Suchergebnisse

The elephant has deep cultural significance in Thailand and for the Thai people. The development of legal protection for Thai elephants reflects concerns about both human livelihoods and elephant conservation. Thus, the legal status of privately-owned domesticated, or captive Asian elephants, differs from that of wild Asian elephants, a situation that has consequences for the lawful use of ivory from domesticated animals. Prior to 2015, the lack of comprehensive measures to control the Thai ivory market enabled the laundering of illegally-sourced ivory through the country. The 2015 legal reforms of the Thai Government: 1) introduced strict controls over the possession and domestic trade of ivory from domesticated Asian elephants, and 2) aligned the protection of African elephants and their ivory with the CITES Convention. Nonetheless, the sustainability of the Thai ivory trade remains disputed, and international pressure to close the commercial trade in domestic ivory persists. This paper reviews this complex situation to inform future reforms. Consolidation of related laws would ease the enforcement tasks of officers and facilitate the compliance of stakeholders. Use of an electronic database would enhance the monitoring of ivory flow, as well as aid the implementation and enforcement of laws. This situation is a valuable example of the tensions between national and international attempts to conserve species important in wildlife trade.

The critical role that Indigenous people play in natural resource management is globally recognized, with such endeavors frequently supported by Government and non-government funded programs. We explore the perceived impact of the knowledge-exchange opportunities arising from these programs, using data from a survey of Indigenous people from northern Australian communities involved in Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs). We find that ILSMPs are perceived as opportunities for exchange of both western and Indigenous-generated knowledge, with more people reporting opportunities to learn and share traditional rather than western generated knowledge. Aspects of life perceived as improved by learning and sharing were in relation to self, to others (community and family) and the Indigenous culture overall. Learning is having a positive impact on wellbeing; sharing is predominantly positive, but survey responses also reveal some negatives: mostly related to examples of sharing undertaken in culturally inappropriate exchanges, which not only impacts wellbeing, but also erodes the quality of the information exchanged. Reducing the negative sentiments related to sharing will not only improve the wellbeing of Indigenous people, but will also improve the quality of knowledge exchanged with consequent positive outcomes for the environment and society as a whole.

This paper focuses on Indigenous business development, an under-researched co-benefit associated with investment in Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs) in northern Australia. More than 65% of ILSMPs undertake commercial activities that generate revenue and create jobs. In addition to generating environmental benefits, ILSMPs thus also generate economic benefits (co-benefits) that support Indigenous aspirations and help to deliver multiple government objectives. We outline key features of northern Australian economies, identifying factors that differentiate them from Western urbanised economies. We discuss literature highlighting that, if the aim is to stimulate (short-term) economic development in northern Indigenous economies, then the requirement is to stimulate demand for goods and services that are produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (herein referred to as Indigenous people), and which generate benefits that align with the goals and aspirations of Indigenous people. We also discuss literature demonstrating the importance of promoting a socio-cultural environment that stimulates creativity, which is a core driver of innovation, business development and long-term development. ILSMPs have characteristics suggestive of an ability to kick-start self-sustaining growth cycles, but previous research has not investigated this. Using 8 years of data relating to Indigenous businesses that are registered with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (a subset of all Indigenous businesses), we use statistical tests (Granger causality tests) to check whether ILSMP expenditure in the first year has a positive impact on Indigenous business activity in subsequent years. This analysis (of admittedly imperfect data) produces evidence to support the proposition that expenditure on ILSMPs generates positive spillovers for Indigenous businesses (even those not engaged in land management), albeit with a 3-year lag. ILSMPs have been shown to be an appropriate mechanism for ...