Using social-ecological systems theory to evaluate large-scale comanagement efforts: a case study of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Comanagement efforts are increasingly tasked with overseeing natural resource governance at a large scale. I examine comanagement of subsistence harvesting in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) of the western Canadian Arctic, using a socialecological systems framework. In doing so, this study joins a growing list of research that reviews design principles commonly found in successful small-scale commons management and applies them to a large resource area. This research uses the management of beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) as case studies in understanding the management framework of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, as each species is important in Inuvialuit culture and is actively managed and monitored. Comanagement bodies in the study area display many of the institutional design principles that are characteristic of successful socialecological systems. Particularly mentionable are the presence of well-organized nested enterprises and a strong incorporation of local knowledge and monitoring. This supports the application of institutional design principles in large-scale analyses of resource management. However, due to the network of policy and management outside the ISR that influences each species, this research suggests that in cases of wide-ranging resource bases, these types of analyses may be better suited to evaluating broad management networks rather than discrete governing regions.

Hunting for common ground between wildlife governance and commons scholarship

“…These papers focused on indigenous communities of the Arctic (Armitage ; Dowsley ; Schmidt & Dowsley ; McNeeley ; Wray & Parlee ; Zabel et al. ; Tyson ), and temperate regions (Berkes ; Bråta ; Kahui & Richards ). Very few papers studied indigenous wildlife institutions in the Global South.…”

Advancing social-ecological research through teaching: summary, observations, and challenges

“…Taggart-Hodge and Schoon (2016) used the SES framework to illustrate many of the challenges facing a complex transboundary protected area, the East Carpathians Biosphere Reserve in eastern Europe. Tyson (2017) similarly used the SES framework to illustrate the advantages and limitations a large comanagement effort, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in northern Canada. Lacroix and Richards (2015) applied the design principles to the carbon tax in British Columbia, Canada, and found that their assessment added insights beyond those provided by existing policy analyses.…”

“…This special feature thus had two objectives: (1) provide examples and support for teachers committed to engaging students with ideas around complex SESs (Ban et al 2015a, Cox 2015, and (2) provide a set of case studies led by or involving students that examines large case studies (> 10,000 km²; Ban et al 2015b, Lacroix and Richards 2015, Lancaster et al 2015, Taggart-Hodge and Schoon 2016, Tyson 2017, Villamayor-Tomas et al 2016). …”

Past management affects success of current joint forestry management institutions in Tajikistan

“…Where forests have been cut, sand dunes accumulate and threaten arable land and villages. Forests also play an important role in the rich culture of narrative, poetry and music of the Pamiri people that is closely intertwined with the landscapes they inhabit (Kassam 2010;van Oudenhoven and Haider 2012). Timber is used to construct the roetz (roof window) of the Pamir house, which represents four Zoroastrian elements, and poplar timber is used to construct the five main pillars of the house, representing the Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima and son-in-law Ali, and their two children (Bliss 2006).…”

“…The framework breaks down a social ecological system into six core subsystems or first-tier variables: resource systems, resource units, governance systems, users, and interaction and outcomes, each containing second-tier variables which interact leading to specific outcomes. The selection of these categories of variables is based on three decades of empirical work studying common pool resources (Ostrom 1990;Gibson et al 2005) and is being continuously adapted and expanded by scholars (see Epstein et al 2013;McGinnis and Ostrom 2014;Leslie et al 2015;Taggart-Hodge and Schoon 2016;Tyson 2017). The second-tier variables can be further unpacked to third-and fourth-tier variables and so on, to account for the specific variables of a case.…”