Unpacking Equity for Protected Area Conservation
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PARKS parksjournal.com 2016 Vol 22.2 11 UNPACKING EQUITY FOR PROTECTED AREA CONSERVATION Kate Schreckenberg1*, Phil Franks2, Adrian Martin3 and Barbara Lang4 Corresponding author: [email protected] 1 Lecturer, Centre for Environmental Sciences, University of Southampton, UK 2 Senior Researcher, Biodiversity Team, Natural Resources Group, IIED, UK 3 Professor of Environment and Development, School of International Development, University of East Anglia, UK 4 Adviser, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany ABSTRACT There have been numerous calls to ensure that protected areas are governed and managed in an equitable manner. While there has been progress on assessing management effectiveness, there has been less headway on defining the equitable part of the equation. Here we propose a framework for advancing equity in the context of protected area conservation that was developed through a process of expert workshops and consultation and then validated at three sites in East Africa. The framework comprises three key dimensions (recognition, procedure and distribution) and 16 principles embedded in a set of enabling conditions, which we illustrate with reference to case studies. We go on to present the case for shifting the framing of protected area conservation from a livelihoods framing to an equity framing, justifying this from both a moral (normative) and instrumental perspective. Finally, we show how equity relates to a number of other key concepts (management effectiveness, governance and social impact) and related assessment tools in protected area conservation, before outlining a step-wise process for using the framework to advance equity in protected area conservation. Key words: Protected areas, Equity, Recognition, Procedure, Distribution, Environmental justice, Governance, INTRODUCTION addressing the “equitable management” dimension of Aichi Target 11 (WPC, 2014).1 The expression of these The global protected area estate has increased massively goals has coincided with increased emphasis within over the last few decades, reaching 14.7 per cent of sustainable development policy discourse more generally terrestrial and inland water areas and 4.12 per cent of (e.g. in the United Nations Sustainable Development marine areas (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN, 2016). Protected Goals) on addressing inequality and promoting equity. areas provide important global, national and local benefits by conserving biodiversity and maintaining In addition to the normative (or moral) argument for ecosystem services. Yet such benefits may come at a cost equitable conservation, there is growing to indigenous and local communities. The requirement acknowledgement that resentment and a sense of for protected areas to be equitably governed and injustice among those affected by protected areas can managed was introduced in the Convention on Biological drive threats to protected area conservation. Ignoring the Diversity’s 2004 Programme of Work on Protected Areas rights and needs of these groups has led to significant (in which goal 2.1 calls for the promotion of “equity and conflict (Lele et al., 2010). Conversely, the success of benefit sharing” and goal 2.2 calls for enhancing many areas conserved by Indigenous peoples and local “involvement of indigenous and local communities and communities makes a compelling case for the stronger relevant stakeholders”) and then in Aichi Biodiversity engagement of local rights-holders and stakeholders in Target 11 in 2010, which required that protected areas protected areas (Tauli Corpuz, 2016). A growing body of should be “effectively and equitably managed” (CBD, research provides evidence that empowerment of local 2010). In 2014, the IUCN World Parks Congress pressed people and more equitable sharing of benefits increase for greater progress on enhancing the governance of the likelihood of effective conservation (Oldekop et al., protected areas, adopting rights-based approaches and 2015). 10.2305/IUCN.CH.2016.PARKS-22-2KS.en PARKS VOL 22.2 NOVEMBER 2016 Schreckenberg et al. 12 Table 1. Brief description of the three validation cases Loita Community Forest, Amani Nature Reserve, Bwindi Impenetrable Kenya Tanzania National Park, Uganda Research University of Southampton University of East Anglia and International Institute for partners and Kenya Forestry Research Tanzania Forest Environment and Institute Conservation Group Development and Mbarara University Governance Community (formerly Trust) Government, with areas of Government type land; recognition by all joint forest management stakeholders that long-term stewardship by the Maasai community has conserved this forest area Size and 33,000 ha of dry upland 8,400 ha of submontane and 33,000 ha of montane ecosystem forest with central third of lowland forest. Part of the tropical forest type dense forest surrounded by Eastern Arc mountains, lighter woodlands prized for high numbers of endemic species Population About 25,000 Loita Maasai No people in the forest; No people in the forest, but live in and around the forest about 20 neighbouring very high density (up to 320 villages people per km2) around the edge Key Emergency grazing resource Species harvesting for Tourism (mountain gorillas); ecosystem for livestock during butterfly farming and Multiple Use Programme services droughts; Allanblackia plantations; allows local people limited timber and poles for water for downstream users access to harvest medicinal subsistence use by in Tanga; harvesting of plants, basketry resources community; water for firewood and medicinal and place beehives downstream users; plants increasingly a land reserve for settlement Main equity Lack of clarity over Distribution of tourism Distribution of tourism issues community rights; pressure revenues and water revenue; recognition of on land (encroachment) and benefits; compensation for Batwa pygmies; restrictions timber resources land of the Multiple Use Programme; human-wildlife conflict In spite of the increasing policy importance afforded to ‘equitable protected area conservation’ on the ground, achieving equitable governance and management of and, in broad terms, to assess progress. protected areas, in practice progress is often constrained We begin by outlining the process by which the proposed by differing understandings of what equity means, framework was developed and then present the different ideas of how to advance it, and because various framework itself, illustrating its different dimensions aspects of equity are addressed by a range of protected with case study examples. We then review why an equity area assessment methods (Burgess et al., 2014). This lack framing is important for protected area conservation of clarity is a recipe for weak political and financial and, in broad terms, how a shift from a livelihoods support, poorly constructed strategies, the inefficient use framing to an equity framing might be achieved. We go of resources, and a lack of accountability for action to on to explain how the concept (and assessment) of advance equity. equitable protected area conservation relates to other important concepts (management effectiveness, The aim of this paper, therefore, is to contribute to a governance, and social impact). Finally, we outline some greater understanding of what equity means in a steps to support policymakers, protected area managers, protected area context. We propose an equity framework Indigenous peoples, local communities and other local that should help rights-holders and stakeholders2 in stakeholders in advancing equitable conservation of protected areas of all governance types to operationalize protected areas at site, country and international level. PARKS VOL 22.2 NOVEMBER 2016 parksjournal.com 13 Resource Mapping by Manobo IP Community, Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Philippines © GIZ-COSERAM METHODOLOGY – DEVELOPING THE PROPOSED stakeholders, a draft version of the framework was EQUITY FRAMEWORK published in January 2016 (Franks & Schreckenberg, 2016). The proposed framework was developed in four steps. First, we reviewed a number of parallel streams of work Third, we undertook field validation of the draft including research on equity in the context of payments framework in three sites in East Africa (see Table 1), for ecosystem services (McDermott et al., 2013) and on selected to represent a range of ecosystems, governance environmental justice (Sikor, 2013), guidance developed types and equity issues. At each site, one of the authors of for the good governance of protected areas (Borrini- this paper worked with a national partner to validate the Feyerabend et al., 2013), and work promoting social equity framework through a series of semi-structured key assessment of protected areas (Franks & Small, 2016). In May 2015, a workshop of around 30 academics, policy- informant interviews (with community representatives, makers and practitioners (with a wide range of government and non-government staff, and tourism perspectives on equity, justice and conservation operators) and focus group discussions (held separately including NGOs engaged in advocacy for the rights of with men and women and with people of different ethnic Indigenous peoples and local communities) gave rise to a background). In most cases, we took a ‘bottom-up’ basic equity framework consisting of three main approach, asking respondents to identify the most dimensions. Although the framework draws on both the important equity issues in the area, what they felt was equity and