Effect of Local Cultural Context on the Success of Community‐Based Conservation Interventions

Abstract

Conservation interventions require evaluation to understand what factors predict success or failure. To date, there has been little systematic investigation of the effect of social and cultural context on conservation success, although a large body of literature argues it is important. We investigated whether local cultural context, particularly local institutions and the efforts of interventions to engage with this culture significantly influence conservation outcomes. We also tested the effects of community participation, conservation education, benefit provision, and market integration. We systematically reviewed the literature on community-based conservation and identified 68 interventions suitable for inclusion. We used a protocol to extract and code information and evaluated a range of measures of outcome success (attitudinal, behavioral, ecological, and economic). We also examined the association of each predictor with each outcome measure and the structure of predictor covariance. Local institutional context influenced intervention outcomes, and interventions that engaged with local institutions were more likely to succeed. Nevertheless, there was limited support for the role of community participation, conservation education, benefit provision, and market integration on intervention success. We recommend that conservation interventions seek to understand the societies they work with and tailor their activities accordingly. Systematic reviews are a valuable approach for assessing conservation evidence, although sensitive to the continuing lack of high-quality reporting on conservation interventions.

Learning our Lessons: A Review of Alternative Livelihood Projects in Central Africa

“…Furthermore, community involvement allows for the development of interventions that are sensitive to the local cultural context (Waylen et al, 2010;Ostrom, 2009). Community consultation and participation also speaks to the equity (or fairness) of project design: procedural equity refers to fairness in the political processes that allocate resources and resolve disputes.…”

“…Community participation in project management is linked to more successful project implementation and outcomes (see, for example, Travers et al, 2011;Dressler et al, 2010;Blom et al, 2010;Waylen et al, 2010;Larson and Soto, 2008). Furthermore, community involvement allows for the development of interventions that are sensitive to the local cultural context (Waylen et al, 2010;Ostrom, 2009).…”

“…Understanding and responding to local institutions and cultures is said to be closely linked to more successful CBRNM projects (Waylen et al, 2010;Ostrom, 2009). …”

Enseignements à tirer d’une étude des projets visant à promouvoir de nouveaux moyens de subsistance en Afrique centrale

“…Il existe un lien entre la participation des communautés à la gestion des projets et une mise en oeuvre et des résultats plus fructueux des projets (voir, par exemple, Travers et al, 2011;Dressler et al, 2010;Blom et al, 2010;Waylen et al, 2010;Larson et Soto, 2008). Par ailleurs, l'implication des communautés permet le développement des interventions qui sont sensibles au contexte de la culture locale (Waylen et al, 2010;Ostrom, 2009).…”

An environmental social marketing intervention in cultural heritage tourism: a realist evaluation

“…These should be, however, implemented continuously by heritage managers for long-lasting effects. Additionally, drawing from lessons learnt in prior community nature-based conservation programmes, the most effective incentive type may vary by types of employees, stakeholders, organisations and countries, according to their level of development and cultural values (see Waylen, Fischer, McGowan, Thirgood & Milner-Gulland, 2010). Thus a thorough context analysis and, potentially, pretesting of alternative incentives, is needed.…”