What constitutes a successful biodiversity corridor? A Q-study in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

West, Simon; Cairns, Rose; Schultz, Lisen

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.019

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Nevertheless, such learning rests upon normative, inherently contestable criteria (e.g. the economic valuation of ecological systems) that are strongly disputed in South Africa and at the global level (West, Cairns and Schultz, 2016). Our research therefore fosters a critical emphasis in the learning for sustainability literature, as advocated by Smith and Stirling (2010) and Leach, Scoones and Stirling (2010), encouraging questions such as 'learning for whom?'…”

Section: Politics and Power In Learning For Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 62%

Learning to live with social-ecological complexity: An interpretive analysis of learning in 11 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

Schultz

West

Juarez-Bourke

et al. 2018

Global Environmental Change

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Learning is considered a means to achieve sustainability in practice and has become a prominent goal of sustainability interventions. In this paper we explore how learning for sustainability is shaped by meaning, interpretation and experience, in the context of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BRs). The World Network of Biosphere Reserves brings environmental conservation, socio-economic development and research together in 'learning sites for sustainable development.' The World Network is globally significant, with 669 BRs in 120 countries, but as with many paradigmatic sustainability interventions BRs are perceived to suffer from a 'concept-reality gap.'We explore this gap from an interpretive perspective, focusing on participant interpretations of the meaning of BRs and their experiences of working with the conceptwith the aim of painting a richer picture of learning for sustainability and the ways in which BRs might fulfil their role as learning sites. We provide a crosscase analysis of learning in 11 BRs around the world, drawing on interviews with 177 participants, and ask: How is the BR concept interpreted and enacted by people involved with BR work? What learning emerges through BR work, as described by those involved? We find that the BR concept is interpreted differently in each location, producing distinct expectations, practices and institutional designs. Learning occurs around common themeshuman-environment relationships, actors and governance arrangements, and skills to navigate BR workbut is expressed very differently in each BR. The position of BRs 'in between' social, ecological and economic goals; local places and global networks; and government, private and civil society sectors, provides a valuable space for participants to learn to live with socialecological complexity. We discuss our results in terms of their contribution to three pressing concerns in sustainability science: (i) power and politics in learning for sustainability, (ii) intermediaries and bridging organizations in multi-level governance, and (iii) reflexivity and knowledge-action relationships. Our comparative hermeneutic approach makes a novel methodological contribution to interpretive studies of sustainability policy and governance.

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Section: Politics and Power In Learning For Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 62%

Learning to live with social-ecological complexity: An interpretive analysis of learning in 11 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

Schultz

West

Juarez-Bourke

et al. 2018

Global Environmental Change

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“…This is for example, the tracking by night cameras of animals present in the corridors; systematic evaluation of the roles of conduits for the movements played by these corridors; but also the role of the habitat (source or sink), barrier or filter as well as the source of biotic and abiotic elements for the neighboring matrix (Forman and Godron, 1986;Santos et al, 2018). This in-depth reflection will also help to redefine the minimum size to maintain or restore so that these corridors can play their full role (West et al, 2016;FAO, 2006). These limits are similar to those highlighted by Berges [9] for whom the good functioning of an ecological corridor remains difficult to demonstrate because it is necessary to verify if the species is present in the corridor and to make sure that it moves from one end of the corridor to the other.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The conservation corridors of the Benue National Park: Disconnected connection devices?

Sylvain¹,

Cyrille²,

KÃ©vin³

et al. 2020

J. Geogr. Reg. Plann.

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the viability of wildlife corridors between the Benue National Park and the Faro National Park through the hunting areas, by identifying the main threats to their integrity, mapping of land use, characterization of their flora and the wildlife inventory that frequents these corridors in order to propose measures for their sustainable management. Field observations, land use mapping from the 2016 Landsat 8 image classification, and 60 floristic surveys at six sites (corridors) on 20 m × 20 m plots treated under R resulted in the following results: nine types of activities were identified, including logging, agriculture, grazing and forestry. With gold panning the main threats to corridors, the species mostly used by these farmers are Piliostigma thonningii (82.674 ± 4.24), Combretum sp. (78.18 ± 4.01) and Tamarindus indica (75.06 ± 3.85) among the most threatened woody species. On the floristic level, vegetations under the influence of anthropic activities present a large number of rejections, a small number of adult stems. The Shannon diversity index varies between 4.30 and 5.07 in all corridors. On the other hand, the index of equitability varies from 0.50 to 0.59. On the faunal plan, 204 individuals, belonging to 12 animal species, grouped into 6 families frequent the corridors. This number is well below what was achieved in 2010 when there was a decrease of 1024 individuals in the corridors, a decrease rate of 83.38%. In the face of these threats, which risk irreversibly damaging the corridors, a restoration and conservation plan for these corridors that will integrate community management based on strengthening the participatory approach is essential.

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“…Qmethodology uses both qualitatively and quantitative analyses to elucidate the discourses and opinions of a group of people on a certain issue (Ramlo, 2008). The Q methodology has gained prominence in natural resources management to explore attitudes toward governance, conservation, conflict resolution, and landscape approach (Nijnik et al, 2013;West et al, 2016;Langston et al, 2019). The basis of Q methodology is the Qsort technique, which involves the rank-ordering of a set of statements from agree to disagree.…”

Section: Discourse Mapping and Experts' Viewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elucidating Pathways and Discourses Linking Cocoa Cultivation to Deforestation, Reforestation, and Tree Cover Change in Nicaragua and Peru

Orozco-Aguilar¹,

López-Sampson

Leandro-Muñoz

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Cocoa cultivation is labeled as a driver of both deforestation and reforestation, yet the extent of the phenomena varies at farm and landscape level and as a response to national and local contexts. In this study, we documented the main pathways and contexts behind cocoa cultivation in two sites with different histories of cocoa cultivation. We combined official statistics, land-use trajectory, satellite imagery, and the Q-analysis to explore the discourses of country experts in Nicaragua and Peru. The Q-statements were based on an analysis of a set of legal, institutional, social, and technical guidelines that the cocoa cultivation/sector influences or is influenced by. Based on the responses of national experts to 31 statements we found four discourses linking cocoa cultivation and reforestation and deforestation in each country-case study. The enabling and limiting conditions driving tree cover change were a combination of landscape configuration, governance, management/commercialization models, and farmer's knowledge. Overall, between 60 and 64% of the variance was explained by four discourse factors in each country. In Nicaragua, the conditions associated with reforestation were the cocoa-agroforestry model promoted by local organizations/NGOs, the existence of incentives, degree of technical knowledge, access to safe market, and availability of improved genetic material. The circumstances associated with deforestation were the age of the farmers, fluctuation of cocoa beans prices, low productivity of cocoa plantations, and weak legal environmental frameworks. Whereas, in Peru, the main factors connecting cocoa cultivation to reforestation were access to market, degree of experimentation in cocoa, the economic weight of cocoa on family's income, certification processes, the existence of incentives, and the level of organization/association of cocoa farmers. The elements linking cocoa farming to deforestation were the influence of stakeholders in the cocoa value chain, weak legal environmental frameworks, fluctuation of cocoa prices, the existence of private investors, and insecure land tenure rights. This article demonstrated the utility of discourse analysis, through its application to two contrasting country case-studies, to elucidate the conditions that might minimize the deforestation footprint of cocoa cultivation and maximize its role as an agent for reforestation/restoration in the agricultural landscape of cocoa-growing areas in Latin America.

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What constitutes a successful biodiversity corridor? A Q-study in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

Cited by 21 publications

References 37 publications

Learning to live with social-ecological complexity: An interpretive analysis of learning in 11 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

Learning to live with social-ecological complexity: An interpretive analysis of learning in 11 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

The conservation corridors of the Benue National Park: Disconnected connection devices?

Elucidating Pathways and Discourses Linking Cocoa Cultivation to Deforestation, Reforestation, and Tree Cover Change in Nicaragua and Peru

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