Understanding and Influencing Behaviors in Conservation Natural Resources Management Understanding and Influencing Behaviors in Conservation and Natural Resources Management WWF Biodiversity Support Program c/o World Wildlife Fund 1250 24th Street, NW • Washington, DC 20037 phone 202-293-4800 • fax 202-293-9211 Br uce Bruce A. Byers 1-887531-23-8 A. By Biodiversity Support Program Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development A USAID-funded consortium of the World Wildlife Fund, er s The Nature Conservancy, and the World Resources Institute Understanding and Influencing Behaviors in Conservation and Natural Resources Management Bruce A. Byers African Biodiversity Series, No. 4 Biodiversity Support Program A USAID-funded consortium of World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and World Resources Institute Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….viii Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………….x Preface……………………………………………………………………………………xi Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………xiii I. Introduction………………………………………………………………………1 Background………………………………………………………………………..1 Why Emphasize Behavior?…………………………………………………….….1 Why Do Social Assessment and Research?……………………………………….3 Why Emphasize Participation?……………………………………………………4 Values, Conservation, and Sustainability…………………………………………5 II. The Process of Understanding and Influencing Behavior…………………...11 Background…………………..…………………………………………………..11 Models of the Process……………………………………………………………13 A Synthetic Model……………………………………………………………….17 A Hierarchy of Means and Ends…………………………………………19 Stages of the Process……………………………………………………..20 III. Understanding Behaviors: Assessment and Research…………………….….23 Background………………………………………………………………………23 Assessing the Situation…...……………………………………………………...24 Identifying Critical Behaviors……………………………………………………25 "Good" and "Bad" Behaviors?…………………………………………...26 Why Focus on Critical Behaviors?………………………………………27 Focusing on Specific Behaviors………………………………………….29 Emphasizing the Positive………………………………………………...29 Behavioral Flexibility……………………………………………………30 Understanding the Key Factors That Influence Behaviors………………………32 Potentially Important Factors…………………………………………….32 Perceived Benefits and Barriers………………………………………….34 Causal Webs or Wiring Diagrams……………………………………….41 iii IV. Methods and Tools for Social Assessment and Research………...…………..43 Background………………………………………………………………………43 Methods and Tools………………………………………………………………44 Literature Review………………………………………………………...44 Surveys and Questionnaires……………………………………………...45 Direct Behavioral Observation……………………………………….….48 Interviews………………………………………………………………...49 Focus Groups…………………………………………………………….50 Community Meetings…………………………………………………….51 Maps and Transects………………………………………………………52 Calendars…………………………………………………………………52 Matrices and Contrastive Analysis………………………………………52 Matrices of Historical Trends……………………………………………53 Venn Diagrams…………………………………………………………..55 Wealth Ranking………………………………………………………….55 Prioritizing Techniques…………………………………………………..55 Decision Trees and Flow Diagrams…………………………………...…55 Methodologies……………………………………………………………………55 Rapid Rural Appraisal……………………………………………………55 Participatory Rural Appraisal……………………………………………57 Participatory Research…………………………………………………...59 Participatory Planning……………………………………………………59 V. Toward A Synthesis of Process and Methods for Understanding Conservation Behaviors………………………………………………………...63 Background………………………………………………………………………63 Tools for Assessing the Situation………………………………………………..63 Who and What?………………………………………………………….64 Where?…………………………………………………………………...67 When?……………………………………………………………………68 Trends?…………………………………………………………………..70 Tools for Identifying Critical Behaviors…………………………………………71 Focus on Specific Behaviors……………………………………………..72 Prioritize Based on the Impact of Behaviors on Sustainability………….74 Understand the Feasibility of Influencing Relevant Behaviors……..…...74 Tools for Understanding the Key Factors That Influence Behaviors……………77 Potentially Important Factors……………………………………………77 Perceived Benefits and Barriers………………………………………….77 Causal Webs or Wiring Diagrams……………………………………….80 iv VI. Promoting Sustainable Behaviors: Planning and Implementation………….83 Background………………………………………………………………………83 Influencing Values, Knowledge, and Social Norms……………………………..85 The Limits of "Information-Only" Environmental Education………...…85 Modern Environmental Education and Communication………………...86 Environmental Social Marketing………………………………………...88 Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Approaches…………………….89 Influencing Sociocultural Factors………………………………………………..90 Influencing Options and Skills…………………………………………………...91 Options and Alternatives……………………………………………...…91 Skills……………………………………………………………………..93 Influencing Economic Factors…………………………………………………...93 Influencing Laws and Policies…………………………………………………...96 Resolving Disputes………………………………………………………………97 VII. Evaluating and Improving the Process of Understanding and Influencing Behavior…………………………………...101 Background……………………………………………………………………..101 Using Evaluation Throughout the Process……………………………………..102 Evaluation and Participation……………………………………………………104 Evaluation and Hypothesis-Testing…………………………………………….105 VIII. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..107 Recommended Reading……………………………………………………………….111 References………...……………………………………………………………………116 v Tables 1. Values and Uses of Biodiversity and Natural Resources…………………….………..6 2. Major Actors or Stakeholders in the Ranomafana National Park Area, Madagascar………………………………………………………………64 Figures 1. The Behavioral Interface between Ecological and Social Systems…………………...2 2. Cyclical Model of the Process of Understanding and Influencing Behavior.………..13 3. Hierarchical Model of the Process of Understanding and Influencing Behavior……16 4. Synthetic Model That Combines a Conceptual Hierarchy of Means and Ends with A Process for Assessing, Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Activities……...18 5. Steps of the Assessment and Research Stage of a Process for Understanding Conservation Behaviors……………………………………………………………...24 6. Behavioral Flexibility for Coping with Social and Ecological Crises in a Senegalese Village…………………………………………………………………...31 7. Diagram of Social System Components and Their Environmental Linkages……….41 8. Resources Map from a Household in Nepal…………………………………………53 9. Matrices of Historical Trends in Natural Resources and Land Use………………….54 10. Natural Resources Management Activities by Gender, Okambuga, Namibia……….65 11. Matrix of User Groups and Natural Resource Uses, Koundou Watershed, Fouta Djallon, Guinea………………………………………………………………..66 12. Resources Map from Zambrana, Dominican Republic, Showing Control, Responsibility, and Labor by Gender………………………………………………..67 13. Transect from Kiboum, Cameroon, Showing Natural Resources and Land Uses…...68 14. A Seasonal Calendar from Mbusyani, Kenya………………………………………..69 15. Historical Trends in Natural Resources and Land Use from Okambuga Village, Namibia………………………………………………………...70 16. Historical Matrix of Resources and Land Use from Ndam Mor Fademba, Senegal………………………………………………………………71 17. Uses and Importance of Trees in Omuthiya Village, Namibia………………………73 18. Pairwise Ranking Matrix of Behavioral Threats to Sustainability in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar…………………………………………….75 19. Resource Management Decision Matrix from Ndam Mor Fademba, Senegal………76 20. Decision Tree for Identifying Factors That Influence Behaviors and Selecting Strategies to Affect Those Factors…………………………………………………...78 21. Quantitative Matrix of Costs and Benefits of Income-Generating Activities in Godavellagudda Village, India…………………………………………79 22. Venn Diagram Showing Village Social Institutions and Their Relationship to Institutions at Larger Scales from Ndam Mor Fademba, Senegal…………………...81 23. Matrix of Natural Resources Conflicts form Senegal………………………………..98 vi Boxes 1. Conservation and Development in Madagascar: A Generalized Vignette…………..12 2. Conserving Seabirds in Quebec……………………………………………………...14 3. Conserving the Golden Lion Tamarin in Brazil……………………………………..15 4. World Bank Social Assessments…………………………………………………….33 5. Understanding Behaviors: Examples form the Health Sector……………………….35 6. Benefits and Barriers in Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE Program………………………...40 7. Examples of Survey Questions………………………………………………………46 8. Tanzania National Parks/African Wildlife Foundation Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Survey……………………………………………………..47 9. Observing and Understanding Ngoni Hunting………………………………………49 10. Community Extension and Outreach in the Tanzania National Parks……………….51 11. Adapting Participatory Rural Appraisal for Integrated Conservation and Development Projects in Madagascar………………………………………………..58 12. Participatory Park Planning in Tanzania……………………………………………..61 13. Comparing Doers and Nondoers to Understand Perceived Benefits and Barriers: An Example from the Health Sector…………………………………………………79 14. The USAID Environmental Education and Communication (GreenCOM) Project…87 15. Cheetah Conservation in Namibia…………………………………………………...92 16. The Biodiversity Conservation Network: An Enterprise-Oriented Approach to Community-Based Conservation in the Asia-Pacific Region………………………..94 vii Tables 1. Values and Uses of Biodiversity and Natural Resources.................................6 2. Major Actors or Stakeholders in the Ranomafana National Park Area, Madagascar............................................................................................64 Figures 1. The Behavioral Interface between Ecological and Social Systems..........................................2