Abstract Local embeddedness for beach management units is vital for legitimacy and sustainability. This paper employs the theory of local embeddedness to study the extent to which Beach Management Units (BMUs) will bring about the sustainability of fisheries at the community level. It draws from the perceptions of the communities living in Mtwara rural on how Beach Management Units are governed. Using key informant interviews in four villages of Mtwara rural, different levels of embeddedness were identified and measured. The findings show that although Beach Management Units were introduced to empower local communities to manage fisheries resources, they are not embedded within the community.
In: Ponte , S , Noe , C , Kweka , O , Mshale , B , Sulle , E , Brockington , D , Kalumanga , E , Ahmed Minja , R , Budeanu , A , Mwamfupe , A , Folke Henriksen , L , Olwig , M F , Silvano , P , Namkesa , F , John , R , Katikiro , R & Bukhi Mabele , M 2017 ' New Partnerships for Sustainability (NEPSUS) : Concepts, research design and methodologies ' Copenhagen Business School , Copenhagen .
New and more complex partnerships are emerging to address the sustainability of natural resource use in developing countries. These partnerships variously link donors, governments, community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), business, certification agencies and other intermediaries. High expectations and many resources have been invested in these initiatives. Yet, we still do not know whether more sophisticated organizational structures, more stakeholders involved, and more advanced participatory processes have delivered better sustainability outcomes, and if so, in what sectors and under what circumstances. To fill this knowledge gap and build capacity in this area, the NEPSUS research and capacity building project assembles a multidisciplinary team to analyze sustainability partnerships in three key natural resource sectors in Tanzania: forestry, wildlife and coastal resources. In each of these sectors, we assess whether co-management with local communities and private and civil society actors, and putatively more participatory processes in the governance of renewable resources, result in more equitable and sustainable livelihoods and environmental outcomes. We compare 'more complex' partnerships to relatively 'simpler', more traditional top-down and centralized management systems, and to instances where sustainability partnerships are not in place. This working paper tackles the main conceptual, methodological and research design issues arising in this effort.
