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Co-management of natural resources - two publications (24/02/05)

Good morning CEPA people:

Here are two publications for those of you interested in the involvement of indigenous and local people in co-management of natural resources. There's quite a bit of overlap between the two - both in terms of authorship (two of the authors are common to both texts) and the case studies from which form the basis of both texts. But they are intended to be used in very different ways. The first is a set of guidelines for people working in protected areas while the second is not so restricted and is much broader ranging covering co-management practices in a variety of socio-economic settings. The latter is built upon the lessons learned from an incredible number of case studies and is certainly not intended to be read cover-to-cover (it's 456 pages long!), rather it's something you delve into from time to time for consultation and inspiration.

1. "Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas Guidelines" by Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Ashish Kothari and Gonzalo Oviedo forms part of the Best Practice Protected Area Series published by IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas. The guidelines are aimed at staff of protected area agencies at all levels, whether working at national or site level; staff of conservation or development NGOs, whether working at international, national or site levels; community leaders; local conservation committees; policy makers and legislators who shape the framework for protected areas. It's not intended to provide ready-made solutions but offers instead a menu of options for action which can be reviewed by the concerned actors and then adapted to their own circumstances.

The structure of these Guide lines is as follows:

Chapters 1 and 2 summarise the background necessary to understand the evolving relationship between communities and protected areas.

Chapter 3 assists the reader to carry out a very brief "situation analysis" and identify, among the chapters that follow, those most likely to respond to their concerns and expected professional tasks. Table 3.1 usefully acts as "signpost" to help readers find the parts of the text most relevant to them.

Chapter 4 deals with Co-managed Protected Areas. These are protected areas established by or with the approval of governments and subjected to co-management regimes involving indigenous peoples and local and mobile communities. The chapter offers four sets of 'options for action' to improve both equity and conservation in official protected areas.

Chapter 5 describes the concept and practice of Community Conserved Areas. It illustrates characteristics and common features of protected environments and resources established and managed by indigenous peoples and local and mobile communities. The chapter offers five sets of 'options for action' by which Community Conserved Areas can be "recognised" and supported towards enhanced equity and conservation.

Chapter 6 speaks to professionals working at national and international levels and is concerned with the overall policy context for protected areas. It offers four broad sets of 'policy options', coherent with and supportive of the 'options for action' described in Chapters 4 and 5 and allowing the full contributions of indigenous and local communities to unfold.

This publication can be downloaded as a PDF file (2.3MB) here: http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/pubs/pdfs/guidelinesindigenouspeople.pdf

2. "Sharing Power: Learning by doing in Co-Management of Natural Resources throughout the World", by Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, Michel Pimbert, M. Taghi Farvar, Ashish Kothari and Yves Renard is designed to support professionals and others attempting to understand collaborative management regimes and interested in supporting them in policy and developing them in practice.

In Part I the authors use case study material to explore natural resource management in traditional and "modern" societies and looks at a broad range of contemporary forms of co-management in different places and cultures, using examples, both successes and failures, from pastoral societies, forest resources, fisheries and coastal resources, mountain environments, management of wildlife and protected areas, agriculture, agricultural research, and water management.

Part II explores where and when the co-management process should start, and offers a variety of methods, tools, and checklists. In Part III the forms and functioning of co-management agreements and organisations are examined with reference to several examples, and there's a discussion of what makes them effective and sustainable. Part IV is concerned with the policy contents and instruments helpful to make co-management work and addresses the real problems encountered by policy-makers, managers and social actors.

This can be downloaded by chapter here: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Publications/sharingpower.htm.

Now that should keep you busy for a while!

Best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat

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Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

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