Conflict in Protected Areas: Who Says Co-Management Does Not Work?

Abstract

Natural resource-related conflicts can be extremely destructive and undermine environmental protection. Since the 1990s co-management schemes, whereby the management of resources is shared by public and/or private sector stakeholders, have been a main strategy for reducing these conflicts worldwide. Despite initial high hopes, in recent years co-management has been perceived as falling short of expectations. However, systematic assessments of its role in conflict prevention or mitigation are non-existent. Interviews with 584 residents from ten protected areas in Colombia revealed that co-management can be successful in reducing conflict at grassroots level, as long as some critical enabling conditions, such as effective participation in the co-management process, are fulfilled not only on paper but also by praxis. We hope these findings will re-incentivize global efforts to make co-management work in protected areas and other common pool resource contexts, such as fisheries, agriculture, forestry and water management.

Collaborative Governance and Conflict Management: Lessons Learned and Good Practices from a Case Study in the Amazon Basin

“…Areas of rich biodiversity face multiple anthropogenic threats, and protected areas have long been a cornerstone of conservation efforts (Geldmann et al 2013;Mascia et al 2014). While protected areas are intended as havens for biological resources, they may also drive social conflict from competing needs and interests of various stakeholders with land and resource claims in and around them (De Pourcq et al 2015;West, Igoe, and Brockington 2006). A rich academic literature has explored the foundations, causes, and impacts of conservation conflicts given their potentiality to undermine conservation goals and erode social and political will to support protected areas and surrounding buffer zones (Bragagnolo et al 2017;Daniels and Walker 2001;Madden and McQuinn 2014;Soliku and Schraml n.d;Redpath et al 2013).…”

Análisis de los conflictos entre comunidades locales y autoridades de conservación en Colombia. Causas y recomendaciones

“…Este modelo de Conservación en Fortaleza (asi denominado por Brockington, 2002), es considerado por investigadores de todo el mundo como una causa fundamental del aumento de una serie de conflictos entre los PNNs y la población (ver por ej. Adams et al, 2004;Kalamandeen y Gillson, 2006;Lele et al, 2010, De Pourcq et al, 2015.…”

“…Sin embargo, también desemboca con frecuencia en una exacerbación de una serie de conflictos entre los PNNs y la poblacion. Investigaciones previas han demostrado que la co-gestión de los PNNs, en la que la gestion de sus recursos se comparte entre actores de los sectores públicos y/o privados, puede servir para reducir conflictos sobre el terreno, siempre y cuando se den en la práctica ciertas condiciones favorables decisivas, como son la informacion compartida entre las diferentes partes y una participación y reparto de beneficios efectivos (De Pourcq et al, 2015).…”

“…Adams et al, 2004), son comparables a los existentes en Colombia. La investigación también indica que la designación y gestión de áreas protegidas en cualquier lugar de los trópicos está condicionada por complejas realidades y trayectorias históricas similares a las presentadas en nuestro trabajo, incluyendo la conservacion en fortaleza (Adams et al, 2004;Lele et al, 2010, De Pourcq et al, 2015) y el fenomeno de los parques de papel (Carey et al, 2000;Lockwood et al, 2006;Stolton et al, 2003).…”

Managing the Natura 2000 network: between Europeanization and societal engagement

“…The third research question of this thesis deals with the involvement of societal actors in implementing the management of Natura 2000. Many different terms have been used to describe the involvement of societal actors in protected area management, such as dialogues for protected areas, co-management, collaborative natural resources management, or participatory management (Conley & Moote, 2003;De Pourcq et al, 2015;Koontz & Thomas, 2006;Lane, 2001;Stoll-Kleemann & Welp, 2006). Overall, in the management of protected areas, there has been a shift towards increased participation of a broad range of actors (Stoll-Kleemann & Welp, 2006).…”