Involvement of Local Community in conservation Planning

The local communities that are located inside Protected Area suffer from some restrictions on the use of natural resources, which they believe are their property and right, and that they are the people of the place before the establishment of the PA. Usually, restrictions on the use of natural resources are for the purpose of protection and reducing pressures, which may affect the livelihood of some members of the local community, which they consider a process of denial of their rights. The local community owns cultural wealth that has been passed down from generation to generation on the optimal use of resources, their protection, and their propagation in simple ways. Involving that community in planning processes to protect natural resources will remove many of the penalties, whether for the management of the PA or for the community itself. Traditional knowledge is a hidden treasure that can be used to improve the state of natural resources and enhance the local community's sense of ownership and importance in protecting its resources, which will support the sustainability process and reduce disturbances

Those in charge of the selection process should map the community’s priorities in this area and points of contention, and identify influential community leaders, heard and loved by their community.

Several initial meetings should be held with community leaders, discussing them and asking for their support to mobilize community participation.

We should go to them in their areas and hold community assembly meetings to elect local representatives to coordinate conservation program activities

We learned that the local community and its traditional knowledge is a scientific wealth that should never be wasted.

The process of selecting representatives of the local community should be considered carefully, taking into account the conflict between tribes and avoiding the involvement of two dissenting parties.

Alternative opportunities must be provided when the community is prevented from some of its activities for the purpose of conservation

They should be made aware that they have the power to decide and allow communities to prioritize and select quick-impact projects to strengthen support and stimulate local participation.

Improve Knowledge about target species

Having valid and up-to-date information on the ecological and conservation status of threatened species is one of the most important elements in the establishment of an effective conservation program. Collecting data about the current geographical range, population characteristics, threats, ecology, and habitat in which species occur will help t determine the suitable habitat for the most effective rehabilitation process. The IUCN Red List is one of the most important tools and indicators for determining the conservation status of biological diversity in the world. As well as Species Distribution Models (SDMs) in determining the potentially suitable habitat for target species.

To achieve the most accurate results from this block, you must conduct a comprehensive survey of all previous studies and identify the gaps and work to fill them in simple and available ways. You must plan how the data will be collected and the scenarios where it will not be able to obtain. Your team must be trained on how to collect data and standardize methods. Pay attention to cleaning the data before using it in the analysis. Careful review by individuals outside the team to ensure its accuracy

Reviewing what was done previously and making a plan and alternatives before going to the field is one of the most important factors to save time and to get the goal

Financing Tree Nurseries

The trees that HAF with community partners grow from seeds in nurseries in Morocco are generators of direct revenue from the a) sale of the trees at a subsidized rate to farmers, cooperatives, associations, and education centers, and b) voluntary and credited carbon offsets that are secured with HAF’s monitoring system of the trees that are transplanted from the nurseries, integrating and maximizing the benefits from remote sensing and ground-truthing with community engagement. The sale of carbon credits, in particular, ensures maximum impact - revenue generated by the trees planted is reinvested directly into the communities that grow the trees. 

In 2006, HAF established its first community nursery. Since then, HAF has been lent land without cost by the public agencies. HAF first developed regional agreements for land with the Department of Water and Forests, the Ministries of Education and Youth & Sports, universities, the Moroccan Jewish Community, and cooperatives. They are now extending more land to HAF for nurseries. This is key in allowing HAF to provide trees to farmers at subsidized costs so that they may benefit more fully from the future income of the trees they plant. 

 

 

By gathering data on social benefits related to trees planted, carbon credits can be sold based on not only the environmental benefits but social impact as well. In addition, trainings in local communities are vital for giving members the tools, resources, and confidence to pursue their goals - which often tend to relate to income generation. However, beyond knowledge and skills-building training, cooperative members need guidance on how to utilize not only already-existing resources but also how to collaborate for shared benefit. Participatory planning meetings allow participants to identify common needs and share experiences. By encouraging members of different cooperatives and commuities within one municipality or province to develop a supportive network through the participatory approach, projects such as tree planting can go further in achieving its objectives.

Solar lightning kits

Combines solar solution to provide ligth and access to power and charge phones 

Solar kits 

Financial resources 

Logistics 

Improve life in rural commnities 

 

Building block 1: Gender-differentiated vulnerability assessment

This vulnerability assessment methodology allows for the accurate targeting of nature-based solutions to critical areas of need in cities and sectors of the population. It specifically includes a gender focus to ensure that adaptation efforts take into account how climate change affects women differently than men, given their varying roles in society. The vulnerability studies allow identifying the areas of greatest danger from weather-related events (such as landslides, floods, etc.) based on the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the analyzed territory. They are carried out through participatory processes with communities and key stakeholders and climatic scenarios that integrate climatic, environmental and socioeconomic variables at the same time. The analysis also allows estimating the risk of loss of ecosystem services and therefore the potential needs for adaptation to climate change. This exercise is the basis for designing and implementing nature-based solutions to strengthen the resilience of communities in urban and peri-urban systems. Finally, this process builds a sense of co-ownership and relationships for partnerships to carry out the project.

One of the main conditions needed for this building block’s success is the inclusion and approval of local communities and key stakeholders within those communities and their respective governments. Additionally, strong sources of climate and hydrological data facilitate this analysis process greatly.

A key aspect of this block is access to data. For example, Mexico has abundant meteorological and hydrological data while El Salvador does not. This allowed for a much more thorough climate change scenario in the former case. In terms of the consultation process, capturing perceived risk, in addition to modeled risks, is key for developing targeted activities where they are most needed. In that process, including women through the gender-differentiated approach also contributes to better targeted adaptation efforts by successfully identifying socially vulnerable populations. During this vulnerability assessment, capacity building is essential to ensure that communities and policy makers can interpret and use the assessments subsequently.

Multi-sectoral partnerships

Life systems are connected across geo-political and social boundaries. The Beach Co-op works within a global understanding of environmental and social opportunities and challenges but acts at the local and national level to address them.

Creating partnerships that scale the impact of dirty dozen work. Through partnerships, The Beach Co-op have deepened the relationship with existing partners and formed 14 new partners within the last two years

  • Conducting immersive workshops have helped strengthened our collaboration as well as cascaded the methodology for usage and application by other organization
  • Holding trash bashes, regular beach clean-ups have helped our partners own the journey of cleaning beaches as well as integrating methodological monitoring of plastic waste on beaches
Creating the conditions for values-based and participatory management that supports sustainable development

In recent times, a participatory research programme led by the private partner has been working towards allowing the new heritage authority to promote a genuine values-based and participatory heritage management. Understanding heritage in terms of who assigns just what importance can inform site conservation and improve the management of change in the wider landscape. Diverse perceptions of, and relationships with, the World Heritage property and other heritage have been mapped, and this has allowed previously neglected connections and interdependencies to emerge.

The initiative also works to identify capacity within civil society, institutions and among local heritage specialists to contribute to heritage agendas and so steps beyond classic cultural mapping to understand what triggers positive change in a broad local network.

The first tangible results emerging are geo-referenced tools aimed at improving decision-making regarding change and continuity and harnessing local capacities in the process. The overarching aim is that of capturing the full potential of heritage’s contribution to sustainable development in this difficult and complex area.

This work is possible thanks to taking people-centred approaches to Herculaneum at multiple levels for site activities and management over a long period of time. This includes involving multiple stakeholders in the identification of heritage values, which are then the basis for understanding links between heritage within a wider landscape. It has also included giving Herculaneum a role in supporting local sustainable development aspirations in a way that bring benefits to both the local community and the heritage itself.

  • The specific challenges of the Vesuvian area had already led the team intuitively to consider the success of site management in social, economic and environmental terms, but it became increasingly important that sustainability measures needed to go beyond the confines of the site.
  • Viewing Herculaneum within a wider network of people and places has allowed the foundations to be laid for longer-term plans for both conservation and sustainable development.
  • For the outcomes of ambitious participatory initiatives to be relevant, and maintain their relevance over time, it is important to foresee a long lead-in time to allow relationships of trust to be established, a precondition for any success in this sphere.
  • It will take a ten- to twenty-year timeframe to understand whether the investment underway in tools, research, knowledge management/sharing, and network building is successful in ensuring heritage a more dynamic role in sustainable development and harnessing the benefits for local communities and other stakeholders, as well as new forms of support for the heritage.
WSR Nomination Process

Each year, Save The Waves accepts one new World Surfing Reserve from surf communities all around the world. The application process requires significant work from local communities and their inquiry is based on the following core criteria: 

 

1) Quality and consistency of the wave(s);

2) Important environmental characteristics;

3) Culture and surf history;

4) Governance capacity and local support;

5) Priority Conservation Area

 

Each application is reviewed by an indepedent Vision Council made up of professionals in the conservation, business, nonprofit, and surf fields. Once the World Surfing Reserve is selected based on the rigorous criteria, they undergo the Stewardship Planning Process and the other building blocks to formally dedicate the World Surfing Reserve.

  • Score highly in the WSR criteria (see above)
  • Excellent local support and capacity to carry out conservation projects
  • Excellent communication between Save The Waves and the applying World Surfing Reserve
  • Local support is absolutely essential in a successful application
  • A diverse set of stakeholder involvement is needed for the program
An adapted technology co-designed with women seaweed producers

The tubular nets technology was co-designed with women producers themselves to ensure it was adapted to their needs and became theirs.

Several tests were necessary to determine the optimal length of the nets (15m instead of 30m), and how to harvest them (opening them to remove the seaweed instead of cutting the seaweed outgrowth). This ensured the nets were adapted to the women's needs. 

 

Participatory hands-on trials with the producers themselves enabled building handling capacity.

Responsibilisation of the women producers for monitoring the results of the different net configurations enabled appropriation of the innovation. 

Close relations of the Sea PoWer team with the producers enabled to build trust and hope in the new technology.

The vast knowledge of the Sea PoWer team about seaweed production and the Zanzibar marine environment enabled to quickly propose suitable alternative modifications.

Giving responsibilities and a stake in the trials to the end users was crucial to build ownership and confidence in the use of the tubular net innovation.

Accounting for factors indirectly related to the handling of the technology itself, for example, need to know the marine environment (tides, depths), and need to master additional equipment and practices (working from a boat) was also important.

Establishment of an inclusive dialogue process: the Laponia Process

The Laponia Process was an approach to dialogue created and developed by a diversity of stakeholders in the Laponian Area World Heritage property. Since Laponia is a large area which consists of several protected areas, to establish a coordinated management system as a whole has been very challenging since its inscription in the World Heritage List. The County Administrative Board of Norbotten and the Sámi communities and municipalities of Jokkmokk and Gällivare started originally to prepare their conservation programs independently. The Laponia Process started by the initiative of the Governor of Norrbotten in 2005 including all stakeholders in a process of dialogue based on a set of common values, which would lead the parties to agree in crucial issues and the terms in which the Laponian Area should be managed. All decisions were determined to be taken by consensus, and new regulations for the national parks and nature reserves were requested. In 2006, the parties signed a common agreement which they sent to the Government, which contained:

  • A set of common basic values
  • Common intentions for a number of efforts
  • The establishment of a temporary Laponia delegation
  • Preparations for the start of a World Heritage management group with a Sámi majority on the committee.

The political will of the Governor of Norbotten, the Sámi village organizations through the association Midjá Ednam, the interest of the municipalities of Jokkmokk and Gällivare, and the endorsement of the SEPA were essential conditions for starting the process. The initiative originates in the acceptance of the different realities of the parties involved and the strong will to co-create a new management for the Laponian Area. Moreover, there was enough financing for the project and each group participated with the same  economical prerequisites.

To be able to establish an organization based on consensus and develop a new way of management, one needs to listen to people and try to learn why they are thinking and doing like they are (it is norms and values that forms their ideas and practise) but also openly explain why one is thinking and doing in the way one is, because that also depends on the norms and values one has in life. This process takes time, and it is about learning new knowledge from each other and accept it. This is also a process one cannot do in the office, one needs to go out and meet people in their ordinary life regularly. It cannot be rushed or think it can be a quick fix. The Laponia Process took six years until all stakeholders involved could agree upon a common organization and management plan. 

To do a process like the Laponia Process – you need to have time, financing, and the “right” people involved. Listen to each other. Time to take home tricky questions and discuss them with other representatives for the stakeholders, before decisions are made.