providing opportunities for local communities to articulate values and concerns, (3) increasing the understanding of the social context for managers, (4) identifying environmental issues and possible solutions not known through other formal processes and (5) creating novel hypotheses amenable to formal scientific testing and research. However, using LEK with non-random sampling bias, uneven recollection of events over time or strategic responses could confound the analysis (Christie & White 1997;Agrawal & Gibson 1999;Robertson et al 2000;Evans & Birchenough 2001;Kapoor 2001;MyattBell et al 2002;Robertson & McGee 2003;Head 2004;Begossi 2008). Perhaps most fundamentally, communitybased environmental management is often advocated because it is thought to fulfil three essential criteria for good governance, namely sensitivity towards indigenous (or local) knowledge, responsiveness to context and local priorities and imperatives, and efficiency of implementation (Kellert et al 2000;Gray et al 2001).…”