Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
In terms of conservation science, there is still a huge gap in methodology and
approach between those who use sophisticated science to manage commercially
important resources (fisheries, timber and game) and those who conserve endan-
gered species. This gap must be bridged, for the sake of both sides. In fisheries
science, decision analysis based on Bayesian modelling, and leading into
adaptive
resource management
with stakeholder participation, is becoming standard best
practice. But this approach needs to be translated into appropriate tools for con-
servation management, where both technical and financial capacity are much
lower. In some systems, such as waterfowl conservation in the USA (Box 7.8), this
is beginning to happen. Natural resource managers, in their turn, could benefit
from the expertise that many conservation scientists have in building socially sus-
tainable systems from the bottom-up, with the support of resource users and the
public at large.
Development approaches were at first applied to conservation problems in a
rather unsubtle way, such that conservation aims were sometimes forgotten.
However, a new generation of conservation and development projects is emerging,
like COMACO (Box 6.10) or Maluane (Box 6.8), in which
economically suc-
cessful enterprises
are being set up explicitly to support both conservation and
development goals. It is notable that although both these examples are recently set
up, they build on many years of research and consensus-building.
An emerging theme is the importance of ensuring that natural resource conser-
vation is not seen in isolation from other sectors of the economy, but as a key part of
developing a country's social and financial wealth. This emphasis on getting the
institutional
framework right is vital for ensuring long-term sustainability. It also
means that small-scale, short-term conservation projects will be increasingly out of
favour with donors and governments. There is a recognition that in order to future-
proof conservation strategies in the face of increasing pressures, such as climate
change, growing and shifting human populations and invasive species, conserva-
tion needs to be integrated within a country's
landscape planning
(Box 7.9). This
is surely right—but we mustn't forget that small-scale projects, with passionate lead-
ers and running on a tiny budget, have always been an incredibly effective way to
galvanise action to conserve species or areas that people care about. The challenge is
to find a way to support these interventions within a coherent broader framework.
There is one area which we feel is widely neglected in conservation, develop-
ment and natural resource management, but is particularly crucial for the conser-
vation of exploited species—gaining an understanding of an individual's
incentives to act in a particular way towards natural resources. In natural resource
management, the emphasis is almost entirely on the manager's best policy for opti-
mising management outcomes. In conservation and development, there is a ten-
dency to talk about 'the community' as if it is a homogeneous group of people.
However, the person who decides to harvest, trade or use a particular plant or ani-
mal is an individual whose incentives are shaped by the social and physical world
around them. Similarly, the individual who decides actively to protect an area or
