Examining social equity in community-based conservation programs: A case study of controlled hunting programs in Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Abebe, Bethlehem A.; Jones, Kelly W.; Solomon, Jennifer; Galvin, Kathleen A.; Evangelista, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105066

Cited by 19 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…In our analysis of household capital assets, we found that gender was an important characteristic in explaining perceptions of distributive equity. This supports qualitative findings in the region (Abebe et al, 2020) that women are less likely to receive benefits or deem these benefits as sufficient compensations to losses incurred. In the CHAs, while restrictions on access to forest products such as fuelwood strongly affect women's daily livelihood activities, the benefits from the CHA in terms of annual cash incentives are made to the household heads which are mostly men.…”

Section: Effects Of Household Characteristics On Perceptions Of Equitysupporting

confidence: 85%

“…The CHA program in the Bale Mountains seeks to offer an alternative governance approach from top-down strategies by devolving decision-making rights (in new CBC model) and benefit opportunities (in both new and original CBC model) to the local communities. While the program is making commendable strides as an inclusive and bottom-up approach to conservation in the area, there remain equity concerns about the benefit sharing, decision-making processes and recognition of different identities and priorities (Abebe et al, 2020). In this study, we quantitatively assess the effects of household and institutional characteristics on perceptions of equity and consider how two different models of the CHA program influence social equity outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The program is administered by the Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise (OFWE) and is based on sharing benefits from controlled hunting revenues and devolving decision-making power to local communities within kebeles (smallest administrative unit) living within the designated hunting areas. The CBC program strives to restrict the expansion of human settlement and activities that negatively impact wildlife and critical habitats, such as illegal settlement expansion, timber extraction, overgrazing, and poaching (Abebe et al, 2020). There are two slightly different models of the program: a newer model that involves community-based joint resource management and a power sharing mechanism hereafter known as "new CBC", and an older model that only involves sharing of financial incentives without a power sharing mechanism in place, hereafter called "original CBC".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Bale Mountains, previous qualitative research on this CBC program suggests that locals' perception of social equity is marred by the complex histories of interaction with conservation organizations, population growth and political instability in the region (Abebe et al, 2020). Using a locally grounded and multi-dimensional conceptualization of equity, Abebe et al…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Equity Outcomes in Ethiopia

Abebe¹,

Jones²

2021

Preprint

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Community-based conservation (CBC), albeit lauded as a more just alternative than command-and-control conservation approaches, is riddled by equity concerns. This study measures perceptions of equity and examines how household, institutional, and program design characteristics affect multiple dimensions of equity in a CBC program in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. Informed by a prior in-depth qualitative study, we develop locally relevant indicators about perceptions of distributive, procedural, and recognition equity. We conduct 200 household surveys in four kebeles (smallest administrative unit), two from a ‘new CBC model’ that involves community-based power sharing and two kebeles from the ‘original CBC model’ that does not involve community-based power sharing. We find slightly negative perceptions of all three dimensions of equity across the four kebeles. Gender and wealth are strong determinants of perceptions of distributive equity, with women and poorer households having more negative perceptions. Social capital, both internal community cohesion (bonding social capital) and strong relationships with external organizations (linking social capital), positively affect all three dimensions of equity but have the largest impact on procedural and recognition equity. Finally, we find that communities in the ‘new CBC model’ have higher perceived equity than communities involved in the ‘original CBC model’. These findings highlight the need to strengthen weak ties with external organizations, facilitate intra-community cohesion, and design programs that emphasize power-sharing to facilitate more equitable conservation outcomes. Our results also suggest that more attention is still needed in incorporating marginalized groups into CBC programs.

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Section: Effects Of Household Characteristics On Perceptions Of Equitysupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Equity Outcomes in Ethiopia

Abebe¹,

Jones²

2021

Preprint

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“…Despite these general intents, however, CBC has also been used as a tool by governments and the elite to appropriate community rights over lands and resources (Andersson et al, 2018; Benjaminsen, Goldman, Minwary, & Maganga, 2013; Nelson, 2010), with external conservation actors often failing to understand varied dimensions of “community” and how rights and access might be patterned along lines of wealth, ethnicity, and gender (Abebe, Jones, Solomon, Galvin, & Evangelista, 2020; Agrawal & Gibson, 1999; Andersson, 2013; Brosius et al, 1998; Dressler et al, 2010; Lund & Saito‐Jensen, 2013). As such, communities may hold weak or no de facto rights and management authority under CBC (Hajjar et al, 2020; Hulme & Murphree, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation and evolution of institutions and governance in community‐based conservation

Salerno

Romulo

Galvin

et al. 2021

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Within conservation science and practice, community‐based conservation (CBC) includes policy and management interventions incorporating engagement or participation of local communities and resource users. Evidence across scales points to the importance of supporting local actors and management institutions for better social and ecological outcomes of CBC interventions. However, the institutional and governance processes underlying CBC outcomes remain poorly understood, specifically how institutions respond to opportunities and constraints posed by CBC. In response, this special issue of Conservation Science & Practice solicited contributions investigating adaptation and evolution of institutions and governance in CBC. In this paper, we introduce the special issue and its 13 contributions, representing cases from Africa, Asia, and the Americas across organizational scales and resource systems. We assess the state of knowledge of CBC, identify common themes and lessons learned, and suggest future priorities for research and practice.

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Wealth and risk heterogeneity effects in community‐based wildlife management: Experimental evidence

Carpenter

Kreitmair

2023

People and Nature

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1. Community-based conservation is a widely adopted wildlife governance approach, but questions remain about the conditions under which this form of wildlife governance achieves success. Particularly, participating communities are often marked by considerable wealth and risk heterogeneities that are driven by differences in livestock or agricultural holdings and varying exposure to wildlife depredation of those holdings.2. The effect of these types of heterogeneity on successful conservation collective action is understudied, particularly in the case of risk heterogeneity. This lacuna limits policymakers' ability to effectively match the design of community-based programs to their particular settings.3. Using established behavioural experimental techniques, we model the incentive structures underlying community-based wildlife conservation where actors differ in wealth and exposure to human-wildlife conflict. We conduct a modified binary linear voluntary contribution mechanism game, in which we vary subject endowments and risk of incurring a loss when participating in collective action and we find that the type of heterogeneity matters to collective action success. 4. On their own, the presence of either economic or risk heterogeneities (but not both) dampen cooperation compared with homogeneous groups, as do 'balanced' distributions of both heterogeneities (where individuals facing high risk levels receive high endowments and vice versa). However, groups with 'unbalanced' heterogeneities (where those facing high risk levels receive low endowments and vice versa) demonstrate cooperation at similar levels to that of homogeneous groups.5. At the individual level, risk drives cooperative behaviour, although its impact is influenced by relative wealth levels when both forms of heterogeneity are present.6. These findings suggest the need for a more in-depth look at the role and interaction of risk and wealth heterogeneities in conservation management.

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Examining social equity in community-based conservation programs: A case study of controlled hunting programs in Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Cited by 19 publications

References 64 publications

Social Equity Outcomes in Ethiopia

Social Equity Outcomes in Ethiopia

Adaptation and evolution of institutions and governance in community‐based conservation

Wealth and risk heterogeneity effects in community‐based wildlife management: Experimental evidence

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