The UNDP Equator Initiative Project January 2007

The UNDP Equator Initiative Project January 2007

Final Report to IDRC COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION: The UNDP Equator Initiative Project January 2007 Principal Authors Fikret Berkes, University of Manitoba lain Davidson-Hunt, University of Manitoba Cristiana Simao Seixas, State University at Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil Brian Davy, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Researchers and Co-Authors Tikaram Adhikari Damian Fernandes Jessica Herrera Arthur Hoole Stephane Maurice Dean Medeiros Alejandra Orozco Lance Robinson Jason Senyk Shailesh Shukia Other Co-Authors and Contributors (to be determined) TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction (team) 1. The conservation - development problematique (Berkes) 2. The IJNDP Equator Initiative and background to the cases (team) 3. Organizing processes in conservation-development initiatives (Seixas/Davy) 4. Cross-scale institutional linkages between the community and other groups and agencies (Berkes) 5. Capacity development as learning to learn and learning to do (Seixas/Davy/Davidson-Hunt) 6. Community Enterprises: Conserving Biodiversity through Reducing Poverty? (Davidson-Hunt) 7. Synthesis and conclusions (team) Appendices A. Case Study and Synthesis Reports Completed and in Progress B. Authors, Researchers and Other Project Contributors and Participants C. Background: The International Development Research Centre D. Background: The Centre for Community-Based Resource Management 2 Note: we will need a relatively short Introduction chapter that lays the gound - F Introduction Draft: based on 10 May 2006 book description Objective of the Book The book explores how conservation and development can be reconciled. It is based on ten cases from the IJNDP Equator Initiative project that were studied in the field; review and synthesis of additional Equator Initiative cases; and other integrated conservation and development projects (ICDP), in particular community-based coastal resource management cases supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The hypothesis of the book is that community-based conservation is feasible and workable, with sufficient attention to issues concerning self-organization; cross-scale institutional linkages; capacity development and learning; and conservation-development through community enterprises. Each of these areas makes one section of the book. The development of the book is supported by the IDRC, Ottawa, and the Centre for Community-Based Resource Management at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. Background: The UNDP Equator Initiative The UNDP Equator Initiative seeks to address biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation simultaneously. It was designed to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the equatorial belt of the world by supporting and strengthening community partnerships (http://www.undp.org/eguatorinitiative). The Equator Initiative itself is a partnership that brings together the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a number of international and national agencies concerned with conservation and development. At the heart of the El programme is the observation that the world's greatest concentration of biodiversity is found in the tropics, mainly in countries with rural areas of acute poverty. Livelihood needs of these people create a threat for biodiversity conservation. However, many "experiments" are underway using biological resources in creative ways for food, medicine, shelter and improved livelihoods while conserving them. The Equator Initiative strives to identify these experiments, reward them, and learn from them. They are identified through nominations for the Equator Prize, and rewarded through competitions held in 2002, 2004 and 2006. 3 The Equator Initiative seeks lessons from the list of Equator Prize winners and nominees, to inform policy and development priorities. Over 400 projects were nominated for each of the 2002 and 2004 Equator Prize competitions. The diverse experiences of Equator Prize nominees provide a rich source of information that may be used to understand the factors leading to successful initiatives. Given that successes are few among conservation and development projects, Equator Initiative cases offer a particularly promising set of data to explore conditions of success. Target Audience for the Book The target audience are professionals and researchers interested in the divide between conservation and development, and in bridging that divide. They include development professionals, conservation professionals, and NGO professionals. Development practitioners are beginning to appreciate the importance of resource sustainability and environmental considerations. Conservation practitioners are finding out that many of the conventional approaches to conservation are not working, and they are beginning to appreciate the importance of communities and institutions. The Convention on Biological Diversity highlights the need to address social issues and equity while planning conservation. Using cases from the Equator Initiative and other appropriate examples, the book is practice- based. However, it will also include the necessary theory to make sense of these cases. In striving to maintain a balance between theory and practice, the book will be of interest to practitioners as well as to researchers. By having principal authors and co-authors from various parts of the world, the book will also attempt to balance developing country and developed county perspectives. Parts of the book will analyze similarities and differences between developing countries and developed counties, focusing on centralizationldecentralizations issues, and on interactions between various levels of governance, from the local to the international. Plan of Meetings and Activities The process to develop the book will consist of a series of meetings and activities: 1. November 2005 conference call (Berkes, Davidson-Hunt, Seixas, and Davy) to consolidate book organization and plans; 2. Winter/Spring 2006 preparation of chapter outlines and preliminary drafts; 3. March 31 — April 1, 2006 co-authors meeting, Winnipeg, to review and develop section outlines and to discuss co-authorship; 4. Writing of section drafts and submission of Draft 1, end of August 2006; 5. Meeting to review progress and plans for revisions, end of October 2006 (Berkes, Davidson-Hunt, Seixas, and Davy); 6. Fall/winter 2006/07, writing and revising; 7. April 2007, completion and submission of revised drafts; 8. July 2007, key authors and reviewers meeting, Winnipeg, to agree on revisions and additions, and to finalize the content of draft chapters; 4 9. August 2007, editing and finalizing edited draft (Berkes, Davidson-Hunt, Seixas, and Davy); 10. September 2007, meeting to review progress and the next steps (Berkes, Davidson-Hunt, Seixas, and Davy); 11. October 2007, final revisions and editing, fine-tuning the revised draft; and 12. November 2007, manuscript sent to publisher, presently targeting Earthscan. 5 September '06 Conf call notes: enter comments from: Hoole, Merino, Zimmerman, Stone, V. Timmer, D. Timmer. These changes will be completed before the October meeting. They will be done later, along with other necessary changes that may come up. Fikret in charge. Section 1. The Conservation-Development Problem atique Prepared by: Fikret Berkes Draft: 3 May, 2006 Co-authors and contributing authors: Brian Davy, Elspeth Halverson, Art Hoole, Leticia Merino, Vanessa Timmer, others to be determined Outline 1. Introduction 2. The changing context of conservation-development: paradigm shifts 2.1 "New ecology" for conservation-development 2.2 Importance of deliberative processes 3. Establishing a common language and concepts 3.1 Role of humans in the ecosystem: escaping people/nature duality 3.2 Relationships between communities and conservation 3.3 Using lessons learned from commons research 3.4 Developing guidelines based on commons principles 4. Complexity and integrated conservation-development 4.1 Dealing with multiple objectives 4.2 Developing a complexity approach 5. The global change perspective 1. Introduction Ecosystems provide the basis for all human needs, such as food, air and water. But the rural people of developing countries have a special relationship with their ecosystems that is the basis of rural livelihoods. Given the well documented declines in ecosystem services and biodiversity, there is a compelling case for preservation. But at the same time, there is a strong case for sustainable use of biodiversity for livelihoods, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of the resources and services provided by ecosystems. It is not by accident that the Convention on Biological Diversity brings these three points (biodiversity conservation, sustainable use, and fairness/equity) together (CBD 2006). Biodiversity conservation and livelihood needs have often been portrayed as opposing goals but they need not be (Western and Wright 1994; Brechin et al. 2003; Borgerhoff Mulder and Coppolillo 2005). Finding synergistic solutions has been on national and international 6 agendas for decades, in the hopes that poverty reduction through development can be reconciled with biodiversity conservation (Timmer and Juma 2005). The purpose of this introductory chapter is to set the stage for a discussion of how this book contributes to our understanding of a reconciliation of conservation and development goals. The broader issue is the maintenance of sustainability in the context of large-scale social and environmental change and

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