Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the effect of different methods and qualities of data collection and analysis on
results. In conservation, this is a particular issue, because people are intervening in
a messy world, rather than carrying out scientific experiments, so they have less
incentive to publish their results, they have varying objectives, and may not all be
explicitly measuring the same effects.
Despite the examples in Box 4.6, there is still a long way to go before it is possi-
ble to carry out systematic tests of the relative effectiveness of different conserva-
tion strategies in achieving prespecified goals. Brooks
et al
. (2006) attempted this
and concluded that the quality of reporting precludes full quantitative analysis—
80% of their sample of 124 projects were excluded because the data were inade-
quate for hypothesis-testing. We come back to the issue of inadequate monitoring
of conservation outcomes in Chapter 7.
Box 4.6
Studies of factors predisposing use towards sustainability.
If use is to continue indefinitely, there is a plethora of biological, social, economic
and institutional factors that need to be in place. As Table 4.1 showed, it is impos-
sible to choose one variable to measure that can act as a proxy for all aspects of sus-
tainability. A few studies have compared sustainable use projects, trying to tease
out the factors contributing to success or failure (e.g. Salafsky
et al
. 1993;
Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen 1996). Results are often inconclusive because
data often cover periods of less than 5 years and many projects are inadequately
monitored. The most rigorous study so far is by Salafsky
et al
. (2001). They were
looking at use of natural resources in the broad sense (not just hunting but also
enterprises such as ecotourism, fruit collection and testing for pharmaceuticals),
and at projects that were explicitly community-based. They defined success using
an index of the degree to which threats had been reduced (Salafsky and Margoluis
1999), which is indirectly related to sustainability. Their results, based on a sta-
tistical analysis of 39 projects, suggested a guide to whether a community-based
conservation project based on natural resource use is likely to succeed (see the
table below).
Incentive-driven conservation, as examined by Salafsky
et al
. (2001), is not the
same as sustainable use; rather it is a conservation philosophy that aims to involve
local people in conservation by making it economically worthwhile for them.
Sustainable use, on the other hand, can come from any kind of intervention, not
just setting up a project designed to make nature pay, and may or may not be com-
munity-based (Hutton and Leader-Williams 2003). However, the table gives a
flavour of the broad range of issues that need to be considered when deciding
whether use is likely to be sustainable. It is interesting to note that biological fac-
tors come in only in an indirect way (biological productivity is one determinant
of profitability, for example). Instead, factors such as the robustness of social
structure and potential for rapid tangible benefits are highlighted.
