Harnessing Fishers’ local knowledge and their perceptions: Opportunities to improve management of coastal fishing in Mediterranean marine protected areas

Boubekri, Ibrahim; Mazurek, Hubert; Djebar, Assia; Amara, Rachid

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118456

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 89 publications

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“…Several scholars have called for closer examination of heterogeneity within local natural resource management (e.g., Horowitz et al, 2018;van den Broek, 2018) and engagement with environmental perceptions as an important evidentiary basis for decision making on conservation (Bennett, 2016;Reyes-Garcia et al, 2019). Case studies across various sectors, from biodiversity conservation (e.g., Boubekri et al, 2023;Dencer-Brown et al, 2018) and agriculture (Below et al, 2015;Carmichael et al, 2023) to the effects of glacier recession (Gagne et al, 2014), have demonstrated the value of these insights for enriching understanding of social-ecological systems. Understanding, then, how stated perceptions relate to patterns of environmental behavior is a pressing concern for both scholars and practitioners (Laverty et al, 2019;McGinlay et al, 2023;Nzau et al, 2018;Santana et al, 2023).…”

Section: Theorizing Environmental Change In the Hindu Kush Himalayamentioning

confidence: 99%

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Stevens,

Satterfield

2024

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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India's high mountain, van panchayat forests are a long-standing example of community-led forest governance. These provide vital support for mountain communities’ wellbeing, yet little is known about how environmental and social change is currently perceived or addressed, despite many claims that characterize van panchayats to be in crisis due to policy interventions by state forest actors and erosion of local management institutions. This research investigates how changes in forest dependence, governance, and health drive forest management decisions. Using open-ended interviews with 41 forest stewards and knowledge holders in a high mountain valley in Uttarakhand, our analysis describes managers’ perceptions of environmental and social changes and their implications for management choices. We found that van panchayats are currently navigating stewardship pathways in response to: (a) population shifts and changes to historically forest-dependent livelihoods; (b) a shift in governance regimes across van panchayats, affected by both regulatory changes and local institutional capacity; (c) the effects of global environmental change as it intersects with local influences on mountain ecosystems. Forest stewards’ perceptions of the drivers, trends, significance, and appropriate management responses to these changes varied widely. An overall decline in rightsholders’ dependence on forest resources was commonly reported, as was improved forest health in van panchayats in relation to other forest types. However, van panchayat managers disagreed on whether declining dependence positively or negatively affects forest health, whether the state is absent or actively wresting control from communities, and if successful forest restoration efforts will continue. A lack of shared understanding of these issues complicates forest stewards’ efforts to cooperate towards mutually desired ends, exacerbated by a co-management policy which isolates forest councils’ efforts from neighbouring forests. Accordingly, we encourage policy changes to enhance collaborative decision-making and to address implications of diverse perceptions, priorities and practices of care in mountain forests.

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Section: Theorizing Environmental Change In the Hindu Kush Himalayamentioning

confidence: 99%

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Stevens,

Satterfield

2024

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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Towards a collaborative stakeholder engagement pathway to increase ocean sustainability related to marine spatial planning in developing coastal states

Lukambagire,

Matovu,

Manianga

et al. 2024

Environmental Challenges

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Assessing the viability of Stakeholders’ Engagement in Marine Spatial Planning and its Implications for a Sustainable Blue Economy

Lukambagire,

Baker,

Manianga

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Marine spatial planning (MSP) is the key to attaining global ocean sustainability targets related to the blue economy (BE) and inclusive tapping of ocean resources. Although there has been robust progress in promoting MSP, e.g., in the European Union (EU), most countries have yet to develop comprehensive strategies focused on MSP, which could affect fragile ecosystems and vulnerable livelihoods that are already affected by anthropogenic impacts and natural/environmental pressures. Even within the EU, comprehensive MSPs have been developed only in individual countries or specific maritime zones. One of the gaps identified in the literature is related to the limited knowledge of stakeholder engagement in the MSP process. Our study tries to bridge this gap, and we used a mixed research approach—i.e., systematically reviewed 86 articles on MSP—and conducted a key informant interview intending to identify what type of stakeholders or which stakeholders are needed in the MSP process; how, when, and where could they be involved; and how could they impact a sustainable blue economy? The findings revealed that MSP is a systematic process in which different stakeholders are needed at different levels at different temporal and spatial scales. In addition, the approach used to involve stakeholders is required to be based on a given region's governance targets in that region. The study revealed that marine resource user conflicts that hamper sustainable governance and the use of blue economy resources could be solved through MSP. The approach for stakeholder engagement that we bring to the fore in this study could help in the design of more effective participatory conservation interventions that meet ocean sustainability targets.

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Harnessing Fishers’ local knowledge and their perceptions: Opportunities to improve management of coastal fishing in Mediterranean marine protected areas

Cited by 6 publications

References 89 publications

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Towards a collaborative stakeholder engagement pathway to increase ocean sustainability related to marine spatial planning in developing coastal states

Assessing the viability of Stakeholders’ Engagement in Marine Spatial Planning and its Implications for a Sustainable Blue Economy

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