CONFLICT IN PROTECTED AREAS: W H O S A Y S C O - M A N A G E M E N T D O E S N O T W O R K ? K O B E D E P O U R C Q Conflict in Protected Areas: Who Says Co-Management Does Not Work? Kobe De Pourcq Promotors: Prof. dr. Herwig Reynaert, Department of Political Sciences, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium Prof. dr. ir. Patrick Van Damme, Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agronomy and Ethnobotany, Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium Prof. dr. Bas Arts, Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands Prof. dr. Tomás León-Sicard, Instituto de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá D.C., Colombia Faculty of Political and Social Sciences Dean: Prof. dr. Herwig Reynaert Rector: Prof. dr. Rik Van de Walle Kobe De Pourcq Conflict in Protected Areas: Who Says Co-Management Does Not Work? Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor (PhD) in Political Sciences This work should be cited as: De Pourcq, K. 2018. Conflict in Protected Areas: Who Says Co-Management Does Not Work? PhD thesis, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. 193 pp. Copyright: The author and the promoters give the authorization to consult and to copy parts of this work for personal use only. Every other use is subject to the copyright laws. Permission to reproduce any material contained in this work should be obtained from the author. ISBN- number: Cover illustration: Front page: Kogui indigenous person in Tayrona NPA Back page: Top left: Afro-Colombian fisher in Bahia Malaga NPA Top middle: Embera indigenous people in Utria NPA Top right: Afro-Colombian people’s houses in Bahia Malaga NPA Bottom: fishermen in Flamencos NPA Members of the Jury Prof. dr. Koenraad De Ceuninck (Chairman), Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium, [email protected] Prof. dr. Bas Arts (co-promotor), Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, [email protected] Prof. dr. Tomás Enrique León-Sicard (local supervisor), Instituto de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, [email protected] Prof. dr. ir. Robert De Wulf, Laboratory of Forest Management and Spatial Information Techniques, Department of Forest and Water Management, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium, [email protected] Dr. ir. Wouter Vanhove, Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Ethnobotany, Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium, [email protected] Prof. dr. ir. Patrick Van Damme (co-promotor), Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Ethnobotany, Department of Plant Production Faculty of Bioscience engineering, Ghent University, Belgium, [email protected] i Prof. dr. Herwig Reynaert (promotor), Department of Political Sciences, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium, [email protected] ii Acknowledgements This research was financed by a grant from the Flemish Inter-University Council (VLIR- UOS) to Kobe De Pourcq. Supplementary funding was provided by the CGIAR research program on Forests, Trees, Agroforesty and Conservation International, Colombian headquarter. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors Prof. dr. ir. Patrick Van Damme, Prof. dr. Bas Arts and Prof. dr. Tomás León-Sicard for the help and guidance they gave me during this five-year academic trip. Patrick Van Damme gave me the freedom and time to explore Colombia and the study areas at my own pace. I am very thankful he did not push me in any direction with respect to study area, timeframe or methodology. He was always there when I needed advice or a second opinion. Tomás León-Sicard from the National Colombian University was my local advisor. He helped me to obtain the necessary permissions for undertaking this research, such as permits for reviewing all park-people reports, agreements and correspondences as well as for obtaining the authorisation to do field research within Colombia’s national parks. Tomás also assisted in getting me in touch with instrumental contacts. Bas Arts gave me clear conceptual directions when and where it was needed. I also enjoyed his visits to Colombia during which he joined me in the field and provided insight on the direction of this project. A special thanks goes to Prof. dr. Herwig Reynaert. At the end of this project I needed a new administrative promotor. I deeply appreciate Herwig’s willingness to be responsible for that job. i I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to dr. ir. Evert Tomas, friend and companion de route. He provided me with support, guidance, advice and a great deal of knowledge. Without Evert, this thesis would lack many of the strengths it now possesses. He is one of the greatest scientists I know and was with me through the ups and downs of this project. I am indebted to all the additional institutions and people who have contributed to the success of this research. I particularly want to thank the Colombian National Protected Areas’ administrative staff and all local respondents who participated in this research. I am also grateful to my sister, Soetkin De Pourcq, and my friend, Asher Lederman, for help in editing. To Nele, my wife, how can I ever express my gratitude? Together we moved to rural Colombia, built a new home, had two children, maintained an eco-farm and started a hostel. Nele joined me for so many trips, from the northern deserts, over the Andean mountains to the wet Pacific beaches; waiting in a hammock, chatting with local people or reading a book while I was doing interviews or observations in the field. Her energy, love, support and encouragement were unwavering. Last, I want to express my appreciation to my parents for both the financial and emotional investments they made during my many years of study. They gave me the chance to explore the world and follow my heart. Kobe De Pourcq Paso del Mango, Colombia, January 2018 ii Summary Conflicts between local communities and park administrations can be extremely damaging both for local people’s livelihoods and the natural environment. There is an urgent need to better understand these conflicts and their causes, and also to define the most appropriate ways to constructively address them. There exists vast literature about co-management, which basically means that public and/or private stakeholders share management and responsibility over natural resources, but to date there is no consensus on its possible role in conflict prevention. The aim of this thesis is to address this knowledge gap by focusing on park-people conflicts and co-management in the complex case of Colombia′s National Protected Areas (NPAs). More specifically, this research project addresses the following research questions (RQ): RQ1. What specific park-people conflicts exist within Colombia’s NPAs? RQ2. What are the causal factors that underlie or trigger these park-people conflict manifestations? RQ3. Does socio-economic diversity, as expressed by gender, ethnicity, age and/or income level, play a role in who experiences park-people conflicts and if so, why? RQ4. What is the possible role of co-management in mitigating these conflicts? Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses are used to address the research questions. Overall, we had 601 in-depth interviews with people living within or very near 15 i Colombian NPAs. A further 76 in-depth interviews were conducted with administrative officials and representatives from conservation organisations working in these areas, predominantly park officials. Below is our Impairment Framework reporting the main impairment or conflict categories and their principal sources (Figure 1). Figure 1. Impairment framework (based on Yasmi et al., 2006) Black lines denote the most significant relations between source and impairment or conflict. The most important result of this research thesis is that co-management of NPAs can be successful in reducing conflict at a grassroots level, as long as some critical enabling conditions, such as trust and effective participation, are realised not only on paper, but also in practice (see Figure 2). This finding contradicts the increasingly widespread idea that co-management is not effective. Critics of co-management generally favour classic approaches to nature protection, like the Yellowstone model, which entails strict control of national parks and excludes local people. ii Figure 2. Co-management framework. The relationship between local people′s experienced conflict and the number of fulfilled co-management conditions. Our results do not show that co-management is the silver bullet solution for resolving long-lasting park-people conflicts in Colombia. Rather, working towards effective resolution of park-people conflicts requires interventions at multiple levels. In 2017, Latin America’s longest-lasting armed conflict was terminated as a Peace Agreement was signed between the Colombian Government and the biggest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Within Colombia’s post conflict agenda, we suggest five priority areas of action. First, the Colombian environmental legislative body needs to be reformed. In this respect, NPA management in Colombia should move from top-down governance models towards iii co-governance schemes. A second priority area of action is to empower central and local NPA administrations. Environmental regulations should not only be decreed, they must also be put into practice. This requires a strong and well-trained NPA administration. Failing to comply with laws and agreements on account of the park administration is a crucial part of the paper parks phenomenon in Colombia. These areas have been declared as being protected by the government but whose status was never fully implemented, leading to discontent among park residents. Third, in order to avoid and mitigate park-people conflicts, safety in park environments should be prioritized.