Social-Ecological Coevolution and Its Implications for Protected Area Management: Case Study in Natma Taung National Park, Myanmar

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Institute of International Forestry and Forest Products Social-Ecological Coevolution and its Implications for Protected Area Management: Case Study in Natma Taung National Park, Myanmar Pyi Soe Aung Born on: 26.04.1984 in Pyinmana Dissertation to achieve the academic degree Doctor rerum silvaticarum (Dr. rer. silv.) Supervisors Prof. Dr. Jürgen Pretzsch Chair of Tropical Forestry, Technische Universität Dresden Prof. Dr. Goddert von Oheimb Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Protection, Technische Universität Dresden Prof. Dr. Eivin Røskaft Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Submitted on: 30.08.2019 Defended on: 11.12.2019 Printed with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my principal supervisor, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Pretzsch for his guidance and support throughout my M.Sc and PhD journeys. This dissertation will not be qualified without his guidance, encouragement, and continuous supports. I am also grateful to Prof. Dr. Goddert von Oheimb for his comments and suggestions for my PhD research. I will always remember for his kindness and supports to finalise my dissertation in time. I am also thankful to Prof. Dr. Eivin Røskaft for sharing his valuable time to evaluate my dissertation. I would like to thank the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for awarding scholarships to continue my post-graduate studies in Germany. I am very grateful to the Myanmar Forest Department for allowing me to study in Germany. I wish to acknowledge the financial supports from Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to conduct the final consultation workshop at Natma Taung National Park. I am also thankful to the Graduate Academy (GA) and the Associations of Friends and Sponsors of TU Dresden e. V. (GFF) for awarding the completion and wrap-up grant to finalise my PhD study in Germany. I am deeply indebted to my colleagues from Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division for taking responsibilities of my office works during my leave of absence. I am particularly grateful to the park wardens, U Thein Lwin and U Tin Mya Soe, and my ranger colleagues for providing logistic assistance during my field works. My special thanks are extended to all my colleagues from the Chair of Tropical Forestry for providing a wonderful working environment during my stay in Tharandt. Finally, I would like to thank my wonderful parents, my lovely wife, and my precious daughter ’Amara’ for their patient, understanding, and encouragement throughout my PhD journey. ABSTRACT The conflict between protected area and local people is a major challenge for conservation in developing countries. The conventional top-down approach has failed mainly due to the exclusion of local people in conservation. A new management approach that promotes local participation and reduces conflicts is necessary to achieve both conservation and development objectives. Using the case of Natma Taung National Park (NTNP) in Myanmar, this study investigates the relationship between the protected area and local indigenous people living in and around the park. The social-ecological coevolution model is applied to explore the inter-linkages between the protected area and local people. The empirical analyses focus on three main thematic areas: local land tenure system, livelihood dependency on forest resources, and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of local people. The comparative study design is used to analyse similarities and differences among the three indigenous communities living inside, bordering, and outside the national park. Based on this information, four management scenarios are developed and evaluated by using multi-criteria decision analysis. Results indicate that local people mainly follow the traditional land tenure system rather than formal government regulations. However, local compliance with the traditional land tenure system are declining, particularly among the households located inside and at the borders of the park. Major drivers for this decline include top-down regulations by the national park, improved road access, and increased market demand for permanent cash crops. Regarding local livelihoods, the majority of households greatly rely on forest products for their sustenance. Despite restrictions from the national park, households inside and bordering the park have more forest income than those located outside the park. Thus, the contribution of forest income to poverty reduction is higher among households inside the park than those bordering and outside the park. However, the effect of forest income on reducing inequality is higher among households outside the park than those inside and bordering the park. Regarding traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), local people use different ii Abstract types of ecological knowledge and management practices that are important for conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Local TEK can be grouped into four different categories: resource-use practices, rules and regulations, customs and rituals, and taboos and totem. Although the awareness of these practices is still high, local compliance has declined within the last decade. The compliance rate is lower in TEK associated with normative belief systems than the TEK adopted based on instrumental perspectives. This particular trend is mainly influenced by changes in local religious beliefs, the introduction of alternative livelihood opportunities, and the degradation of environmental resources. Results from the three case studies support to evaluate the four management scenarios with different levels of local participation. Multi-criteria decision analysis indicates that collaboration with local stakeholders under the co-management scenario received the highest ranking scores to achieve effective conservation, sustainable livelihoods, and social justice. To improve the current management system of NTNP, the study recom- mends five key management strategies: (i) formalising customary tenure institutions to increase legitimacy of conservation regulations, (ii) developing target-specific rules to sustain local livelihoods and reduce people-park conflicts, (iii) incorporating traditional ecological knowledge and management practices to enhance local participation in conservation and reduce management costs, (iv) integrating adaptive monitoring and feedback mechanisms to improve resilience and adaptive capacity against unforeseen social-ecological changes, and (v) promoting integrated planning and management at regional level to improve collaboration among government organisations. Regarding theoretical aspects, the thesis highlights that effective conservation will not be achieved unless management institutions are in line with the social system and the natural environment. To develop effective management strategies, it is important to understand not only the ecological conditions of the protected area but also the socio- cultural context of local people. The thesis also emphasises that social characteristics such as local institutions, knowledge, and belief systems play important roles in maintaining the resilience of the target social-ecological system. Such characteristics are not static, but changing over time in response to the dynamic changes in government regulations, market conditions and local cultural belief. Understanding the pattern of transformation within the social-ecological system is essential to achieve long-term conservation goals and minimise social conflicts in the future. Keywords: social-ecological system; land tenure; forest dependency; traditional knowledge; adaptive co-management; protected area; Myanmar ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Der Konflikt zwischen Schutzgebieten und Einheimischen ist eine große Herausfor- derung für den Naturschutz in Entwicklungsländern. Der konventionelle Top-Down- Ansatz ist vor allem aufgrund des Ausschlusses der lokalen Bevölkerung in den Naturschutz gescheitert. Ein neuer Managementansatz, der die lokale Beteiligung fördert und Konflikte reduziert, ist erforderlich, um sowohl Erhaltungsziele als auch Entwicklungsziele zu erreichen. Diese Studie untersucht die Beziehung zwischen dem Schutzgebiet „Natma Taung Nationalpark“ (NTNP) und den einheimischen Urein- wohnern, die in und um den Park leben. Das sozial-ökologische Koevolutionsmodell wird angewendet, um die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen dem Schutzgebiet und der lokalen Bevölkerung zu untersuchen. Die empirischen Analysen konzentrieren sich auf drei Hauptthemenbereiche: Das lokale Landnutzungssystem, die Abhängigkeit des Lebensunterhalts von Waldressourcen und das traditionelle ökologische Wissen (TEK) der lokalen Bevölkerung. Ein vergleichendes Studiendesign wird verwendet, um Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen den drei indigenen Gemeinschaften zu analysieren, die innerhalb, an und außerhalb des Nationalparks leben. Basierend auf diesen Informationen werden vier Managementszenarien entwickelt und mithilfe einer multikriteriellen Entscheidungsanalyse bewertet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Bevölkerung vorwiegend dem traditionellen Land- besitzsystem statt den formellen staatlichen Vorschriften folgt. Die lokale Einhaltung des traditionellen Landbesitzsystems ist zurückgegangen, insbesondere bei den Haus- halten innerhalb und an den Grenzen des Parks. Zu den Haupttreibern für diesen Rückgang zählen Top-down-Vorschriften des Nationalparks, eine verbesserte Stra- ßenanbindung und

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