Unraveling the Relationship between Collective Action and Social Learning: Evidence from Community Forest Management in Canada

Assuah, Anderson; Sinclair, A. John

doi:10.3390/f10060494

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…Second, the social and economic sustainability of the offset contracts also relies on the prevention of conflicts among and between forest ES providers, forest ES beneficiaries, and other forest management intermediaries (e.g., natural regional parks). Conflict prevention also stemmed from social learning about the interdependencies of all the actors in the action arena [56]. While the FSES can be susceptible to various open conflicts because of the incoming subsidies [40], our case studies encountered relatively few confrontations despite tensions around the prioritization of forest ES.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient, Sustainable, and Multifunctional Carbon Offsetting to Boost Forest Management: A Comparative Case Study

Fouqueray

Génin

Trommetter

et al. 2021

Forests

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Research highlights: Funding forest management with subsidies from carbon offsetters is a well-documented mechanism in tropical regions. This article provides complementary insights into the use of voluntary offset contracts in temperate forests. Background and objectives: The mitigation of greenhouse emissions has become a major global issue, leading to changes in forest management to increase the capacity of forests to store carbon. This can lead to conflicts of use with other forest ecosystem services such as timber production or biodiversity conservation. Our main goal is to describe collective actions to fund carbon-oriented forestry with subsidies from carbon offsetters and to analyze how their governance and functioning prevent conflicts pertaining to multi-functionality. Materials and methods: We assembled an interdisciplinary research team comprising two ecologists, a social scientist, and an economist. Drawing on a conceptual framework of ecosystem services, social interdependencies, and collective action, we based our qualitative analysis on semi-structured interviews from two French case studies. Results: Carbon-oriented intermediary forest organizations offer offset contracts to private firms and public bodies. Communication is geared toward the mitigation outcomes of the contracts as well as their beneficial side effects in providing the ecosystem services of interest to the offsetters. Subsidies then act as a financial lever to fund carbon-oriented forestry operations. Scientific committees and reporting methodologies serve as environmental, social, and economic safeguards. Conclusions: These new intermediary forest organizations use efficient forest operations and evaluation methodologies to improve forest carbon storage. Their main innovation lies in their collective governance rooted in regional forest social-ecological systems. Their consideration of multi-functionality and socioeconomic issues can be seen as an obstacle to rapid development, but they ensure sustainability and avoid conflicts between producers and beneficiaries of forest ecosystem services. Attention must be paid to interactions with broader spatial and temporal carbon policies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient, Sustainable, and Multifunctional Carbon Offsetting to Boost Forest Management: A Comparative Case Study

Fouqueray

Génin

Trommetter

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…These actions can take place in the form of mobilisation of resources (e.g. physical, financial, and human), collective decisions, and setting rules and procedures for collective management and accomplishing shared goals (Assuah & Sinclair, 2019;Meinzen-Dick et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning-based disaster resilience: collective action in flash flood-prone Sunamganj communities in Bangladesh

Azad

Haque

Choudhury

2021

Environmental Hazards

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Despite widespread recognition that social learning can potentially contribute toward enhancing community resilience to climateinduced disaster shocks, studies on this process remain few and far between. This study investigates the role of local institutions (formal, informal, and quasi-formal) in creating learning arenas and translating social learning into collective action in flash floodprone Sunamganj communities in Bangladesh. We follow a Case Study approach using qualitative research methods. Primary data were collected through 24 key informant interviews, 10 semistructured interviews, six focus-group discussions, and two participant observations events. Our results reveal that the diversity and flexibility of local-level institutions creates multiple learning platforms in which social interaction, problem formulation, nurturing diverse perspectives, and generating innovative knowledge for collective action can take place. Within these formal and informal learning arenas, communities' desire and willingness to be self-reliant and to reduce their dependency on external funding and assistance is clearly evident. Social learning thus paves the way for institutional collaboration, partnership, and multi-stakeholder engagement, which facilitates social learning-based collective action. Nurturing institutional diversity and flexibility at the local level is therefore recommended for transforming social learning into active problem-solving measures and to enhance community resilience to disaster shocks.

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“…The WCFC is jointly managed by the Town of Smithers, the Village of Telkwa, forest users and the Wet'suwet'en First Nation (Assuah and Sinclair, 2019). Assuah and Sinclair (2019) noted that Wet'suwet'en participants in their study emphasized how well the WCFC was run in contrast to lesser experiences with larger forest product companies.…”

Section: Successful Examples Of First Nations Co-managing Forest Reso...mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…research suggests this gap has narrowed (e.g., Assuah and Sinclair, 2019;Hotte et al, 2019, Lawler and, although it seems some of these initial barriers still exist in community managed forests today. As Assuah and Sinclair (2019) discuss, the current model for community forestry in Canada offers stakeholders and community members the opportunity to collaborate and take part in decision making that may directly benefit their community.…”

Section: Co-management In the Forestry Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indigenous-led forestry initiatives that seek to advance the unique goals of individual First Nations remain limited in Manitoba, and this research hopes to help address this gap. Table 1: (Assuah and Sinclair, 2019;Hotte et al, 2019), the Manitoba government has yet to support Indigenous-led forestry to address conservation and northern development challenges (Lawler and Bullock, 2017). My thesis project will help fill a part of this gap by advancing understanding of Indigenous-led forestry and identifying opportunities for and challenges to policy reform in Manitoba.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Analyzing Forest Policy to Advance Indigenous-Led Forestry Initiatives and Increase Adaptive Capacity

Carty¹

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Indigenous groups across Canada continue to regain sovereignty over their traditional territories and this research focuses on their involvement in Manitoba’s forest sector. A large proportion of First Nations communities in Manitoba are forest-based, and there is a revitalized opportunity and vigor for communities to build successful and sustainable forestry initiatives that could address their respective goals while building adaptive capacity towards climate change impacts. The focus of this research was to understand the barriers and opportunities Indigenous groups experience in respect to federal and provincial forest policy and how Indigenous-led forestry initiatives can enhance the adaptive capacity and climate change resilience in First Nation communities. The first research objective was to describe federal, provincial, and Indigenous policy measures impacting Indigenous-led forestry. This was achieved through a systematic policy scan and interviews with Indigenous forestry experts that uncovered various impactful measures, including enabling legislation and preventative legislation. The second objective was to identify policy provisions that could support or hinder Indigenous-led forestry. The results show that while Indigenous groups are often excluded from forest policies and policy making processes, the provincial and federal governments have increased efforts towards Indigenous inclusion in recent years. A notable example is the progressive timber harvesting agreement that was negotiated between the provincial government and Norway House Cree Nation in 2022. The third objective aimed to identify opportunities for policy learning about Indigenous-led forestry. Indigenous inclusion in policy making could lead to greater learning opportunities and this research demonstrates there are increased opportunities for policy learning to occur in Manitoba’s forest sector. The final objective was to develop recommendations for improving the prospects for Indigenous-led forestry based on accrued evidence and consultation with First Nations communities. While recent strides have been made in Manitoba in advancing Indigenous participation in the forest sector, the wood supply surrounding many First Nations remains underutilized. Moving forward, the success of Indigenous-led forestry initiatives will hinge on increased collaboration with governments and industry, provincial reform of forestry legislation that does not explicitly address Indigenous rights and interests, and funding programs that could address the economic and logistical barriers associated with developing a local forestry initiative. Indigenous-led forestry initiatives that seek to advance the unique goals of individual First Nations remain limited in Manitoba, and this research hopes to help address this gap.

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Unraveling the Relationship between Collective Action and Social Learning: Evidence from Community Forest Management in Canada

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Efficient, Sustainable, and Multifunctional Carbon Offsetting to Boost Forest Management: A Comparative Case Study

Efficient, Sustainable, and Multifunctional Carbon Offsetting to Boost Forest Management: A Comparative Case Study

Social learning-based disaster resilience: collective action in flash flood-prone Sunamganj communities in Bangladesh

Analyzing Forest Policy to Advance Indigenous-Led Forestry Initiatives and Increase Adaptive Capacity

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