Tropical Resources Tropical Resources Institute TRI Steering Committee The Bulletin of the Tropical Resources The mission of the Tropical Resources Mark Ashton, Graeme Berlyn, William Burch, Institute is a student-edited bulletin where Institute is to provide a forum to support and Carol Carpenter, Timothy Clark, Lisa Curran, Master’s and PhD candidates from the Yale connect the initiatives of the Yale community Amity Doolittle, Michael Dove, Florencia School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in developing applied research, partnerships, Montagnini TROPICALTROPICAL RESOURCESRESOURCES publish the results of their TRI-funded and programs in the tropics. We support independent research. projects and research that aim to develop ©2005 by Yale Tropical Resources Institute TheThe BulletinBulletin ofof thethe YaleYale TropicalTropical ResourcesResources InstituteInstitute practical solutions to issues relating to Cover design ©2004 by MetaGlyfix Director conservation and management of tropical In This Issue Dr. Lisa M. Curran resources. Program Director Yale School of Forestry and Environmental About TRI 2005 Volume 24 Dr. Amity Doolittle Studies 4 Mission Statement and Vision 205 Prospect Street 5 From the Editors: Andrea Johnson and Laura Kiernan Editors New Haven, Connecticut 06511 Andrea Johnson, MESc 2005 United States of America 6 Letter from the Director: Dr. Lisa M. Curran Laura Kiernan, MEM 2006 www.yale.edu/tri Articles Layout 9 Methodology in a Time of Crackdown Nicole Rousmaniere Alder Keleman, MEM 2005 15 Contesting Copper: Documentary Film, Research, and Mining in Ecuador’s Intag Region David Kneas, MESc 2005 20 Payment for Environmental Services in Costa Rica: Carbon Sequestration Estimates of Native Tree Plantations Alvaro Redondo-Brenes, MFS 2005 30 Water-Use Efficiency in Hawaiian Trees: An Eco-physiological Approach and Methodology Sharifa Gulamhussein, MFS 2005 34 International Barriers to Information Access for Development in South Africa and Beyond: A Practical Guide to Dysfunctional Relationships Brett Galimidi, MEM 2005 42 Whale Shark “Ecotourism”in the Philippines and Belize: Evaluating Conservation Yale Tropical Resources Institute and Community Benefits Non-Profit Org. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Angela Quiros, MEM 2005 U.S. Postage 205 Prospect Street 49 Modeling from Below: The Social Dynamics of Land Use Change in the Buffer New Haven, CT 06511 PAID Zone of Cordillera Azul National Park, Peru U.S.A. New Haven, CT Permit No. 526 Rafael Eduardo Bernardi de León, MEM 2005 59 Organic Aquaculture in Ecuador: A More Sustainable Solution? Laura Cuoco, MESc 2005 66 Evaluating Capacity Building and Participatory Development in Community Timber Operations of the Petén, Gualemtala Lisa H. Patel, MESc 2005 73 Perspectives from the Field: Local People, International Organizations, and the a l R e s o Politics of Mangrove Conservation in Kenya i c u Amina Soud, MESc 2005 p r o c 78 Oil and Chicha: Indigenous Movements and Survival in the Ecuadoran Amazon e r s Rebecca Reider, MESc 2005 T 86 Integrating Forest Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation in Local Forest-Based Enterprises: A Case Study of the Woodcarving Industry, Ghana Dora Nsuwa Cudjoe, MEM 2005 93 Innovated Tradition: Transformation of Palakaw Fishing among the Amis of Faatan, Taiwan I e Po-Yi Hung, MESc 2005 n s t u t 100 Personal Reflections on the IUCN and the World Conservation Congress i t Lauren Baker, MEM 2005 104 Announcing the TRI 2005-2006 Fellows

In memory of Laurie Cuoco, 1974-2005

On May 10th, 2005, Laurie Cuoco left us far too soon. The F&ES community extends our deepest sympathies to her family. In celebration of her life and in grief at her passing, we dedicate this year’s Bulletin to Laurie.

Laurie's fascination with coastal environments took her to Ecuador to explore the effects of organic aquaculture on mangrove forests and local peoples. Some of her findings appear on page 59 of this Bulletin. Illustration on previous page from Margaret Mee in Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forests. 1988. Tony Morrison, ed. Nonesuch Expeditions Ltd., Suffolk, England.

TROPICAL RESOURCES The Bulletin of the Yale Tropical Resources Institute

2005 Volume 24

In This Issue

About TRI 4 Mission Statement and Vision 5 From the Editors: Andrea Johnson and Laura Kiernan 6 Letter from the Director: Dr. Lisa M. Curran

Articles 9 Methodology in a Time of Crackdown Alder Keleman, MEM 2005 15 Contesting Copper: Documentary Film, Research, and Mining in Ecuador’s Intag Region David Kneas, MESc 2005 20 Payment for Environmental Services in Costa Rica: Carbon Sequestration Estimates of Native Tree Plantations Alvaro Redondo-Brenes, MFS 2005 30 Water-Use Efficiency in Hawaiian Trees: An Eco-physiological Approach and Methodology Sharifa Gulamhussein, MFS 2005 34 International Barriers to Information Access for Development in South Africa and Beyond: A Practical Guide to Dysfunctional Relationships Brett Galimidi, MEM 2005 42 Whale Shark “Ecotourism”in the Philippines and Belize: Evaluating Conservation and Community Benefits Angela Quiros, MEM 2005 49 Modeling from Below: The Social Dynamics of Land Use Change in the Buffer Zone of Cordillera Azul National Park, Peru Rafael Eduardo Bernardi de León, MEM 2005 59 Organic Aquaculture in Ecuador: A More Sustainable Solution? Laura Cuoco, MESc 2005 66 Evaluating Capacity Building and Participatory Development in Community Timber Operations of the Petén, Gualemtala Lisa H. Patel, MESc 2005 73 Perspectives from the Field: Local People, International Organizations, and the Politics of Mangrove Conservation in Kenya Amina Soud, MESc 2005 78 Oil and Chicha: Indigenous Movements and Survival in the Ecuadoran Amazon Rebecca Reider, MESc 2005 86 Integrating Forest Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation in Local Forest-Based Enterprises: A Case Study of the Woodcarving Industry, Ghana Dora Nsuwa Cudjoe, MEM 2005 93 Innovated Tradition: Transformation of Palakaw Fishing among the Amis of Faatan, Taiwan Po-Yi Hung, MESc 2005 100 Personal Reflections on the IUCN and the World Conservation Congress Lauren Baker, MEM 2005 104 Announcing the TRI 2005-2006 Fellows

Yale Tropical Resources Institute: Envisioning Synthesis and Synergy

Mission

The Mission of the Tropical Resources Institute is the application of interdisciplinary, problem- oriented, applied research to the creation of practical solutions to the most complex challenges confronting the management of tropical resources worldwide. Lasting solutions will be achieved though the integration of social and economic needs with ecological realities, the strengthening of local institutions in collaborative relationships with international networks, the transfer of knowl- edge and skills between local, national, and international actors, and the training and education of a cadre of future environmental leaders.

Vision

The problems surrounding the management of tropical resources are rapidly increasing in com- plexity, while demands on those resources are expanding exponentially. Emerging structures of global environmental governance and local conflicts over land use and environmental conservation require new strategies and leaders who are able to function across a diversity of disciplines and sec- tors and at local and global scales. The Tropical Resources Institute aims to build linkages across the natural and social sciences and among government agencies, academia and practitioners, enabling the formation of successful partnerships and collaborations among researchers, activists and governments. The Tropical Resources Institute seeks to train students to be leaders in this new era, leveraging resources, knowledge, and expertise among governments, scientists, NGOs, and communities to provide the information and tools this new generation will require to equitably address the challenges ahead.

4 Volume 24, Spring 2005

Dear Readers,

It is with pride in our fellow students that we present the 2004-2005 TRI Bulletin. This year’s Bulletin reflects several emergent topics in conservation – topics which, in turn, speak to the moment we are in as a professional community. Running through these pieces we see an impulse to assess the current state of conservation practice – with an eye, always, to doing it better.

Several writers focus on the role of international organizations, articulating complexities and ten- sions within global environmental governance. Lauren Baker provides a personal reflection on IUCN activities, including its recent World Conservation Conference in Bangkok, while Amina Soud com- ments on WWF’s heavy influence on Kenyan environmental policies and Laura Cuoco lays out the controversy over a German NGO’s certification of “organic” shrimp farming.

Other articles explore institutional relationships between these types of organizations and local peo- ple. Both Brett Galimidi’s diagnosis of dysfunctions in information communications technology proj- ects and Lisa Patel’s analysis of building “social capital” demonstrate why conservation organizations often fall short in implementation with communities. Rebecca Reider gives a nuanced argument that successful social movements are those which attend to local livelihood needs. These insightful pieces challenge us to create more successful projects and strategies by paying real attention to the social dynamics of context. Our two pieces on ecotourism embody these challenges, as Po-Yi Hung teases out complex dynamics of power and representation among Taiwan’s indigenous Amis people, while Angela Quiros’s case studies provide recommendations for more beneficial whale shark tourism.

Another thread running through this year’s articles is the linkage between large-scale environmen- tal or economic phenomena and local practices. Rafael Bernardi presents a unique iterative modeling effort, showing how colonists’ activities at the community level in Peru’s Huallaga Valley relate to broad patterns of land use change and frontier development. Alvaro Redondo’s analysis of the efficacy of var- ious species for carbon sequestration is embedded within a Costa Rica-wide initiative to make reforesta- tion operational on a local farm scale. Sharifa Gulamhussein explores the utility of using eco-physiolo- gy as an approach to native species restoration in Hawaii’s highly degraded landscapes. We may also see Dora Cudjoe’s discipline-crossing research, which links the needs of Ghanaian artesian carvers to indus- trial wood processing efficiency initiatives and export markets, in this light.

An important outcome of the master’s research process is learning to create and critique appropri- ate methodology, and two strong pieces in this volume show how seriously F&ES students take this task. Both Alder Keleman’s reflection on the questions she did and didn’t ask and David Kneas’s med- itation on using a video camera in the field ask key questions about the role of the researcher and the nature of field findings.

The quality of this volume stands as a reminder of the long hours, both in tropical field sites and New Haven computer labs, that many people have invested – not only student researchers, but also, and especially, Nicole Rousmaniere, layout genius; Amity Doolittle, our tireless TRI doyenne; and Lisa Curran, indomitable Institute director. As editors, we would like to thank all our writers for their hard work and patience with this long process. We hope you enjoy the read.

Andrea Johnson, MESc 2005 & Laura Kiernan, MEM 2006

Tropical Resources Bulletin 5

Dear TRI Community,

TRI has had yet another productive and diverse year. Just a few examples include: expand- ing our collaborations with international non-government and academic institutions, receiving additional funding from a diversity of sources, as well as expanding our international environmen- tal justice program. Important areas of excellence and research that have been made available by the generous support of our funding partners include a Video Center (donated by the Class of 1980), Compton Foundation research grants, and World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) support for student research in Africa.

In this regard, special thanks must go to Program Director, Dr. Amity Doolittle, whose lead- ership in program development, student professional training, and fund-raising has been excep- tional. TRI also owes a particular debt of thanks to F&ES Graduate, Diane Russell. She has been an active promoter and sponsor of TRI within ICRAF. We are particularly excited that ICRAF supported our publication of five working papers under the Agroforestry in Landscape Mosaics (ALAM) partnership. These working papers are based on previous research by F&ES and University of Georgia students in collaboration with ICRAF.

Another exciting development from this year is that TRI became an active voting member of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Program Director Amity Doolittle and Associate Dean Gordon Geballe led a delegation of two faculty members and twenty-one master’s and doctoral stu- dents from TRI to IUCN’s World Conservation Congress in Bangkok in November 2004. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Aban Kabraji for promoting and making this connection possible. In addition, for the past two years IUCN has sponsored two summer internships for F&ES students.

Students were equally active this year. A highlight was the holding of a dynamic student con- ference “Conservation in the Matrix” by the International Society for Tropical Forestry (ISTF). With over twenty speakers and one hundred attendees (from academia, institutions, NGOs, and governmental agencies), this interdisciplinary event stimulated tremendous discussion and debate. The student organizers, especially Alder Keleman and Ines Angulo, are to be commended for their professional skills in organizing this highly successful event.

The Class of 1980 Video Center is another student-led initiative. David Kneas not only raised the funds from the Class of 1980, but also established a professional and state-of the art video editing center at TRI, produced videos from his summer research, and assisted several oth- ers in video production and processing. This facility was used by several TRI students and oth- ers in the F&ES community who wish to incorporate video and documentary research into their projects.

The TRI Bulletin has been greatly improved, not only by the excellent range and quality of student submissions, but by the hours of careful reviewing by our editors, Laura Kiernan and

6 Volume 24, Spring 2005

Andrea Johnson, and by the care and attention to layout and design provided by Nicole Rousmaniere. In closing, I trust you will enjoy this TRI Bulletin. We would appreciate hearing from you and appreciate any suggestions, potential collaborations, or additional opportunities for students and expanding our programmatic reach.

Best wishes,

Lisa M. Curran Associate Professor Director Tropical Resources Institute Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Tropical Resources Bulletin 7

2004 TRI Fellows

Belize: Angela Quiros Costa Rica: Alvaro Redondo-Brenes Ecuador: David Kneas Laura Cuoco Rebecca Reider Ghana: Dora Nsuwa Cudjoe Guatemala: Lisa Patel Hawaii: Sharifa Gulamhussein Kenya: Amina Soud Mexico: Alder Keleman Peru: Rafael Bernardi de León Philippines: Angela Quiros South Africa: Brett Galimidi Taiwan: Po-Yi Hung Thailand: Lauren Baker

8 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Methodology in a Time of Crackdown

by Alder Keleman, MEM 2005

The Scenario to distant ranch communities. And with an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach, you It’s 11:00 am on your first day of summer wonder, “Have I come to the wrong place?” research in rural Sonora, Mexico. Full of ener- gy, your thoughts are on your intended Where and Why research target: crop diversity on local dryland farms. You’ve stopped to speak to a friendly old My summer Master’s research was a study man sitting on a rocking chair in front of a of the persistence of crop diversity on small-scale restaurant when the racket of a low-flying heli- dryland farms in southern Sonora, Mexico. The copter interrupts the conversation. research objectives were to generate a baseline “What’s that?” you ask when the noise assessment of the persistence or loss of crop subsides. diversity in the region, and to frame this assess- “It’s the militares” – the Mexican military ment in the context of drought, free trade, and – the old man replies. “They arrived yesterday. trends toward mechanized, large-scale commer- They say there are several hundred of them, all cial production. Methodologically, the research federal troops. The state and federal govern- would be carried out using both quantitative ments recently agreed to come down hard on methods and qualitative methods, including the drug trade in Sonora, and these guys have structured surveys, informal interviews, and par- come to get rid of all of the gente mala [bad ticipant observation. Institutional support for people] in the region.” He then launches into a the endeavor was provided by Native Seeds/ tirade about the pervasiveness of the drug trade SEARCH (NS/S), a Tucson-based seed bank in nearby farming communities. with a 25-year history of collecting diverse crop Eventually, the conversation wanders to varieties in the American Southwest and other topics, and you cordially extract yourself. Northwest Mexico. However, since NS/S had Walking away, you ponder the violent history no institutional partners in Mexico, I arrived in of military action in Latin America, and the sto- Sonora with the intention of undertaking the ries of hapless foreigners caught in these inci- research through contacts of my own making, dents. You think about your research objectives, or, failing that, completely on my own. which involve traveling by public transportation I knew before arriving that illegal activity in my field site was an important consideration. Friends and family repeatedly reminded me Born and raised in Central Washington State, Alder that my destination had a reputation for drug Keleman spent the year prior to coming to Yale as a and human trafficking, observations to which I Thomas J. Watson Fellow studying the use of biodi- responded that these issues were far removed versity for sustainable development in Australia and from my research topics. Within a few weeks in Latin America. She will graduate from the joint Forestry-International Relations master's program in Mexico, however, it became apparent that this 2006, and hopes to pursue further work and research was an unrealistic approach on my part, espe- in the community-level application of international cially in light of local household economics. environmental patterns and programs. Sesame, the most lucrative legal commercial

Tropical Resources Bulletin 9 Alder Keleman crop in the region, is sold to local buyers at maintain safety, I could still pursue research on seven pesos (~70 cents) per kilo, and the tradi- local crop diversity. For support, I hired a 54- tional crops that my research targeted garner year old farmer from a nearby ranch communi- even less.1 Wage laborers – agricultural or non ty, who had connections with NS/S from earli- – are typically paid between 45 and 100 pesos er years, as my field assistant. I never visited the per day. In contrast, the conversations I ranch communities without his company or engaged in regarding the economics of “the that of another local. I also gave up on original other crop” suggest that day laborers in moun- thoughts of living on the ranches themselves tain marijuana fields may be paid as much as and stayed instead in the more urban county 200 pesos per day, with food and other expens- seat, where I rented a room from an elderly es included. The harvested crop is said to garner grandmother with a respected family name. up to 1000 pesos per kilo.2 In terms of house- Having a local family association seemed to lend hold economics, these figures leave little room an added measure of security and credibility. for doubt that income from the drug trade mer- As luck would have it, living with this its serious consideration.3 family provided an opportunity to talk to farm- According to long-term observers, local ers in an in-town setting. My host rented office material culture reflects these economic changes. space to a local NGO, which administered gov- For instance, author David Yetman (1996) ernment farm support programs. The volume makes much of the increased visibility of flashy of farmers frequenting the small office was pickups in rural areas, distinguishing them as a high, and the administrator allowed me to marker of increased income from drug money. install myself on a bench and interview the Another long-term resident of the region point- farmers who visited. These initial conversations ed out that luxury clothing, such as gold chains provided information for designing the surveys and silk shirts, has become much more common that I administered later in the summer. among young men in the last decade. In this The drawback of these measures was that context, trends toward greater disposable income the time I spent with farmers was nearly always also imply a trend toward new patterns of eco- a short-term interaction mediated by another nomic decision making, raising a question rele- institution or individual. Spending no more vant to my research objectives: in the context of than a few hours per day in the ranch commu- more disposable income, what new decisions are nities meant that I was not present to hear sto- being made about traditional crops? ries that might have emerged during longer vis- its. Furthermore, many of my conversations What to Do? were refereed by my field assistant or were held within earshot of the NGO administrator. The questions spurred by the realization Although I worried that their presence might that the drug trade was a pervasive influence in influence survey respondents’ answers, these the region were many. Do I stay or go? If I stay, seemed reasonable tradeoffs to make for safety.4 how do I stay safe? How do I pursue my Wrangling with the ethical and method- research methodology as planned? Do I ological challenge of designing a framework for acknowledge the drug trade in my methodolo- acknowledging the drug trade in data collection gy and data collection? led me to establish a baseline rubric of princi- Addressing these questions proved to be a ples.5 First, in the interest of safety and reputa- process of tradeoffs. Initially, I decided to stay tion, I would ask no direct, public questions long enough to get the lay of the land and came about the drug trade; such questions would be to feel that, within the boundaries necessary to asked only in private to trusted individuals.

10 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Methodology in a Time of Crackdown

On Ejido La Higuera, an older farmer plows his soon-to-be maize field with mules. While many farmers in the region have taken to the practice of hiring a tractor, traditional, non- mechanized plowing methods remain a common method of cultivation. Photograph by Alder Keleman

Second, any information I recorded about the will be more likely to remain in farm communi- trade would be written in a way that disguised the ties rather than seek wage employment elsewhere. individuals involved. I would record no informa- The opposing explanation holds that those tion that could directly link a specific individual involved in drug cultivation do not reinvest their to a specific illegal act. Finally, any mention of money in farming, but rather, spend it on other illegal activity in a tape-recorded interview would material goods, such as store-bought food, cloth- be avoided or erased. These guidelines did not ing, vehicles, firearms, and gasoline. These pat- ward off uncomfortable situations, but they did terns should exacerbate the exodus of young peo- give me confidence in my ability to navigate ple from farming communities, who leave either information on both legal and illegal activity.6 to escape violence or because disposable income allows them to move to an urban setting. Results (?) Empirical evidence to directly support these theories would be difficult to acquire How do observations about the dynamics without asking direct and systematic questions of the drug trade relate to the objectives of the to individuals involved in the drug trade. research at hand? On an immediate scale, they However, a visit I made to one community, a pose the question of how the drug economy number of whose residents had recently moved influences the persistence – or loss – of local from the remote mountain regions, shed light crop diversity. This question, in turn, dovetails on the complexities that the two explanations with queries about the changing economics and above may mask. Few of these individuals com- demographics of small-scale farming. mented on their decision to move, but one Two opposing explanations address the woman indicated that her family had traded effects of the drug trade on local demographic and secure, stable land tenure in the hills for unsta- economic patterns.7 One explanation holds that ble tenure in the community they currently the increased household income generated by cul- inhabited. She suggested that, although her hus- tivating a group of illegal and legal cash crops, plus band continued to cultivate a plot of land near subsistence crops, should allow farmers to invest their former residence, drug-related violence in in their farms and to break out of cycles of debt the community was too great a risk to justify liv- and poverty. This theory predicts that children ing there.8 These families’ choice to migrate sug-

Tropical Resources Bulletin 11 Alder Keleman

A colorful array of San Juan corn awaits planting in the summer rainy season. Some families in Southern Sonora continue to select and perpet- uate multi-colored varieties of corn, but the practice is not widespread, due perhaps in part to a local prefer- ence for white and yellow tortillas. Photograph by Alder Keleman.

gests that the drug economy did not make farm- while some native varieties continued to be culti- ing in their former home more tenable. vated extensively in the region, other native vari- However, the fact that they moved from one eties had all but disappeared. Some respondents farming community to another implies no clear cited environmental reasons for this shift, stating conclusions about the drug economy’s influence that the varieties which were still planted persist- on farming in general.9 ed because of greater drought resistance. The socioeconomic effects of drug income However, a less frequent – but repeated – answer are also ambiguous. According to informal con- was that even some of the drought-resistant vari- versations, local perceptions disagree with the eties had been neglected because “the women idea that drug profits may support agriculture. found them too hard to grind.” Area residents suggested that drug money is sel- Dietary preferences reflect this change as dom reinvested in livestock, farm equipment, or well. Many households in the region now make other farm-related goods, but is instead dedicat- tortillas from pre-ground, purchased corn flour. ed to basic household needs, or frivolous expen- Assuming that the hardness of the neglected vari- ditures.10 However, the picture painted by eties has not increased significantly over the years, information on the dynamics of household eco- the prevalence of pre-ground corn flour in local nomic decision-making is less clear. An in-depth diets would seem to point to an increased orien- survey in one ranch community included quali- tation toward commercial products. Given that tative queries about individuals’ spending pref- other economic opportunities in the immediate erences given hypothetical disposable income. vicinity, such as the availability of wage labor in As a general rule, respondents in the communi- agriculture or industry, have not changed ty indicated a desire to invest in livestock or to markedly over the 10-15 year-period in which cover basic household subsistence.11 These the loss of these varieties is reported to have answers conflict with other residents’ informal occurred, it is possible that the combination of observations about spending preferences. changes brought about by the drug economy and There is also grey area in the question of how the drought has shifted food preferences from (or if) the drug economy affects farmers’ decision native home-grown corn varieties towards indus- to cultivate traditional crops. Survey and interview trially produced commercial products.12 questions about corn cultivation indicated that,

12 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Methodology in a Time of Crackdown

Conclusions the influences that surrounded it. However, without employing a variety of qualitative meth- In the context of this project’s research ods, ranging from non-quantitative interviews to objectives, these observations raise more ques- listening to gossip, I would have had difficulty tions than they answer. As the preceding section generating appropriate survey questions, let suggests, few firm conclusions can be drawn alone gathering information on the influences of about the direct influence of the drug trade on the drug economy. In other words, had I local agricultural patterns. Indirect information attempted to continue my conversations over presents conflicting and tenuous conclusions, the sound of a low-flying helicopter, I might and the safety and ethical issues surrounding simply have heard nothing at all. data collection make ground-truthing unfeasi- ble. The data available paints an ambiguous pic- Acknowledgements ture, suggesting that an intermediate explana- Many thanks are due to José Banda tion, accounting for the interaction of the drug Valenzuela and the community of La Higuera for economy with other environmental and social their cooperation and support during my fieldwork. influences, may be most appropriate. Michael Dove, John Tuxill, Amity Doolittle, Nevertheless, if the drug trade had been com- Stephanie Meyer, Suzanne Nelson, and the staff of pletely ignored in my research methodology and Native Seeds/SEARCH also provided key insights data collection, it might be impossible to suggest and helping hands in this undertaking. Finally, I even this intermediate explanation. am grateful to my family who, rather demanding What does my experience suggest for that I come home immediately upon hearing about methodology in future studies? A primary ques- the conditions described in this article, offered tion is whether or not any methodology is unwavering emotional and intellectual support. appropriate for approaching these issues. It is possible that a longer period of fieldwork than Endnotes that discussed here (some two months) would 1 For instance, corn sold in 2003 at two pesos yield a more thorough understanding, but the (~ 20 cents) per kilo, while the native beans and opposite might also be true. I sensed that peo- squash that families still plant sold for five to ten ple were willing to speak to me about the drug pesos per several-kilo crate. trade at the beginning of my fieldwork in part 2 Weinberg (1998) recorded the price of crops because they saw me as an outsider, disconnect- in Tarahumara communities in Chihuahua as 200 ed from the social and political networks that pesos per kilo. The disparity between these two figures influenced them.13 Conversations on this sub- could be explained by a number of factors, including ject were far fewer as the research period pro- the different distances from markets in Sonora and gressed, a fact which could be explained partly Chihuahua and changes in the value of the peso from by local political conditions,14 but which could 1998 to 2004. Despite these discrepancies, however, also be due to individuals’ increasing ability to it remains clear that the value of marijuana as a cash place me as a non-neutral actor in the context crop is overwhelmingly higher than the value of any of local social and political networks. other commercial crop alternative. One firm conclusion that I draw from this 3 For a masterful overview of the costs, bene- experience is the importance of using a combina- fits, and community-scale effects of illegal drug cul- tion of quantitative and qualitative methodolo- tivation and processing in the Bolivian Yungas gies in environmental social science research. My region, see Leons (1993). Goodhand (2000) pro- research objectives required me to make a quan- vides a similarly insightful outline of the shift titative assessment of native crop persistence and towards drugs in both agriculture and trade in the

Tropical Resources Bulletin 13 Alder Keleman north-eastern Afghanistan border region. and, more specifically ,with a decline in the number 4 Preliminary statistical analyses suggest that of Native American landowners and farmers (1989: there are no significant differences between crop 66-85). Among Native Americans in the Southwest diversity answers given in the presence of my field US and Northern Mexico, the rise in dietary preva- assistant or the presence of the NGO employee. lence of store-bought, high-sugar, low-fiber foods is This does not eliminate the possibility that both of also associated with rapidly rising rates of diabetes them might have skewed answers in the same direc- (Nabhan 2002). The reasons why individuals choose tion, but this is highly unlikely given that they held to shift from home-grown to store-bought foods very different social positions and types of influence most likely include a combination of environmental, over the farmers I spoke with. social, and economic factors that vary from commu- 5 Thanks are due to John Tuxill and Michael nity to community, but there remains little doubt Dove for their insights and guidance on this issue. that this shift is occurring. 6 Goodhand (2000) notes similar complexities 13 It may also have been assumed at the begin- and approaches to addressing them in his study of ning that I didn’t speak or understand Spanish well the opium economy of north-eastern Afghanistan. enough to understand the discussions that were going 7 These explanations are my synthesis of observa- on around me. I had the impression more than once tions from literature, testimonies from individuals in that people thought they were talking over my head Sonora, and conversations with NS/S employees. when they were speaking about sensitive issues. 8 It should be acknowledged, however, that 14 The military left one month into my stay in while the migration suggests a movement away from the region and, around the time of their departure, former homes associated with the drug trade, it may the nature and frequency of conversations about the be that these individuals were not directly involved in drug trade seemed to shift; without the visual the trade. This possibility limits the conclusions that reminder of the military’s presence, the issue of can be drawn about demographic patterns of those drugs and their eradication seemed to weigh less families who are directly involved in drug cultivation. strongly on individuals’ minds. 9 No information is available on the propor- tion of individuals choosing to migrate to urban References areas and forgo cultivation altogether, as opposed to Goodhand, J. 2000. From holy war to opium war? those migrants who seek another plot of land. A case study of the opium economy in north- 10 Weinberg’s (1998) observations suggested sim- eastern Afghanistan. Disasters 24(2): 87-102. ilar destinations for drug-related income in Chihuahua. Leons, M.B. 1993. Risk and opportunity in the 11 Further analysis of these responses is neces- coca/cocaine economy of the Bolivian Yungas. sary to verify that they do not vary significantly by age Journal of Latin American Studies 25(2): 121-157. or by gender. It is also possible that, since the commu- Nabhan, G.P. 1989. Enduring Seeds: Native nity in which this survey was carried out was located American Agriculture and Wild Plant quite far from the major drug-producing areas and Conservation. North Point Press, New York. the residents were not, to my understanding, heavily Nabhan, G.P. 2002. Coming Home to Eat: The involved in the trade, these individuals may have been Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods. W.W. self-selected for spending preferences that did not lead Norton & Company, New York. them to participate in illegal activities. Weinberg, B. 1998. The Agony of the Tarahumara. 12 Nabhan (1989, 2002) notes a shift away Native Americas 15(3): 44. from native crops towards hybrid crops and commer- Yetman, D. 1996. Sonora: An Intimate Geography. cial foods in small-scale farming. In the US, these University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. changes are associated with the broader shift away from small-scale agriculture among rural populations

14 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Contesting Copper: Documentary Film, Research, and Mining in Ecuador’s Intag Region

by David Kneas, MESc 2005

I spent much of the summer of 2004 in The goal of this essay is to reflect on the role of Ecuador’s Intag region, a remote cloud forest documentary film, and research that incorpo- area on the northwest slope of the Ecuadoran rates film, in contests over natural resources Andes. Bishimetals, a subsidiary of the where unequal relations of power structure the Mitsubishi Corporation, arrived in the region social and political arenas in which those con- in 1994, wanting to exploit a copper deposit tests take place. Film is a medium of representa- beneath the mountain range that forms a natu- tion; as such it can be used in both symbolic and ral border between Intag and a large national material ways to affect the dimensions of park. Mitsubishi left the region in 1997, how- resource conflict. Incorporating film into ever, after the local population burned the research, then, influences not only the dynamics company’s camps to the ground in opposition of the local situation, but also the nature of the to mining. No other company set foot in Intag research project itself. until May 2004, when a small mining compa- ny called Ascendant Exploration acquired the Representation and Conflict subsoil mineral concession from the Ministry of Energy and Mines and began seeking local con- Struggles over material resources are sent to undertake further exploration of the simultaneously discursive contests over mean- copper deposit. Under the guise of protecting ing, identity, and representation, involving dif- its personnel against “eco-terrorists” – the state ferent actors across various scales, from the local initially labeled the camp’s burning an act of to the global.1 Be it the Ecuadoran state meas- terrorism – Ascendant has employed a body- uring and mapping a copper deposit or a guard who accompanies Ascendant personnel researcher or local activist filming a mining while they are in the region and often has a pis- company’s public rhetoric, the ability to record tol visible. and represent is powerful. Whether re-playing a In conjunction with research on the World meeting or event to a local audience, or provid- Bank’s role in Ecuador’s national mining pro- ing video footage for wider national and inter- gram, I filmed public meetings between Intag national media, the capacity to record and rep- residents and representatives of Ascendant, as resent influences how, and under what terms, well as local encounters with public officials. arguments for and against mining are made and contested. The incorporation of documentary David Kneas, originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, film into research, allied with those in Intag has lived, worked, and done research in Ecuador for who oppose mining, attempts to check, bal- a total of more than four years. He completed his ance, and foil some of the discursive arguments undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences and Spanish at DePauw University in 2000. Upon gradu- and tools employed by the entities that support ation, he hopes to start a non-profit combining his mining. These institutions and actors include research on resource conflicts with his passion for the Ecuadoran national government, which has quilting. declared mining a national priority; the World

Tropical Resources Bulletin 15

David Kneas

Intag residents carry anti-mining posters to region-wide meeting on mining in the town of Garica Moreno, July 17, 2004. Photograph by Carlos Zorilla.

Bank, which initiated Ecuador’s national min- general placed in charge of community rela- ing program; Ascendant Exploration, which tions, attempt to limit the ability of the oppo- has a heavy stake in Intag; and some of Intag’s sition to present counter-arguments that might powerful pro-mining large landowners and undermine Ascendant’s mining narrative. political brokers. The use of documentary film operates at The bodyguard and the gun are, in large various levels in this context. At one level, it aims measure, discursive symbols directed at the to lessen the immediate power and presence of entire Intag region. The gun aims to quiet the the gun, maintaining and opening the political voices of resistance – in a sense, to limit the space through which the population can re- ability of the local population to challenge or frame and receive arguments about mining. At re-frame the nationalist discourse put forth by another level, it creates a medium where local Ascendant Exploration and its local and actors can disseminate those counter-arguments national allies. At one public meeting I filmed, through wider discourses and institutions (such Cesar Villacis, a former military general and as environmental and human rights discourses Ascendant’s community relations director and and corresponding organizations) that oppose political liaison, argued that opposition to min- mining in Intag. For example, in response to ing stemmed from foreign environmental inter- Villacis’ comments at the public meeting, a local locutors. By depicting opposition as foreign- leader also spoke, directing his comments both based, such rhetoric delegitimizes local resist- to the local audience and to outside observers. ance and, at the same time, represents Villacis He affirmed that mining in Intag was indeed a and Ascendant as defenders of Intag’s right to question of national rights, stating that the com- “development and progress.” Portraying min- munities who resisted mining were upholding ing as merely a means towards the end of their national and human rights to live in a national development gives Ascendant and the healthy environment. Local organizers assured national government the upper hand in the dis- that every public meeting was filmed and made cursive contest about what mining is and who the video footage available for sympathetic mining will benefit. In this contest of meaning, national media, national human rights organiza- the gun and the bodyguard, as well as a military tions, and lawyers who were helping to develop

16 Volume 24, Spring 2005

Contesting Copper: Documentary Film, Research, and Mining in Ecuador’s Intag Region

Intag residents hear from Ascendant in the town of Penaherrera, July 10, 2004. Photograph by Carlos Zorilla.

a legal case against Ascendant and the Ministry with one of Intag’s environmental leaders, and of Energy and Mines.2 allowed it to be accessed via the internet. This With a video camera in hand, then, I was footage is also being used by Intag organizers to deemed useful to anti-mining organizers and, help network with other national and interna- therefore, was involved in local organizing against tional organizations. mining. By the end of the summer, in many Being useful for local organizers helped me ways, I felt the bodyguard and I were counter- overcome one principle obstacle for social scien- parts. He was an outsider who shadowed the tists in the field: access. I was included in meet- mining company as an (officially) objective ings and discussions I might otherwise have observer. He never spoke at public meetings, the been excluded from had I only been equipped gun a greater agent than he. I, too, was an out- with a pen, paper, and thesis topic; my interests sider, (officially) objective, who accompanied and intentions in the region were easily under- anti-mining leaders the same way he shadowed stood. And though I had lived in the region for company representatives. I never spoke either, a few years and had already produced a film my video camera a greater agent than I. about the resistance to mining, incorporating video into my field research helped me gain rap- Video as a Research Tool port with people more quickly. Instead of ask- ing to accompany organizers to planning ses- With my video camera, I had power to sions or public events, local organizers asked me represent and convey the communities’ conflict to join them, often calling me while I was in the in a manner that was perhaps different from the city to inform me of an immediate or up-com- social scientist’s standard power of the pen. ing event that they wanted me to film. Instead Film can not only reach a much wider audience of just observing the organizing process against outside of Ecuador, but also provides a medi- mining, I was participating in that organizing. um more conducive to local and national distri- Greater public presence and purpose had bution.3 I screened a video clip from my sum- tradeoffs, however, as it reduced access and rap- mer research at an academic conference last fall, port with the mining company and those who at a speaking engagement I arranged at Yale supported mining in the region. In this contest

Tropical Resources Bulletin 17 David Kneas of representation, the meaning of my research allow documentary video to have an everyday project, as well as my own identity, became iden- presence, in addition to planned formal gather- tified with the resistance community and anti- ings and public events. While it took burning a mining discourse. Though I was able to speak mining camp for Mitsubishi to leave the with Ascendant personnel and mining officials region, organizers in Intag hope that majority during the entire summer, the more I became opposition to mining and sound arguments seen as part of the local organizing, my ability to against the rationale to open the region to gain information and insight from interviews large-scale mining will be sufficient. The incor- and conversations with mining proponents less- poration of documentary film into local organ- ened greatly. I was never able to develop rapport izing and independent research not only helps and trust with mining representatives or officials; secure the political space through which the I could never hope to be privy to mining’s “hid- population can express opposition to mining, den transcript” (Scott 1990). but also disseminates and connects their argu- While I had originally intended for the ments through wider discourses that question bulk of my Master’s thesis to deal with the the logic of mining in the Intag region. World Bank and Ecuador’s national mining program, the video footage has proven to be a Acknowledgements rich source of material for analysis of the dis- The video project would not have been possi- cursive contest over mining in Intag and ble without the Class of 1980, who provided the Ecuador. With an exact record of public meet- financial support to establish a documentary film ings and statements made by company person- center within TRI. It equally would not have nel, I have been able to more effectively decon- occurred without the unwavering and patient sup- struct Ascendant’s mining and environmental port of Amity Doolittle. I would also like to thank discourse; with visual footage of public meet- the editors of the TRI bulletin for their careful and ings I am able to reflect upon tone, rhetoric, insightful comments. expressions, and the overall “structure of feel- ing” (Williams 1977). In combination with Endnotes formal interviews and ethnographic field notes, 1 Based on the work of Michel Foucault, I documentary film has proven to be a valuable view discourse as the array of knowledge, language, research method. and political arguments that give meaning and legit- In the context of this discussion on the imacy to certain modes of thought, social practices, relations of power that structure resource con- and institutions, while rejecting or de-legitimizing tests, I would be remiss if I did not observe that others (Foucault 1972). depending on outside researchers to film events 2 Local organizers have been in contact with an in Intag is problematic. Recognizing this, local Ecuadoran national TV program similar to 60 organizers have been working to acquire the Minutes and used footage of the interchange I equipment and skills so that the local popula- described above to try and persuade the producers to tion can use the power of film independent of do a complete story on Intag. It is worth noting that outsiders. While there are a few video cameras contests over representation are not limited to media, in the region already, we hope to develop a but also occur through mediums like national and long-term program whereby the population international law. At the same public meeting, opposed to mining has not only the capacity to Villacis accused the popular, anti-mining county record, but also the tools to edit and distribute mayor of plotting to kill him. A copy of my footage documentary film. A documentary film pro- was made available to the Mayor in preparation for a gram controlled by the local population would possible lawsuit against Villacis.

18 Volume 24, Spring 2005

Contesting Copper: Documentary Film, Research, and Mining in Ecuador’s Intag Region

3 A previous film that I helped to produce has Scott, James C. 1990. Domination and the Arts of been used widely in Intag as part of organizing cam- Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. Yale University paigns against mining. Press, New Haven. Williams, R. 1977. Marxism and Literature. Oxford References University Press, Oxford, U.K. Foucault, M. 1972. The Archeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language. Pantheon Books, New York.

Alfred Russel Wallace. 1869. The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, with Studies on Man and Nature. Harper and Brothers, New York.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 19 Payment for Environmental Services in Costa Rica: Carbon Sequestration Estimations of Native Tree Plantations

by Alvaro Redondo-Brenes, MFS 2005

Introduction especially on small and medium-sized farms in rural areas (Ortiz and Kellenberg 2002). For Due to the direct influence that green- instance, the total reforested area with PES house gases like cabon dioxide (CO2) have on (including native and exotic species) from 1997 to global warming, the increasing level of these May 2002 was 21,838 hectares (Sage-Mora 2002). gases in the atmosphere has emerged as a major Carbon projects that promote agro- international environmental concern (Shepherd forestry, small-scale plantations, and natural and Montagnini 2001). Between the years 1750 forest regeneration and preservation, such as and 2000, the concentration of CO2 has the PES in Costa Rica, will improve the liveli- increased by 31±4% (IPCC 2001). To curb the hoods of small-scale farmers, communities, and escalating level of atmospheric CO2, either the indigenous peoples (CIFOR 2002). Thus, overall level of emissions has to be reduced studies of carbon sequestration within systems through pollution mitigation techniques, or such as tree plantations are a priority since they emissions have to be captured from the atmos- assess an ecosystem’s effectiveness in providing phere and stored in terrestrial and marine revenues to landowners. The first step to assess ecosystems known as carbon sinks (Andrasko carbon sequestration in a system is to estimate 1990; Constanza et al. 1997). Tropical tree its biomass. Biomass accumulation results from plantations, such as those in Costa Rica, have basic physiological processes in plants. Plants therefore been suggested as small carbon sinks take up CO2 from the atmosphere through (Montagnini and Porras 1998; Shepherd and photosynthesis and store carbon in biomass Montagnini 2001; Schroeder 1992; Losi et al. (Leemans et al. 1996). 2003). These plantations may soon serve as a The main objective of this research was to large source for carbon sequestration since their estimate aboveground biomass and carbon area is expected to increase over the next few sequestration in small and medium-sized native decades (Gladstone and Legid 1990; Schroeder tree plantations in the Atlantic and Northern 1992; Houghton 1996). lowlands of Costa Rica, using allometric equa- The use of government incentives in Costa tions developed by Montero and Montagnini Rica – namely, the Payments for Environmental (2004). These allometric equations use mathe- Services Program (PES) – has increased the num- matical relationships that convert external ber of tree plantations in the last two decades, measurements, such as trunk diameter and sometimes height, to total tree biomass (Losi et al. 2003). This non-destructive method to esti- Alvaro Redondo-Brenes is from Costa Rica and has a degree in Forestry Engineering from the mate biomass is highly accurate (above 95%) Technological Institute of Costa Rica. He worked and provides a model for plantations growing from 1998 to 2002 at La Selva Biological Station in similar ecological conditions (i.e. location, and now he will continue at F&ES in its doctoral topography, and climate) and within the same program. range of diameter and height measurements

20 Volume 24, Spring 2005 (Montero and Montagnini 2004; Perez and There are various soil limitations, such as slow or Kanninen 2002, 2003). impeded drainage and very low to medium fer- tility (OPSA 1979; Piotto et al. 2003). Research Sites Thirteen plantations were evaluated and 62 permanent and temporal plots were meas- Research was conducted in two different ured. These plantations were established groups of plantations (Figure 1). The first between 1990 and 1995 with an association of group is located in Sarapiqui, in the Atlantic local farmers, the County Agricultural Center lowlands. The second group, called San Carlos, of Sarapiqui (CACSA), and a non-governmen- is located in the North Huetar Region. tal organization (NGO) called the Foundation for the Development of the Central Volcanic Sarapiqui Range (FUNDECOR). The study site is located at 10°12’-10°47’ north latitude and 84°09’-83°45’ west longitude. San Carlos Mean annual precipitation is 3500-5000 mm, This study site is located in Costa Rica’s with a minimum precipitation level of 50 mm. North Huetar Region. Mean annual precipitation Elevation is between 30 and 200 masl. Mean is 2000-4000 mm, with a mean annual tempera- annual temperature is 24°C. The overall topog- ture of 25°C. The overall topography is flat to raphy is flat to undulating terrain. In general, undulating terrain. Elevation is between 100 to soils belong to the Ultisol and Inceptisol orders. 400 masl. In general, soils belong to the Ultisol

Figure 1. Research Sites

Tropical Resources Bulletin 21 Alvaro Redondo-Brenes

Table 1. Characteristics of tree species grown in the Atlantic and North lowlands of Costa Rica

Species name Common Family Native range Growth, habitat name Vochysia guatemalensis Chancho, Vochysiacea Mexico to Upper canopy, early- Donn. Sm. Mayo Panama mid successional; fast growth Callophyllum brasiliense Cedro Maria Clusiaceae Mexico to Canopy tree. Moderately Cambess. South America shade -tolerant; slower and the Antilles growth Terminalia amazonia Amarillon, Combretaceae Mexico to Canopy tree; Heliophyte; (J.F.Gmel.) Exell Roble Coral South America moderately fast growth and the Antilles Virola koschnyi Fruta Dorada Myristicaceae Belize to Canopy tree, mid- Warb Panama and successional; slower growth Ecuador Dipteryx panamensis Almendro Fabaceae - Nicaragua to Canopy tree, late (Pittier) Record & Mell Papilionoideae Colombia successional; slower growth Hyeronima Pilon Euphorbiaceae Belize to the Canopy tree; Early - Mid alchorneoides Fr. Amazon successional; moderately fast Allemao growth Vochysia ferruginea Botarrama Vochysiacea Nicaragua to Heliophyte tree, durable, Mart. Peru and Brazil rapid growth; found in secondary forests. Source: Jimenez-Madrigal et al. (2002) and Inceptisol orders. The principal soil limita- Warb (fruta dorada), and Dipterix panamensis tions are its acidity, low to medium fertility, and (Pittier) Record & Mell (almendro) (Table 1). slow drainage (Delgado 2002). Only six species were evaluated at San Carlos Nineteen farms were evaluated and 117 since plantations of Callophyllum brasiliense permanent and temporal plots were measured. were not locatable. These seven species were These plantations were established between chosen because they were the most frequently 1990 and 1995 as part of a project on native planted by farmers at both locations. In addi- species sponsored by the Technological tion, these species are recommended by FUN- Institute of Costa Rica (ITCR) and an NGO DECOR and COSEFORMA because the PES called COSEFORMA (Forestry Development are available for reforestation with these species. Commission of San Carlos) (Delgado 2002). Methods Research Species Collection of field measurements This project analyzed seven native tree At every plot, I measured the diameter at species (local names are in parentheses): Vochysia breast height (DBH), 1.30 m from the ground, ferruginea Mart. (botarrama); V. guatemalensis for each species of concern. In addition, I meas- Donn. Sm. (chancho); Hyeronima alchorneoides ured the total height to the canopy of six to eight Fr. Allemao (pilon); Callophyllum brasiliense trees per plot to extrapolate the height of the rest Cambess (cedro maria); Terminalia amazonia of the trees within the plots using linear regres- (J.F. Gmel.) Exell (roble coral); Virola koschnyii sion. The plot size, number of plantations, and

22 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Payment for Environmental Services in Costa Rica number of measured plots varied from site to site sequestered was calculated by dividing the total to provide consistency with the research projects accumulated values by the plantation age. that are being carried out in the two sites and One-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) because I used the permanent sample plots set up for different sample sizes were used to determine by the organizations mentioned above. the statistical significance for differences in car- The plot sizes varied within both sites due bon sequestration and growth rates between to variations in plantation shape and size. species and locations. In addition, Tukey’s pair- These plantations varied from 0.1 ha to a max- wise comparisons were used to determine statis- imum of 5 ha. Plot areas were between 225 m2 tically significant differences within each vari- and 784 m2. The number of plantations and able that was analyzed. Regression analyses were number of measured plots varied because I performed to evaluate relationships between measured as many plantations as were available carbon sequestration and growth parameters. in each site to increase the sample size and to For all the analyses, interactions were tested and represent variability along each region. residual plots were analyzed to ensure that the model assumptions were satisfied. Analyses were Data analysis performed with SAS System Release 8.2 (2001) To estimate aboveground biomass, I used and statistical significance was fixed at P<0.05. the following equations, which were developed for each species studied by Montero and Results: Carbon Sequestration of Native Montagnini (2004) at La Selva Biological Tree Plantations Station, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica: The data for carbon sequestration (Table Ln (Y) = a + b Ln (DBH) (1) 2) is presented by the tree components: stem, Ln (Y) = a + b Ln (DBH) + c Ln (H) (2) branches, foliage, and total tree in tons per hectare and by the total carbon values of the Where corresponding trees in kilograms (See Appendix Ln: Natural logarithm 1). Overall, I found that the Sarapiqui planta- Y: Tree biomass in kilograms tions presented higher carbon values by species DBH: Diameter at breast height in than the San Carlos plantations. centimeters. In San Carlos, the species that had the high- H: Total height in meters. est total carbon sequestration per tree were V. a, b, and c: Constant values calculated for guatemalensis (9-10 years) and T. amazonia (9-10 each species. years). The lowest values were from V. koschnyi (9-10 and 13-14 years). The estimates of carbon These equations use DBH and total height sequestration per hectare indicated that D. pana- to estimate aboveground biomass by a tree’s com- mensis (13-14 years) and V. guatemalensis (13-14 ponent (foliage, branches, stems, and total tree). years) were the species with the highest values. Each tree species has its own equation for each The species V. koschnyi (9-10) and V. ferruginea component (Appendix 1). Equation (1) was used (11-12) had the lowest values (Table 2). to compute most of the estimates, excluding stem In Sarapiqui, the species with the highest biomass values for Vochysia guatemalensis, for total carbon sequestration per tree were T. amazo- which equation (2) was used. I assumed carbon nia (11-12 years) and H. alchorneoides (11-12 sequestration to equal 50% of a component’s years). The lowest values were from V. koschnyi present biomass (Montagnini and Porras 1998). (11-12 years). However, no significant differences The mean annual increment (MAI) for carbon were found among the seven species (Tukey’s test,

Tropical Resources Bulletin 23

Table 2. Carbon sequestration estimations and mean annual increment (MAI) of total carbon of native forest plantations in Alvaro Redondo-Brenes Alvaro 24 Costa Rica V olume 24, Spring 2005 Spring 24, olume

Location / Species Age Carbon storage per ha (Mg) Carbon storage MAI Carbon (Years) Stem Branches Foliage Total per tree (Kg) (Mg ha-1 year-1) Sarapiqui D. panamensis 9-10 60.6 a 23.0 ab 7.5 ab 91.0 a 128.0 a 10.1 a D. panamensis 11-12 26.0 (5.7)bc 8.0 (1.9)bcd 2.8 (0.6)cd 36.9 (0.8)bcd 54.7 (11.8)a 3.2 (0.8)bcd T. amazonia 9-10 58.8 (0.7)ab 15.9 (0.6)abcd 4.4 (0.1)cd 79.1 (1.4)ab 138.1 (16.3)a 7.9 (1.3)ab T. amazonia 11-12 40.9 (11.3)abc 11.1 (3.4)abcd 3.1 (0.9)cd 55.1 (15.6)abc 151.8 (53.2)a 4.7 (0.1)bcd H. alchorneoides 9-10 36.1 (12.8)abc 26.9 (14.4)a 3.4 (1.3)cd 66.3 (28.5)abc 120.0 (53.4)a 7.1 (3.4)abc H. alchorneoides 11-12 24.9 (11.6)c 20.3 (13.6)abc 2.3 (1.1)cd 46.5 (26.2)abc 144.3 (84.8)a 4.0 (2.3)bcd V. guatemalensis 9-10 40.5 (3.7)abc 2.0 (0.8)cd 1.7 (0.1)cd 44.5 (31.0)abc 81.4 (63.7)a 4.6 (3.5)bcd V. guatemalensis 11-12 38.3 (11.0)abc 1.5 (0.4)d 1.4 (0.5)d 41.2 (12.6)bc 137.9 (9.7)a 3.3 (1.1)bcd V. ferruginea 9-10 11.7 (3.7)c 7.8 (3.5)bcd 4.0 (2.3)cd 23.5 (9.4)c 65.3 (11.8)a 2.6 (1.0)bc V. ferruginea 11-12 19.2 (1.6)c 12.5 (1.3)abcd 4.6 (0.6)bc 36.3 (3.5)bc 132.9 (25.4)a 3.1 (0.3)bcd V. koschnyi 11-12 13.7 (5.0)c 6.3 (3.2)bcd 2.7 (1.3)cd 22.5 (9.4)c 53.2 (25.9)a 1.9 (0.8)d C. brasiliense 11-12 36.2 (5.1)abc 15.2 (2.7)abcd 8.5 (1.6)a 60.0 (8.8)abc 103.1 (61.5)a 5.4 (0.7)abcd San Carlos D. panamensis 9-10 25.5 (8.0)abcd 8.4 (2.6)abc 2.6 (0.9)abc 36.5 (11.5)ab 50.8 (12.4)ab 3.5 (1.1)ab D. panamensis 13-14 31.3 (6.3)abc 9.7 (2.3)a 3.4 (0.8)ab 44.4 (9.3)a 52.8 (12.8)ab 3.3 (0.7)ab T. amazonia 9-10 20.9 (3.1)abcd 5.1 (0.9)abc 1.5 (0.2)c 27.5 (4.2)abc 67.3 (12.7)ab 2.8 (0.4)abc H. alchorneoides 9-10 17.8 (2.6)bcd 9.0 (3.1)ab 1.5 (0.3)bc 28.3 (5.6)abc 59.3 (29.2)ab 2.8 (0.6)abc H. alchorneoides 11-12 18.6 (6.5)abcd 8.5 (5.2)abc 1.6 (0.6)bc 28.8 (12.2)abc 45.2 (23.8)ab 2.5 (1.0)abc V. guatemalensis 9-10 33.2 (11.8)ab 1.8 (0.6)c 1.5 (0.5)c 36.6 (12.9)ab 75.1 (19.6)a 3.7 (1.3)a V. guatemalensis 11-12 35.9 (13.7)a 2.2 (0.5)c 1.6 (0.4)bc 39.7 (14.5)ab 65.6 (27.1)ab 3.4 (1.2)ab V. guatemalensis 13-14 36.1 (3.0)a 2.5 (0.1)bc 1.9 (0.1)bc 40.5 (3.3)ab 56.9 (0.4)ab 3.0 (0.2)abc V. ferruginea 9-10 11.4 (3.9)d 7.3 (2.4)abc 4.2 (1.4)a 23.0 (6.9)abc 55.6 (12.5)ab 2.3 (0.7)abc V. ferruginea 11-12 11.4 (2.7)d 5.5 (3.0)abc 2.7 (1.5)ab 20.0 (6.9)bc 40.5 (26.1)ab 1.8 (0.6)abc V. koschnyi 9-10 8.4 d 2.7 bc 1.3 c 12.4 c 30.9 b 1.2 c V. koschnyi 13-14 14.1 (4.8)cd 4.9 (2.8)abc 2.2 (1.1)bc 21.2 (8.7)abc 27.0 (12.2)b 1.6 (0.6)bc Means are significantly different when standard deviations are followed by different letters (P<0.05) Payment for Environmental Services in Costa Rica

P<0.05). The estimated carbon sequestration per In Costa Rica, the PES was implemented hectare suggested that D. panamensis (9-10 years) with the creation of the Forestry Law in 1996. and T. amazonia (9-10 years) were the species with The new law recognizes a range of environmental the highest values. The species V. koschnyi (11-12) services derived from natural forests, plantations, and V. ferruginea (9-10) had the lowest values and agroforestry systems, such as carbon fixation, (Table 2). I found that plantation location hydrological services (including reduced water sil- (P=0.0001), species (P<0.0001), and density tation supplied for hydropower and aquifers), bio- (P=0.03) were accurate predictors of carbon diversity protection, and provision of scenic beau- sequestration. Tree age, however, was not a signif- ty (Subak 2000). On average, the landowner icant predictor of carbon sequestration (P=0.36). receives US$540 per hectare for establishing new The MAI for carbon sequestration indicat- tree plantations, US$210 per hectare for previous ed that, in Sarapiqui, the species with the high- established plantations, US$210 per hectare for est growth was D. panamensis, and V. koschnyi forest conservation and regeneration, and support had the lowest value. In San Carlos, the highest for the establishment of trees within agroforestry MAI was V. guatemalensis and the lowest was V. systems, distributed in percentages over a period koschnyi (Table 2). of five years (FONAFIFO 2004). The PES pro- The percentage carbon sequestration in gram receives revenues from a 5% tax on gasoline the different tree components (stem, branches, consumption, private-sector contributions, as well and foliage) was similar in both locations. The as the sale of certifiable tradable offsets (CTOs) to carbon allocated in the stems varied from 50% foreign investors. In 1997, Norway purchased (V. ferruginea) to 92% (V. guatemalensis). US$2.0 million in CTOs in exchange for about Carbon allocated in the branches varied from 230 kt of carbon offsets (Subak 2000). 4% (V. guatemalensis) to 43% (H. alchor- Results of the present study depicted that neoides). Finally, the carbon sequestered in the native forest plantations from 9 to 14 years old foliage varied from 3% (V. guatemalensis) to were sequestering on average between 12.4 to 18% (V. ferruginea). 79.1 Mg ha-1 of carbon. In addition, the MAI of sequestered carbon was between 1.2 to 10.1 Mg Discussion: Carbon Sequestration of ha-1 year-1. These carbon values are in the range Native Tree Plantations of values for tropical tree plantation species world- wide, such as Pinus caribaea (Caribbean pine), According to Carpenter, Nichols, and Leucaena spp. (leucaena), Casuarina spp. Sandi (2004), reforestation projects on degrad- (Australian pine), Pinus patula (Mexican weeping ed sites, such as the ones included in this study, pine), Cupressus lusitanica (Cypress), Senna siamea may have different objectives, among them to (Siamese cassia), Acacia nilotica (gum Arabic tree), reduce erosion, reestablish a variety of native and Azadirachta indica (neem), which have values species, and/or establish economically viable between 8 and 78 Mg C ha-1 (Schroeder 1992). commercial plantations. In tree plantations, However, the values reported in this study are economic considerations generally are more lower than the values found for primary forests in heavily weighted than in other industrial forest Costa Rica, which are on average 110 Mg C ha-1 practices due to the higher establishment and (IPCC 2001), and they are also lower than a 20 tending costs (Hartley 2002). However, tree years old plantations of Te c t o n a g ra n d i s (teak) in plantations also offer other environmental serv- Panama which averaged 104.5 Mg C ha-1 ices, such as carbon sequestration (Lugo and (Kraenzel et al. 2003). In addition, MAI of carbon Brown 1992; Subak 2000; Shepherd and found in the present study was similar, if not high- Montagnini 2001). er, than the biomass accumulation in natural

Tropical Resources Bulletin 25 Alvaro Redondo-Brenes forests greater than 60 to 80 years old and logged years, in comparison to fast growing species, forests (1-2 Mg C ha-1 year-1) (Lugo and Brown which have rotation cycles between 13 and 15 1992), biomass accumulation in secondary forests years (Petit and Montagnini 2004). from 0 to 20 years old (2-3.5 Mg C ha-1 year-1) The outcome of the present research shows (Brown and Lugo 1990; Silver, Ostertag, and that the seven species that were a part of this Lugo 2000), biomass accumulation in plantations study had varying carbon sequestration values worldwide (1.4 to 4.8 Mg C ha-1 year-1) (Brown, due to intrinsic species growth characteristics and Lugo, and Chapman 1986 in Lugo and Brown stand management. It is also important to high- 1992), Gmelina arborea (melina) plantations in light that the carbon sequestration estimates Costa Rica (7 Mg C ha-1 year-1), and restoration obtained in this research have to be used with programs in the highlands of the Virilla river in caution. In some plantations, the range of tree Costa Rica (2 to 3 Mg C ha-1 year-1) (Subak species’ diameters was higher, especially for the 2000). fast growing species, than those used by Montero In Costa Rica, aboveground biomass accu- and Montagnini (2004) to develop the allomet- mulation and carbon sequestration has been stud- ric equations. In addition, some of these equa- ied over the last decade (including the species that tions do not consider variations in wood specific are a part of this study) for both younger planta- gravity within species, locations, and within indi- tions (Montagnini and Sancho 1994; Stanley and viduals of the same species due to specific growth Montagnini 1999; Montagnini 2000; Shepherd conditions (Elias and Potvin 2003; Baker et al. and Montagnini 2001) and for plantations with 2004). Thus, an overestimation of those values is similar ages and species of the present study expected. In a study of native species carbon (Redondo and Montagnini, in preparation). sequestration estimation with species growing in Studies of plantation from four to eight years old tree plantations in Panama and Costa Rica, Losi indicated that fast growing species such as et al. (2003), using also allometric models in a Jacaranda copaia and Vochysia guatemalensis were different range of trees, resulted in an overestima- the species with the best production of above- tion of 10.2% in the carbon stock values for D. ground biomass and carbon sequestration panamensis plantations. Therefore, we can expect (Montagnini and Sancho 1994; Stanley and an overestimation similar to the estimated by Montagnini 1999; Montagnini 2000; Shepherd Losi et al. (2003), or even higher. and Montagnini 2001). At La Selva Biological Station, in forest plantations from 12 to 13 years Conclusions: Importance of Native Tree old, Redondo and Montagnini (in preparation) Plantations found that the most productive species were Te r m i n a l i a a m a zo n i a , Callophyllum brasiliense, The results of the present research and Dipteryx panamensis. According to these enhance the criteria elaborated with previous results, it seems that fast growing species (i.e. V. research findings to improve species choice for guatemalensis) accumulate biomass and carbon in reforestation and silvicultural management in the first stage of their lifespan, but before they are Costa Rica, and in other regions with similar 10 years old, forest plantations including moder- ecological features. Moreover, they support the ate to slower growing species (i.e. D. panamensis, concept that tropical plantations can serve T. amazonia, and C. brasiliense) may accumulate diverse economic, social, and ecological func- more biomass and carbon within the system than tions that may ultimately help reduce atmos- the former. The latter species also may sequester pheric CO2 accumulation (carbon sinks). more carbon over a longer period of time due to The difference in carbon sequestration val- their longer rotation cycles of around 20 to 30 ues may suggest two scenarios. First of all, if our

26 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Payment for Environmental Services in Costa Rica objective is to accumulate carbon in the short References term, species such as V. guatemalensis and V. ferrug- Andrasko, K. 1990. Global warming and forest: An inea are two of the best options due their fast overview of current knowledge. Unasylva 41: 1-11. growth. On the other hand, if the objective is car- Baker, T.R., O.L. Phillips, Y. Malhi, S. Almeidas, L. bon sinks in the long term, species such as D. Arroyo, A. Di Fiore, T. Erwin, T.J. Killen, panamensis and C. brasiliense are the best options, S.G. Laurance, W.F. Laurance, S.L. Lewis, J. because those species presented the highest values Lloyd, A. Monteagudo, D.A. Neill, S. Patino, of carbon sequestration to date, and they also have N.C.A. Pitman, J.N.M. Silva, and R. Vasquez- longer rotation cycles. Martinez. 2004. Variation in wood density The PES program in Costa Rica is an determines spatial patterns in Amazonia example that may be implemented in other forests. Global Change Biology 10: 545-562. tropical countries. A program like this not only Brown, S., A.E. Lugo, and J. Chapman. 1986. benefits the whole society with the environ- Biomass of tropical plantations and its implica- mental services provided by the native tree tions for the global carbon budget. Canadian plantations (i.e. carbon sequestration, soil and Journal of Forest Resources 16(2): 390-394. water conservation, scenic beauty, biodiversity, Brown, S. and A.E. Lugo. 1990. Tropical secondary and restoration of degraded lands), but it also forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 6: 1-32. may benefit with economic incentives to small Carpenter, F.L., J.D. Nichols, and E. Sandi. 2004. and medium landowners, who do not have Early growth of native and exotic trees planted access to bank loans to invest in reforestation on degraded tropical pasture. Forest Ecology programs or in other agricultural alternatives in and Management 196: 367-378. degraded lands. CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research). 2002. Making forest carbon markets work for Acknowledgements low-income producers. CIFOR Infobrief 2: 1-4. The author would like to thank the following Constanza, R., R. d’Arge, R. de Groot, S. Farber, people and institutions for their contribution: M. Grasso, B. Hannon, K. Limburg, S. Florencia Montagnini provided accurate guidance, Naeem, R. O’Neill, J. Paruelo, R. Raskin, P. advice, and useful comments in previous drafts of this Sutton, and M. van den Belt. 1997. The value paper and in conducting the field work. Jonathan of the world’s ecosystem services and natural Reuning-Scherer provided advice in the statistical capital. Nature 387: 253-260. analyses. Andres Sanchun, German Obando (FUN- Delgado, A. 2002. Crecimiento de las plantaciones DECOR), Olman Murillo, Yorleny Bonilla de especies nativas y su relación con la moti- (Technological Institute of Costa Rica), Marcela vación de los finqueros a reforestar en la región Flores, and Pedro Diez (Flora y Fauna) were my col- Huetar Norte de Costa Rica. Informe practica laborators to conduct this study in their reforestation de especialidad. Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, projects. Marvin Castillo (Technological Institute of Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Costa Rica), Walter Cruz, Huber, Macho, and Danilo Elias, M., and C. Potvin. 2003. Assessing inter- and Vargas (Organization for Tropical Studies) provided intra-specific variation in trunk carbon concen- their best conducting the field work. I would also tration for 32 neotropical tree species. Canadian thank all the local landowners who allowed me to Journal of Forest Resources 33: 1039-1045. work in their farms. Sue Prasad (F&ES), Andrea, FONAFIFO (Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento Laura, and Amity (TRI) also provided useful com- Forestal), Costa Rica. 2004. Pago de servicios ambi- ments in previous drafts of this paper. This research entales. Data available at www.fonafifo.com/pagi- was funded by the Compton Foundation and the Yale nas/psa.htm. Tropical Resources Institute. Gladstone, W.T, and F.T. Legid. 1990. Reducing

Tropical Resources Bulletin 27 Alvaro Redondo-Brenes

pressure on natural forest through high-yield Montagnini, F. 2000. Accumulation in above- forestry. Forestry Ecology and Management 35: 69- ground biomass and soil storage of mineral 78. nutrients in pure and mixed plantations in a Hartley, M.J. 2002. Rationale and methods for con- humid tropical lowland. Forest Ecology and servation biodiversity in plantation forests. Management 134: 257-270. Forest Ecology and Management 115: 81-95 Montero, M. and F. Montagnini. 2004. Modelos Houghton, R.A. 1996. Converting terrestrial alométricos para la estimación de biomasa de ecosystems from sources to sinks of carbon. diez especies nativas en plantaciones en la Ambio 25(4): 267-272. región Atlántica de Costa Rica. In press, IPCC. 2001. Climate change: Synthesis report. A Revista Forestal Centroamericana. contribution of working groups I, II and III to OPSA (Oficina de Planificación Sectorial the Third Assessment Report of the Agropecuaria). 1979. Manual descriptivo de Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. los criterios, clases y subclases del mapa Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, “Capacidad de uso de los suelos de Costa United Kingdom, and New York, NY. Rica.” San José, Costa Rica. Jiménez-Madrigal, Q., F. Rojas-Rodríguez, V. Ortiz, E., and J. Kellenberg. 2002. Program of pay- Rojas-Ch, and L. Rodríguez-S. 2002. Árboles ments for ecological services in Costa Rica. In Maderables de Costa Rica: Ecología and Proceedings from International Expert Silvicultura. Instituto Nacional de Meeting on Forest Landscape Restoration. Biodiversidad (INBIO). Heredia, Costa Rica. Heredia, Costa Rica, February 27-28. Kraenzel, M., A. Castillo, T. Moore, and C. Potvin. Perez, C.L. and M. Kanninen. 2002. Wood specific 2003. Carbon storage of harvest-age teak gravity and aboveground biomass of (Tectona grandis) plantations, Panama. Forest Bombacopsis quinata plantations in Costa Rica. Ecology and Management 173: 213-225. Forest Ecology Management 165: 1-3. Leemans, R., A. van Amstel, C. Battjes, E. Perez, C.L. and M. Kanninen. 2003. Aboveground Kreileman, and S. Toet. 1996. The land cover biomass of Tectona grandis plantations in and carbon cycle consequences of large-scale Costa Rica. Journal of Tropical Forest Science utilization of biomass as an energy source. 15(1): 199-213. Global Environmental Change 6(4): 335-357. Petit, B., and F. Montagnini. 2004. Growth equa- Losi, J., T. Siccama, R. Condit, and J. Morales. tions and rotation ages of ten native tree 2003. Analysis of alternative methods for esti- species in mixed and pure plantations in the mating carbon stock in young plantations. humid Neotropics. Forest Ecology and Forest Ecology and Management 184: 355-368. Management 199: 243-257. Lugo, A.E. and S. Brown. 1992. Tropical forests as Piotto, D., F. Montagnini, L. Ugalde, and M. sinks of atmospheric carbon. Forest Ecology and Kanninen. 2003. Performance of forest plan- Management 54: 239-255. tations in small and medium-sized farms in the Montagnini, F. and F. Sancho. 1994. Aboveground bio- Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. Forest Ecology mass and nutrients in young plantations of indige- and Management 175: 195-204. nous trees on infertile soils in Costa Rica: Redondo, A. and F. Montagnini. In preparation. Mixed Implications for site nutrient conservation. Journal and pure native tree plantations in Costa Rica: of Sustainable Forestry 1(4): 115-139. Biomass and carbon sequestration estimations and Montagnini, F. and C. Porras. 1998. Evaluating the role payment for environmental services. of plantations as carbon sinks: An example of an Sage-Mora, L.F. 2002. Análisis comparativo de integrative approach from the humid tropics. competitividad. Documento técnico prepara- Environmental Management 22(3): 459-470. do como componente del proyecto

28 Volume 24, Spring 2005

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TCP/COS/006(A). FONAFIFO, Costa Rica. pasture lands. Restoration Ecology 8(4): 394-407. Schroeder, P. 1992. Carbon storage potential of Stanley, W.G. and F. Montagnini. 1999. Biomass and short rotation tropical tree plantations. Forest nutrient accumulation in pure and mixed planta- Ecology and Management 50: 31-41. tions of indigenous tree species grown on poor Shepherd, D. and F. Montagnini. 2001. Above ground soils in the humid tropics of Costa Rica. Forest carbon sequestration potential in mixed and pure Ecology and Management 113: 91-113. tree plantations in the humid tropics. Journal of Subak, S. 2000. Forest protection and reforestation Tropical Forest Science 13(3): 450-459. in Costa Rica: Evaluation of a clean develop- Silver, W.L., R. Ostertag, and A.E. Lugo. 2000. The ment mechanism prototype. Environmental potential for carbon sequestration through refor- Management 26(3): 283-297. estation of abandoned tropical agricultural and

Appendix 1. Allometric models to estimate aboveground biomass in kilograms for seven native tree species in Costa Rica (Adapted from Montero and Montagnini 2004)

Species Component Equation r2 C. brasiliense Stem Ln (Biomass) = -2.570 + 2.454 * Ln (DBH) 0.98 Branches Ln (Biomass) = -5.773 + 3.226 * Ln (DBH) 0.92 Foliage Ln (Biomass) = -6.825 + 3.379 * Ln (DBH) 0.95 Total tree Ln (Biomass) = -2.829 + 2.704 * Ln (DBH) 0.98 V. guatemalensis Stem Ln (Biomass) = -3.867 + 2.048 * Ln (DBH) + 0.697 * Ln (H) 0.99 Branches Ln (Biomass) = -1.872 + 1.202 * Ln (DBH) 0.92 Foliage Ln (Biomass) = -4.661 + 2.014 * Ln (DBH) 0.95 Total tree Ln (Biomass) = -2.815 + 2.428 * Ln (DBH) 0.97 V. ferruginea Stem Ln (Biomass) = -1.776 + 1.804 * Ln (DBH) 0.99 Branches Ln (Biomass) = -10.100 + 4.285 * Ln (DBH) 0.99 Foliage Ln (Biomass) = -12.761 + 4.976 * Ln (DBH) 0.86 Total tree Ln (Biomass) = -3.252 + 2.492 * Ln (DBH) 0.95 V. koschnyi Stem Ln (Biomass) = -3.679 + 2.481 * Ln (DBH) 0.98 Branches Ln (Biomass) = -9.279 + 3.962 * Ln (DBH) 0.96 Foliage Ln (Biomass) = -8.988 + 3.610 * Ln (DBH) 0.89 Total tree Ln (Biomass) = -4.132 + 2.755 * Ln (DBH) 0.98 D. panamensis Stem Ln (Biomass) = -2.831 + 2.747 * Ln (DBH) 0.99 Branches Ln (Biomass) = -6.137 + 3.534 * Ln (DBH) 0.93 Foliage Ln (Biomass) = -6.256 + 3.197 * Ln (DBH) 0.95 Total tree Ln (Biomass) = -3.011 + 2.947 * Ln (DBH) 0.99 T. amazonia Stem Ln (Biomass) = -2.473 + 2.501 * Ln (DBH) 0.99 Branches Ln (Biomass) = -4.876 + 2.844 * Ln (DBH) 0.99 Foliage Ln (Biomass) = -5.456 + 2.622 * Ln (DBH) 0.93 Total tree Ln (Biomass) = -2.538 + 2.614 * Ln (DBH) 0.99 H. alchorneoides Stem Ln (Biomass) = -3.136 + 2.591 * Ln (DBH) 0.96 Branches Ln (Biomass) = -8.615 + 4.234 * Ln (DBH) 0.98 Foliage Ln (Biomass) = -6.404 + 2.876 * Ln (DBH) 0.95 Total tree Ln (Biomass) = -1.696 + 2.224 * Ln (DBH) 0.98 Biomass is in kilograms per component; DBH – diameter at the breast height (centimeters); H – total height in meters; r2 measures the proportion of the variance of the Ln (Biomass) explained by the equation.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 29 Water-Use Efficiency in Hawaiian Trees: An Eco-physiological Approach and Methodology

by Sharifa Gulamhussein, MFS 2005

Background today, there is growing concern for implement- ing more environmentally friendly approaches, The ultimate causes of deforestation are such as reforesting using native species (Dewar manifold, often involving social, political, and 2002; Elevitch and Wilkinson 2000; Kelly economic motivations for the region in ques- 2003). The tremendous environmental benefits tion. In the case of Hawaii, vast tracts of tropi- of planting native species include ameliorating cal forest were cleared in the 1830’s for timber degraded soil conditions, encouraging forest extraction of Santalum and Acacia trees and to regeneration, providing habitat for endangered make way for a booming cattle industry species, preventing watershed erosion and flash (Elevitch and Wilkinson 2000). In the past few floods, and maintaining ecosystem integrity and decades, however, Hawaii’s economy has shift- health in the long term (Harrington and Ewel ed heavily toward agriculture and tourism, 1997; Hobbs and Norton 1996; Montagnini resulting in subsequent abandonment of these 2001). Public and private institutions, local lands. Today, an estimated two-thirds of state’s communities, and individuals are asking, original forests have been cleared and only 10% “Which native species will grow well? Where of Hawaii’s dry tropical forests now remain should I plant them? How will reforesting my (Juvik and Juvik 1998). land benefit me, my community, or institution Natural forest regeneration in Hawaii is and the environment at large?” Investigating severely impeded due to the synergistic effects of how plants will physiologically respond to dry, nutrient-depleted soil conditions and the degraded, water-stressed site conditions and growing threat of intractable invasive species whether they will survive in the long-term can (Reiners et al. 1994; Scowcroft et al. 2004; help address these questions. Vitousek et al. 1987). Although reforestation efforts were first attempted in the 1920’s by the An Eco-physiological Approach Hawaiian Territorial Forestry officials and the private, non-profit Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Plant eco-physiology is the science of under- Association, they involved the systematic intro- standing how plants respond to the abiotic and duction of exotic tree genera such as Araucaria, biotic factors that affect their growth and develop- Casuarina, and Eucalyptus on Forest Reserve ment in a given environment (Larcher 2003). lands (Woodcock 2003). Among Hawaiians Eco-physiological research provides a keen under- standing of whole plant functions while simulta- neously contributing useful information about Sharifa Gulamhussein is originally from California forest health by identifying “stressful” growth and has a degree in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley. She has worked on forest restoration environments for plants such as limiting light, ecology and invasive weed biology in Hawaii and water, or nutrients. In the past, reforestation stud- California and plans on continuing to research and ies focused on simply restoring degraded soils by teach applied forest science after her Master's the- planting native species. The assumption was that sis program at Yale. if it grew there in the past, it can grow there now

30 Volume 24, Spring 2005 (Elevitch and Wilkinson 2000). It is apparent, its atomic nucleus (Farquhar et al. 1989). By however, that as landuse changes through time, so examining the distribution of these two types of do the growing conditions available at a particular carbon in nature and their transformation and site (Scowcroft et al. 2004). The power in con- fixing into organic compounds like sugars dur- ducting eco-physiological research resides in its ing photosynthesis, plant function and plant practical premise: determining how and why water-use can be modeled (Dawson et. al, 2002; native plant species grow well on certain sites and Farquhar et al. 1989). what limits their growth including factors such as resource competition for water, light, nutrients, Water-use Efficiency in Trees and space with other organisms. Water-use efficiency (WUE) is an eco-physi- Eco-physiological Methods ological measure quantifying the ratio of net CO2 uptake from the atmosphere during photosynthe- Many eco-physiological studies begin their sis versus net H2O loss (Larcher 2003). WUE can investigations with the tree’s leaf. Leaves are the be measured directly throughout a day as a plant most vital organs of the vegetative plant body. conducts photosynthesis, allowing CO2 into a leaf Their primary function is the collection and and water vapor out through the stomata. transformation of sunlight, carbon dioxide, and Although instantaneous measures of water-use water into sugars for energy and growth (Ashton efficiency are important for understanding short- and Berlyn 1992; Kerstetter and Poethig 1998). term plant water use, it is often useful to model Indeed, leaf structure has evolved through time water-use and loss over the longer time scales using to maximize function while compensating for δ13C stable isotopes. δ13C integration into a tree environmental stressors such as low-moisture and subsequent kinetic fractionation, that is selec- availability (Kaplan 2001). For example, leaves tive discrimination against δ13C uptake by the posses tiny pores on their surface called “stoma- enzyme Rubisco, occurs during CO2 carbon fixa- ta,” deriving from the Greek word for “mouth.” tion, leaving the heavier δ13C isotope behind Acting like miniature gates, these stomata regu- inside the leaf. Hence, measuring the isotopic lev- late the amount of carbon dioxide and water els of δ13C in plant leaves can be used as a stan- entering and leaving trees at any given time dardized measure of water-use and loss through (Willmer and Fricker 1996). The total number time (Dawson et al. 2002; Warren et al. 2001). In of stomata per leaf area and their size can restrict addition to leaf analysis, other methods of measur- the amount of air and water entering a tree from ing tree WUE have been developed to quantify the atmosphere, hence ultimately affecting tree δ13C in wood cellulose of tree rings to account for growth. Eco-physiologists often conduct light- water-use through multiple growing seasons over a microscopic studies determining stomatal num- tree’s life-time (Brendel et al. 2000; Ferrio and ber, size, and density per leaf surface. Measuring Voltas 2005; Leavitt and Long 1986). Stable iso- these parameters can help elucidate the structural topic modeling in tree rings has been used in cli- constraints of plant carbon intake and water-use mate change research to reconstruct paleoclimates overtime (Berlyn and Miksche 1976). to extrapolate CO2 levels in our atmosphere pre- In addition to leaf anatomical methodolo- industrial revolution (Barber et al. 2004). gies, it is useful to research tree water-use using On the scale of entire watersheds, eco-phys- carbon chemistry. On Earth, there are two nat- iologists today are modeling the flow of water and urally existing elemental forms of carbon: carbon through forests using methodologies from abundant 12C (98.9%) and its heavier isotope both the fields of plant physiology and stable 13C (1.1%), which contains an extra neutron in isotopic chemistry. This integrative approach

Tropical Resources Bulletin 31

Sharifa Gulamhussein allows for tracing the source and fate of water and the ground with the most accurate, integrative carbon dioxide at the ecosystem level. One hot model and recommendations for sustainable for- topic in eco-physiological research involves trac- est management. Successful reforestation of ing from where a tree receives its water using the degraded landscapes is collaborative task in stable isotopes of δ18O and deuterium δD. This Hawaii. My Tropical Resources Institute summer isotopic approach teases apart the various sources research involved quantifying Acacia koa δ13C of water entering a tree be it from shallow soils, isotopic content and leaf stomata characteristics to deep ground water, or from precipitation determine water-use efficiency on the slopes of (Dawson et al. 2002; Yakir and Sternberg 2000). Mauna Loa volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. Through collaborative planning with the Eco-physiological Studies in Hawaii University of Hawaii, Manoa, the United States Forest Service, Hawaii Volcano National Park, Currently, one of the most promising and private landowner Kamehameha Schools, approaches for reforestation in Hawaii is replanti- results will inform reforestation management rec- ng degraded landscapes with native tree species ommendations in Hawaii. such as Acacia koa (Gray) which could potentially ameliorate dry, degraded soil conditions encour- References aging forest regeneration. Within the past 20 Ares, A. and J.H. Fownes. 1999. Water supply regu- years tree eco-physiological studies with koa have lates structure, productivity, and water use effi- steadily increased. Walters and Bartholomew ciency of Acacia koa forests in Hawaii. Oecologia (1984, 1999) investigated tree anatomical 121: 458-466. response to gas exchange, water use, and light in a Ashton, P.M.S. and G.P. Berlyn. 1992. Leaf adapta- greenhouse setting. Meinzer et al. (1996) found tions of some Shorea species to sun and shade. that WUE could be attributed to physiological New Phytologist 121: 587-596. responses of stomata closing under stressed envi- Barber, V.A., G.P. Juday, B.P. Finney, and M. ronmental conditions. Harrington et al. (1995) Wilmking. 2004. Reconstruction of summer investigated how moisture determines leaf area temperatures in interior Alaska from tree-ring index (LAI) and water-use of koa along a precipi- proxies: Evidence for changing synoptic climate tation gradient on the island of Kauai. Ares and regimes. Climatic Change 63: 91-120. Fownes (1999) sampled leaves along an elevation Berlyn, G.P. and J.P. Miksche. 1976. Botanical gradient in order to determine koa stand struc- Microtechnique and Cytochemistry. The Iowa ture, productivity, and water use on the big island State University Press, Ames, Iowa. of Hawaii. Still others have investigated the role of Brendel, O., P.P.M. Iannetta, and D. Stewart. 2000. substrate type, nutrient availability, and role of A rapid and simple method to isolate pure temperature and geographic location on native alpha-cellulose. Phytochemical Analysis 11: 7-10. trees (Pearson and Vitousek 2002; Scowcroft et al. Dawson, T.E., S. Mambelli, A.H. Plamboeck, P.H. 2004). Determining the environmental factors Templer, and K.P. Tu. 2002. Stable isotopes in which limit tree growth and establishment in the plant ecology. Annual Review of Ecology and wild, then, is a vital piece of the larger effort in Systematics 33: 507-559. understanding how native trees grow and interact Dewar, H. 2002. Forest managers seek to stem the with the Hawaiian environment at large. tide of loss with recovery projects statewide. Although eco-physiological studies are cru- Environment Hawaii, Inc.13: 6. cial for elucidating plant function from tiny leaf to Elevitch, C. R. and K. M. Wilkinson. 2000. whole watersheds, it is important to use an inter- Agroforestry Guides for Pacific Islands. Permanent disciplinary team to present decision makers on Agricultural Resources, Holualoa, Hawaii.

32 Volume 24, Spring 2005

Water-Use Efficiency in Hawaiian Trees

Farquhar, G.D., J.R. Ehleringer, and K.T. Hubick. transpiration in Acacia koa stands planted at dif- 1989. Carbon isotope discrimination and pho- ferent densities. Tree Physiolog y 16: 607-615. tosynthesis. Annual Review of Plant Physiology Montagnini, F. 2001. Strategies for the recovery of and Plant Molecular Biology 40: 503-537. degraded ecosystems: Experiences from Latin Ferrio, J.P. and J. Voltas. 2005. Carbon and oxygen America. Restoration Ecology 26(10): 498-503. isotope ratios in wood constituents of Pinus Pearson, H.L. and P.M. Vitousek 2002. Soil phos- halepensis as indicators of precipitation, temper- phorus fractions and symbiotic nitrogen fixation ature, and vapour pressure deficit. Te l l u s 57: across a substrate-age gradient in Hawaii. 164-173. Ecosystems 5: 587-596. Harrington, R.A. and J.J. Ewel. 1997. Invasibility of Reiners, W.A., W. Bouwman, W.F.J. Parsons, and tree plantations by native and non-indigenous M. Keller. 1994. Tropical rainforest conversion plant species in Hawaii. Forest Ecology and to pasture: Changes in vegetation and soil prop- Management 99: 153-162. erties. Ecological Applications 4: 363-377. Harrington, R.A., J.H. Fownes, F.C. Meinzer, and Scowcroft, P.G., J.E. Haraguchi, and N.V. Hue. P.G. Scowcroft. 1995. Forest growth along a 2004. Reforestation and topography affect mon- rainfall gradient in Hawaii: Acacia koa stand tane soil properties, nitrogen pools, and nitrogen structure, productivity, foliar nutrients, and transformations in Hawaii. Soil Science Society of water and nutrient-use efficiencies. Oecologia America Journal 68: 959-968. 102: 277- 284. Vitousek, P.M., L.L. Loope, and C.P. Stone. 1987. Hobbs, R. J. and D. A. Norton. 1996. Towards a con- Introduced species in Hawaii: Biological effects ceptual framework for restoration ecology. and opportunities for ecological research. TREE Restoration Ecology 4(2): 93-110. 7: 224-227. Juvik, S.P. and J.O. Juvik. 1998. Atlas of Hawaii, Walters, G.A. and D.P. Bartholomew. 1984. Acacia Third Edition. University of Hawaii Press, koa leaves and phyllodes: Gas exchange, mor- Honolulu, Hawaii. phological, anatomical, and biochemical charac- Kaplan, D.R. 2001. Fundamental concepts of leaf teristics. Botanical Gazette 145: 351-357. morphology and morphogenesis: A contribu- Walters, G.A. and D.P. Bartholomew. 1990. tion to the interpretation of molecular genetic Adaptation of Acacia koa leaves and phyllodes to mutants. International Journal of Plant Sciences changes in photosynthetic photon flux density. 162(3): 465-474. Forest Science 36(4): 1050-1060. Kelly, J. 2003. Hahai no ka ua i ka ulula ‘au. Warren, C.R., J.F. McGrath, and M.A. Adams. 2001. (Rains always follow the forest). Hawaii Island Water availability and carbon isotope discrimina- Journal. Hawaii. December 1-15. tion in conifers. Oecologia 127: 476-486. Kerstetter, R.A. and R.S. Poethig. 1998. The specifi- Willmer, C. and M. Fricker. 1996. Stomata. Second cation of leaf identity during shoot develop- Edition. Chapman & Hall, London, United ment. Annual Review of Cell Developmental Kingdom. Biology 14: 773-398. Woodcock, D. 2003.To restore the watersheds: Early Larcher, W. 2003. Physiological Plant Ecology: twentieth century planting in Hawaii. Annals of Ecophysiology and Stress Physiology of Functional the Association of American Geographers 93(3): Groups. Springer, Berlin, Germany. 624-635. Leavitt, S.W. and A. Long. 1986. Stable-carbon iso- Yakir, D. and L. Sternberg. 2000. The use of stable tope variability in tree foliage and wood. Ecology isotopes to study ecosystem gas exchange. 67: 1002-1010. Oecologia 123: 297-311. Meinzer, F.C., J.H. Fownes, and R.A. Harrington. 1996. Growth indices and stomatal control of

Tropical Resources Bulletin 33 Institutional Barriers to Information Access for Development in South Africa and Beyond: A Practical Guide to Dysfunctional Relationships

by Brett Galimidi, MEM 2005

Introduction those who hold the most power and resources. If ICT is to be a tool that levels the playing Today, technology-based systems of infor- field in the decision-making process, it is criti- mation creation, access, and exchange are cal to understand the formation of key rela- emerging as a new resource to manage the com- tionships between actors during ICT project plexity of diverse development situations that development and the effects these interactions stem from varied sociopolitical systems, cultural may have on resulting efforts. This article uses views, and economic motivations. Information South Africa’s Western Cape Province as a case and Communication Technology (ICT) is gain- study to address relationships between ICT ing ground in the international community as a donors, designers, implementing organiza- solution to traditional development problems tions, communities, and governments and to because of its potential to bring information and illuminate the hurdles and opportunities of education to those who are lacking it, to con- ICT projects. nect those who are isolated, and to foster com- munity involvement in projects (UN 2001; Background UNDP 2001; Bridges.org 2003). The focus of ICT is not the technology itself, such as internet South Africa is currently undergoing sev- access or networked databases, but its ability to eral political and economic changes that have enable the interactions necessary for representa- enabled the generation of many ICT projects. tion of multiple stakeholders in decision-mak- South Africa’s apartheid government left ing processes through collaborative tools such as behind a legacy of sorrow, violence, and social online communities, remote conferencing, and destruction that must now be addressed. The other knowledge-sharing means (UNECE end of apartheid in 1990 and the beginning of 1998). democracy in 1994, however, set the scene for ICT solutions, however, can be problem- a new era of ‘entrepreneurial’ inspiration, atic as they involve numerous parties in the including a significant increase in NGOs work- project design, implementation, and monitor- ing on development issues. In addition, despite ing stages. These parties each come to the table its cruelty, the apartheid regime had developed with their own interests and assumptions, and an effective economic infrastructure, emanating the project is likely to be shaped according to from financial centers in Johannesburg and Durban and the exploitation of diamond and Brett Galimidi, a product of the San Francisco Bay gold reserves around the country. This eco- Area, spent several years studying applications of nomic expansion was supported by a strong internet-based technologies and is now finding physical infrastructure of well-maintained ways to use them for environmental management roads, significant power generation, and wide- and protection. reaching communication systems. While this

34 Volume 24, Spring 2005 previously benefited only the wealthy white Key Relationships1 elite, it may now serve as a valuable system for all people, especially those left behind techno- Institutional structures are complex, filled logically during apartheid. with nuanced relationships and motivations. South Africa’s existing infrastructure, in While understanding the full suite of interac- conjunction with general post-apartheid gov- tions in a relatively short period of research is ernment and NGO interest in fixing the dam- extremely difficult, my results point to several age from the previous forty-plus years key relationships that are core to project devel- (although with little agreement on how to fix opment and provide some insight into the ways it), has paved the way for the country to serve that their dysfunctions can impact the design as a testing ground for ICT solutions. For and outcome of ICT projects. To be clear, the example, one of the provincial governments problems described below neither exist in every (equivalent to the state-level in the US) has case, nor provide a full survey of the tensions in implemented an online system that, aided by the ICT process. Rather, I describe common call centers in rural areas staffed by local resi- pitfalls that may be predicted, recognized, and dents, distributes useful government informa- addressed to make ICT a more effective solu- tion on everything from health to democratic tion for development issues. rights to job skills. Project donors/project designers Methods A fundamental relationship in an institu- tional structure addressing development prob- In the summer of 2004, I traveled to lems is that between project donors and project South Africa to gain direct insight into the cur- designers. Donors, more often than not, are aid rent state of ICT projects and the institutional agencies, governments, or foundations, while structures that are promoting (or preventing) designers are typically NGOs. them. I worked with a Cape Town-based NGO Several themes persisted in the interviews directly addressing ICT access issues and con- (Figure 1). It became clear that a critical break- ducted my own research focused on ICT proj- down occurred between the expectations of ect design and implementation. Through semi- donors and the on-the-ground realities of a proj- structured interviews, I asked questions about ect. Donor expectations come from a number of perceptions of ICT use in development, barri- influences and motivations (Chapin 2004), ers that may prevent the use of ICT solutions which, in turn, may influence the direction of a (including socioeconomic factors, culture dif- project, particularly for local NGOs. This influ- ferences, and education levels), how informa- ence can cause the project to veer from the tion flows and is controlled, if there is collabo- designers’ area of expertise, while forcing it to rative decision-making, and if communities’ conform to a set of goals that may not be appro- support the projects. priate to the project’s local context. In one case, My primary investigatory emphasis was at an NGO I spoke with repeatedly felt burdened the government/NGO level rather than the com- by the heavy bureaucracy associated with some munity level. While site visits to assess current donor sources, whereby, as recipients, they did project implementation played a small role in not have direct control over how the money was analysis, most interviews were conducted in Cape allocated. They also spoke of “funding from a Town, the de facto center of NGO and ICT distance” issues in which the donors do not action, with NGO staff, government officials, and quite grasp the field situation and thus offer to on-the-ground practitioners back from the field. help in ways that are not particularly useful. For

Tropical Resources Bulletin 35 Brett Galimidi

Figure 1. Dynamics of the project donor / project designer relationship

Breakdown Cause Result Donor expectations and • Bureaucracy • Conform to goals of the donor on-the-ground project • “Funding from a distance” organization rather than take realities • North-South philosophical advantage of the abilities of the differences organization Donor need for quick • Donors need to please their • Inappropriate measures of quantification of success investors with fast, positive project "success" and long-term horizons results • Project focus on short-term often necessary for a • Many NGOs competing for rather than long-term results project to reach its full resources allows selectivity on • No "core funding" to be used potential behalf of donors for non-project specific administration Continual need for funding • Limited donors • Projects that meet donor needs forcing designers to comply • Little ability for designers to push more than community needs with donor wishes, even if back on donors • Perpetuation of need-based not in the best interest of • Job security fears relationship the project example, with ICT, many US and European technical capacity, and financial resources. The companies like to donate old computing equip- most obvious problem was the continual need ment to schools in Africa and elsewhere. This for funding. The competition for money, often can be problematic as few people in these unfortunately, sometimes leads NGOs to alter areas have the technical knowledge to administer their desired plan or reshape their areas of the machines, deal with software crashes, and expertise to meet funders’ desires. As one NGO provide other basic maintenance operations. In leader said, “organizations are simply not in the addition, conflicts that emanate from North- situation to stand up to funders.” Not only do South philosophical differences, such as the need NGOs not have the financial security to push to help communities with economic develop- back, but, in less developed countries, they also ment in the first place, had prominence. are often staffed by people who may have seri- Another regular breakdown existed between ous difficulty finding work somewhere else. In donors’ consistent need for short-term quantifica- South Africa, and likely elsewhere, this creates a tion of success and the long-term horizons often significant disincentive to rock the relationship necessary for a project to reach its full potential. boat with regular funders. Other complaints With many NGOs competing for resources and aired during interviews included the difficulty funding sources that are linked to investor apprais- in obtaining “core funding” – that which facil- al, easily quantifiable success measures have itates general NGO administration rather than become increasingly important (Stem et. al. 2005). specific projects – and a lack of accountability In the case of ICT, this may mean that “number on the NGOs’ part that, if addressed, might of internet-connected computers” is the key meas- enhance the credibility of these organizations in urement for project success rather than “successful the eyes of their funders and thus earn them community-derived development projects enabled more project discretion. by ICT.” The former is clearly easier to quantify, but the latter might better measure the actual suc- Project designers/project recipients cess of the project. A second relationship critical to ICT The project designers also had their own implementation is that between the project institutional challenges of social understanding, designers and the project “recipients,” or

36 Volume 24, Spring 2005

Institutional Barriers to Information Access for Development in South Africa and Beyond

Figure 2. Dynamics of the project designer / project recipient relationship

Breakdown Cause Result Lack of cultural/ • Initial assumptions of designers • Solutions that may not contextual under- • Information gathering from a few powerful adequately address the root standing "community leaders" causes of the problems at hand • Rapid-assessment approaches that limit visibility of community subtleties •Assumption that "community" represents unified actors with common interests

Beliefs about • Assumption that the primary barrier to • No addressing of socio- ICT and the access is physical, such as a computer and economic factors at play implementation of internet connection • Possible perpetuation of information-based • Assumption that all information is good biased, false, or subversive solutions information information • Little time spent assessing other non-ICT options

Little or no • Paternalism • Continued distrust of upward input into • Assumptions of recipient need on behalf of outsiders projects designers • Perpetuation us-versus-them feelings in some areas intended beneficiaries of the work (Figure 2). it was a common assumption among designers The relationship between funders and NGOs that a community represents a unified front of described above ideally implies that the views actors with similar and common interests. This and insights of the project designers, if not is rarely the situation (Agrawal and Gibson beholden to donors, would match those of the 1999; Mohan and Stokke 2000). communities they are attempting to help. This, Indeed, a number of assumptions reap- however, is not necessarily the case. peared in my interviews with project designers, Project designers at times lacked a cultur- some vocalized outright and some implied. al and/or contextual understanding of the situ- Perhaps the most basic assumption was that the ation at hand. One practitioner who works pri- real limitation preventing people in communi- marily in a South African township (an ties from utilizing information for economic apartheid-era relocation site for black South advance is physical access to a computer and Africans) pointed to several reasons why this internet connection. Needless to say, there are may happen. First, general initial assumptions numerous other barriers to “access”: education on behalf of the designers may significantly level, language ability, social constraints, and influence projects. Second, a lack of full insight economic limitations (Okpaku 2001). To be into community dynamics, which results from fair, while this mentality still exists in some cir- dealing only with community leaders who may cles, many project designers do understand the wield power in their own self-interest as complexities of information access and opposed to the community’s, can bias the local some, like the NGO for which I worked, are input projects receive. Finally, as mentioned, addressing this directly. A more common prob- donor pressure may shortchange projects if, for lem with ICT project designers was the belief example, a rapid assessment approach to prob- that all information is good information. There lem solving is required that does not permit was little acknowledgment of the possibility time to understand community subtleties. Also, that information provided to community

Tropical Resources Bulletin 37 Brett Galimidi members may be biased, false, or lacking in rel- standing of how outside information could help evant content. Finally, I observed that many them address the problems they face (Jagwanth people working on ICT solutions spent little 2002). Of course, this is not a cognitive failure time evaluating other non-ICT options for on behalf of the community members as much addressing community needs and thus assumed as it is an assumption by project designers that their solution optimal. community members actively want access to Troubles with the designer relationship information. Designers may simply conclude were also apparent from the perspective of the that if information is available, it will be used. recipients. A recurring frustration among recipi- While community members may benefit ents was the lack of upward input into projects. tremendously from increased access to informa- This problem was described repeatedly to me, tion, they must first understand those benefits. with regard to development projects in general, Designers must be careful, however, not to over- by my contact working in the township. sell ICT either. One interviewee mentioned the Paternalism, a frequent critique in development problem of community members expecting ICT projects (Chambers 1994), can result in this type solutions to solve all of their problems. “The of unidirectional project. ICT has the potential computer will get me a job” had been overheard to ameliorate this dynamic by opening channels more than once. for collaborative decision-making. It is particu- Unfortunately, the effects of apartheid are larly counterproductive, therefore, to become still quite strong, as evidenced by the town- paternalistic in the implementation of ICT proj- ship’s existence and the severe economic dispar- ects. The potential for multidirectional informa- ity that continues between blacks and whites. tion flow is widely recognized by designers, but Addressing apartheid as history ignores the cur- its practical implementation proved to be diffi- rent psychological realities of the affected peo- cult. Similarly, nearly all fieldwork contacts ple. While project designers may assume that interviewed said that project recipients often people are eager to change their current situa- have an inherent distrust of information provid- tion, many community members do not con- ed by outsiders, especially from whites with sider change a possibility due to the hangover whom they associate the oppression of apartheid effect. Marginalized people’s desire to use new and, to some extent, the perceived unfairness of tools like the internet to gain footing in current modern capitalism. ICT can pose a solution for society may simply not exist. this problem as well through increased trans- parency of sources and, again, through the mul- Project recipients / project recipients tidirectional information flows. The final relationship category discussed In the South African context, my research here occurs within a group of recipients (Figure also pointed to a more profound disconnect in 3). These intra-community relationships can the designer/recipient relationship. In discussing pose a challenge to project designers, as they are township development projects, it was noted often cultural in nature and require anthropo- that apartheid has resulted in a “psychological logical-type methods to uncover. ICT proj- hangover” that prevents some black Africans ect budgets rarely allow for this depth of analy- from pursuing a life outside of the apartheid sis. Much of the insight discussed here comes mentality although it is legally over. After from two key individuals: the one working in decades of oppression, many citizens do not rec- the township and another working with an ognize they have any democratic rights at all. indigenous group in northern Namibia. From an information-use perspective, those Interviews with project leaders indicate that marginalized by apartheid have little under- some breakdowns existing within a community

38 Volume 24, Spring 2005

Institutional Barriers to Information Access for Development in South Africa and Beyond

Figure 3. Dynamics of the project recipients / project recipients relationship Breakdown Cause Result Little post-apartheid • Decades of oppression resulting in a • Projects implemented that the understanding of "psychological hangover" from apartheid recipients may not utilize democratic rights • Townships still under authority of power- among those in the ful "community leaders" rather than the townships central government

ICT solutions or • Felt threatened by a loss of power, tradition • Resistance among some to attempts not well • Leaders/headmasters often embarrassed to ICT projects received by recipients admit they had no computer knowledge • Inefficient implementation • Aggregation of power by a few "leaders" in the townships

Corruption among • Little means to hold community leaders • Near impossible to get community leaders responsible, by residents or the government legitimate information on the needs of the recipients • Lack of accountability by those who are in charge create tensions between community members With regard to ICT, those interviewed reit- and thus affect the overall acceptance of ICT. erated three common themes. The first was the Both the township and the Namibia cases loss of power. Several village elders in the Namibia involve people that were marginalized for sever- case and township community leaders felt threat- al generations. As the ruling classes changed ened by an influx of outside information. They their country’s sociopolitical trajectory to suit saw their control and status as vulnerable. Second, their needs, these communities were neither many school headmasters and other leaders were allowed to practice traditional ways nor be part embarrassed that they had no working knowledge of the dominant regime. Now, although legally of computers. Instances were reported by my considered equal, many people are in a state of internship NGO where teachers and leaders had social limbo where they feel neither “tradition- hidden donated computers for “safe keeping” al” nor “modern.” As a result, a vacuum exists rather than learn how they worked so they could that can profoundly affect an ICT project. New teach the students. Third, as with any develop- generations knowing only of oppression have ment project, corruption is a danger. Particularly developed their own social systems within the in the township, where community leaders aggre- larger post-apartheid context. The townships in gated power during and after apartheid, abuses of particular, often with tens or hundreds of thou- power were common in many NGO-led proj- sands of residents, have entrenched power hier- ects. This was perpetuated as project designers archies and social strata that developed in reac- often turned to these leaders for direction instead tion to government oppression. of others in the community that may have a bet- Within that vacuum, daily actions of vari- ter working knowledge of a problem. ous individuals within the township, Namibia, This third relationship category is com- and elsewhere present an even more nuanced plex and changes with various cultures and challenge than community-wide issues. As socioeconomic realities. While the details mentioned earlier, it is common to think of a change with each project, project designers can “community” as a unified entity. Communities anticipate the potential imbalances in intra- are dynamic and consist of individuals who community relationships and address them to have their own interests. maximize project effectiveness.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 39 Brett Galimidi

Discussion her insights into ICT and introductions to others working in this area, Craig for his inspiration and Development projects are frequently con- dedication to the people of the townships, and strained by the institutional structures that ini- Olmo for his keen perspectives and love of a good tialize and enable solutions from the outset. pint. I am also grateful to all of the people in South ICT projects are no different. Currently in Africa who took the time to talk with me, those who South Africa – and there is little reason to helped fund this research, and of course to my believe these relationship issues are unique to friends, family, and colleagues who have relentlessly this country – ICT projects are at risk of failure supported my ideas and efforts. due to the same sort of institutional barriers that hamper traditional development models. Endnotes Shifting needs and priorities on behalf of all 1These relationship categories are comprised involved may overshadow the original goal of a of the following individuals: Project Donors – any project, and those in need of help will endure of the potential monetary supporters of projects, the most of these relational breakdowns. including foundations, aid agencies, and govern- The true success of ICT projects can be ments; Project designers – a broad category com- elusive when the wrong indicators are measured. prising all individuals and organizations involved in ICT is a new paradigm in development, which the project creation, implementation, and monitor- has few set precedents; repeated failures could ing stages; Project Recipients – those who are the result in the wholesale abandonment of the con- intended beneficiaries. These categories are designed cept. To avoid this, the numerous participants to remove the connotations of social differences in the project design and implementation (such as “indigenous people”) and need (such as process should openly address the existing insti- “rural poor”). tutional structures that may affect the project and the relationships within. In turn, proper References expectations may be set by designers and there- Agrawal, A. and C. Gibson. 1999. Enchantment by increase the likelihood that projects will work and disenchantment: The role of community towards attainable and beneficial goals and will in natural resource conservation. World be given the opportunity to reach those goals Development 27: 629-649. over a long-range horizon, if necessary. Bridges.org. 2003. The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Care must be taken by ICT project ICT-Enabled Development Initiatives. designers and funders to address possible dys- Bridges.org, Cape Town, South Africa. functions in the relevant relationships, as they Chambers, R. 1994. Participatory rural appraisal may be detrimental to overall project success. (PRA): Challenges, potentials and paradigms. ICT can be tremendously powerful and benefi- World Development 22: 1437-1454. cial. To reach its potential, designers must Chapin, M. 2004. A challenge to conservationists. anticipate breakdowns and problems, and WorldWatch Nov/Dec: 17-31. resolve them proactively rather than reactively. Jagwanth, S. 2002. The Right to Information as a In doing so, project successes will become more Leverage Right. Pp 3-16 in The Right to Know, common and will benefit all involved: donors, the Right to Live: Access to Information and NGOs, communities, and individuals. Socio-Economic Justice, R. Calland and A. Tilley, eds. Open Democracy Advice Center, Acknowledgements Cape Town, South Africa. My thanks go out first to those in South Africa Mohan, G. and K. Stokke. 2000. Participatory devel- who helped bring this project together: Teresa for opment and empowerment: The dangers of

40 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Institutional Barriers to Information Access for Development in South Africa and Beyond

localism. Third World Quarterly 21: 247-268. Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. UN, Okpaku, J. O. 2001. Ownership of Problems, New York. Intellectual Property and the Digital Divide: United Nations Development Programme The Enabling Challenge of Solutions. (UNDP). 2001. Creating a Development Presented to the World Intellectual Property Dynamic: Final Report of the Digital Organization (WIPO), Geneva, Switzerland. Opportunity Initiative. UNDP, New York. Stem, C., R. Margoluis, N. Salafsky, and M. Brown. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe 2005. Monitoring and evaluation in conserva- (UNECE). 1998. UNECE Convention on tion: A review of trends and approaches. Access to Information, Public Participation in Conservation Biology 19: 295-309. Decision-making and Access to Justice in United Nations. 2001. Information and Institutions Environmental Matters. UNECE, Geneva, for Decision Making. Report to the Secretary Switzerland. General. Department of Economic and Social

Alfred Russel Wallace. 1869. The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, with Studies on Man and Nature. Harper and Brothers, New York.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 41 Whale Shark “Ecotourism” in the Philippines and Belize: Evaluating Conservation and Community Benefits

by Angela Quiros, MEM 2005

Introduction: Donsol and Placencia research conducted between January and August of 2004, where I studied and evaluated Whale shark tourism all over the world is a impacts of these projects on whale sharks and highly lucrative industry based on an ecologically the communities involved. vulnerable species (Norman 2000). In the Philippines, Donsol is a popular destination for Context local whale shark tourism. In Belize, internation- al divers visit Placencia to observe whale sharks in In January 1998, whale sharks attracted to Gladden Spit Marine Reserve. Other sites of plankton blooms were discovered in aggrega- whale shark tourism are Ningaloo Reef in tions off Donsol, a fishing village in the Australia, the Seychelles, and Isla Contoy in Philippines. This event attracted tourists, Mexico. Although these sites have different envi- poachers, media and government agencies inter- ronmental, social, and economic contexts, all can ested in obtaining a piece of the whale shark pie. benefit from adopting ecotourism best practices.1 In the wake of the discovery, poachers killed The initiatives in Donsol and Placencia seven sharks; Donsol waters were subsequently support literature on the variable role that eco- declared a whale shark sanctuary, and related tourism plays as a conservation development hunting and trading was banned throughout tool. In a study that tested enterprise strategies the Philippines. However, local fishermen were for community-based biodiversity conserva- commissioned to take people on their boats to tion, Salafsky et al. (2001) found that an enter- swim with the whale sharks, even though prise strategy will not lead to conservation at all Donsol had no official tourism infrastructure sites. Rather, various conditions – including the (Yaptinchay 1999). WWF-Philippines started nature and benefits of the enterprise and the the Whale Shark Research and Conservation identity of the stakeholders – influence the Project to provide ways for Donsol to protect probability that a particular strategy will lead to whale sharks through responsible tourism and conservation. To conserve whale sharks while fishing practices. In 1998, they worked with the improving residents’ socioeconomic status, local government and the Donsol Municipal community-based ecotourism was initiated in Tourism Council to develop a community- Donsol, Philippines and Placencia, Belize. In based whale shark sanctuary and ecotourism this article, I present qualitative results of program, to set regulations and fees, and to organize and train guides and boatmen (Yaptinchay 1999). Registered tourism arrivals Angela Quiros is from the Philippines and has prior experience in marine conservation issues in the were up to 3,175 between December 2003 and Philippines and the Caribbean. She plans to contin- May 2004, and in 2003, the Department of ue working with marine wildlife and ecotourism in Tourism of the Philippines built a Tourism the context of protected areas. Office that coordinates all whale shark tours.2

42 Volume 24, Spring 2005 The author diving with a whale shark in Gladden Spit, Belize. Photograph by Shayne Peche.

Whale sharks have congregated at Gladden Impacts to the whale sharks Spit on the Belize Barrier Reef as long as the old- Whale sharks’ sensitive nature, aggregation est fishermen can remember. Whale shark at specific times of the year, slow maturation tourism, however, was not considered until rate (30 years to reach sexual maturity) and 1997, when the community discovered that dur- migratory behavior all make them susceptible to ing the ten-day period around the full moon in anthropogenic impacts (IUCN 2004). The April and May, whale sharks eat the eggs and IUCN classifies whale sharks as vulnerable sperm from spawning cubera snappers (FoN based on past records of declining catches and 2002). Whale shark tourism in Placencia, the abundance (Norman 2000). This evidence sup- nearest town to Gladden Spit, grew from one to ports the need for low-impact activities at whale 22 tour operators between 1997 and 2004, and shark sites to promote sustainability of the the tourism market grew from 500 visitors in industry. 2002 to 1,299 visitors in 2004. (Jones 2004). Observations of whale shark tourism in Official management did not start until 2004, the Philippines and Belize indicate that whale when Friends of Nature, a Belizean conservation shark behaviors include feeding, diving, and organization worked with The Nature basking on the surface. Some behaviors are cat- Conservancy and the Placencia community to egorized as “avoidance behavior,” such as div- train and register whale shark guides, to establish ing away from swimmers, changing direction, and implement regulations, and to designate a and banking (Colman 1997). Since Gladden Whale Shark Zone in Gladden Spit. Spit and Donsol waters are both feeding grounds for whale sharks, disturbing them Challenges while they feed could reduce the sharks’ sur- vival by diverting their energy from feeding to Challenges to successful ecotourism ven- avoidance behavior (Sorice, Shafer, and Scott tures in Donsol and Placencia originate from 2003; Hammitt and Cole 1998). In Donsol, the unique biology of whale sharks, socio-eco- management practices and tourist behavior sig- nomic concerns of communities, and tourism nificantly increased the probability of whale management. Adopting eco-tourism best prac- sharks exhibiting avoidance behavior, such as tices would minimize effects of tourism on directional changes and diving in response to whale sharks and benefit local communities. humans. Significant predictors of a whale

Tropical Resources Bulletin 43 Angela Quiros

BIO holding on to whale shark in Donsol, Philippines Photograph by Cristina de León.

shark’s directional changes were path obstruc- lower returns, as compared to Placencia. tion of the whale shark and proximity of a Certified guides and tour operators in both swimmer to the whale shark. Significant predic- locations aim to keep membership low to pro- tors of a dive response were first-time sighting vide more income for those already involved. In and path obstruction of the whale shark.3 Donsol, BIO training has not been conducted since 1998, and recent attempts by WWF- Social and cultural changes Philippines to organize training for new BIOs There are benefits and drawbacks to whale have been halted due to conflicts among stake- shark tourism. On one hand, commercial sec- holders.5 In Donsol, whale shark tourism is an tors are thriving, as evidenced by the prolifera- alternative to fishing and farming, and efforts by tion of small stores and restaurants in Donsol, the local government are underway to provide and resorts in Placencia. Both towns take pride alternative means of tourist income, such as fire- in being known for whale sharks. The yearly fly watching and island hopping. However, Butanding Festival4 held in Donsol every April these activities are not enough to provide full- is testament to that fact. On the other hand, time employment. tourism has brought little infrastructure devel- Tourism development has changed some opment. Good roads are needed at both sites. underlying values in the community. Whale shark tourism comes to Placencia at Stakeholders chose to have a protected area in a time when tourist visitation is low, providing their own waters, but with the coming of an important off-season income. However, only tourism, attention has shifted from eco-tourism a few licensed tour operators and dive guides in for whale shark protection to tourism for com- Placencia benefit from this highly lucrative mercial gain. The race to maximize profits has industry, with dive tours reaching US$200 a resulted in crowded conditions at the whale person. In Donsol, 26 active guides, or shark aggregation sites. One tour operator in Butanding Interaction Officers (BIOs), and 60 Placencia has stopped conducting whale shark members of the Boat Operator’s Association tours because he thought that there were “too (BOA) work on a rotational basis. A whale shark many people” in the water. Tour guides and tour boat in the Philippines costs US$50, which operators are placed in the difficult position of can hold up to seven people. The lower fees in juggling between conservation and lucrative Donsol and greater membership translate to tourism activities.

44 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Whale Shark Ecotourism in the Philippines and Belize

Alternatives Two main themes of conflict in Donsol are boat approach and crowding. Interaction If whale shark tourism management con- guidelines specify a maximum of one boat per tinues in its current state at these sites, whale shark, but when whale sharks are scarce, increased impacts on the whale sharks may several boats “share” one individual, crowding decrease sightings and increase conflicts that around it and dropping their swimmers in the affect the experiential quality of the tour. In a water immediately after the previous boat. This tourist survey at Gladden Spit, visitors said that results in shouting exchanges between the they would not return if crowded conditions BOAs and BIOs. did not improve (Lindberg 2004). Whale shark tourism in Gladden Spit is Whale shark ecotourism can work. In concentrated during the 10-day period each Ningaloo Reef, Australia, the industry has been month between March and June. In Gladden prospering since the early 1990s due to proper Spit, whale shark guides have reported up to 80 monitoring (Colman 1997) and adequate divers in the water. Whale shark tourism in financing for the management of resources. One Donsol, on the contrary, starts as early as alternative for creating a more sustainable prod- January and runs until August each year, for uct is to institutionalize ecotourism by changing every day of the month. Although crowding rules and regulations, properly financing tourism associated with very short seasons can be avoid- management, and monitoring tourism impacts. ed in Donsol, weekends and holidays have the same crowding intensity as Gladden Spit. Changing rules and regulations There is a 15-20 boat a day limit in Donsol, Rules and regulations in Donsol and but during peak season, the only limiting factor Gladden Spit were adopted from those in is the number of boats and guides, available for Ningaloo Reef (Colman 1997). However, site- trips. During Easter in 2005, ten uncertified specific characteristics make it impractical to guides led tours because BIOs were occupied have identical regulations. In Donsol, for exam- on two or even three trips per day, and the ple, visibility varies between three to six meters, Tourism Office recorded 76 boat trips in one while visibility in Ningaloo Reef reaches up to day. 20 meters (Kurtz 2004). Ningaloo’s rules man- To address some of these crowding issues dates that swimmers be at least three meters from in Placencia, Friends of Nature (FoN) formed a the head and five meters from the tail – a rule working group in October 2004, composed of that, if obeyed in Donsol, means visitors will not whale shark guides and tour operators, to be able to see the whale shark! Thus, BIOs bring change regulations at the Whale Shark Zone. swimmers less than one meter away from the Changed regulations involve instituting a for- shark, breaking the regulations. mal rotation for whale shark dives with strict The same is seen for the “no touch” rule. time slots to minimize crowding in the area. Between March and June 2004, I observed 99 Applying changes in the 2005 season has the touch incidents from 776 interactions. BIOs potential to improve the management of touch whale sharks, and rarely reprimand visi- tourism at Gladden Spit. tors for breaking those rules, giving conflicting messages about the “no touch” rule. Visitors Financing watch an orientation video that clearly lays out One of the greatest challenges to a self-suf- rules. When visitors enter the water, however, it ficient and functional protected area is having is not uncommon for them to be encouraged to stable capital inflows to cover management, touch the whale shark by the BIO. especially personnel costs, maintenance, and

Tropical Resources Bulletin 45 Angela Quiros

FoN Rangers and Community Researcher on patrol in Gladden Spit Marine Reserve Photograph by Angela Quiros.

infrastructure. Gladden Spit Marine Reserve co-managed by Friends of Nature and the gov- was one of the sites selected by The Nature ernment of Belize. Funds used to manage Conservancy to participate in a program that Gladden Spit come from external grants award- utilizes tourism user fee mechanisms for pro- ed to FoN. In 2004, funds collected from whale tected areas. This initiative sought to put an shark tickets were handed over to the govern- economic value on services in protected areas ment of Belize. While the majority of revenues through income generation mechanisms (TNC remained with the national government to sup- 2002). In March 2003, Friends of Nature port other protected areas in Belize, a portion (FoN) determined levels for the user fee system of those funds were returned to FoN and used at a community consultation meeting as to purchase a new boat motor for patrolling US$15 per person. Donsol has a similar user and research activities along the reef.7 fee system, in which locals pay US$2 and for- In Donsol and Placencia, revenues from eigners pay US$6. entrance fees are not used specifically for man- Government, conservation organizations, aging whale shark tourism. Funds generated and local institutions influence the appropria- from entrance fees should stay within the site, tion and misappropriation of revenues from and fees should be priced at a level that will whale shark tourism. Stakeholders are involved help finance management. At both sites, how- in this decision-making process, although to ever, revenues are insufficient to cover the cost varying degrees and to varying levels of conti- of management, monitoring and improvements nuity. The Local Government Unit (LGU) in to the site, and, therefore, ongoing outside Donsol manages and finances whale shark funds will be required. tourism in Donsol. Entrance fees were estab- lished in 1998 and are collected and held by the Tourism impact monitoring LGU and are not specifically used for tourism Monitoring tourism impacts on wildlife, management. All funds collected in 2003 were environment, and community are an important collected by the LGU and re-allocated to the and neglected part of tourism management. Butanding Festival in Donsol, a yearly celebra- Monitoring is not typically accounted for in tion of the coming of whale sharks in April.6 In tourism management plans and must be financed Placencia, alternatively, whale shark tourism is by external funding.

46 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Whale Shark Ecotourism in the Philippines and Belize

Anthropogenic effects on wildlife have been to be model enterprise strategies that will lead to studied in the context of activities like swim- conservation. A successful long-term approach is with-manatee tourism in Florida, USA (Sorice, contingent on several factors: impacts to the Schafer, and Scott 2003), and swim-with-dol- whale sharks and the environment must be prop- phin operations in New Zealand (Constantine erly managed, conflicts among stakeholders must 2001) and Australia (Scarpaci, Dayanthi, and be relieved through better management practices, Corkeron 2003). Whale sharks have been moni- benefits must be spread more equitably for all tored around snorkelers in Australia (Colman participants, and the two sites must continue to 1997) and in 2004, I initiated a pilot monitoring receive active NGO and government support. project in Donsol, which is ongoing for the 2005 Institutionalizing ecotourism at both sites – season. The crowded conditions in both Donsol through implementing strategies that respond and Gladden Spit necessitate monitoring and a and adjust to changes, properly financing strengthening of regulations. tourism management, and monitoring tourism In Gladden Spit during the 2004 season, impacts – will move Donsol and Placencia closer whale shark sightings were down to one to two to sustainability. whale sharks per dive from a historical high of eight to nine whale sharks per dive (Jones 2004). Acknowledgements The decreasing likelihood of whale shark sight- I would like to acknowledge the Tropical ings in Gladden Spit should make evident to Resources Institute at Yale University, the Yale stakeholders the need for impact monitoring. Summer Internship Fund, and Yale’s South East Whale sharks, a long-lived, K-selected species,8 Asian Council for funding my summer research in may be the type of animal that does not imme- the Philippines and internship in Belize. I would diately exhibit negative effects of disturbance. like to thank those who have been instrumental in Tourism at both sites is not older than ten years, my Master’s Project: Tim Clark, Amity Doolittle, while a whale shark can live up to eighty years Jason Grear, and Jonathan Reuning-Scherer. (Norman 2000). Therefore, negative effects of I would like to thank Ruel Pine, from WWF- tourism may not be seen until more years have Philippines, Salvador Adrao, Tito Arevalo, Nitz, passed. Given the lack of scientific knowledge Jerry, Bonnet, and Buboy of the Donsol Tourism about this species, employing the precautionary Office, and members of the BIO and BOA– Alan, principle is a prudent long-term plan. Asir, Abe, Bobby, Jack, Lambert, Omar, Joel, and Integrating monitoring into the manage- Vener. I would like to thank Mayor Salve Ocaya, ment plans of Gladden Spit and Donsol would Maria Ravanilla, Ping Arcillo, Sylvia and Amer improve the current band-aid approach to Amor, Mel Montano, Celia and David Duran, and whale shark conservation at these sites, where Karina Escudero. I would like to thank Friends of management does not mitigate adverse impacts Nature of Belize, Will Jones, Lindsay Garbutt, with adequate foresight. Monitoring would Shayne Pech, Linda Garcia, and Lisa Carne; and help the two sites move toward true ecotourism Placencia community members - Brian Young, Julie principles, by indicating which activities most Berry, Luis Godfrey, Walter Garbutt, Dwayne adversely affect the whale sharks and informing Young, Patti Ramirez, Donna Young, and Kevin managers to minimize those impacts. Modera. I would like to thank The Nature Conservancy’s Ecotourism Program, Andy Drumm Conclusion and John Terborgh. I would like to thank Donsol volunteers: Tey Remulla, Jojo Guevarra, Giovanni The community-based “eco-tourism” proj- Co, Tanya Conlu, Roche Cuyco, Jessica Pena, TJ ects in Donsol and Placencia have the potential Isla, Nuj Ramos, Roselle Tenefrancia, Elizabeth

Tropical Resources Bulletin 47

Angela Quiros

Aguirre, Vicky Zayco, Rolly Magpayo, Jef Buscar, IUCN. 2004. Status Category Summary by Major Chino Villanueva, Christine Edullantes, Vera Taxonomic Group (Animals). htttp://www. Horigue, and Elson Aca. redlist.org/info/tables/table3a.html Jones, W. 2004. Watching Over the Whale Sharks of Endnotes Gladden Spit. Friends of Nature, Belize. 1 Ecotourism is defined as a “low-impact, envi- Kurtz, T. 2004. Site information for Ningaloo Reef. ronmentally-sound and community-participatory http://www.bfsng.com/snorkel/Ningaloo tourism activity…that yields socio-economic benefits Reef.htm to the concerned community” (Libosada 1998). Libosada, C. 1998. Ecotourism in the Philippines. 2 Personal communication with Maria Bookmark, Inc., Makati City. Ravanilla, Department of Tourism, Philippines, Lindberg, K. 2004. Price Responsiveness and Other Director of Bicol Region on March 22, 2005. Visitor Survey Results: Gladden Spit, Belize 3 Logistic regression analyses were used to Survey Project. Report to The Nature model whale shark avoidance behavior. Conservancy, 22 July 2004. 4 Butanding is whale shark in Bicolano. The Nature Conservancy. June 2002. Tourism User 5 Personal communication with Tito Arevalo, Fee Systems for Protected Area Conservation. former Tourism Officer of Donsol’s Tourism A report to the Alex C. Walker Educational & Office, May 2004. Charitable Foundation. 6 Personal communication with Karina Norman, B. 2000. Rhincodon typhus. 2003 IUCN Escudero, March 11, 2004. Red List of Threatened Species. 7 Personal communication with Will Jones, http://www.redlist.org. Development Director of Friends of Nature, Salafsky, N. et al. 2001. A systematic test of an October 1, 2004. enterprise strategy for community-based bio- 8 K-selected species have more or less stable diversity conservation. Conservation Biology populations at or near carrying capacity in relatively 15(6): 1585-1595. stable habitats. Scarpaci, C., N. Dayanthi, and P. J. Corkeron. 2003. Compliance with regulations by “Swim-with- References dolphins” operations in Port Phillip Bay, Colman, J. 1997. Whale Shark Interaction Victoria, Australia. Environmental Management Management, with Particular Reference to 31(3): 342-347. Ningaloo Marine Park 1997-2007. Western Sorice, M.G, C.S. Shafer, and D. Scott. 2003. Australian Wildlife Management Program, Managing endangered species within the No. 27. use/preservation paradox: Understanding and Constantine, R. 2001. Increased avoidance of swim- defining harassment of the West Indian mers by wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops Manatee (Trichechus manatus). Coastal truncatus) due to long-term exposure to swim- Management 31: 319-338. with-dolphin tourism. Marine Mammal Yaptinchay, A.A. 1999. Marine Wildlife Science 17(4): 689-702. Conservation and Community-Based FoN (Friends of Nature). March 2002. Gladden Ecotourism. Pp 90-99 in Proceedings of Spit Marine Reserve Management Plan. Conference-Workshop on Ecotourism, Hammitt, W.E. and D.N. Cole. 1998. Wildland Conservation and Community Development, Recreation: Ecology and Management, 2nd ed. Nov. 7-12, 1999. VSO Publication, Wiley, New York. Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines.

48 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Modeling from Below: The Social Dynamics of Land Use Change in the Buffer Zone of Cordillera Azul National Park, Peru

Rafael Eduardo Bernardi de León, MEM 2005

Introduction frontier expansion processes that result in high rates of forest conversion to agricultural or The Cordillera Azul National Park degraded lands, threatening the park’s stated (CANP), created in 2001, lies in the Huallaga management goals of protecting biodiversity Valley of northern Peru, where the Andes meet and contributing to sustainable local liveli- the Amazon rainforest. Portions of the depart- hoods (CIMA 2004). In order to address these ments of San Martín, Ucayali, Huánuco, and threats, there is a need to understand the main Loreto fall within CANP (CIMA 2004). CIMA- social and economic factors behind frontier Cordillera Azul, a Peruvian non-governmental expansion in the area. organization (NGO), manages the park, making For this research, I developed a model for it the first privately managed, publicly protected conceptualizing the processes underlying land National Park in Peru. While CIMA manages use change based on a literature review and pre- the park, ultimate control over Cordillera Azul liminary analysis. This initial model assisted in remains in the hands of the government’s framing questions for a household survey in the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRE- buffer zone. The model was then refined to NA). The park protects a unique array of species, incorporate findings from the survey. The ecosystems, and geologic formations and model was an iterative tool to understand the remains largely untouched from industrial process, guide my field research, and generate exploitation due to its inaccessibility and the recommendations on land-use change. Here I recent history of drug trade and guerrilla war in present the results from the household survey the region by both Shining Path and the Tupac in relation to the model, highlighting locally Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). significant factors driving land use change in Present pacification and reduction of ille- the community and providing recommenda- gal coca crops are creating a new scenario for tions for future management. development in the region. Economic opportu- nities however, seem to repeat a pattern of Case Study ‘boom and bust’ cycles that characterize the his- tory of the Amazon region. Trends of logging I focused my study on San Juan, a small, and road opening are part of agricultural recently established rural community located in the province of Picota, department of San Martín (Figure 1), composed primarily of Rafael Bernardi de León is from Montevideo, migrants from the Andean departments. San Uruguay, and has a degree in civil/environmental engineering from the National University. He plans Juan is a dynamic community whose active to return to Uruguay upon graduation to pursue local authorities and good communal organiza- work in integrating conservation/environmental tion have led to the establishment of a school, restoration with social and economic development. the construction of a 14 km road linking San

Tropical Resources Bulletin 49 Rafael Eduardo Bernardi de León

Figure 1. Map of the Cordillera Azul National Park Showing the community of San Juan, uses of the land including timber concessions and areas with significant deforestation in its western buffer zone.

Source: CIMA 2004, Plan Maestro del PNCAZ.

Juan to the capital of the district, Tres Unidos, Methodology and other benefits from programs supported by USAID as part of “voluntary” substitution of I conducted semi-structured interviews coca with other crops. San Juan’s authorities with officials and professionals from govern- have been working with CIMA to develop a mental bodies and NGOs from May to July zoning plan, and local farmers are working with 2004. I also conducted household surveys in the NGOs’ technicians to improve their agri- the local community of San Juan. The sample cultural practices in the park’s buffer zone. for the final survey was 34 households, chosen

50 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Modeling from Below randomly from a total number of 95 heads of do not claim to encompass the full complexi- households listed in San Juan’s official register. ty of this process. In this article, I used a sim- To corroborate these results, I spent several plified version of the model, which also can days in the San Juan community conducting be used to rank the different factors according additional semi-structured interviews and par- to their importance. In the following section, ticipating in social life. Finally, I mapped new I describe significant findings from the house- roads and land cover changes with GPS and hold surveys and observations and explain digital photography. how these findings validate or alter proposed factors in the model. Results Road development and access A local-scale model of land use change While roads are fundamental for develop- Models for land cover and land use changes ment and service access during frontier expansion, have identified particular socio-economic drivers their effects on ecosystem degradation and defor- that determine the way in which new patterns estation are well known (Imbernon 1999; Mahar manifest themselves in the landscape during 1989; Carvalho et al. 2001). However, good frontier expansion (Mustard et al. 2004). transportation systems are essential to community Models for tropical deforestation, in particular, livelihoods and key to economic development. show “economic factors, institutions, national Two main processes are contributing to the open- policies, and remote influences (at the underly- ing of roads in the San Juan area: (1) legal and ille- ing level) driving agricultural expansion, wood gal logging activities, and (2) the establishment of extraction, and infrastructure extension (at the Alternative Development Programs (ADPs), a proximate level)” (Geist and Lambin 2002: major component of the Peruvian government’s 143). Scenarios of frontier deforestation that fol- coca substitution policies, which are financially low the paving of roads have been studied in the supported by the US Agency for International Brazilian Amazon (Carvalho et al. 2001; Development (USAID). Nepstad et al. 2002; Soares-Filho et al. 2004). In Roads opened by illegal loggers have been Peru, researchers found that different factors lead the vanguard for land conversion in the district to land conversion by colonists versus indige- of Tres Unidos. Road openings sometimes tran- nous groups. The socio-economic causes of land spire through agreements with local landholders conversion by colonists tend to follow road who pay for increased road access by giving log- access and are linked to production techniques, gers rights to the trees on their land. Illegal log- integration into markets, land access, and the gers need roads to access wood, while landhold- availability of labor and capital. The most signif- ers want better access to transport their products icant factors leading to land conversion by to markets. These poorly designed roads consti- indigenous groups are access to land, size of the tute a short-term solution for farmers, but they family’s productive lands, and family labor can also cause erosion or landslides. capacity (Bedoya Garland 1995). The effects of deforestation on USAID- The conceptual model I developed financed road improvements were shown in sev- through this research (Figure 2) aims to eral studies (CARE 2002; CDC 2003). In areas incorporate our existing large-scale under- under ADP jurisdiction, 80% of deforestation standing of frontier expansion from regions has been linked directly to road access, the main across the tropics with local and first-hand impact resulting from improvements in penetra- perspectives on the socio-economic causes tion roads funded by ADP (CARE 2002), as was and effects of land use change in San Juan. I the case from the road built in 2002 linking San

Tropical Resources Bulletin 51 Rafael Eduardo Bernardi de León

Figure 2. The most significant factors determining land use trends in the study area. Light gray boxes were considered in the initial conceptual model based on literature research and initial observation and have remained as significant in this case study. White boxes represent those factors that were initially considered in the model but not found to be particularly relevant. Dark grey boxes were factors that were added as a result of new findings from the research.

52 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Modeling from Below

Juan to Tres Unidos. As a result of these find- road to Tres Unidos. The growing population is ings, USAID has increased precautions when a relatively new phenomenon (Table 1). The undertaking new road projects, one being the new regional access created by the road and the requirement of an indirect impact assessment for increase in colonists is pushing the frontier past major road improvement projects. San Juan, towards the Cordillera Azul National Improved roads dramatically change Park and into the nearby timber concessions. access to markets. In the poorly drained soils of To understand the colonization process, the Peruvian Amazon, transportation of agri- research must address family, communal, and cultural products on the farmer’s back or by extra-communal ties – in Enrique Mayer’s horse after a rainfall requires a great amount of words, the “complex network of kinship, social effort. The combined effects of poor roads, and political obligations that link a household high transportation costs, and the need for sig- to others, to the rest of the community, and to nificant investments of labor and time often the larger social world” (2002: 27). The impor- become a considerable barrier to new coloniza- tance of these links and their relevance to the tion. However, in San Juan, roads have reduced development of a model for land conversion the transactional costs of farming and have processes can be inferred. For example, there is improved the standard of living. Before the a close link between newly arriving immigrants road to Tres Unidos was built, transportation and the presence of family ties to residents in costs for some farmers amounted to as much as San Juan. Fifty-six percent of the farmers stated 5% of coffee’s gross income. that relatives had immigrated to San Juan before them, and 68% stated they had other Colonization relatives in San Juan (whether these had come As throughout the Peruvian Amazon before or after their own arrival). (Bedoya Garland 1995; Maki 2001), colonizers (colonos) arrived in San Juan seeking land and Deforestation and wood extraction escaping economic constraints in both the high- Between San Juan and the adjacent park, lands and the coast. San Juan is composed main- there are newly established timber concessions ly of migrants from the highlands (60% of created under the Forest and Wildlife Law of respondents) and the primary commercial crop there is coffee, generally planted in diverse agro- forestry systems with plantains and manioc, Table 1. Number of people interviewed which may reduce rates of slash-and-burn agri- according to year of arrival. culture. Maize is also widely planted, but mainly as a subsistence crop. Once settlers acquire lands Year of Arrival Number of Respondents in San Juan, they typically conduct burns to cre- 1994 3 ate the initial fields and then keep planting with- 1995 0 in them, leaving the land fallow for one or more 1996 0 years between annual crops. Most recent 1997 2 migrants to San Juan have acquired the land 1998 3 through purchase rather than occupation; free 1999 2 land around San Juan is rarely available. This 2000 5 absence of free land reflects the stage at which 2001 3 San Juan is, in a colonization process that began 2002 6 approximately 10 years ago and has accelerated 2003 8 in recent years due to the construction of the

Tropical Resources Bulletin 53 Rafael Eduardo Bernardi de León

2000 (Gobierno del Peru 2000). The conces- Credit and property titles sions have contributed to a larger regional Seventy percent of the farmers interviewed demand for high quality wood, boosting the mentioned a lack of credit availability (e.g. loan extraction and commerce of old and new tim- programs) as the main reason they have not ber species. Concessions bring in a large work- requested one. Only one-fifth of the people inter- ing force and accompanying machinery (such viewed stated that they have never sought credit. as bulldozers and chainsaws), which, once pres- These people stated that they either had no desire ent, can be used for illegal extraction – illegal to generate debts or were able to draw on alterna- logs are sometimes “laundered” by declaring tive family support mechanisms. The majority of them as originating from the concessions. farmers suffer from a lack of credits resulting Finally, ongoing colonization was observed from non-formalized land titles and a lack of inside concessions next to roads opened for appropriate loan programs. Lack of credits has timber management, even though it is illegal to been hypothesized as a barrier to investment in colonize lands inside a concession. In some production and hence development (de Soto cases, this is encouraged or tolerated by the 2000). Others, however, argue that increased concessionaries as a way to avoid further obliga- participation in market systems may decrease the tions of replanting and managing their land. subsistence capacity of small farmers by placing Most of the villagers interviewed in San them in a situation where they can no longer sup- Juan (70%) did not find any commercially port themselves on subsistence agriculture, but valuable wood growing on the lands they they are not yet fully integrated into the market acquired, even though almost all of them (Mayer 2002). Most settlers in San Juan have (88%) cleared land to plant their crops (mean: only a “certificate of acquisition” for their land; 3.2 ha/person, with 77% having cleared <4 ha). some claim to have a legal certificate of possession This figure confirms that loggers are leading the or title. In either case, the San Juan farmers are frontier expansion, which reduces the lands’ dependent on commercial crops, and a system of potential to support sustainable livelihoods soft credits2 is crucial for farmers’ security. associated with the forests when settlers arrive. Villagers see good quality timber on their lands Agricultural practices and labor as a valuable asset since it can be sold in diffi- In the San Juan region, the proportion of cul- cult times or utilized (e.g. in construction) in tivated land decreases with the size of the property the future.1 (almost all farmers with >2 ha planted <40% of Lack of enforcement by police in control- their plots). The inverse relation between intensity ling illegal logging has caused communal author- of land use and size of property has been observed ities to take efforts into their own hand by con- for the Amazon’s colonists and has been linked to fiscating chainsaws in areas outside concessions. the lack of a labor force, mainly in coca growing These efforts, however, have led loggers to file a regions (Bedoya Garland 1985). This lack of labor, judicial penal demand against them for stolen however, does not seem to be a significant factor of property (still in process as of August 2004). land use in San Juan. The majority of the farmers This lack of control curtails residents’ ability to (~60%) have stated they hire workers during har- protect their lands. It is crucial that park man- vesting, and some (~20% of those interviewed) agers work to provide institutional support for also use a system of collective help, called minka. community concerns and facilitate official In addition, there is no correlation between the enforcement, possibly through the establishment number of family members that help with produc- of channels or mechanisms that provide quicker tion and the size of crop harvests. responses to claims made by local authorities.

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Cattle Role of NGOs and institutional framework The dynamics of expanding clearings to As is typical in the Amazon region, a establish extensive cattle ranching have been strong legal framework prohibiting logging and widely studied in Brazil (Hetch 1993; Mattos land conversion through slash-and-burn agri- and Uhl 1994; Fearnside 1989). In Peru, small- culture exists, but there is a lack of enforcement holder peasant agriculture seems to be a more capability. One indicator is the lack of regula- important factor than ranching in driving the tory awareness in community members. Less process of frontier expansion (Bedoya Garland than 10% of the farmers interviewed in San 1991; Wood 2000). In the department of San Juan correctly identified the existing environ- Martín, preferential land use estimates identify mental regulations and over 90% had not pasture as between 1.9% and 6.8% of the total changed their practices as a result of the prohi- land base (MINAG 2002). Nevertheless, San bitions, with the exception of the ban on coca Martín’s meat production has increased by planting/harvesting. 57% in the period of 1998 to 2001 (ibid.). Ten This area’s history of coca production, percent of the farmers interviewed in San Juan together with its conservation value, has led pro- owned cattle (mean of six heads). These people grams by NGOs and cooperation institutions also occupied disproportionate total land area (like USAID) to significantly affect land use (22% of total lands among survey sample), change in the region. Making coca eradication a although the fraction of land they had under national priority, USAID funding of Alternative production (crops plus pastures) was similar to Development Programs (ADPs) has had large the average for other colonists. Precipitously impacts on the economy of farmers and local falling coffee prices – now at one-fourth of their development, and these programs have faced a 1992 value (JNC 2004) – has increased cattle’s great deal of opposition. Given coca’s cultural importance as a source of financial stability; importance, and the fact that it is the most prof- people also value grasslands as a proof of land itable crop, these controversial programs contin- tenure. Therefore, it would not be surprising to ue to be a source of social unrest. see an increase in cattle in the region over the CIMA’s strategy, as CANP’s manager, is to next few years. avoid a traditional “aid to passive subjects” approach and instead focus on developing the Future projections strengths or potentials of the communities. This Colonists are willing to diversify their strategy increases the people’s trust despite gener- agricultural activities (e.g. planting cacao). alized suspicion towards NGOs associated with When asked what they thought their situation the ADPs. Trust has been found to be a crucial would be like in three years with respect to value in building robust social processes in pro- land, crops, and cattle, the farmers, in general, tected areas (Stern 2004). CIMA is currently gen- aspired to increase their properties on average erating a participatory zoning process to help by 20%. With respect to crops, they projected communities define land use and to acquire land an average increase of 65% in cultivated lands. titles from governmental organizations. The Overall, people projected expanding their administrative, legal, and technical support of cattle pastures four-fold in terms of area and CIMA in this process can contribute to sustain- five-fold in herd size. Although this only able management plans. Moreover, extending this reflects aspirations, San Juan seems to be no support to articulate demands by communities to exception to the general increase of cattle in the the government for basic services can be one of Peruvian Amazon, an important consideration the most significant ways the park’s management in any zoning plan. can contribute to communities in the area.

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Discussion can reduce the impacts of key factors that lead to land conversion and deforestation, as suggest- This research shows the utility of cross-ref- ed by linkages in the land use change model. erencing general models with local contexts in Overall, this research confirmed the importance order to understand both the large-scale forces of legalizing land titles in the current CIMA at work – which are often similar between land-zoning plans, and the importance of con- countries and over time – and the specific con- sidering family ties when working with the text that enables management to succeed. communities to slow down immigration rates. Trends observed through my fieldwork in INRENA efforts to control illegal logging San Juan confirm the linkage between road should be complemented with efforts to make opening and an increasing rate of land conver- sure that the concessionaries control coloniza- sion. The most salient findings of this study, in tion within their forest concessions. terms of factors behind land conversion in San To achieve appropriate regulations regard- Juan, include (a) the importance of family ties as ing land use and the maintenance of forest a contributing factor to immigration, (b) the cover, the CANP managers can make a funda- role of logging in the colonization process, (c) mental contribution to residents by strengthen- labor availability not appearing to be a limiting ing community authority and control and by factor in crop production, and (d) the impor- providing legal, administrative, and technical tance of property titling for credits and as a support to communities. This will help empow- component in zoning plans. My research also er the community to face the demands of log- suggests that the “agricultural culture,” or previ- gers and other actors in the frontier expansion ous practices in the life of the colono, does not process. Increasing colonization trends moving seem to influence the main types of crops grown past San Juan towards the park are indicating in the new setting, although it may have an that it is crucial to work with communities in impact in conversion of forests to pastures. the early stages of the colonization process, and Finally, the influence of ADPs and environmen- to reach long-term alternatives that contribute tal organizations emerged as a notable factor due to both the park’s goals and to the development to the amount of interventions in the area. of the communities in the region. Table 2 briefly summarizes actions that

Table 2. Potential actions to address key factors in local land-use change

Factor Possible Actions Family Ties CIMA could work with community to influence spatial and temporal immigration trends Forest Concessions Greater control by INRENA to avoid settlements inside concessions Institutions, NGO CIMA could provide legal and administrative support to communal demands of services made to governmental bodies, and support increased governance with communal participation Zoning- Land Improve land use patterns by including current and desired land use of the property communities into micro-zoning plans, linking it to title formalization and research on market alternatives. Capital and Credits Further research needed on credits and loans programs for agriculture

56 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Modeling from Below

Acknowledgements References Many thanks to the Community of San Juan Bedoya Garland, E. 1985. Intensification and and its authorities and to CIMA’s staff in Tarapoto Degradation in the Agricultural Systems of the and Lima, with special thanks to Lily Rodriguez, Peruvian Upper Jungle: The Upper Huallaga Jose Chira, Luis Arevalo, Ramón del Aguila, Ramón Case. Pp 290-315 in Lands at Risk in the Linares, Alvaro del Campo, and Hillary del Campo World, P.D. Little and M. M. Horowitz, eds. for their contributions to this work through discus- Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado. sions, ideas, and logistical aspects. Thanks to Lucho Bedoya Garland, E. 1991. Las Causas de la García and the professionals of Cedisa and Choba- Deforestación en la Amazonía Peruana: Un choba, Luis Benites and INRENA, Marcia Toledo Problema Estructural. Centro de Investigaciones and the USAID staff whom I interviewed, and y Promoción Amazónico, Lima, Peru. Fulbright Peru and Uruguay. Special thanks to Bedoya Garland, E. 1995. The Social and Andrea Johnson for her invaluable contributions, Economic Causes of Deforestation in the help, and editing of this paper. Thanks to Laura Peruvian Amazon Basin: Natives and Kiernan, Amity Doolittle, Lisa Curran, Florencia Colonists. Pp 217-246 in The Social Causes of Montagnini, and to the Tropical Resources Environmental Destruction in Latin America, Institute, Yale School of Forestry and M. Painter and W.H. Durham, eds. Environmental Studies, and Compton Foundation University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. for the support of this research; to Del Campo fam- CARE. 2002. Estudio del Impacto en los Bosques ily, to Claudia from La Posada, and all the organiza- Naturales y Areas Protegidas de las Mejoras de tions and people that helped me with this research las Vias Terrestres Financiadas por in Peru and USA. USAID/Peru en Los Valles del Programa de Many of the concepts expressed in this docu- Desarrollo Alternativo. Impact Study. CARE, ment are a result of discussions with professionals of Chemonics-Peru and Planning Assistance. CIMA, Cedisa, and other organizations, even though Carvalho, G., A.C. Barros, P. Moutinho, and D. they may not be explicitly mentioned in the work. Nepstad. 2001. Sensitive development could protect Amazonia instead of destroying it. Endnotes Nature 409(6817): 131. 1 According to César Flores, a Yale PhD can- CDC (Centro de Datos para la Conservación). didate working with WWF, in the cultural land- 2003. Manejo Ambiental y Uso Sostenible de scape of the sierra, or Andean highlands, forests do Bosques y Recursos Naturales en las Áreas de not usually play a fundamental role in agricultural or Intervención del Programa de Desarrollo subsistence activities; this reduces the value that new Alternativo (PDA). WWF, USAID, and settlers may attribute to forests. This is a point that Centro de Datos para la Conservación, deserves further study. Work is being done by local Universidad de La Molina, Lima, Peru. NGOs to incorporate values of the forests into the CIMA (Centro de Conservación, Investigación y farmers’ subsistence strategy. Manejo de Areas Naturales). 2004. Plan 2 “Soft credits” are credits with low interest Maestro del Parque Cordillera Azul. INRENA, rates or that incorporate subsidies in order to sup- Lima, Peru. port investments in agriculture. They are generally de Soto, H. 2000. El Misterio del Capital. El provided by the State’s agricultural and develop- Comercio, Lima, Peru. ment programs. Fearnside, P. M. 1989. Deforestation and agricul- tural development in Brazilian Amazonia. Interciencia 14(6): 291-297.

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Geist, H.J. and E.F. Lambin. 2002. Underlying Mustard, J. F., R. Defries, T. Fisher, and E. Moren. driving forces of tropical deforestation. 2004. Land Use and Land Cover Change BioScience 52(2): 143-150. Pathways and Impacts. Chapter 26 in Land Gobierno del Perú. 2000. Ley Forestal y de Fauna Change Science: Observing, Monitoring, and Silvestre. No. 27.308. 16 June, Lima, Peru. Understanding Trajectories of Change on the Hetch, S. B. 1993. The logic of livestock and defor- Earth’s Surface, G. Gutman et al., eds. Kluwer, estation in Amazonia. Bioscience 43: 687-695. Netherlands. Imbernon, J. 1999. A comparison of the driving Nepstad, D., D. Mc Grath, A. Alencar, A.C. Barros, forces behind deforestation in the Peruvian G. Carvalho, M. Santill, and M.D.V. Diaz. and the Brazilian Amazon. Ambio 28(6): 509- 2002. Frontier Governance in Amazonia. 513. Science 295: 629-631. Junta Nacional del Café (JNC). 2004. El Mercado Soares-Filho, B., A. Alencar, D. Nepstad, G. del Café en Perú y el Mundo. Cerqueira, M. del Carmen Vera Diaz, S. http://www.cepes.org.pe/cendoc/Jnc%20final Rivero, L. Solórzano, and E. Voll. 2004. /00principal/Estadisticas/crisis_del_cafe_archi Simulating the response of land-cover changes vos/frame.htm to road paving and governance along a major Mahar, D. J. 1989. Government Policies and Amazon highway: The Santarem-Cuiaba cor- Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon Region. ridor. Global Change Biology 10(5): 745-764. World Bank, Washington, D.C. Stern, M. 2004. As far as I can throw ‘em: Maki, S., R. Kalliola, and K. Vuorinen. 2001. Road Expanding the paradigm for park/people stud- construction in the Peruvian Amazon: Process, ies beyond economic rationality. Paper pre- causes and consequences. Environmental sented at Conference, People in Parks: Beyond Conservation 28(3): 199-214. the Debate. Annual Conference of the Mattos, M. and C. Uhl. 1994. Economic and eco- International Society of Tropical Foresters, logical perspectives on ranching in the eastern Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Amazon. World Development 22(2): 145-158. Studies chapter, New Haven, Connecticut. Mayer, E. 2002. The Articulated Peasant: Household Wood, H.C. 2000. Cattle ranching, land use and Economies in the Andes. Westview Press, deforestation in the Amazon: A comparative Boulder, Colorado. study of Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Abridged MINAG. 2002. Ministerio de Agricultura del Peru, Project Proposal. http://www.rsmas.miami. Plan Estratégico Regional. http://www.porta- edu/IAIUM/Inst2000/lectures/wood_jul20/re lagrario.gob.pe/polt_sanmartin3.shtml ading/Cattle_proposal.pdf

58 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Organic Aquaculture in Ecuador: A More Sustainable Solution?

by Laura Cuoco, MESc 2005

Introduction wholeheartedly by all actors. Several environ- mental NGOs in Ecuador, as well as in other For hundreds of years, local fishermen in countries, have spearheaded a movement Ecuador sustainably farmed coastal waters sur- against Naturland’s certification process. The rounding mangrove forests for shrimp and reason for this opposition is two-fold. First, the other harvestable marine organisms (Macintosh actual standards are contentious: they are not in and Zisman 1999). In the 1970s, several compliance with national legislation, they do Ecuadoran companies and individuals took not account for all stakeholders, and they are advantage of the presence of shrimp in these not fully implemented and enforced per waters to construct artificial shrimp ponds for Naturland’s own guidelines (Cisneros and higher production for export (Olsen, Robadue, Salgado 2004). Second, there is a greater con- and Arriaga 1995). The 1980s witnessed a cern that organic certification is legitimizing marked increase in the production and con- aquaculture without solving the problems sumption of shrimp worldwide. Concomitant inherent to shrimp farming, and that it is with the growth of the aquaculture industry in detracting from the integrity of the organic Ecuador was massive deforestation of man- label (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). This article groves to provide space for artificial ponds. uses research findings from first-hand inter- While aquaculture provided great economic views and document review to explore the benefit to shrimp farm owners, the negative organic aquaculture controversy in Ecuador.2 consequences to local communities and estuar- ine environments have been devastating. Background One system introduced in Ecuador in the late 1990s as a more sustainable alternative to As late as the 1970s, mangroves were modern shrimp farming was organic aquacul- thought of as swampy wastelands (Mitsch and ture.1 In 1999, the first worldwide standards Gosselink 1993). Now, however, mangrove for the certification of organic shrimp aquacul- forests are touted as one of the most productive ture were established by Naturland, a non-prof- ecosystems in the world, providing myriad ben- it German association (Naturland 2003). efits to humans and the environment. While organic aquaculture may appear to be an Ecologically, mangroves help stabilize coast- innovative solution, it has not been accepted lines, preventing erosion and acting as a buffer during major storms; they harbor a wide diver- sity of wildlife (Hogarth 1999); and they serve Laura Cuoco, a New York City native, attended the to filter out nutrients that are potentially harm- University of California, Berkeley, before heading to ful to coastal waters (Twilley et al. 1998). Local Central America. She spent the next five years pri- marily in El Salvador, with the Peace Corps as an communities worldwide have long sustained agroforestry volunteer and later with the American their livelihoods through utilization of the Red Cross working in disaster relief. She hopes to many services that mangrove ecosystems pro- return to South America to live after graduation. vide (Hogarth 1999).3

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The life cycle of shrimp is closely tied to of mangroves has exaggerated coastal erosion, mangroves. Post-larval shrimp migrate, or are car- causing a loss of protection from El Niño events; ried, to estuaries, where they are protected from increased sedimentation of waters; and elevated predators and provided with nutrients from the potential for pathogen outbreaks in shrimp waters surrounding mangroves throughout their populations (Boyd and Green 2002).7 juvenile stage, before reentering the open sea to The socioeconomic and environmental mate and spawn (Hogarth 1999). The geograph- inequities surrounding aquaculture in Ecuador ic distribution of the species that is commercially are so contentious that violence has occurred in fished or cultivated closely follows the distribution the last decade (A.E. 2003). Various environ- of mangroves (ibid.). For this reason, the con- mental NGOs, national and international, have struction of shrimp ponds has been predominant- now joined forces with communities to support ly in mangrove ecosystems. However, farm own- their struggle to prevent any further deforesta- ers unaware of the importance of these forests for tion and encourage reforestation efforts, to shrimp habitat cut mangroves for pond construc- regain access to existing mangroves, and to rid tion. Mangroves in Ecuador suffered tremendous- the coastline of illegal farms. ly from deforestation during the 1980s as a response to the global increase in shrimp con- Organic farming sumption.4 By 1999, as much as 50% of In the late 1990s, in response to the nega- Ecuador’s mangrove forests were deforested (A.E. tive environmental and social consequences of 2003); in some areas with a high concentration of modern farming methods, the world’s first shrimp ponds, losses were closer to 90%. organic shrimp farm was created in Ecuador.8 Naturland’s subsequent standards for organic Effects of modern shrimp farming shrimp aquaculture are based on the following The effects of mangrove deforestation on the principles: the absence of chemicals, limited environment and local communities have been stocking density, strict environmental monitor- substantial. The majority of shrimp farms are not ing, and protection of the surrounding environ- locally owned but were created by outsiders who ment (Naturland 2002).9 As of May 2004, there illegally cleared mangroves. This deforestation has exist six certified farms and four packing plants threatened the livelihoods of those who depend on and laboratories where larvae are raised by organ- mangroves for resources, deteriorating their health ic standards (Cisneros and Salgado 2004).10 and causing an increase in emigration rates (A.E. 2003).5 Those who remain are frequently denied Critique of Naturland access to the surviving mangroves if new farms were constructed between their lands and the While some environmental organizations forests. Many people who were offered employ- accept organic aquaculture and, more specifi- ment were poorly paid, suffered less than adequate cally, the standards set forth by Naturland, working conditions, and were only hired on a tem- other NGOs have questioned various facets of porary basis, often losing their jobs to outsiders these guidelines. Acción Ecológica and C- brought in to replace them (Hagler 1997).6 CONDEM, both environmental organiza- The biological, chemical, and physical tions based in Ecuador, have recently been in impacts of large-scale shrimp farms are also sub- communication with Naturland via public let- stantial. Salinity and acidity of surrounding ters, addressing their concerns with the certifi- waters have increased while productivity has cation procedure and the consequences of declined, and contamination of waters has result- organic aquaculture.11 Their critiques are dis- ed in the die-off of some marine species. The loss cussed below, based on the aforementioned

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Organic Aquaculture in Ecuador correspondence, Naturland’s guidelines, and with no plans for total conversion within the Ecuadoran law. next five years (Cisneros and Salgado 2004).13 The issue of access to existing mangroves is Specific concerns with standards also contentious. Naturland’s standards state that The specific concerns that environmental locals are to be permitted free access to open NGOs have with Naturland’s standards are in waters around the ponds (Standard IIID10.3), regards to water quality and the lack of but community members attest that this access enforcement of organic label guidelines. has not been implemented (Cisneros and Salgado Naturland has counted the improvement of 2004). One farm owner states that he gave col- water quality in pond effluent as a success, ored shirts to residents to wear for easy identifica- based on the elimination of chemical inputs tion when entering his farm, yet locals say this is into organic farm systems (Bergleiter 2003). not true.14 Another owner situated beehives near However, this is misleading. Most farm owners the community entrance to deter locals from have not utilized any chemicals since 1999, entering. In yet another case, canals created by the when an outbreak of White Spot Syndrome state for neighboring families were closed off from Virus wiped out shrimp stocks (McClennen access (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). 2004). This was a turning point when aquacul- ture farmers began to understand the negative General concerns with standards effects of chemicals inputs (ibid.).12 The General concerns are raised by procedural reduction of chemicals, therefore, is not due to issues related to stakeholder information access the inception of organic aquaculture. and involvement. Though Naturland’s certifica- Moreover, chemicals are not the only problem; tion process was established over five years ago, organic farms still expel nutrients and organic standards were published solely in English until wastes, which contribute to the eutrophication May 2004, thereby limiting Ecuadorans’ abilities of surrounding waters. Standards specify that to be fully informed about the certification process effluent water quality must be monitored on a (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). Furthermore, monthly basis (Standard IIID2.1; see Naturland emphasizes the involvement and sup- Naturland 2002 for complete standards). Farm port of public institutions, scientists, environmen- owners, however, state that because they are tal NGOs, technical experts, and relevant stake- not using chemicals anymore, they do not see holders in the development of standards. the need to test or treat waters before discharg- However, the only locals involved in the develop- ing them, claiming that excess nutrients and ment process were the farmers who later received feed wastes are consumed by other fish certification, while those stakeholders who have (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). been negatively impacted by aquaculture were left Another critique is that standards do not out entirely.15 Other environmental NGOs, require owners to convert all of their ponds to including the ones who have been criticizing organic ones. Naturland standards also serve as Naturland, were not invited to certification meet- guidelines for organic agriculture, but while ings either.16 Perhaps in response to the negative the agricultural standards specify that the backlash on this front, Naturland has continued entire farm area must be converted within five to encourage participation in the form of com- years to maintain its organic status (Standard ments and critiques from all affected stakeholders I8), critics argue that no such standard is in and organizations. Naturland’s responses, howev- place for organic aquaculture. Observers note er, often do not address the issues presented nor that two owners are operating both organic do they appear to be fully aware of what is actual- and non-organic ponds on their properties ly occurring on the ground.

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Laura Cuoco

Mangrove Restoration Project on Isla Corazon, Manabi Province, Ecuador. Photograph by Laura Cuoco.

Legislation (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). Another focus of criticism relates to conflicts Reforestation efforts are another con- between Naturland’s standards and Ecuadoran tentious legal point. Section IIID1.2 of the law. Legislation and governing bodies have exist- Naturland standards states that “the former ed in Ecuador since the 1970s to protect man- mangrove area in property of the farm shall be groves from deforestation caused by the installa- reforested to at least 50%” (Naturland 2002). tion of shrimp ponds (Hemphill, n.d.); however, Ecuadoran law, however, requires more than enforcement has not occurred.17 Naturland 50% reforestation (Cisneros and Salgado allows farms that were constructed before 1994 to 2004). The manner of reforestation is also be considered for certification, essentially ignoring problematic. According to Naturland, man- the previous twenty years of legislation that out- groves are to be planted on dikes and canals. law the removal of mangroves (Standard IIID1.2; This is not a viable solution to the problem of Cisneros and Salgado 2004).18 Interestingly, all deforestation since reforested areas are a non- the farm owners who participated in the meetings continuous, fragmented line of trees. to draft standards began their farms prior to this Naturland’s response to the legality of year.19 Additionally, representatives of Naturland their standards and the lack of adherence to appear not to have known how the legal process, Ecuadoran law is that “certification initiative is with respect to aquaculture, functions in Ecuador, an activity under private law; therefore it is not nor did they know which laws should be consid- meant to replace or resemble national legisla- ered when forming their standards (Cisneros and tion” (Bergleiter 2004a). They acknowledge Salgado 2004).20 They are also accused of not ver- the need to integrate aspects of national legisla- ifying whether certified farms are on old man- tion in their standards, but claim not to be grove lands or not, basing their knowledge solely accountable to the fullest extent of established on farm owners’ testimonies (Cisneros and Ecuadoran laws (Bergleiter 2004a ). Salgado 2004).21 Environmental impact assess- ments have also not been carried out to the full Evaluating the Potential Benefits of extent of the law before determining the legality of Organic Shrimp Farming shrimp farms. Further, there is no set process to verify compliance with labor laws, which some There are several economic benefits that farm workers state have not been implemented have been attributed to organic aquaculture by

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Organic Aquaculture in Ecuador various environmental NGOs, including an Conclusion increase in employment and a reduction in costs as the market opens up for organic shrimp Other points of contention exist and most (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). likely will continue to emerge. At this stage, sev- An increase in production may provide eral Ecuadoran NGOs have united together to more jobs for outsiders, but it is not likely to call for a moratorium on certification because “it increase the local employment base, as evidenced legitimizes the impunity of an illegal in the situation of non-organic farms. For some industry…that uses public resources for private time, locals were able to earn money by gather- benefit, that doesn’t reinvest in the development ing larvae from wild stocks and selling them to of the country and that doesn’t guarantee food laboratories; however, sources are depleted and security for communities, but in fact, excludes the organic label requires that larvae be raised in them” (Cisneros and Salgado 2004, translation labs (Standard IIID3.2). Another issue not con- mine). While Naturland agrees with its critics in sidered by Naturland is the extreme difference in some respects – accepting that more collabora- employment figures when comparing earnings tion is necessary and that certification is a dynam- on a shrimp farm with that of an equal area of ic process subject to change – they disagree that a mangroves. One such comparison states that one moratorium is the answer. They state, “While hectare of mangroves feeds ten families, while developing and investing in sustainable practices one hundred hectares of pools employs one fam- that are friendly to both society and nature, the ily (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). pioneer farms should be supported, not discred- A reduction in costs resulting from the elim- ited for purely political reasons. However ination of chemical products in fertilizers, feed, and else…should development of a more sustainable antibiotics has occurred on most farms, not just industry start?” (Bergleiter 2004a). organic ones.22 Other savings are in cheap labor Under Naturland’s standards, according to and fewer environmental restrictions, common to the organization’s own estimation, mangroves many products produced in the developing world; and surrounding waters are protected and locals however, these economic costs do not include eco- regain access to the remaining patches of forests. logical and societal costs. The harm done to the Research suggests, however, that this is not the environment in terms of mangrove destruction, case in Ecuador. Little has been accomplished in eroded coastlines, or diminished marine life is not the way of integrating the greater part of accounted for, nor are the costs carried by local Ecuadoran coastal society into the certification communities in the loss of jobs, food, or raw mate- process and improving their livelihoods. rials (Cisneros and Salgado 2004). Furthermore, environmental NGOs are not dis- Finally, proponents suggest that organic crediting Naturland for political reasons; rather, aquaculture increases access to markets. The they believe that the standards are threatening to underlying assumption is that the “green” label the environment and Ecuadoran society and cul- will expand the market for this product and ture. Additionally, most, if not all, of the organi- increase prices, which could encourage more cally certified farms are illegal per Ecuadoran law. environmental protection. If organic standards To support these farms would set back any efforts are insufficient to address the externalities of to return these lands to their naturally forested shrimp farming. However, consumer ignorance state. of the validity of certification standards will Should these ‘pioneer’ farms be supported only continue to exacerbate the societal, cultur- while the issues are being sorted out? Is organ- al, and environmental shortcomings now asso- ic aquaculture the solution? Will this new ciated with organic farming. method eventually have a positive impact on

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Laura Cuoco the environment and local communities? I am doubled in this decade (Olsen et al. 1995), with the inclined to disagree and do not support these United States as the largest importer (WRM 2003). farms at this stage. At the very least, standards 5 Local community members attest to the high must be rewritten in a stronger fashion to offer rate of emigration from the Bahía de Caráquez even greater protection for the environment region owing to a lack of employment in this region. while including local community needs. Yet, This is based on information gathered in communi- even if all standards fell within Ecuadoran law, ty interviews. my research indicates that organic aquaculture 6 Local community members affirm that this is not the answer. Locals saw their entire liveli- has occurred. hoods dramatically changed with the inception 7 The most recent spike in disease occurred in of large-scale shrimp farming and have been 1999, when the White Spot Virus virtually decimat- struggling to gain lands to replant mangroves ed the shrimp industry in Ecuador (Rodriguez et al. and improve their quality of life. Shrimp farm- 2003). In more recent years, the industry has been ing, whether organic or non-organic, will con- slowly recovering. tinue to infringe upon their way of life, degrade 8 R. Mears, pers. comm. 2004. environmental quality, and act to lower stan- 9 Naturland’s standards were first published in dards of living for local communities. 1999 and revised in 2002. 10 Other certified farms once existed, but they Acknowledgements have since dropped the right to the organic label. I would like to thank Amity Doolittle, my One farm owner stated that she could not afford to advisor, and Andrea Johnson and Laura Kiernan of pay for the certification and did not see a high the TRI staff, for the countless edits I thought enough demand to make it worth the investment would never end. I would also like to acknowledge (Flor Maria Dueñas, pers. comm, 2004.). Ricardo Cisneros of Acción Ecológica for providing 11 There has also been ongoing correspondence a wealth of information and insight. Research for between Naturland and other international organiza- this project would not have been possible without tions in reference to shrimp farm certification in other funding from the Tinker Foundation and TRI. parts of the world (Rönnbäck 2003; Bergleiter 2004b). Finally, I am grateful for the support, motivation, 12 For a more detailed analysis of the effects of and edits offered by Jim Cronan. the White Spot Syndrome Virus, see McClennen 2004. 13 My field observations confirmed this. Endnotes 14 Cisneros, R.B. Personal Communication. July 1 R. Mears, pers. comm. 2004. 2004. 2 I conducted research in Ecuador from June 15 Ibid. through August 2004. I interviewed shrimp farm 16 Ibid. owners and environmental NGO staff as well as local 17 The majority of Ecuadorans name corrup- communities around Bahía de Caráquez. The find- tion as the prime factor in lack of enforcement, ings in this report are based on these interviews and while others cite poor communication between gov- personal observations. erning bodies and a lack of understanding as to 3 People derive their main source of protein where their respective jurisdictions lie. from marine organisms captured in the mangroves; 18 For a listing of Ecuadoran legislation that per- they use mangrove wood for construction, fuel and tains to the installation of shrimp farms on mangrove charcoal; and they make medicines, food, drinks, lands and deforestation of mangroves, see Hemphill (n.d.) and cosmetics with materials from these forests 19 Cisneros, R.B. Personal Communication. July (Hogarth 1999). 2004. 4 In Ecuador, shrimp production more than 20 Ibid.

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21 Another point of contention has been the and management of mangrove resources. requirement that only those farms “which in part http://iufro.boku.ac.at/iufro/iufronet/dl/wu10 occupy former mangrove area, can be converted to 700/unpub/macint95.htm [o]rganic [a]quaculture according to Naturland McClennen, C. 2004. White Spot Syndrome Virus: standards if the former mangrove area does not The Economic Environmental and Technical exceed 50% of total farm area” (Standard IIID1.2). Implications on the Development of Latin 22 See above, “Specific Concerns with Standards.” American Shrimp Farming. The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts. References Mitsch, W.J. and J.G. Gosselink. 1993. Wetlands, A.E. (Acción Ecológica.) 2003. Los conflictos: Zonas y Second Edition. Van Nostrand Reinhold, actores. http://www.accionecologica.org/ New York. manglares1.htm Naturland. 2003. Shrimps from certified organic aqua- Bergleiter, S. 2003. Technical issues in organic culture. Public statement, June 4, 2003. aquaculture: Completing the first decade. http://www.naturland.de/englisch/n4/shrimpin- Naturland, Grafelfing, Germany. fo_sweden_06_04_03.pdf Bergleiter, S. 2004a. Naturland’s organic certifica- Naturland. 2002. Naturland standards for organic tion of shrimp aquaculture operations in rela- aquaculture. Naturland, Grafelfing, Germany. tion to the activities of environmental NGOs. Olsen, S.B., D. Robadue, and L. Arriaga M. 1995. An Letter to Líder Góngora, C-CONDEM, 20 Overview of the Ecuador Coastal Resources September 2004. Management Program. University of Rhode Bergleiter, S. 2004b. Letter reply to G. Hubendick, Island, Coastal Resources Center, Narragansett, author, Deceiving consumers and jeopardising Rhode Island. the environment: Coop Konsum Sweden’s Rodriguez, J., B. Bayor, Y. Amano, F. Panchaca, I. launch of Naturland’s shrimp brand, a Swedish DeBlas, V. Alday, and J. Calderon. 2003. Society for Nature Conservation Report. White Spot Syndrome virus infection in cul- Boyd, C.E. and B.W. Green. 2002. Coastal Water tured Penaeus vannamei in Ecuador with Quality Monitoring in Shrimp Farming Areas: emphasis on histopathology and ultrastruc- An Example from Honduras. Auburn ture. Journal of Fish Diseases 26: 439-450. University Press, Auburn, Alabama. Rönnbäck, P. 2003. Critical analysis of certified Cisneros, R.B. and N.R. Salgado. 2004. Sello verde organic shrimp aquaculture in Sidoarjo, a la impunidad: Certificacion de camaroneras. Indonesia. Report for the Swedish Society for Acción Ecológica, Quito, Ecuador. Nature Conservation, Stockholm, Sweden. Hagler, M. 1997. The social damage caused by shrimp Twilley, R.R., R.R. Gottfried, V.H. Rivera- farming. In Shrimp: The Devastating Delicacy. A Monroy, W. Zhang, M.M. Armijos, and A. Greenpeace Report. Greenpeace USA. Bodero. 1998. An approach and preliminary Hemphill, A.G. n.d. National coastal policy in refer- model of integrating ecological and economic ence to mangroves and shrimp aquaculture in constraints of environmental quality in the the Republic of Ecuador. Jatun Sacha, Quito, Guayas River estuary, Ecuador. Environmental Ecuador. http://www.geocities.com/aroseme- Science and Policy 1: 271-288. natola439/Coastal.htm WRM (World Rainforest Movement). 2003. Hogarth, P. 1999. The Biology of Mangroves. Oxford Ecuador: Mangroves and shrimp farming University Press, New York. companies. http://www.wrm.org.uy/bul- Macintosh, D. and S. Zisman. 1999. The status of letin/51/Ecuador.html mangrove ecosystems: Trends in the utilisation

Tropical Resources Bulletin 65 Evaluating Capacity Building and Participatory Development in Community Timber Operations of the Petén, Guatemala

by Lisa H. Patel, MESc 2005

Introduction in Central America, was created in 1990 amidst a flurry of reports regarding rapid deforestation The UNDP defines capacity-building as from increasing immigration and “slash and “the process by which individuals, groups, organ- burn” agriculture (Grunberg et al. 2000). The izations, institutions, and societies increase their Guatemalan government, caught in a struggle abilities to (1) perform core functions, solve between the preservationist tendencies of inter- problems, and define and achieve objectives and national conservation NGOs and insufficient (2) understand and deal with their development resources to properly protect the forest, granted needs in a broad context and in a sustainable communities within the reserve concessions to manner” (1997). Capacity itself can be divided manage the land. However, the government into three realms: physical, human, and social. required that each community receive Forest Physical capacity describes equipment and capi- Stewardship Council (FSC)1 certification to tal, human capacity refers to the education and ensure sustainable forest management, and also skill set of individuals, while social capacity, the required that each community have an “accom- most difficult of the three to assess, describes the panying NGO,” called a regente, to assist with nature of interactions between individuals in a meeting FSC standards, implementing sustain- community through networks or institutions. able forest management plans, and forming gov- Building community capacity to imple- ernance bodies capable of administering the ment a project requires cultivating a sense of project. Communities were also subject to year- ownership and responsibility, made possible ly evaluations from CONAP, the Guatemalan through active local participation in the deci- environmental agency responsible for MBR sion-making process. Both the ways that exter- management, to ensure that operations were nal agents, such as governments or development running smoothly. institutions, open spaces for participation, and The international non-governmental organ- the ways that these spaces are utilized by local izations Conservation International and the people influence eventual project outcomes. Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher I researched the process of capacity-build- Leaning Center (CATIE) were among the first ing in community timber harvesting projects of organizations to provide technical assistance to the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR). The MBR, communities seeking concessions. In 1991, the largest contiguous tract of tropical rainforest USAID provided funding to these organizations to build local institutions within Guatemala to ensure that technical support would ensue with- Lisa Patel likes to pay homage to her hometown of out the continuing need of international NGOs. Houston by throwing around the word “y’all.” She These institutions received funding to help com- plans to use her MESc in D.C. next year as a govern- munities create timber operations from the mental lackey for an environmental agency. ground up, including governance structures,

66 Volume 24, Spring 2005 management plans, and business plans. In the assembly meeting. The board of directors is com- year 2000, funding from USAID changed again. posed of a treasurer, vice-president, president, While the communities had received the neces- and secretary. While meetings of the general sary training from these NGOs in technical assembly occur once every few weeks, the board aspects of management, USAID contracted of directors meets more frequently. During these Chemonics, a development consulting firm, to meetings, budgets, activities, and plans of opera- build a stronger business vision. tion for all economic actions are discussed and Ten years after the first community began decided. timber harvesting, multiple assessment reports I also interviewed community associations point to the same problem: while communities that have arisen as a result of the concessions: have been successfully capacitated in technical ACOFOP, a political association representing aspects, social capacity remains weak through- the thirteen communities of the Maya out the communities, threatening the future Biosphere Reserve, and FORESCOM, the com- sustainability and success of the projects mercial coalition of community operations, cur- (Chemonics 2003). rently consisting of nine of the thirteen opera- The blame for this gap in capacity has been tions. Finally, I interviewed an array of NGOs, laid upon NGOs, communities, and the gov- funding agencies, and government representa- ernment. This article examines how capacity tives involved in the project, including building has translated into project implemen- CONAP; USAID; Chemonics; Naturaleza para tation. In particular, I examine the role of social la Vida and Mundo Justo, two regional capacity in creating a participatory project in a Guatemalan NGOs that originally served as situation where the form of production was new regentes for communities but are now being to communities. Ultimately, I will argue that phased out in favor of FORESCOM; and development projects must build the necessary Smartwood, the non-profit auditor organization social capacity by cultivating high levels of com- that evaluates community concession opera- munity participation and ownership to create tions for certification under FSC standards. strong and vibrant community operations. The interviews focused on perceptions of the original funders of the project and the Methods NGOs that played a pivotal role in the capaci- ty-building process of the communities I visit- I conducted informal, unstructured inter- ed. Individuals were asked to comment on the views in Spanish with the community members role of the NGOs as well as on the status and of Uaxactún and Carmelita and collected project assess- Key Players in the Management of Maya Biosphere ment documents for analysis. Reserve I focused on seven communi- ty harvesting operations in FORESCOM: the commercial coalition of community operations whose goal is to four of the thirteen communi- increase volumes, bargaining power, and profits for communities. ties within and outside the Maya Biosphere Reserve. CONAP: the environmental regulation branch of the Guatemalan government. CONAP administers the management of the Maya Biosphere Reserve and other pro- Each operation is run by a tected areas, and carries out yearly evaluates of community concessions junta directiva (board of direc- tors), which is chosen by the ACOFOP: a political association representing thirteen communities of the Maya socios (members) of the organ- Biosphere Reserve. ACOFOP initially fought for communities’rights gaining concessions. ization during a general

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Lisa Patel

Figure 1. Map of the Maya Biosphere Reserve

future of the forestry operation. separation holds communities back from becom- While interviews were open ended by ing successful businesses. For instance, many nature, all themes were eventually touched upon. communities divided their profits and returned I developed a thematic rubric of responses and the earnings back to their members instead of utilized tallies from how often individuals men- investing in improving the operation itself, a tac- tioned certain opinions to draw conclusions tic criticized by some individuals. Project stagna- regarding the process of capacity-building. tion also resulted from the governance structure, Results here are divided between responses from which rotated leaders every two years. As the NGOs, Chemonics, and CONAP, on the one president of the junta directiva was also the man- hand, and responses from communities and com- ager for the project, many individuals argued munity-run institutions on the other.2 that changing the leader every two years translat- ed to poor institutional memory and, therefore, Results into projects that never moved forward.

Responses from NGO and government 2. Lack of education of board of directors: 1. Stagnating community operations: Four of Nine of twelve individuals cited a lack of educa- twelve individuals interviewed expressed concern tion or skills as a reason for the communities’ cur- over the communities’ failure to utilize opportu- rent problems, stating that this influenced the nities to move operations forward or improve the success of the project and the effectiveness of communities. Respondents critiqued communi- NGO activities. NGO tactics for administrative ties for failing to distinguish between being a capacity building included workshops with non-profit and for-profit organization, with sev- members of the board of directors or training ses- eral individuals commenting that this lack of sions for individuals such as the accountant.

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Evaluating Capacity Building and Participatory Development in Community Timber Operations

Working with individuals that did not have the Responses from communities: Junta directivas necessary reading or education level hindered the 1. Participation of socios: The junta directivas success of trainings. found that many socios did not participate actively enough and did not understand the 3. Technical and social capacity-building: importance or the purpose of the project. Methods utilized by NGOs for “social capacity- While general assembly meetings were always building” were criticized as being insufficient, well-attended, junta directiva members com- poorly planned, and too rushed. Additionally, mented that participation was usually limited NGOs criticized themselves and were criticized by to a small number of individuals. Their expla- others for failing to build the necessary knowledge nation for this was either that the NGOs did and consciousness among the population regard- not complete their job in raising people’s ing the importance of the project to the communi- awareness, or that community members were ties’ livelihood. While social issues were over- too busy with other concerns to understand the whelmingly seen to have been neglected, six of implications of the forestry project. twelve individuals agreed that the communities had the necessary technical training to handle 2. Separating timber management from com- management, including species identification, munity governance: Under the traditional proper felling and silvicultural techniques, and structure of governance, the president of the minimization of environmental impact and debris. junta directiva also serves as the manager of the project. The Association of Arbol Verde is the 4. Criticisms of NGO involvement: Seven of first association to disconnect these roles by twelve individuals expressed a negative attitude appointing a separate manager for the timber toward the work carried out by NGOs in the harvesting operation – a condition dictated by region, including individuals that worked for the Smartwood assessor. The junta directiva of local NGOs. Individuals criticized the duration Arbol Verde felt that this change positively and motives of NGO participation, claiming influenced the organization, facilitating better that NGOs would merely dump money on communication and order. Additionally, the communities then leave as quickly as they had manager could stay on longer than a two-year arrived, and that NGOs were interested more in term, as the position was hired as opposed to continuing their own funding than in building elected, which facilitated better institutional self-sustaining communities. Several respon- memory. Other community organizations did dents stated that by requiring mandatory NGO not see the necessity of appointing a separate involvement, the government created the per- manager. Some said that this would require yet fect opportunity for the paternalistic relation- another salary, money which they did not have, ship that developed between certain NGO while others said that the president was doing a workers and communities. This paternalism fine job with management. both cultivated a sense of dependence on the part of the communities and made communities 3. Differing attitudes regarding NGOs: wary of working with NGOs in the future. The Personal experiences greatly colored attitudes propensity toward self-critique by NGO work- toward NGOs. For example, the junta directi- ers indicates proof for another source of com- va of Arbol Verde argued that NGOs were plaint from outside observers: that NGO field more interested in increasing their own funds workers were often forced to work within con- than in building community capacity. The straints or under command from higher author- junta directiva, both collectively and individu- ities who did not understand field realities. ally, articulated a desire to change the way

Tropical Resources Bulletin 69

Lisa Patel funding for NGOs worked, claiming that (Fukuda-Parr 2002). As Soza (2003) notes, the money should go directly to communities. The granting of concessions in the MBR was a forced junta directivas of other communities expressed process, as communities were told that they milder opinions, with the main criticism being must either become certified or lose their right to NGOs’ short time commitment. The commu- live on the land. By failing to give communities nities of Uaxactún and Carmelita expressed a legitimate choice and creating stringent generally positive reactions to NGO involve- requirements of NGO assistance, the govern- ment, particularly to the technical assistance ment forced a relationship between NGOs and provided during early phases of the forestry communities, often leading to a pattern of pater- project and the vital advocacy and assistance nalism and dependence (Chemonics 2001). In roles that NGOs played in gaining community part because of this dynamic, community own- concessions. ership over the process of concession formation was low, resulting in low levels of participation Responses from communities: Socios and knowledge from the general assembly and In both Uaxactún and Carmelita, there the general sentiment that the project had not were vocal opponents to the formation of the benefited the community as a whole. concession itself; people cited greater communi- ty division, corruption, and having been tricked 2. Lack of education: In the case of Uaxactún or under-informed as negative impacts on the and Carmelita, community members who had community. Additionally, many individuals access to basic education were asked to manage expressed concern over being in debt to buy or multi-hundred thousand dollar timber opera- rent more equipment for the timber operation. tions with rigorous FSC certification within the Overall, a majority of individuals inter- span of a few years. NGO and government viewed expressed positive or neutral views, say- respondents reported that basic education did ing either that the project had little impact or not translate well into the language of business, that the project had generated new jobs for the making project implementation difficult community. However, no individual expressed because leaders did not have the appropriate that the community as a whole was improving educational background to understand how to as a result of the project. The only direct bene- make important management decisions. fits people claimed to see were either jobs or the The constant references to “lack of educa- money they received at the end of each fiscal tion” point to a failing on the part of NGOs year for being members of the organization. and the government to understand the capacity of the community from the onset. As timber Discussion harvesting was a new form of production and required new forms of organization for project In assessing community concessions implementation, NGOs and the government around MBR, community operations are divid- failed to consider how to structure training or ed between the succeeding, the stagnating, and project implementation to account for this dif- the failing. What factors separate the more ference in capacity. “successful” enterprises from the stagnating or failing operations? 3. Failing to plan for social capacity-building: One salient point that emerged from interview 1. A coerced process: Community ownership in responses was the seemingly contradictory a project is high only when communities are sense that social capacity-building was neglect- given power to control and decide their futures ed from the onset, even while the social aspect

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Evaluating Capacity Building and Participatory Development in Community Timber Operations was recognized by all players as having vast build the necessary organizational infrastruc- implications for whether the projects would ulti- ture through leadership and civic participation mately succeed. to make their projects succeed. On the one hand, failure to factor social capacity into plans can be attributed merely to Conclusion the government’s reliance on international con- servation NGOs to assist communities. As one Neglecting the social and human dimen- individual noted, employees of conservation sions of capacity-building is not a unique symp- organizations are trained in ecological and bio- tom of the timber harvesting operations of Petén. logical sciences rather than social sciences or A similar story has unfolded in projects through- business administration and were thus unable to out the world (Campbell and Vainio-Mattila provide the needed expertise to build solid com- 2003; Madrid and Chapela 2003; Newmark and munity governments or timber operations. On Hough 2000). Thus, my argument is special not the other hand, neglecting the social question for its rarity, but rather for its ubiquity. can be viewed as a larger symptom of develop- Development is both quick and slow to change: ment projects. While project design may incor- quick in that new projects are constantly funded porate the building of certain forms of social throughout the world, and projects are modified capacity, such as conducting leadership training as each project is created; slow in that the institu- or information sessions for the community at tional memories of organizations can be lumber- large, this approach is similar to technical skills ing and the lessons learned forgotten in the glut training and in many ways fails to account for of experiences from year to year. the unique and complicated nature of social In this case, communities were introduced capacity. Technical skills are easy to teach and to new forms of production without proper fit well within the still-dominant paradigm of attention to building their social and human development thinking, where the outsider capacity through participation. In the future, development institution provides the necessary assessments regarding a community’s capacity to skills in a short, defined period of time. carry out a development project should be Social capacity cannot be taught in a strengthened and should incorporate the human, workshop or explained in a seminar. It is social, and physical aspects of capacity. More worked into the fabric of a society itself and importantly, the pervasive reference in develop- requires a long-term investment by NGOs and ment project evaluation to gaps in social capaci- government to build the trust, knowledge, and ty, both in the Petén and around the world, point relationships that ultimately translate into the to the importance of creating projects that are participation and the capacity of a community people-driven and led. Only when community to carry out a development project. Targeting ownership of a project is high – a goal achieved social capacity in these projects can be elusive. by accounting for community capacity and creat- Moreover, while building capacity is a daunting ing spaces for community members to influence enough task, creating capacity, as this project the design and conception of projects – can par- attempted, can be counter-productive. ticipatory development be realized. Creating capacity in this case did not entail a careful assessment of what capacity existed; Acknowledgements rather, NGOs entered communities to provide Many thanks to my advisor, Carol Carpenter, a “crash course” in timber harvesting with the and my informal advisor, Norman Schwartz, for hopes that communities would not only pick helping me to conceptualize this paper. Thanks also up the necessary skills, but also organically to Mariam, Sejal, and the wonderful TRI staff for

Tropical Resources Bulletin 71 edits. This work would not have been possible with- Reserve: Close to financial self-sufficiency? out the in-country assistance of Ana Mollinedo and Guatemala BIOFOR IQC Task Order 815. Claudio Saito and through funding received from Fukuda-Parr, S., C. Lopes and K. Malik. 2002. TRI. I am also indebted to Gustavo Pinelo and Overview. Pp 1-22 in Capacity for development: Juventino Galvez for providing many project docu- New solutions to old problems, S. Fukuda-Parr, C. ments. Finally, thanks to Roberto who helped me Lopes, and K. Malik, eds. Earthscan Publications, get through the worker camp visit muddy, but in New York. one piece. Grunberg, W., D.P. Guertin, and W.W. Shaw. 2000. Modeling deforestation risks for the Endnotes Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala. 1 The Forest Stewardship Council has evolved http://gis.esri.com/library/userconf/proc00/pr as an independent, third-party auditor of forest man- ofessional/papers/PAP266/p266.htm agement. Certified timber is stamped with the FSC Madrid, S., and F. Chapela. 2003. Annex III: logo to alert consumers that the wood was harvested Certification in Mexico: the cases of Durango under a sustainable management plan. Certification is and Oaxaca. Pp 1-12 in Forest Certification thus a consumer-oriented solution to forest degrada- and Communities: Looking Forward to the Next tion, working on the assumption that consumers Decade, A. Molnar, ed. Forest Trends, would be willing to pay a price premium on timber Washington, D.C. that they know has been harvested sustainably. Newmark, W.D., and J.L. Hough. 2000. 2 It is worth noting here that while different Conserving wildlife in Africa: Integrated con- communities worked with several different local and servation and development projects and international NGOs, my analysis treats these NGOs beyond. BioScience 50: 585-592. equally. I found that community perceptions of Soza, C. 2003. Annex II: The process of forest cer- NGO involvement were based not on the line tification in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in between Guatemalan and foreign, but rather Peten, Guatemala. Pp 1-10 in Forest between whether or not an individual employee was Certification and Communities: Looking from the community itself. Forward to the Next Decade, A. Molnar, ed. Forest Trends, Washington, D.C. References UNDP. 1997. Capacity Development, Technical Campbell L.M. and A. Vaino-Mattila. 2003. Advisory Paper II. In Capacity Development Resource Participatory development and community- Book Management Development and Governance based conservation: Opportunities missed and Division, New York: UNDP. lessons learned. Human Ecology 31: 417-437. http://mirror.undp.org/magnet/cdrb/Techpap2. Chemonics International, Inc. 2003. Community htm. forestry management in the Maya Biosphere

72 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Perspectives from the Field: Local People, International Organizations, and the Politics of Mangrove Conservation in Kenya

by Amina Soud, MESc 2005

Introduction places in the forest have soil qualities that are incompatible with forest growth and showed the My summer research entailed document- WWF staff members similar places as their inter- ing the traditional conservation techniques uti- est grew. Little did the harvesters know that the lized in mangrove forest areas in the Lamu WWF staff was going to use this information coastal area of Kenya. As part of this work, I against them. asked the harvesters to take me where they were Based largely on this tour, WWF published currently working so I could take pictures. I on the first page of its Kenya report for 1999- was shocked by their reaction – the harvesters 2001 that mangroves were overexploited in adamantly refused to allow my recording of the Lamu, and that the government of Kenya had to area. When I inquired as to why they refused, act immediately to save the remaining forests. they told me a Swahili saying: “ukiumwa na The government, which had already passed pre- nyoka, ukitambawa na ungongo huruka” – vious laws limiting exportation, subsequently when one is bitten by a snake, one becomes enforced a complete ban on harvesting man- sensitive even to the slightest touch of a thread. groves. Even breaking a leaf was a criminal After a long argument with them, they pro- offense. This policy, I argue, did not take into ceeded to tell the story about how the global non- consideration the effects this would have on the governmental conservation organization, WWF, community. It is a fact, for example, that all of had conducted itself in Lamu. They told me how Lamu’s old buildings are cyclically repaired with WWF officers came to a local boat owner, Mr. new mangrove wood, that the economy of the Fumo Faruq, and requested a boat to be taken to district is partly dependent on mangrove trade, where people harvest mangroves. The WWF staff and that the health of the forest itself is depend- members paid the charges, Ksh 3000 (US$45), ent on harvesting old trees. and proceeded on a guided tour of all the areas in The Lamu case represents one in many which the forest grows. During the tour, they where an international organization imposed became interested in an area in which mangroves policy on developing nations and their indige- have never grown naturally. The harvesters nous people in the name of “biodiversity conser- explained to the WWF staff members how some vation” (e.g. Chapin 2004). The Lamu commu- nities had perfected a sustainable utilization sys- tem of their primary natural resource, but poli- Amina Soud is from Kenya. After graduating in cies implemented by the government and inter- 1990 from Nairobi University, she worked as a national bodies to fulfill conservation goals have banker before joining the government as a devel- led to the communities’ dispossession of natural opment and environment officer in the coast province for the last eight years. Amina intends to resources, and thus a dislocation of livelihoods. return home to continue improving policy making This article examines the rationale and conse- on issues pertaining to sustainable development. quences behind WWF’s designation of Lamu’s

Tropical Resources Bulletin 73 Amina Soud

mangroves as unsustainably harvested, drawing of ban, from an export ban to a complete or upon the ecological, social, and political history blanket ban. For over three decades, the Kenyan of the region. I also elucidate the complicated government has put mangrove forests under pro- political line that the government has to walk tection, due to their degradation through detri- between local and international stakeholders.1 mental human utilization such as salt and aqua- culture farming and charcoal making, by ban- Lamu’s Social and Ecological Context ning the exportation of mangrove products. Recently, a restoration program for mangrove The Lamu district has 80,000 people and forests was initiated south of Lamu due to the its district headquarters on Lamu Island has a dwindling supply of building materials caused population of 12,000 (Kenya Census 1999). by clearing for aquaculture and salt farming The local county council elects its chairmen (Kairo 1996). Then, in September 2001, as I every two years. There is only one local NGO, have described, the government slapped a blan- Tawasal Foundation, which works with many ket ban on any form of forest harvesting. Lamu community-based organizations for their general welfare. Though lacking institutional UNESCO and WWF Involvement structures, the people themselves actively par- ticipate in the political and subsistence eco- The Kiunga National Marine Reserve and nomic issues in their communities. Dodori Nature Reserve were designated as The Lamu district’s inhabitated islands Biosphere Reserves in 1980 by UNESCO, as a and adjacent mainland are estimated to encom- product of UNESCO’s initiative for “conserving pass 70% of Kenya’s total mangrove forest nature,” which was accepted by the government cover, which is approximately 50,000-60,000 of Kenya. Since the Kenyan government is poor, ha (Kairo and Kivyato, n.d.). Lamu is also a UNESCO contributed beyond simply mainte- World Heritage site, attracting domestic and nance costs by proposing in the late 1990s that a international tourism. It has one marine park world conservationist “expert” from WWF be in called Kiunga National Marine Reserve charge of management. The plan was attractive (KNMR) and a national reserve called Dodori to a poor government with little financial means. (Figure 1). In 1999, WWF established its East The mangrove forests, which grow in river African Eco-Region in Kenya. The organiza- deltas where fresh water meets the sea, serve a tion was charged to work with the Kenyan variety of purposes for the Lamu people. The Wildlife Service (KWS), the national agency forest shelters the archipelago from harsh sea responsible for reserves. Today, the current waves, supplies nutrients to fish and crus- power structure leading to forest management taceans, and controls water quality (Kairo and relies mostly on government officers’ reports to Kivyato 1996). The tree trunks, called man- the forest headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya’s grove poles, are used for building houses, dhows capital, and the Eco-Region conservation (sailing boats), and fencing; the bark is used for report from WWF (KWS inclusive). leather tanning; the dead parts are used as char- coal; the young leaves are used to make a com- Reserves’ Impact on Local People mon side dish; the seeds are made into medi- cine; and the flowers promote local honey pro- The people that I interviewed in the area all duction. Lamu people’s culture and architec- opposed the existence of the Kiunga and Dodori tural skills are centered on these trees. National Reserves and the involvement of WWF. There has been clearly a trend in the kind They complained that the existence of the

74 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Perspectives from the Field

Figure 1. Distribution of mangrove forest along the Kenya coast line.

Source: UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, World Heritage Sites (2003). http://www.unep-wcmc.org/index.html?http://www. unep-wcmc.org/resources/publications/UNEP_WCMC_bio_series.htm~main

national reserve in Lamu has disrupted their have considerable knowledge of the medicinal whole socio-economy. Originally, the local peo- and nutritional properties of many plants and ple divided the sea area into zones. The fishermen trees. They were relocated to outside the reserve knew their fishery zones; the farmers planned areas when the reserves were designated and were their jetties for the transport of goods, and the encouraged to undertake agricultural practices. It mangrove cutters had their harvesting zones. But, is believed there are only 500 Waboni left, most according to the traditional knowledge of the of these in the three villages along the Kiunga- area, the national reserves fall in the fertile agri- Lamu road: Milimani, Mangai, and Basuba. cultural lands, the fisheries’ nutrient beds, and Although the government, WWF, and the healthy mangrove forest swamp, all of which KWS have tried to alleviate the problems the were part of local peoples’ utilization schemes. reserve has caused to these indigenous groups They perceived that WWF’s management had through various programs, people are not happy set these areas off-limits to their traditional uses. with the management. They say that they are The indigenous peoples who are most directly denied the benefit of using their land for agricul- affected by the reserves are the Wandau man- ture, mangrove harvesting, and fishing, and that grove harvesters, Bajuni fishermen and farmers, very little of the levies collected from tourism go and Waboni hunters and gatherers. These people back to them.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 75 Amina Soud

Politics and the Harvesting Bans and maintaining systems of public order that embody human dignity, is weakened by its The conflict between UNESCO’s and dependence on financial aid provided by the WWF’s interest in conservation and the locals’ international world. However, the strong civil interest in forest-based livelihoods created a society in the form of organized, affected Lamu management system that wavered between bans citizens used all means in their hands (national and reinstatements of the forest harvest media, memorandums, politicians, and votes) between the 1970s and today. The issue to press the government to make a decision in became more complicated when political par- their favor. Members of the opposing party ties, the government, and the local people (NARC) also used this ban as a political politicized it. After WWF’s quick survey of the weapon against their opponents, the KANU forest in 1999, the government supported government. They promised to lift the ban WWF’s idea of a complete ban in order to be in immediately if they were in power. Partly as a good rapport with those concerned with the consequence of this promise, NARC won the condition of the world’s environment. national elections in December 2002. However, at the same time, the votes of the Lamu people, who wanted the ban lifted, mat- WWF Reaction tered to the government. This dual affiliation led to the series of WWF, seeing that it caused troubles in bans and lifts. Harvesting was banned over fear Lamu after the complete ban, decided to join of overexploitation, yet the reason for lifting hands with the government’s agencies, Kenya the ban is less that people have changed their Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and the patterns of mangrove cutting than that local KWS, to conduct another survey of the man- people have pressured for reinstatement of har- grove forest adjacent to the Marine Reserve. The vesting. This becomes clear when we see that, government did not have enough funds to do throughout the 1970s to 1990s, the Kenyan the survey, and thus asked for support from government did not have a reliable inventory of German, Norwegian, and UNESCO programs. the forest. This changed with WWF’s quick The results affirmed that sustainable harvesting 1999 survey – yet even with the more reliable is possible in the area: “Given its high potential information, the ban was still re-imposed and productivity and regeneration, mangroves forest then lifted. within and adjacent to KMNR have excellent The president was surely playing politics prospects for sustainable exploitation” (Kairo through the 2001 ban. I say this because the and Kivyatu, n.d.:14). results of GIS and remote sensing research sup- After this report, WWF openly supported port the presence of sustainable harvesting in a lift on the ban. They were then in the daily the mangroves in Lamu. The issue was obvious- papers with other pressure groups in Lamu try- ly significant and politically delicate, as it ing to persuade the new government to lift the involved, on the one hand, Lamu people’s envi- ban. About a year after the NARC government ronmental, social, and economic conditions, was formed, in September 2003, it did so.2 and, on the other hand, the international con- servation community’s vision – and their finan- Conclusions cial assistance for the government of Kenya. The government needed to balance between Pressure from all sides helped to lift the the two. The Kenyan government, in its ban. However, the actions of the WWF, which endeavors to meet the policy goals of creating caused the complete ban, increased suspicion in

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Perspectives from the Field the Lamu people towards government agendas. with me, and to my editors of the paper, Andrea and It caused people to ask the government ques- Laura. My heartmost thanks go to my Creator with- tions about their relevance as citizens. The citi- out whose blessings and guidance nothing would zens’ anger towards the government was due to have been possible. the exclusion of local people from decisions concerning their own areas’ management issues Endnotes while they included foreigners who did not 1 This report is based on observations and know the land. interviews conducted from June to August 2004. WWF initially did not pay enough atten- Government officials interviewed included the fol- tion to the people’s and the forest’s history and lowing: Mr. Mwihindi Kiilu Bernad (Deputy context – social, political, and ecological – in District Forest Officer, Lamu), Mr. James Njuguna the mangrove area. In this case, the organiza- Baatia (District Forest Officer, Lamu), Mr. tion acknowledged that they had been wrong Mohamed Omar (District Environmental and con- and changed their course. However, we must servation Officer, Lamu), and Mr. Hussein Soud ask: if the people in Lamu had not been organ- Elmaawy (Chairman, Council of Elders). ized and mobilized enough to protect their 2 Interview with Mr. Hussein Soud Elmaawy, interests, what would have happened? Chairman, Council of Elders. This case is not an uncommon occur- rence, and it is part of a larger problem in con- References servation projects. I cannot put the blame sole- Chapin, M. 2004. A challenge to conservationists. ly on WWF for the problems encountered in WorldWatch Nov/Dec: 17-31. the management of the Lamu forest. While Kenya Census. 1999. http://www. Statoids.com/ WWF is partly accountable, the deeper issue is yke.html a system where the politics and agendas of Kairo, J.G. 1996. Towards an alternative view of resource-rich, cash-poor countries like Kenya mangrove forest in Kenya. Pp 305-312 in intersect with the large budgets and priorities of Supporting Capacity Building in Forestry international institutions and conservation Research in Africa. International Foundation groups. In the collision and negotiation of these for Science (IFS). interests, it is the local people who too often Kairo, J.G. and B. Kivyatu. n.d. Application of continue to lose out. remote sensing and GIS in the management of mangrove forests within and adjacent to Acknowledgements Kiunga Marine National Reserve, Kenya. I would like to thank to thank my funders: Prepared for the Journal of Environment and Fulbright Scholars Program, Kenya Government, Development Special Issue on Remote Sensing and the Compton Foundation through TRI. I and GIS in the Sustainable Management of would also like my sincere thanks to go to the whole Tropical Coastal Ecosystems. Kluwer of Lamu Community, for sharing their knowledge Academic Publisher, Netherlands.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 77 Oil and Chicha: Indigenous Movements and Survival in the Ecuadoran Amazon

by Rebecca Reider, MESc 2005

Introduction lives; to explain the development of social move- ments, “theory must start with people’s self- Around the world, poor people, including understanding, with giving an account of people indigenous people, despite being vastly out- as agents whose practices are shaped by their self- matched in resources and power, have often understanding.” In constructing this type of stood in fierce opposition to multinational account, I examine how Kichwa people in Napo resource extraction companies and complicit gov- see the forest, indigenous organizations, and oil ernments (Gedicks 2001; Brysk 2000; Martinez- companies in relation to their own lives. I argue Alier 2002). How do subsistence-level agrarian that such a multi-faceted perspective is a requi- people build strong socio-environmental resist- site first step for any efforts (on the part of inter- ance movements? Investigating the formation of national environmentalists, for example) to build a local indigenous movement against oil develop- lasting alliances with local people’s movements. I ment in the Ecuadoran Amazon, in this article I further argue that these movements will succeed focus on a nascent indigenous organization – most strongly when they attend to people’s RECOKA, La Red de Comunidades Kichwas de la material aspirations and survival concerns. Amazonía (Network of Kichwa Communities of the Amazon). RECOKA’s story is worth study- Oil in Ecuador ing not only for its presence in the province of Napo, the newest frontier in Ecuador’s high-pro- Modern Ecuador was built on “black file petroleum struggles, but as a broader window gold.” In 1967, the Texaco-Gulf consortium onto what drives the “environmentalism of the discovered oil in Ecuador’s Amazonian rainfor- poor,” or “the activism of poor women and men est region, known as the “Oriente.” The indus- threatened by the loss of the environmental try took off rapidly thanks to a worldwide resources and services they need for livelihood” upswing in oil markets in the 1970s. Soon, half (Martinez-Alier 2002: 119). the federal budget came from oil revenues. Understanding the mounting anti-oil Over time, however, many began to ques- movement in Napo requires understanding not tion whether oil actually was helping Ecuador’s just the political and economic context of oil, people economically. During the oil boom, as but the lives of the individual people who make the government took out high-interest foreign up the movement. As Escobar (1992: 63) argues, loans, Ecuador’s national debt skyrocketed movements begin within people’s individual from $209 million in 1970 to $12 billion in 1990; meanwhile, national poverty rates grew from 47% in 1975 to 67% in 1995 (Gerlach Rebecca Reider, a native of California, has worked 2003). Still, under pressure to make debt pay- as an environmental educator and writer in the U.S. She has lived and worked with indigenous commu- ments, national administrations continually nities in Guatemala and Ecuador on environment, sought to pump more oil. A new Heavy Crude development, and agriculture projects. Pipeline, completed in 2003 with foreign

78 Volume 24, Spring 2005 investments, doubled the capacity to export oil a right guaranteed by the 1998 Ecuadoran out of the Amazon. Searching for oil to fill the Constitution and International Labor new pipe, the Ecuadoran government ventured Organization Convention 169. However, many to open new central Oriente areas to oil drilling Napo activists believe that as long as petroleum – including Napo Province. interests dominate Ecuador’s government, oil Petroleum extraction has already devastat- opponents will have to fight “not in the courts, ed the Oriente’s people and environment else- but in the streets,” in the words of RECOKA where. In the northern Oriente, during the coordinator Fredy Alvarado. This belief is not 1970s and 1980s, Texaco operators carelessly mere idealism; Ecuador’s indigenous movement spilled oil from ruptured pipelines and disposed has been a strong political force in recent decades of toxic waste products in unlined pits, which (Selverston-Scher 2001). Mass marches and acts seeped into forest soils and regularly overflowed of civil disobedience resulted in land titles for into local rivers (Kimerling 1991). The con- some Amazonian indigenous groups in 1992, tamination killed fish, animals, wild plants, and and contributed to the forceful removal of the food crops, and caused epidemics of cancer and country’s president from office in 2000. other diseases (Acción Ecológica 2001). As oil’s The social movement against oil in Napo impacts in Ecuador have become more widely began from the ground up. In March 2004, known, opposition has swelled, particularly more than 2000 people from 120 communities among the Oriente’s eight indigenous groups. gathered in the city of Tena, the provincial cap- ital, to hear anti-oil testimonies and officially Stemming the Oil Tide: A Case Study form the Frente de Resistencia a la Actividad Petrolera (Front of Resistance to Petroleum Ecuador’s legal resource rights regime vir- Activity). Seventeen local organizations signed tually guarantees conflicts over oil. Indigenous a declaration opposing oil activity in their terri- peoples in many cases possess increasingly tories. For the organizers, mobilizing a large secure legal titles to land; but all resources number of communities was not just an expres- underground, such as petroleum and metals, sion of populist spirit, but a tactical necessity; still belong to the state. Conflicts ensue when elsewhere, oil companies have broken down the government auctions off these resource resistance by trying to make individual agree- rights to oil companies, which then attempt to ments with communities outside of the move- enter local people’s lands to access the under- ment (Sawyer 2004: 9). ground materials. In this way, the Oriente’s The following case study examines the resource struggles are literally rooted at the level dynamics of movement-building within one of of the soil. the organizations most actively leading the Frente Napo Province is the newest front in de Resistencia in Napo: the association of 16 Ecuador’s oil wars. The government prepared to indigenous Kichwa communities calling them- auction off rights to two new oil blocks there in selves RECOKA. From June-August 2004, I 2003. Together, oil blocks 20 and 29 contain lived in Shiwayacu, one of RECOKA’s member more than 80,000 inhabitants, including 536 communities, and worked as a volunteer in indigenous communities, most of them Kichwa. RECOKA’s office in Tena. My main work was Local and national activists are using both to survey member communities to provide infor- legal tactics and protests to keep the Napo oil mation to the organization’s leaders. RECOKA’s blocks unexploited. The concession process is on mission is not only to resist petroleum develop- hold because of a lawsuit claiming that local peo- ment, but more generally to “generate alternative ple have not received proper prior consultation, projects for a higher quality of life” (RECOKA

Tropical Resources Bulletin 79 Rebecca Reider

Corn growing in a cleared rainforest plot - here, in the community of Shiwayacu - represents one of the few opportunities for rural Kichwa people to earn a cash income. Photograph by Rebecca Reider.

2004). The survey therefore addressed commu- Stearman 1993: 253). Utilitarian concerns alone nities’ land tenure, transportation access, infra- cannot completely explain the Kichwas’ complex structure, agricultural systems, schools, health cultural relationship to the forest. Still, on walks services, interaction with oil and mining compa- through the forest, people in RECOKA commu- nies, and opinions of RECOKA itself. Results nities, regardless of their age, would point out to for seven communities are described below.1 me dozens of plants, usually with reference to the Though the survey’s immediate goal was to help plants’ usefulness: medicines, fibers, fruits, wood, RECOKA plan future projects, the survey also ceremonial plants, decorative seeds, dyes, and illuminated more broadly what it means to build trees which attract game animals or harbor edible a social movement among forest-dwelling grubs. Similarly, RECOKA’s people view the indigenous people. growing thicket of non-governmental organiza- tions and companies with an eye toward further- Findings ing their own communal survival.

Survey results, coupled with observations Forest livelihoods from my time living in Shiwayacu, suggest a con- RECOKA’s people survive based on stellation of issues that oil opponents must con- small-scale agriculture. Balanced with one foot sider and deal with: not just petroleum econom- in the market economy and one outside, they ics, but agricultural economics; not just anti-oil engage in some production for self-consump- messaging, but local access to cash and education. tion and cash cropping of a few major com- The RECOKA communities, like other subsis- modities – chiefly cacao and maize. Subsistence tence-level agrarian people, view the forest, their cultivation takes place in the chacra, a dense fields, oil companies, and NGOs through a com- and diverse garden planted under shifting culti- mon lens: a strategic eye for their own survival. vation in cleared forest plots. One study found Some conservationists have noted that indige- 23 different annual crops and 23 perennial crop nous people often view the environment in terms trees being grown in chacras in Napo (Perreault of the goods and services it provides, and may be 2002: 90). Yuca (manioc), the main staple more likely to conserve species and ecosystem crop, is eaten steamed, or is mashed and fer- functions which are useful to them (Redford and mented to make a beverage known as chicha,

80 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Oil and Chicha: Indigenous Movements and Survival in the Ecuadoran Amazon

Leaders from several RECOKA communities march through the streets of the national capital, Quito, as part of an international indigenous people's demonstration. Photograph by Rebecca Reider.

drunk throughout the day. crops, principally corn and cacao.2 A single family may possess multiple Family incomes depend on the fluctuating chacras, planted and harvested at different times prices received from middlemen who buy the to assure a continuous year-long supply of yuca. crops in nearby towns or at road heads. However, all communities report that they are Difficult physical access to markets exacerbates on the edge of subsistence; during occasional the problem of low prices. The distance of food shortages they may eat only yuca and plan- RECOKA communities to the nearest markets tains or drink chicha in place of meals. ranges from a short bus ride to a day’s journey Dwindling fish and game populations put fur- by bus, canoe, and foot. High bus fares, cou- ther stress on Kichwa diets. This reality is pled with horse rental fees, can make the trip to reflected in statements community members market quite expensive; in farther communi- commonly made to me: “If we don’t do this ties, it may cost as much as $2 to get a quintal [grow crops], we’re not going to eat anything”; (100 pounds) of corn to market, when that “If we don’t work, we will die.” quintal might eventually sell for only $5-7.3

Hungry for cash Oil, organizations, and survival Even in plentiful harvest years, most It is from this vantage point, perched on the Kichwa families surveyed no longer consider edge of subsistence, that Kichwa people eye both their chacras sufficient for survival because subsis- oil companies and NGOs. In the community tence crops do not yield access to one of the most surveys, those who mentioned any possible ben- coveted resources: cash. Cash crops hold a high- efit of oil exploitation mentioned attractive mate- ly privileged place in household economies, rial benefits: jobs and cash. When an oil compa- reflected even in the words of children in RECO- ny constructed a pipeline through the area in KA communities, who readily differentiated 2003, it paid off the affected communities and cacao trees in the forest understory by telling me, offered various goods, including buildings, soccer “Con cacao ganamos plata” (“With cacao we earn fields, electricity, potable water, classrooms, pro- money”). In every community surveyed, people ductive projects, and sometimes even computers agreed their most serious agricultural problem or copy machines; some goods were delivered, was a lack of profitable markets for their cash while others were not (Lange 2004).

Tropical Resources Bulletin 81 Rebecca Reider

When community members spoke out behind”) by their government. In the void left by against oil development in responses to this survey inadequate government services, NGOs and oil – giving responses based on information they had companies have become parallel rural develop- received from anti-oil education campaigns – the ment organizations battling for indigenous peo- people likewise framed their opinion of oil devel- ple’s allegiances. Communities perceive RECO- opment in terms of its impacts on their survival. KA and other organizations largely based on the In the Santa Monica community, one resident concept of “projects” – in Spanish, “proyectos.” who had seen oil-affected areas elsewhere in Such relationships are an artifact of the high Ecuador warned, “The rivers were pure black” number of organizations – governmental and with inedible fish and “The terrain was almost a non-governmental, local and international – pro- desert; if one plants yuca, it doesn’t give any- viding assistance to communities in the region. thing.” In the Santa Rosa community, the oppo- Various surveyed communities had received sition to oil was immediate and vocal in response classrooms and musical instruments from the to a survey question: “No!” “Out out!” “We Spanish Red Cross, medical training from a pri- reject it!” “Our products will produce worse.” vate doctor, fish (to be raised in ponds) from the “We’ll be left poor.” On a walk through the for- provincial council, water tubing from the munic- est, a utilitarian perspective offered by Gabriel ipal government, support from a private founda- Cerda, president of Shiwayacu community, was tion for a daycare, and agricultural loans from an typical. After pointing out a dozen medicinal indigenous federation. Community leaders in plants, he suddenly stopped and said, “Because of Shiwayacu, where I lived, repeatedly asked me for this we do not want petroleum… step by step help in obtaining “some apoyo [support], some there are medicines. If petroleum comes, it will proyecto,” though they did not have a firmly destroy everything.” Listing forest food sources – defined idea of what such a project should entail. mushrooms, plantains, yuca, wild tubers – he Cerda, the community president, believed that said, “When the contamination comes, they don’t “The support of international foundations is the serve for anything, they cannot be eaten. So from only path, because the authorities from here what are we going to live?” don’t worry themselves for anything.” The com- A survival-based perspective also influences munity joined RECOKA after becoming disillu- the way people view their affiliation with outside sioned with the larger regional indigenous organ- organizations, including RECOKA. Not surpris- ization, FONAKIN, because after 20 years of ingly, those with the most positive feelings about belonging to FONAKIN, Cerda said, “We have the organization and with the most negative opin- not had any proyecto.”4 ions about oil were those that had received the most projects or support from RECOKA – such Cash crops and social movements: The link as participation in a handicrafts marketing cooper- Cash-generating proyectos may have multi- ative or a communal chicken-raising project, or ple political outcomes. For RECOKA commu- tactical support in a land rights struggle. nity members, a cash income is not just a matter Communities view the relationship with the of economic importance, but a matter of politi- organization as one of give and take: in the words cal importance directly affecting people’s capaci- of Gabriel Cerda, whose community has been ty to educate and organize themselves. Cash supported by RECOKA in a land titling conflict, resources are important for both education and “What they [RECOKA] ask, like to go to protests, basic social mobilization, both of which are in we support, and they support the community.” turn important to the future of the movement. People in the RECOKA communities fre- Most directly, RECOKA members’ access quently referred to themselves as “dejado” (“left to cash influences their ability to participate in

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Oil and Chicha: Indigenous Movements and Survival in the Ecuadoran Amazon a social movement at all. RECOKA illustrates building, creating capacity for political mobi- the resource mobilization theory of social lization. Educated people are more likely to movement formation at its most basic: “more understand their legal rights, and are more able prosperity favours social mobilization” to garner external financial and political sup- (Foweraker 1995: 16). Mobilizing the commu- port for their cause. Even the most politically nities to assemble for meetings or other events savvy indigenous federations in Ecuador have was no simple task during my time there. None found themselves disadvantaged when negoti- of the communities surveyed had any means of ating with oil companies because of their lack outside communication other than listening to of technical, environmental, and legal expertise radio stations. The Shiwayacu community (Rival 1997: 2). Cash is thus an important president had to travel frequently to Tena to ingredient in building a strong movement, over deal with the village’s land rights case, paying both the short term (through basic mobiliza- 95 cents bus fare each way; on these days he tion) and long term (through education). might not eat during the day to save money, despite the hour-long walk from his home in Conclusions: For Movements and Their the forest to catch the bus. The RECOKA Allies director, earning only $40 a month for his work three days a week for RECOKA, had to spend This research is relevant not just to a theoret- $26 of his $40 on daily bus fare from his home ical understanding of the “environmentalism of community to the office, and was only able to the poor,” but to the process of building local and support his family by doing outside work as a international alliances to sustain such movements. Christian missionary. Keeping oil companies out of the Ecuadoran When local people complained of poor Amazon has become a goal not only for indige- cash crop markets, they most often framed the nous people, but also for many Northern environ- problem in terms of their children’s education. mentalists who consider the area a global “biodi- Comments from Shiwayacu and Bellavista Alta versity hotspot.” Alliances between indigenous residents, respectively, typified this perspective: people and international NGOs have a history of “There is no money to maintain and educate the environmental campaign victories in other Latin children because there are no products to sell, American countries, especially Brazil (Conklin only maize and cacao”; “There is no way to buy and Graham 1995). But environmentalists things and make the children [able to] study.” attempting to form anti-oil alliances with local All communities reported shortages of people must consider how people living on the schoolbooks and materials; many students margins of survival will act in accordance with share materials because they cannot buy their their own subsistence needs. If people can be own. Only one community has a high school; made to understand that oil activity threatens youth from other communities must commute their own survival, they will oppose oil activity. by bus or foot, study through distance-learning Furthermore, people are more likely to support programs, or live with relatives in town. Parents anti-oil organizations if they, in turn, feel their in several communities complained that livelihoods supported by those organizations. teenagers must drop out of school for lack of Activists fighting to keep oil companies out of funds for materials and fees. Families’ cash crop Amazonia need to think not only about oil eco- incomes thus directly determine the level of nomics, but also about the economics of agricul- education which their children can attain. tural commodities. The degree of education that people can Still, while indigenous people may oppose afford has direct effects on social movement- oil development because it conflicts with their

Tropical Resources Bulletin 83 Rebecca Reider survival interests, as Anthony Bebbington and istered it in five communities: Atahualpa (barrio colleagues (1993) argue, economic interests Pantanal), Bellavista Alta, Santa Rosa, Santa promoted by indigenous organizations are not Monica, and Shiwayacu. The survey was adminis- always ecologically sustainable. Environmental tered in two more communities, Kachiwañushka groups working with the indigenous anti-oil and San Pedro de Auca Parte, by Ines Refenner, a movement should be mindful that supporting representative of the Austrian NGO Horizont these movements is one part of a regional sus- 3000, who was working with RECOKA at the time. tainable development strategy, not an automat- The surveys were conducted through community ic route to forest preservation. meetings, with typically 12-15 adults participating; Ultimately, anti-oil movements will meet answers reported here, unless noted, appeared to be no lasting success as long as the Ecuadoran gov- the general consensus of all those present. Surveys ernment’s policies remain stuck on the same were a mix of basic factual queries (e.g. crop prices treadmill of pumping oil to pay debt service. In and distances to markets) and open-ended ques- the year 2000, half of the national budget still tions (e.g. “What is your most serious agricultural came from oil revenues (Gerlach 2003), and problem?”). more than half of the government’s $2.4 billion 2 Communities living closest to road networks oil revenues went toward paying off interest on sell a wider variety of products, such as yuca, plan- the country’s foreign debt (Barthélémy 2003). tains, oranges, and papaya; but all communities sell The above lessons to social movements therefore corn and cacao because it is easily stored and trans- apply to the anti-oil campaign as a whole: oppo- ported. Coffee was a major cash crop in the area until nents of oil development must also think about international markets crashed in the late 1990s, yet expanding the markets for other commodities if another case of commodity-price dependence creat- they wish for a different national strategy on oil. ing problems for the country’s rural people. In the meantime, local people will likely contin- 3 Since 2000, the currency of Ecuador has ue struggling to fend off oil companies day by been the U.S. dollar. day, community by community – because they 4 FONAKIN, the Federation of Kichwa know their survival depends on it. Nationality Organizations of Napo, is a long-estab- lished organization claiming to represent Kichwa Acknowledgements people throughout the province. My deepest thanks to all the people of RECO- KA who participated in this study, and in particular References RECOKA coordinator Fredy Alvarado and director Acción Ecológica. 2001. Ecuador ni es ni sera ya país Gilberto Tapuy for their advice and assistance; Ines Amazonico: Inventario de impactos petroleros, 1. Refenner of Horizont 3000, for administering the Quito, Ecuador. survey in some communities; and all the people of Barthélémy, F. 2003. Ecuador’s pipeline out of Shiwayacu for their kindness in welcoming me into debt. Le Monde Diplomatique, Jan. their community. Thanks also to the Yale Tropical http://mondediplo.com/2003/01/10ecuador. Resources Institute and the Yale Program in Bebbington, A., H. Carrasco, L. Peralbo, G. Agrarian Studies, whose generous funding made this Ramon, J. Trujillo, and V. Torres. 1993. research possible, and to the editors of this volume, Fragile lands, fragile organizations: Indian for their valuable comments and hard work. organizations and the politics of sustainability in Ecuador. Transactions of the Institute of Endnotes British Geographers 18(2): 179-196. 1 I wrote the survey in cooperation with Brysk, A. 2000. From Tribal Village to Global Village: RECOKA coordinator Fredy Alvarado and admin- Indian Rights and International Relations in Latin

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America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Studies in International Development. California. Fundación CIMAS, Quito, Ecuador. Conklin, B.A. and L.R. Graham. 1995. The shifting Martinez-Alier, J. 2002. The Environmentalism of middle ground: Amazonian Indians and eco- the Poor: A Study of Ecological Conflicts and politics. American Anthropologist 97(4): 695- Valuation. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, United 710. Kingdom. Escobar, A. 1992. Culture, Economics and Politics Perreault, T.A. 2002. Movilización política e identi- in Latin American Social Movements Theory dad indígena en el alto Napo. Ediciones Abya- and Research. Pp 62-88 in The Making of Yala, Quito, Ecuador. Social Movements in Latin America: Identity, RECOKA. 2004. http://www.recoka.org Strategy, and Democracy, Arturo Escobar and Redford, K.H. and A.M. Stearman. 1993. Forest- Sonia E. Alvarez, eds. Westview Press, dwelling native Amazonians and the conserva- Boulder, Colorado. tion of biodiversity: Interests in common or in Foweraker, J. 1995. Theorizing Social Movements. collision? Conservation Biology 7(2): 248-255. Pluto Press, London. Rival, L. 1997. Oil and sustainable development in Gedicks, A. 2001. Resource Rebels: Native Challenges the Latin American humid tropics. to Oil and Mining Corporations. South End Anthropology Today 13(6): 1-3. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sawyer, S. 2004. Crude Chronicles: Indigenous Gerlach, A. 2003. Indians, Oil, and Politics: A Recent Politics, Multinational Oil, and Neoliberalism History of Ecuador. Scholarly Resources, Inc., in Ecuador. Duke University Press, Durham, Washington, D.C. North Carolina. Kimerling, J. 1991. Amazon Crude. Natural Selverston-Scher, M. 2001. Ethnopolitics in Ecuador: Resources Defense Council, New York. Indigenous Rights and the Strengthening of Lange, L. 2004. Investigación de la construcción del Democracy. University of Miami North-South oleoducto secundario Puerto Napo-Yuralpa y los Center Press, Miami, Florida. implicaciones en la población local. Minnesota

Tropical Resources Bulletin 85 Integrating Forest Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation in Local Forest-Based Enterprises: A Case Study of the Woodcarving Industry, Ghana

by Dora Nsuwa Cudjoe, MEM 2005

Introduction Since woodcarving is an industry impor- tant to two vital aspects of human social welfare Woodcarving is one of the informal – rural economy and forest biodiversity conser- employment sectors in the forested areas in vation – it becomes imperative to find alterna- Southern Ghana, notably in the Ashanti, tive wood sources that are more environmental- Central, Western, Eastern and Volta regions. ly benign. In this study, I describe the wood- An otherwise part-time lean season activity, carving industry of Ehwiaa, the largest wood- however, is being nurtured into a full-fledged carving center in the Ashanti region. Ehwiaa, a trade as a result of regulatory and policy frame- tourist town located five miles from the region- work support for the tourism industry, which al capital, Kumasi, has gained local and interna- provides the main local market for carved prod- tional recognition for its carvings. I investigate ucts (Addo and Marshall 2000). Ghanaian the industry’s structure, discuss ways in which woodcarvings are gaining increased recognition its production could be spurred, and evaluate both locally and internationally, presently con- the potential for using byproducts from the tributing approximately $500,000 annually to timber industry to provide a sustainable source the Ghanaian economy and providing employ- of wood for artesanal woodcarving. I draw ment to about 20,000-30,000 people (Okrah inferences from a similar woodcarving enter- 2002). The producers, individuals and coopera- prise, the ‘Ecocraft’, which uses strictly byprod- tives, rely almost solely on the natural forest for ucts from the timber industry rather than wood. Wood inputs usually tend to be a few directly from the forest. Finally, I address plau- specified hard wood species, some of which, like sible conclusions and recommendations African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis), have been towards sustaining the woodcarving industry. extracted almost to the brink of extinction. Woodcarving is therefore perceived as a source Methodology of forest biodiversity loss in Ghana (Dei 1990). Research design I conducted field surveys; a method Dora Cudjoe is originally from Ghana. She through which I could extract substantial obtained her B.Sc. from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and then amounts of data at relatively low cost within worked with the Environmental Protection Agency the limited time available for this research in Ghana prior to attending F&ES. Dora spent the (Babbie 1989). I targeted woodcarvers from summer of 2004 with the UNDP in Ghana, and Ehwiaa after preliminary interviews with retail- plans to work with the Global Environment Facility ers in New York revealed that over 60% of on graduation. woodcarvings sourced from Ghana come from

86 Volume 24, Spring 2005 this town. Interviews in Ghana confirmed tourist travel to Ghana. The quality of labor force Ehwiaa’s suitability as the study site: of the 150 (as producers and exporters), tree species used, woodcarving export companies in Ghana, and product lines have changed over the years in “almost all source their products from response to economic policies (such as redundant Ehwiaa.”1 labor from the formal sector), availability of I surveyed the following actors: one-man required tree species, and market forces. (individual) carvers who form about 70% of we used to source wood from the town’s vicinity but residen- total woodcarvers; association woodcarvers who tial facilities are reducing at a fast pace the availability of constitute about 30% of the town’s woodcarv- wood. We have to travel for about 60 miles into the forest in ing population; industrial carvers (Ecocraft search of the required species... 5 project); and finally government and non-gov- ernment institutions such as the Forestry According to Okrah (2002), the retrench- Commission, Ghana Export Promotion ment of workers from the formal sectors as part Council, Aid to Artisans-Ghana, and the of the World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Director of UNDP-GEF, by virtue of their Program led to more and more people resorting influence on the industry. One hundred wood- to informal sectors of the economy, such as carvers were targeted, but only 20 carvers could woodcarving. Over 60% of Ehwiaa’s popula- be interviewed.2 Nonetheless, I obtained a rep- tion was woodcarvers about three decades ago, resentative number of people from the various until receding access to the required tree species categories within the woodcarving sector resulted in a shrinking number of carvers. (carvers, retailers, and exporters). Questions Woodcarvers presently make up 10% of the were directed at eliciting information on the town’s population of 20,000 (Table 1). social background of woodcarvers, the produc- Constituting over 60% of wood volume tion chain from sourcing of wood to retailing used now, Cedrella odorata (gyenegyene) is said both locally and by export, and the factors that to have replaced African mahogany as the most account for changing trends in production.3 popular carving tree species. Cedrella odorata, in addition to having a similar coloration as the Results and Discussion African mahogany, has the prized forestry value of a fast regenerative capacity. Logs from this Current status of Ehwiaa woodcarving species located at the research site came from 8- The backbone of the town’s economy and 10 year old trees with diameter at breast height an embodiment of the rich Ashanti cultural ranging between 0.4 and 0.8 meters.6 legacy, Ehwiaa woodcarvings date back to the Interviews revealed that although forest 19th century.4 Back then, the art of carving plantations could serve as an alternative wood wood was seasonal, done during the lean agri- input, lack of access to land limits this source’s cultural seasons. Two main tree species, Khaya potential. Since Ehwiaa is only five miles from ivorensis (African mahogany) and Holarrhea the region’s capital and has comparatively wifsbergii (sese), were used. cheaper land prices, home owners and estate Woodcarving in Ehwiaa has since evolved developers are increasingly buying lands that from serving a strictly local market to being an could otherwise have been used for tree planta- almost entirely export-based activity. Currently tions. Moreover, the Forestry Commission of the export market to Europe and the US the Ashanti Region allocates an annual quota of accounts for 65% of all products made in the only 40 trees from production forests to all town, while the remaining local market includes woodcarvers in the region, enough to supply

Tropical Resources Bulletin 87

Dora Nsuwa Cudjoe

Table 1. Categories of Woodcarvers in Ehwiaa

Association Description Number of active carvers Unity Carvers Basically carve the Unity design 120 Ehwiaa Woodcarvers who own retail stores Woodcarvers 40 Non-associational Do not belong to woodcarvers any of the associations 1,500 Woodcarving Export Network with local and Association International wholesale buyers 10 only one-fiftieth of the approximately 2,000 being in sizes and colors. Products were mostly for Ehwiaa woodcarvers for a month.7 decorative purposes – animal and human figurines – with no little household use. Observational stud- Production and marketing ies revealed that cultural artifacts which served dual Analysis of the rate of production revealed purposes, such as flower vases, book-stops, cutlery, that, generally, an individual woodcarver utilizes lamp stands, fruit bowls, and furniture, had greater about six m3 of wood annually, creating a cumu- market value. This was confirmed by Bob Hewes, lative total of 12,000m3 for the whole carving Manager in charge of product sourcing nation- community in Ehwiaa. According to the carvers, wide for Pier 1 Imports.9 Commenting on carved this volume of wood is sourced mainly from products from Ghana, he suggested that wood- farmlands since informal price negotiations with carvers exploit avenues for more utilitarian prod- farmland owners for trees are far cheaper than via ucts since “the interest among our customers for permits from the Forestry Commission. traditionally based ethnic wood carvings is not as Previously, a Legislative Instrument, LI 1518, strong as it was.” granted permits to carvers, but this has been repealed on the grounds that carvers frequently The framework within which the woodcarving indus- abused these permits.8 As dwindling access to try operates off-reserve sources therefore loom, illegal sourc- Although a fairly small and informal sector ing from the natural forest becomes the last of the Ghanaian economy, the woodcarving resort. Woodcarvers clearly stated that they have trade interlinks with a host of formal govern- taken to carving products at felling sites or in mental and nongovernmental institutions remote villages to evade security checks by the (Figure 1). These linkages undoubtedly are cen- Forestry Commission Task Force for illegally tered on the production, financing, and market harvested timber. Woodcarvers employ very extension at levels that are, however, not simple locally made hand tools, which include involved enough to optimize the potential of the the hammer, knife, and axe. This limits the industry. There is not enough attention given to diversity of wood species they can use, the qual- sustaining the wood resource base, an effort that ity of finish, and the intricacy of designs. will demand the regulatory and policy support On entering Ehwiaa Township, a visitor is from the Forestry Commission and environ- welcomed by a stream of woodcarving retail stores mental NGOs. Aid to Artisans, Ghana (ATAG), that lines both sides of the main road. Retailers an NGO, has embarked on a forest plantation carry the same set of items, the only differences program that is geared towards establishing

88 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Integrating Forest Biodoversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation in Local Forest-Based Enterprises

1,500 ha in forest plantations. One hundred and of income without direct pressure on the natu- forty-four hectares of this has already been plant- ral forest for virgin timber.14 ed. Educational institutions like colleges and The company produces lumber, veneer ply- vocational schools could be a source of logistical wood, and tongue and groove boards mainly for support in production and business skills train- export from 25 tree species, 14 of which are uti- ing, as well as research. lized by the woodcarving unit. Eighty percent of products are for the international market. Of this, The ‘Ecocraft’ project 60% goes to Europe, 30% to USA, and 10% to A new model has emerged to address the the Far East and other destinations. growing gap between the dwindling supply of The saw mill, veneer mill, plywood mill, and trees and the growing demand for wood to carve. molding departments demand a monthly wood Since a substantial quantity of products are cur- volume of 9,500 m3. Forty-two percent of this rently being carved from smaller diameter volume is made of species that cannot be carved. trees,10 wood waste from timber companies may Of the 5,500m3 carveable tree species, 2,750 m3 support the shrinking supplies from off reserve – a startling 50% – is generated as off-cuts, or forests such as farmlands. The Samartex Timber byproducts. Of this volume, 1,000m3, a monthly and Plywood Company, which has stated “the supply of carveable wood is made available to the need to utilize all raw materials,” has established carving unit. The rest, which is composed of a woodcarving unit called Ecocraft that follows cracks, slabs, heartwood, and sawdust, goes to this model.11 feed the cogeneration plant. Samartex also ensures Samartex Timber and Plywood Company that timber harvest meets the soil nutrient replen- is a privately-owned German company located ishment and forest landscape restoration stan- in the Western Region of Ghana, which has a dards set by the Forestry Services Division. well-developed woodcarving industry like that It is interesting to note that the volume of of the Ashanti Region. Samartex is situated wood generated from industrial waste to feed about 240 kilometers from the Western Ecocraft per annum is the same as that required Regional Capital, Takoradi. by the carvers in Ehwiaa (approximately Ecocraft was initiated three years ago as 12,000m3 annually). part of Samartex Timber and Plywood’s quest to maximally utilize all their industrial waste. Product comparison The concepts behind this project are (i) to add Products made by Ecocraft and by wood- value to harvested trees; (ii) to increase recovery carvers from Ehwiaa differed substantially in from the timber industry waste; and (iii) to cre- terms of product diversity and quality of finish. ate jobs and increase awareness about the vari- Samartex products are diverse and cross-cutting: ous valuable uses to which non-conforming both useful household items, such as furniture wood could be put.12 and house wares (bowls and cutlery), and purely By channeling all industry waste (non- decorative pieces like human and animal fig- conforming timber forms,13 round core, urines. Ehwiaa products, conversely, focus large- unwanted veneer) to the Ecocraft woodcarving ly on the decorative pieces. Samartex is also able unit, Samartex is able to maintain its electricity to utilize 14 species of wood,15 as compared to and heat generation and also increase earnings the two main species used in Ehwiaa. Although from recovered waste wood. By giving added these two production lines have characteristics value to waste wood, sometimes values higher peculiar to them and thus cannot be directly than that obtained from equivalent timber vol- compared, artistic creativity and available tech- ume, woodcarving is serving as an added source nology appear to be the main factors that account

Tropical Resources Bulletin 89 Dora Nsuwa Cudjoe

Figure 1. Perceived Stakeholders Partnerships and Relationships

The links represent the various existing or proposed linkages between the stakeholders in woodcarving. Solid lines represents existing working relations; dotted lines represents no or very weak relations. Taking a cue from India and Kenya, the UNDP-GEF Small Grants Program is targeted as the main source of donor support for this indus- try. The Friends of the Earth may also act as a medium between woodcarvers and the donor. for differences in product diversity and quality of tourism industry and its supporting policy regu- finish. Samartex employs design service support lations, woodcarving is continually expanding its from German-trained nationals and the Ghana market both locally and internationally. National Vocational Training Institute, and Expansion is, however, at the expense of the bio- adopts the use of simple but efficient carving and diversity of the natural forest via illegal harvest- finishing tools such as the hand-held sand paper ing. It is posited that this effect is partly due to machine, the circular saw, and the bend saw. lack of support from the governmental and non- Woodcarvers from Ehwiaa, meanwhile, still use governmental institutions in sustaining the input less-efficient indigenous handmade tools. Carvers material base; as such, woodcarvers are forced to in Ehwiaa are also slow in adapting their cultural thrive on illegal harvesting. designs into products preferred by customers. Ecocraft therefore provides an important example of an alternate wood source, demonstrat- Conclusions and Recommendations ing the possibility of an industrial ecology relation- ship between woodcarvers and timber concession- Woodcarving, as an informal employment aires, if given the necessary logistical and financial sector, contributes to strengthening the Ghanaian support by the Forestry Commission and donor economy. Having been given a facelift by the organizations such as the UNDP-GEF.

90 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Integrating Forest Biodoversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation in Local Forest-Based Enterprises

I do not suggest that this relationship could Forestry task force, woodcarvers have taken to carv- serve to provide all the wood material needs for ing on felling sites and transporting the semi-finished the woodcarving industry, but it could effective- products to Ehwiaa. ly meet at least 10-15% of annual inputs. It must 3 I could not obtain a copy of the be recognized, of course, that some concessions Development Plan for the Kwabre District (referred may not be close enough to woodcarvers to be to as the “Bible” by the District Development economically viable to feed byproducts into Officer). There has not been any prior study of the carving. The Ashanti region has enough timber woodcarving industry in Ehwiaa and so, without concessions to substantially support woodcarv- the Development Plan, research was based mostly ing with industry waste. Samartex is not supply- on oral data. ing its wastes to other carvers in the Western 4 The original designs are the queen-mother region since the Ecocraft unit absorbs it all. stool (asesedwa) and the fertility doll (akuaba). This relationship undoubtedly will require a 5 Interview with Kwadwo Dwomoh 2004. “medium of transfer” such as an environmental 6 Interviews with Samuel Opoku, Woodcarver NGO (ENGO).16 The ENGO could provide and Treasurer of Ehwiaa Woodcarving Association, the production policy framework needed to raise June-July 2004. and sustain funding for the industry in the areas 7 This is based on the estimate that an average of education, skills and technology, marketing carver uses a volume of six m3 of wood annually. strategy, and forest plantations. If a linkage like 8 Interview with George Atta-Wusu, Regional this is successful, eventually Ghanaian woodcarv- Director, Forestry Commission, Ashanti Region, ings may be able to compete with ecologically 2004. friendly products being promoted in Kenya and 9 Pier 1 Imports, AMC Mar/Maxx, Cost Plus, India (WWF 2003; Sudipto et al. 2003). and TARGET are all USA stores that source prod- ucts from Ehwiaa. Acknowledgements 10 Unity woodcarving designs use logs of I owe a debt of gratitude to the Compton diameters between 40 cm and 60 cm. Foundation and the Tropical Resources Institute, 11 Interview with Al-Helou Raymond. Yale University, for sponsoring my research. I also General Manager, Samartex. Smarerobio, West owe my greatest appreciation to Professors Chad Region, Ghana, 2004. Oliver and Florencia Montagnini of the Yale School 12 It is also worth noting that Samartex co- of Forestry and Environmental Studies, for their generates electricity and heat from wood residues supervision and support. I thank Dr. Stephen mostly saw dust from its log yard, sawmill, plywood Duah-Yentumi, the Sustainable Development mill, and veneer mill. Electric power and heat gen- Advisor of UNDP, Ghana, the staff of Kumasi erated from such waste is used to run the company’s Forestry Commission, the woodcarvers in Ehwiaa, 24-hour operation schedule and to supply energy to Ms. Emma Ampofo and all the management and company’s residential facilities as well as the staff of Samartex Timber and Plywood Company, Sameraboi Township Sameraboi. I thank my parents, my siblings and my 13 Tree boles that are buttressed are not fiance for their undying support. Finally, I thank my straight enough or have scars or ring shakes. God for being the lifter of my head. 14 Interview with Richard Nsenkyire, Production Manager, 2004 Endnotes 15 Note, however, that not all 14 species have 1 Interview with Isaac Okyere, exporter, July been proven to be very viable for carving. 2004. 16 Friends of the Earth is already operational in 2 In order to evade routine checks by the the Ashanti Region. This middle link will mitigate

Tropical Resources Bulletin 91

Dora Nsuwa Cudjoe the mistrust that has been mentioned as a problem in Okrah, E. 2002. The Growth of Woodcarving past relations between the Forestry Commission and Industry in Ghana and its Threat to Selected the carving community. Tree Species. Thesis, Lund University. Sudipto, C. et al. 2003. Relevance of certification to References the wood carving industry in India. WWF, Addo, E. and R. Marshall. 2000. Ghana’s non-tra- India. ditional export sector: Expectations, achieve- WWF. 2003. ‘Chonga’ Good Wood News Issue 2. ments, and policy issues. Geoforum 31: 355- People and Plants Campaign to Promote 370. Sustainable Woodcarving in Kenya. April Dei, J.S. 1990. Deforestation in a Ghanaian com- 2003. People and Plants Initiative, WWF East munity. Anthropologica 32(1): 3-27. Africa Regional Programme Office. Babbie, E.B. 1989. The Practice of Social Research. http://peopleand plants.org/whatweproduce/ Wadsworth Publishing Company, California. newletters/apr2003.htm

Alfred Russel Wallace. 1869. The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, with Studies on Man and Nature. Harper and Brothers, New York.

92 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Innovated Tradition: Transformation of Palakaw Fishing among the Amis of Fataan, Taiwan

by Po-Yi Hung, MESc 2005

Introduction manual, website, TV program, or promotion about Fataan, pre-defining for tourists a certain Fataan, located in a relatively unpolluted of notion of what the site’s nature and culture area of eastern Taiwan, is a popular ecotourism should be like. Palakaw, to outsiders, suggests spot where tourists throng to experience wet- the relatively primitive natural environment in land scenery and the indigenous culture of the Fataan, which allows local Amis people to main- Amis people. Visitors are mostly attracted by tain their traditional fishing in unpolluted the wetland’s blossoming lotus plants, which streams. The image of palakaw has created a have become the most flamboyant image of romanticized notion of Fataan’s nature, which Fataan. The area is also known for having one contrasts tremendously to the highly urbanized of the biggest Amis villages in Taiwan, and vis- society in Taiwan. Therefore, the symbolic itors therefore expect to witness the traditional meaning of palakaw, closeness to pristine nature, heritage of the Amis people. As a result, the tra- provides a great attraction to urbanized tourists. ditional fishing practice, palakaw, has come to Questions about how the local Amis peo- represent the unique knowledge and tribal her- ple will respond in the face of these strong and itage of Fataan’s Amis people and is the charac- vividly imposed representations of palakaw, in teristic indigenous image used to promote conjunction with ecotourism and cultural tourism development in Fataan. tourism development, remain unresolved. I Palakaw, as practiced by the Amis people, conducted summer master’s project fieldwork is the practice of constructing “fish homes.” In in Fataan from May through August 2004 to the Amis language, “pa” means “throwing uncover how palakaw was perceived by outside away,” and “lakaw” means “branches of society, as well as by local Fataan people. plants.” The term, literally “throwing away the plant branches,” thus indicates the act of con- Outside Images and Official Rhetoric of struction. The “fish home” is constructed from Palakaw three distinct layers of local plants, and differ- ent species of fish reside in the different layers Image construction via popular media of the construction. Usually, the Amis people In late May 2004, the summer vacation sea- conduct palakaw in the middle of a local stream son was starting for most people in Taiwan. The named Fu-Deng Stream (see photo below). biggest chain bookstore in Taipei held a series of Palakaw appears in every guidebook, tour tourism book sales and exhibitions called “Escape from Your Mundane City.” Not surprisingly, when I perused the local tour guidebooks, images Po-Yi Hung, from Taiwan, has been doing research of Fataan appeared in almost every book that on people-environment interconnections. After graduating from Yale, he will continue his doctoral mentioned Hualien county or eastern Taiwan. study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison When addressing Fataan, palakaw was described focusing on Political Ecology and Human as the Amis peoples’ “ecological fishing” and as Geography. the major local indigenous tradition or culture.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 93 Po-Yi Hung

Two tribal elders demonstrating Palakaw for tourists. Photograph by Po-Yi Hung.

An example from the most popular guide- wisdom of indigenous culture, and will also steep book in Taiwan, Outdoors Life, is illustrative: you in the natural environment… Fataan is like “Fataan, the green land with interlacing creeks, the Arcadia where you will experience an alterna- is a productive place where the Fataan’s people tive life during this summer” (Huang 2004). plant and fish. Palakaw, constructed by the Palakaw was thus connected explicitly to an myrtle branches, nurtures stream fish and “alternative” way of life. If Fataan is Arcadia, shrimp; additionally, palakaw confers a life ethic then palakaw serves as the proof of Arcadian life, which is inherited from generation to genera- which is necessarily away from urbanized and tion” (Hu and Liu 2003: 170). Here palakaw is industrialized modern living. depicted as tied closely to the local natural envi- Obviously, popular media has constructed a ronment and the abundant natural resources. dichotomy in which to situate palakaw. This The green land, creeks, myrtle branches, and dichotomy is de facto parallel with a “binary oppo- flourishing fish and shrimp all have placed sition” (Smith 2001: 104) between modern soci- palakaw in a natural and unpolluted setting, ety and indigenous communities in Taiwan. which stands in sharp contrast to the Taipei While modern society signifies the problems streets, full of modern skyscrapers and noisy resulting from urbanization and industrialization, motorcycles and cars, just outside the bookstore. such as environmental degradation and compli- This short description not only creates an image cated human relations, indigenous communities of cultural heritage, but also invokes an urban denote the pre-urbanized and pre-industrialized nostalgia for nature and tradition. natural environment and an unsophisticated way During the traveling season, newspapers in of living. Hereafter, the indigenous communities Taiwan also wrote more reports on tourism become, as Cronon (1995: 69) states, “the places activities. As a popular tourist spot, Fataan was [people] can turn for escape from [their] own too- mentioned in every major newspaper in Taiwan muchness.” In other words, the binary opposition – and palakaw, of course, was written about in is underpinned by modern Taiwanese society’s the tourism articles. On June 28, 2004, a column nostalgia for nature and tradition, which appar- about Fataan in Keng Sheng Daily News called ently drives urban people to travel to indigenous palakaw the “best representation of Fataan’s communities, where they can feel pure nature and Amis culture,” promising that “experiencing traditional culture and escape from the modern palakaw will allow you to learn the ecological “city of mundanity.”

94 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Transformation of the Palakaw Fishing among the Amis of Faatan, Taiwan

Palakaw is positioned by the media as a important as cultural capital and thus to the way to fulfill people’s search for nature and promotion of Fataan’s tourism. Indigenous local place. Through guidebooks, newspapers, people would benefit economically by perform- TV programs, and tour brochures, popular ing their tradition, and, at the same time, their media cultivates the expectations for palakaw traditional culture would be passed from gener- and constructs the outside definitions of ation to generation. He concluded that palakaw Fataan’s nature and culture. However, the puri- had “bridged the dichotomy between cultural ty and the tradition of such a practice can be preservation and economic development.” overly romanticized under such a socially con- This incident illustrates that the state, like structed binary opposition. the media, constructs a dichotomy between modern society and indigenous culture – but Official rhetoric via the state here palakaw is positioned in the middle, as a June 18, 2004 was the inauguration day of bridge to reconcile the conflict between indige- the Indigenous Cultural Industry Promotion nous cultural preservation and tribal economic Center, located alongside the main road in development. According to the simple logic of Fataan. A tall totem, which represents Taiwan’s governmental rhetoric, palakaw will attract indigenous peoples, stands at the entrance of tourists to Fataan and thus increase develop- the Center. Situated behind the building is a ment of many related profitable tourism servic- spacious square where various cultural perform- es, such as hostels, handicrafts, and souvenirs. ances occur; along the edges of the square, local Palakaw thus becomes a cultural performance vendors sold indigenous handicrafts, souvenirs, through which the local Amis performers gain and foods under bamboo and straw canopies. revenue. At the same time, this tradition, as the Opposite the Center’s entrance was a tempo- magistrate said, will be “preserved forever” due rary pond, purposely dug for palakaw demon- to the boom of tourism development. In other strations during the inaugural ceremony. words, the official rhetoric has situated palakaw The magistrate of Hualien County arrived as the catalyst for reciprocity between economic at ten o’clock in the morning. Opening the improvement and cultural preservation through speech in front of the Center, he emphasized tourism. This construction has given palakaw that both central and local governments official recognition as Fataan’s cultural heritage, expended effort to preserve indigenous culture and this label, in turn, has prompted the gov- and improve the tribal economic condition. ernment to endow resources to Fataan for con- Furthermore, he argued that indigenous com- ducting so-called “cultural revitalization.” munities owned abundant “natural capital” and “cultural capital” and could develop tourism to Inside Reactions to Palakaw reach “tribal sustainability.” According to the magistrate, the Indigenous Cultural Industry Fataan culture and history workshop: palakaw for Promotion Center was an important initiative industrialization of culture to simultaneously preserve culture and promote Most guidebooks depict the Fataan Culture tribal tourism development. and History Workshop as the best place to learn Before leaving the center the magistrate about Fataan’s Amis culture. Chang, the host of walked around the square and spoke to the the Workshop, is a local Amis in his fifties. local vendors. He stopped at the temporary “While you Han people are struggling for sustain- pond to see the palakaw demonstration, and able development, let me tell you, we Fataan Amis extolled palakaw as “the paradigm of industrial- reached sustainability long time ago. No wonder ization of indigenous culture,” a practice we have the palakaw culture,” Chang told me on

Tropical Resources Bulletin 95 Po-Yi Hung one occasion. The term “ecological fishing,” used Greater Fataan community development association: to promote palakaw, he explained, was mainly his A local voice of resistance idea. He insisted that this term best fit palakaw, One local Amis who expressed dissent which for him, is a unique indigenous knowledge towards the Workshop said he regards the engendered from an adaptation to the wetland organization as more of a “cultural seller” than environment. Regardless of what truly inherent a “cultural restorer.” He thought that the ecological wisdom palakaw embodies, Chang also Workshop host, Chang, was running “his own admitted that the term “ecological fishing” might palakaw business,” unconcerned with provid- attract the attention of the government. ing benefits for the whole of Fataan. “He sold “Everybody talks ecology, conservation, and sus- aluminum before,” this person told me, “and tainability everyday, especially those governmen- came back to Fataan to sell palakaw.” The tal officials. Calling palakaw the ecological fishing Workshop is actually very controversial at the can draw their attention.” He informed me that local level, and most of the Fataan’s Amis peo- university academics and Environmental ple I have talked with hold a negative percep- Protection Agency officials came to his Workshop tion of the work the Workshop has done. In to learn and document how the Amis people uti- fact, a group of Amis people have gathered lized palakaw to sustain their wetlands. together to form a competing voice against the At the Indigenous Cultural Industry Workshop, named the Greater Fataan Promotion Center’s inauguration ceremony, Community Development Association. Chang narrated the palakaw demonstration for According to members of the the Hualien County magistrate. Chang once Development Association, before Chang began mentioned the occasion in his talks to me. He working with the Fataan community, everyone said that his Workshop has emphasized the con- used to work together and discuss ways to pre- cept of “Industrialization of Culture” since its serve and revive Fataan’s Amis culture. Siou, establishment. In order to put this concept into the spokesperson of the Development practice, he exerted his efforts to promote Association, informed me that the idea of reviv- palakaw as a tourism attraction. His recognition ing palakaw activities actually originated from as an Amis cultural restorer by the Council of everybody’s thoughts, but it was Chang who Cultural Affairs led to media exposure, causing suggested writing the proposal about palakaw him to realize the importance of cooperating with to the Council of Cultural Affairs. When the media to promote palakaw. “Popular media are proposal was approved by the Council, there- networking,” he said; “once you have a positive fore, Chang received abundant governmental relation with one media, everybody would come resources, which he used to establish the to talk to you. I provide what they want, and they Workshop in the wetland area. Siou told me help me to propagate Fataan’s tourism.” Chang that, at the very beginning, everybody thought felt that indigenous culture could not just be revi- it was good that Chang could help Fataan to talized. Restoration or revitalization was not the obtain outside resources and could contribute ultimate purpose; rather, the ultimate purpose to revitalizing palakaw. Gradually, however, was to improve the lives of Fataan’s people. He people discovered that all outside resources hoped that, one day, young Amis people would went straight to the Workshop, without any not have leave home to earn a living. Thus, he contribution to the whole community. saw the current progress towards the Since outside society sees the Workshop as “Industrialization of Culture” as optimal for the place to learn about Fataan’s Amis culture, indigenous people and hoped to make palakaw the Development Association is trying to reverse one of the best examples of this progression. this perception. In fact, the Development

96 Volume 24, Spring 2005 Transformation of the Palakaw Fishing among the Amis of Faatan, Taiwan

Association has promoted another destination to represent Amis culture: Kakidaan, an ancient house located in the Fataan community. Kakidaan, in Amis language, means “abundance with rice,” with the additional meaning of “the affluent family.” Within the house, traditional rice planting tools, daily clothes, household instruments, and other artifacts are exhibited (see photo elow). Rather than being in the “wetland area,” Kakidaan is located on a main street in the “residential area” of Fataan’s Amis people. The Development Association sees the location of Kakidaan as ideal for attracting people to walk into the “real Fataan community” and to experi- ence the “authentic Fataan Amis culture.” However, the Development Association has found it difficult, compared to the Workshop, to receive attention from outside Tourists listening to a narration within the Fataan Ancient House, society. They indicated to me that the known as Kakidaan. Photograph by Po-Yi Hung. Workshop has much more political and social power. Many Fataan’s Amis people believe that Chang cultivated his political power and net- Beyond “Ecological Fishing”: Palakaw for works by promoting the palakaw concept. As a What and for Whom? local Amis said, “[Chang] used palakaw to lure officials, and all the officials from the central to Packaging palakaw for outside rhetoric local governments liked palakaw and listened to Given the increased treatment of ‘indige- him.” In addition to the support from the state, nous’ subjects in contemporary intellectual and the Workshop also capitalized upon positive cultural atmospheres, Li (2000: 153) stresses relations with popular media. the importance of “locating the tribal slot in Feng, one member of the Development shifting fields of power.” Different factions of Association, supposed that palakaw received society, including the state, NGOs, and other government attention not only because it rep- activists, have criteria, formal or conceptual, to resented the uniqueness of Amis culture, but specify which group fits into the tribal or also because of its “ecological” characteristic: indigenous slot. Chang packaged the workshop “The fancy name ‘ecological fishing’ is just fit and palakaw to gain recognition and resources for what the government wants,” Feng said. from broader society. The Workshop members Compared to palakaw, however, Feng felt that use palakaw to situate themselves in accordance Kakidaan was neither ecological nor related to with the images, discourses, and agendas that indigenous knowledge. Although she did think outside society produces for or about them. Kakidaan represented an authentic element of Palakaw helps the Workshop articulate their Fataan culture, she argued that the identity when negotiating with outsiders. The Development Association needed to increase its Workshop furthers this process by fitting creativity in promoting Kakidaan to outside palakaw to the governmental rhetoric about society in order to attain more political power “industrialization of culture.” Additionally, the for the association. Workshop uses palakaw to suit the media’s

Tropical Resources Bulletin 97 Po-Yi Hung need for exotic imagery about tribal culture. have much more power to earn more money Moreover, Chang labeled palakaw as “ecologi- and do whatever he wants to do.” This person cal fishing” to fit the current rhetoric about also informed me that Chang would like to “indigenous knowledge,” in which this knowl- campaign to become a local legislator. While edge is regarded as a local wisdom that sustains these intentions and actions may be overstated, communities’ natural resources. Outside socie- what is obvious in this conflict is that palakaw ty creates the dichotomy between “indigenous” is an instrument used to address power strug- and “non-indigenous” discourses, and the gles, articulated in terms of cultural empower- Workshop has strategically situated palakaw ment and revitalization. within the former. Although denounced by the local Amis, Extra- and intra-local expectations Chang did not think he had done anything While the Development Association detrimental to the community; on the contrary, denounced the Workshop’s use of palakaw to he thought he had improved the community by “sell Amis culture,” they also realized that, in promoting Fataan to outside society and by order to promote their alternative attraction, fighting for outside resources. Moreover, Kakidaan, they should be more “creative” in the Chang thought cultural revitalization would be search for increased political powers. “nothing but idealism” if Fataan’s Amis people Furthermore, while they condemned officials could not actively communicate with outside who had been fooled by the workshop, they also society. He argued that the first step was to admitted that the term “ecological fishing” did receive recognition from the outside world, and fit governmental needs. It seems that the that this recognition and supply of resources Development Association is trapped between would give Fataan’s people the autonomy to inside and outside expectations of Amis culture. manage their affairs, including the tasks of cul- The Development Association wants to tural revitalization. label Kakidaan as the authentic Amis culture; From my perspective, the Workshop and moreover, they argue that promoting Kakidaan Chang are struggling for access to power from should be beneficial to the whole community. the outside Taiwanese society. Palakaw has They hope to promote Kakidaan’s emergence become the tool through which the Workshop as another popular cultural symbol for tourists, keeps positive relations with the government, government, and popular media. In order to popular media, academia, and other outside draw this attention, it is inescapable that the sources. The practice has been intentionally Development Association must understand the packaged by the Workshop in order to establish expectations of these outside actors. Currently, a network with outside societies, and the the Association proclaims to outside society Workshop expects that this networking will that palakaw is only one part of Fataan’s Amis provide more powers to Fataan. Although culture, and that Kakidaan should be visited in Chang’s original expectation may have been for order to experience the “comprehensive and an increase in power and resources for the authentic” Amis culture. This declaration of Fataan community at large, the local Amis peo- “comprehensive and authentic” culture itself is ple claim that the power and resources garnered actually a form of cultural packaging, fitting seemed to provide only for the Workshop and with outside society’s expectations. Chang. As a local Amis told me, “All Chang In addition, while the Development cares about are politics and power, and he is not Association staff reprehend the Workshop’s use of a cultural restorer, because he just wants to use palakaw to “lure officials” to gain more power, palakaw to become a real politician, who can they also acknowledge that the Development

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Transformation of the Palakaw Fishing among the Amis of Faatan, Taiwan

Association needs more political power to pro- the fieldwork for your generous help and valuable mote Kakidaan and to benefit the Fataan commu- contributions to this research. And I thank Huai- nity. Apparently, the Development Association is Hsuan Chen, my wife, for always being the greatest also eager to gain approval and recognition from supporter for me. the state. The Development Association is evolving References in resistance to the Workshop, and its future Cronon, W. 1995. The Trouble with Wilderness; evolution remains uncertain. Nevertheless, it is or, Going Back to the Wrong Nature. Pp 69- clear that the Association is now trapped in the 90 in Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the predicament of balancing the extra- and intra- Human Place in Nature, W. Cronon, ed. W. local expectations on representing Amis tradi- W. Norton, New York. tional culture. In trying to avoid the route of Hu, Jhen-Ni and Shu-Bin Liu. 2003. Fataan Tribe. the Workshop and palakaw, they may actually Pp 170-173 in Richness of Travel in Taiwan – follow the same track. Hualien County, Yu-Jhen Li, ed. Outdoor Life Books, Taipei. Acknowledgements Huang, C. M. 2004. Visiting Fataan: An I thank the Tropical Resources Institute, Yale Intellectual Travel of Wetland Ecology. Keng School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and Sheng Daily News, June 28: 5. Yale Program in Agrarian Studies for supporting the Li, T. 2000. Articulating indigenous identity in summer fieldwork in Fataan. I thank Professor Indonesia: Resource politics and the tribal slot. Michael Dove and Dr. Carol Carpenter for giving me Comparative Studies in Society and History the insightful comments on the initial paper propos- 42(1): 149-179. al. I'm also very grateful to Andrea and Laura for your Smith, P. 2001. Cultural Theory: An Introduction. wonderful editing job. I thank all the people, especial- Blackwell Publishers Inc., Massachusetts. ly the informants in Fataan, who ever participated in

Tropical Resources Bulletin 99 Personal Reflections on the IUCN and World Conservation Congress

by Lauren Baker, MEM 2005

The TRI and IUCN partnership F&ES Associate Dean. The course examined top environmental issues through the lens of The past two years has seen a growing the IUCN in anticipation of the World partnership between the Yale School of Conservation Congress, a major international Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES) environmental conference hosted by the and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). IUCN. This course also provided the basis for The IUCN is a unique member organization a group of students to travel to the Congress in that includes 77 nations, 114 governmental Bangkok in November 2004. In order to pre- agencies, and over 800 non-governmental pare for this event, my classmates and I worked organizations (NGOs), as well as over 10,000 outside of class to develop a presentation on the experts that advise the union on its policies and issue of increasing opportunities for young programs. Efforts to strengthen ties between environmental professionals (18-35 years of these organizations were jumpstarted in the age), a topic that had been raised initially by spring of 2003, when Aban Kabraji, the IUCN F&ES students at the 2003 World Summit on Asia Regional Director, came to F&ES as the Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Dorothy McCluskey visiting lecturer. The part- South Africa. One half of our class wrote and nership was affirmed through the signing of a submitted a motion that promoted the “profes- memorandum of understanding in January sional and meaningful contribution of young 2004 and has subsequently given rise to a vari- people to conservation efforts at local, regional, ety of opportunities. As a student who has been and/or global levels,” to be voted on at the the beneficiary of this partnership in several Congress. The other half of the class wrote and aspects, I will reflect below both on my own distributed an online survey in English, experiences and on the role of the IUCN as an Spanish, and French to young environmental international conservation organization. professionals worldwide in order to assess which skills or experiences have been helpful Courses at F&ES for young professionals thus far in their careers As an initial step, a course titled “Current and to garner their thoughts on emergent envi- Issues in Conservation: Toward the World ronmental issues. Conservation Congress and Beyond” was taught in spring 2004 by Gordon Geballe, the IUCN internships A second major manifestation of the F&ES- IUCN partnerships has been through the facilita- Lauren Baker is from Orange County, California, tion of internships. This past year, I went to and she has a degree in Environmental Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Her pri- Thailand to work on a community-based water mary interest is in community-based projects that conservation and management project in the address long term sustainability of natural Mekong river basin, while another student went resource use, enhanced governance mechanisms, to work in the Sri Lanka regional office on a and environmental justice. medicinal plant conservation project.

100 Volume 24, Spring 2005 It is hoped that the partnership will bring MWBP; it was done in cooperation with a Thai mutual benefits to F&ES and IUCN. It has NGO and involved a high degree of participa- already provided unique and valuable opportuni- tion and an equal partner basis with local people ties for students to apply knowledge learned in during the planning and implementation phase. our classrooms and to network with environmen- I also attended the MWBP signing ceremony, tal professionals worldwide. Furthermore, the which officially initiated the project and was a IUCN is able to benefit from the influx of high- high profile event in which the government min- ly competent individuals bringing new thoughts istries from Thailand, Lao PDR, and Cambodia, and energy into the organization and its projects. as well as the heads of the UNDP (United The partnership also creates a vantage Nations Development Programme) and IUCN point for students to understand the role that Asia offices, were present. large international environmental organizations I found that the IUCN played an important play in conservation and development. There and unique role in this project. Using Thai Baan are, increasingly, questions and criticisms of participatory research as a foundation, they were larger environmental organizations and large able to work on the local scale in an engaged and international conferences. These organizations meaningful way that had strong promise in ben- have been criticized, notably by Mac Chapin in efiting the livelihoods of the locals involved. As his 2004 WorldWatch article, “A Challenge to Rattaphon Pitaktapsombut, the IUCN Sri Conservationists,” as failing to engage seriously Songkhram Project Manager reflected, with local people due to unequal power rela- this research is simple, is clear in itself: how livelihood links tionships, and for promoting preservationist with the social and natural…From the research made simple policies or projects that curtail the access rights we have a process for learning, and at the end of the research of resource users (ibid.). In addition, large glob- the people not only have the information but they also have learned how to work together and they know about the role of al conferences have been questioned with organization. The process is dynamic – it does not stop, it respect to their productivity or effectiveness, as keeps going, and in the future they have a plan. well as critiqued for being out of touch with on-the-ground realities since they often exclude As an international environmental institu- the participation of local ‘subjects’ of conserva- tion, the IUCN is also able to work on large-scale tion and development. My time as an intern projects, engaging the governments of multiple and as a participant in the World Conservation countries, a task that would be almost impossible Congress has allowed insight into the role of to achieve for smaller, national NGOs. Using a this particular international environmental mosaic of approaches and encouraging coopera- organization and event. tion is necessary to address complex environmen- Seeing multiple aspects of IUCN’s work in tal issues, and to my mind IUCN had the ability the Mekong river basin left me impressed with and promise to foster cooperation and effective the role the organization could play. My intern- work on multiple scales. ship was at the field/demonstration site in north- east Thailand with the US$30 million, four- The World Conservation Congress country Mekong Wetlands and Biodiversity Programme (MWBP). I observed and wrote The global Congress was also a thought- reflections and analyses of the Thai Baan provoking experience, although I had mixed Research approach, which was carried out by vil- feelings about its output and value. The event lage members in four villages. This participatory was both a forum that featured plenary sessions research project had been operating for a year and workshops on an enormous variety of topics and was part of the preparatory phase of the and, during its second half, a business meeting

Tropical Resources Bulletin 101 Lauren Baker during which IUCN member organizations of which tended to be very small (15-20 people voted on sponsored motions and on the new on average in the ones that I attended). People, I IUCN leadership. There were 5,000 participants sense, tended to go to the workshops about issues from around the world in attendance; the Yale in which they were already involved, knowledge- delegation, with 23 people, was one of the larger able, or interested; while this may have led to new delegations from a single organization. connections between people already working on The conference functions, in part, to pub- similar issues, the format did not encourage peo- licly and symbolically display the growing ple to learn about and embrace new ideas or power of the environmental movement on a approaches. global scale. The opening ceremony, which fea- The submitted motions, such as our own tured royalty such as the Queen of Thailand, addressing young professionals, were another the Princess of Japan, and the former prime way that IUCN members could expand their minister of Thailand, highlighted the promi- vision of environmental issues and approaches. nence of environmental awareness and concern Motions highlighted new areas or issues of con- among high-level government officials. cern to be noticed and voted upon by all of the Keynote speakers during plenary sessions – who IUCN members. Their wording and intent was included Nelson Mandela and Wangari hammered out in contact groups for two days Maathai by video message, and other powerful prior to the voting, and once on the floor for figures like Jeffrey Sachs – demonstrated that general voting virtually all of the motions were the Congress warranted the attention of the passed. This seemed to be a productive way to most influential people in our field. It also pro- push the agenda forward – 80 resolutions and vided a sense of coming together as a global 38 recommendations were adopted, and will be environmental community – and it seemed like followed up upon by the IUCN. the IUCN Congress was in a special position to Was the WCC inclusive? Without having do this, since it is an organization with mem- done any systematic observation, I would say bers that include governments, academia, and that there seemed to be some groups of people non-governmental organizations worldwide. less represented at the Congress, presumably Further, the IUCN Congress is broad in scope, because the expense of travel limited who could rather than built around one particular issue attend. Many organizations could send only a like most international conferences. few representatives and often these were the Was the WCC “productive”? There cer- more experienced or senior people, with tainly seemed to be new connections forged, to younger people less represented. Small-budget an extent, within existing circles of interest and NGOs were undoubtedly less represented; work, but there seemed to be less meaningful some representatives of smaller, developing engagement between different focal areas. One of country-based NGOs were present but they the themes stressed at the Congress was the need were certainly in a minority. Furthermore, for multiple approaches and cooperation with English was the major language of the confer- new partners, including, in particular, the impor- ence, both formally and informally. Although tance of working with the private sector more plenary sessions and some of the larger work- than we have in the past. Despite this encourage- shops had headphones with translation, lan- ment for cooperation and new partnerships, the guage barriers limited meaningful participation Congress seemed to maintain a sense of segmen- by all people. tation, perhaps partly because of its size. There International environmental institutions were, for example, approximately 250 sponsored are fallible, and global conferences are not with- workshops offered during the 3-day forum, each out limitations. That said, I come away from

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Personal Reflections on the IUCN and World Conservation Congress my coursework, internship, and conference the summer project. Rattaphon Pitaktapsombut, participation impressed, on the whole, with the IUCN Sri Songkhram organizer, was incredibly both the IUCN and the World Conservation helpful and supportive. Thanks to Gordon Geballe Congress. I am delighted that I have been able for teaching the course on the IUCN and securing to benefit personally and professionally through funding for our trip to the World Conservation my interactions with and insights about the Congress, and to Rafael Bernardi, Ines Angulo, and IUCN, and I hope that this burgeoning part- Ellen Brown for the many hours of work on our nership will continue to benefit the next gener- young professionals survey and workshop prepara- ation of F&ES students. tions. And finally, big thanks to Amity Doolittle, for playing a large role in facilitating internships with Acknowledgements the IUCN, and for being our ringleader in the I would like to acknowledge the F&ES Career World Conservation Congress trip. Development Office for funding my internship with the IUCN, as well as Sajid Ali, Maria Osbeck and References Richard Friend of the IUCN Bangkok and Vientiane Chapin, M. 2004. A challenge to conservationists. offices for help with logistics and my thinking about WorldWatch Nov/Dec: 17-31.

Alfred Russel Wallace. 1869. The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, with Studies on Man and Nature. Harper and Brothers, New York.

Tropical Resources Bulletin 103 Announcing the 2005-2006 Fellows

Once again TRI Fellows have an exciting line up of research projects around the world. TRI Endowed Fellowships are designed to support Master’s and Doctoral students interested in con- ducting independent research in tropical countries. This year twenty-four Master’s and two Ph.D. students received TRI Fellowships for summer research. The 2005 recipients and the countries where they plan to conduct research are: Jessica Albietz, Madagascar; Rebecca Ashley, Ghana; Imelda Bacudo, Peru; Dan Braden, Panama; Janette Bulkan, Guyana; David Butman, Indonesia; Dylan Craven, Panama; Rishiraj Das, India; Radhika Dave, Madagascar; Wendy Francesconi, Costa Rica; Oscar Franco, Peru; Jesse Grossman, Indonesia; Emily Hicks, Loas PDR; Taek Joo Kim, Panama; Linda Kramme, Indonesia; Hugo Lam, Panama; Michael Lichtenfeld, Indonesia; Ikuko Matsumoto, Philippines; Kevin Ogorzalek, Australia; Krupa Patel, South Africa; Sarah Price, Guyana; Catherine Schloegel, Ecuador; Alexander Shenkin, Guinea; Kristen Welsh, Costa Rica; Larissa Yakom, Panama.

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), for the fourth year will sponsor a Master’s stu- dent interest in pursuing research on the interface of agroforestry and conservation. This year’s receipt of this award is Caroline Simmons who will research the effects of road construction on agricultural and forest resources in two rural villages in Malawi.

The Compton Foundation’s Program aims to contribute to the capacity-building of young professionals from Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa, to improve policies and program relating to peace, population, sustainable development and the environment. This year’s recipi- ents are and their home countries are: Godfred Ohene-Gyan from Kenya, Oliver Enuoh from Nigeria, and Rugemeleza Nsala from Tanzania.

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