Governance of the Cassurubá Extractive Reserve, Bahia State, Brazil: An analysis of strengths and weaknesses to inform policy

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThis study analyzed the governance of the Cassurubá Extractive Reserve or RESEX in Bahia State, Brazil, exploring the favorable conditions and the difficulties faced by this newly established and complex governance system. RESEXs are protected areas that involve traditional communities in its administration through majority representation in a Deliberative Council (DC). Research was conducted through literature and documents review, participant observation through direct involvement in community activities along several years (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016), and semi-structured and structured interviews applied respectively to members of the DC and to users of the RESEX during 2012 and 2013. The Institutional Design Principles were used as an analytical tool to reflect on the strengths, limitations, and the multiple factors affecting its governance. Interview results suggest a more negative perception of resource users about RESEX functioning and prospects than DC members. Participation of resource users in RESEX meetings was low and a passive performance of council members was observed. Since 2012-2013, participation of users and council members has been gradually increasing. Several of the design principles were found to be present (boundaries, congruence, collective arrangements though enhanced participation is needed, conflict resolution mechanisms, recognition of rights to organize, nested enterprises), and only two were deemed insufficient or mostly absent: monitoring (4A and 4B), but improving in terms of community participation in vigilance, and graduated sanctions (5), present in legislation but hardly implemented. Further studies should be pursued for continuing adding blocks to the understanding of CPR governance systems with diverse degrees of complexity.

Mangroves, fishers, and the struggle for adaptive comanagement: applying the social-ecological systems framework to a marine extractive reserve (RESEX) in Brazil

“…As of 2016, we observed a misfit between formal comanagement rules and local informal institutions; many residents are not familiar with self-organizing activities or regular participation in local governance. This study aligns with similar reflections and concerns in other RESEX areas (da Silva 2004, Di Ciommo 2007, Vadjunec and Rocheleau 2009, Santos and Schiavetti 2014, Erler et al 2015, Santos and Brannstrom 2015, Le Tourneau and Beaufort 2017, Nobre et al 2017. Setting up comanagement is not enough; continued efforts to create more user engagement and stronger institutions that can establish harvesting rules congruent with local livelihood sufficiency and ways to control adherence to them are needed.…”

“…Ostrom's design principles provide a theoretical framework for evaluating enabling conditions for community-based governance, and studies of other marine RESEX show that comanagement has provided these conditions in concept, but that they have been difficult to establish in practice (da Silva 2004, Nobre et al 2017. This study draws similar conclusions, expanding on the design principles by applying broader theories of collective action.…”

“…Marine RESEX programs exist throughout Brazil and their unique institutional arrangements have motivated numerous studies (da Silva 2004, Diegues 2008, Santos and Schiavetti 2014, Nobre et al 2017 examining the inclusive approach to MPA governance, which combines human well-being objectives and conservation goals (Bennett et al 2017). However, marine RESEX have struggled to achieve success in mangrove conservation (Santos andSchiavetti 2014, Borges et al 2017) in line with MPAs globally (Halpern 2014, Bennett andDearden 2014).…”

“…The CT RESEX is a large coastal estuary forming a peninsula with numerous rivers and tributaries, and it is embedded in the world's second largest continuous mangrove ecosystem spanning ~23,000 square kilometers. A number of studies have analyzed RESEX areas using Ostrom's (1990) design principles (da Silva 2004, Le Tourneau and Beaufort 2017, Nobre et al 2017, and in similar non-RESEX areas (Tebet et al 2018), but to our knowledge this study is the first to apply the SESF. The framework is well suited for the study of smallscale fisheries (Basurto et al 2013, Partelow 2015 with numerous case study applications in the literature (Schlüter and Madrigal 2012, Ernst et al 2013, Leslie et al 2015, Partelow and Boda 2015, Torres Guevara et al 2016.…”

Reservas extrativistas marinhas: perspectivas e limitações para jovens pescadores

“…Na perspectiva da Geografia, são consideradas as mudanças no território a partir da criação das Resex-Mar sob o ponto de vista socioespacial (DUMITH CARVALHO, 2012;GONÇALVES OLIVEIRA, 2012;ARARIPE, 2012;SANTOS & SCHIAVETTI, 2013;DA SILVA JUNIOR et al, 2014;SANTOS & SCHIAVETTI, 2014;OLIVEIRA & MANESCHY, 2014;MANESCHY et al, 2017;NOBRE et al, 2017). São abordados os limites da implementação desse instrumento de desenvolvimento territorial, entre os quais a solidez institucional.…”