Suchergebnisse

This study offers a detailed analysis of community-based management (CBM) in a small island in Indonesia. In the study site, area-specific stewardship for a marine territory was informally institutionalized and, in addition to state rules, locally devised rules based on informal agreements have emerged. Using multiple methods for the analysis of the perceptions of the local community, this research examines the actual impact of the different rules on the fishing patterns in that sea territory, and illuminates the rationales of the local population to engage (or not) in the community-based approach to manage the marine resources. The study shows that the CBM initiative has to be seen as part of a convoluted regulatory system that impacts the fishing behavior in the sea territory. A lack of official authority to formally develop and especially to locally enforce rules represents a key challenges for the CBM initiative. This is further complicated by severe coordination problems between the local community and higher level state actors. The study further shows that the motivation of the community members to engage in the enforcement of the informal rules is strongly based on short-term economic considerations. For rules that are perceived to have a strong impact on the individual fishing yields, the fear of potential short-term economic losses constitutes a particular success factor of the local initiative since it motivates the members of the community to enforce local rules, especially when outside fishers break the rules. Yet, if rule-breaking is not perceived to decrease individual fishing yield, or if benefits of the generated yields are shared with the community as a compensation mechanism, the motivation of the community members to engage in rule enforcement ceases.

Increasing anthropogenic impact on coastal and marine resources has led to extensive and sometimes irreversible damage of coral reef ecosystems. Decentralization and strengthening the role of local communities and non-governmental actors promises great advantages for governance, but marine ecosystems and resources are affected by drivers of change that lie outside the reach of small-scale approaches. This has caused strong drawbacks for their success. The multi-level governance approach thus incorporates the socio-economic, political and ecological interconnectedness to achieve sustainable outcomes at larger scales. It particularly highlights the need for integrating different levels of decision-making and emphasizes the need of continuous cross-level interaction to address uncertainty and dynamic change in coastal and marine Social-Ecological Systems. This research examines marine governance in Brazil and Indonesia from a multi-level perspective to address the degradation of coral reef ecosystems and their associated flora and fauna. A policy analysis is conducted at the national level in Brazil and Indonesia to analyze the recent developments and examine the overall umbrella frameworks with regards to how effectively they enable the participation of resource users and balance between the needs of marine resource dependent local populations and conservation objectives. In light of the current developments in literature, this research then examines how governance actors are entangled across levels and scales for regional marine governance in two case study areas in Brazil and Indonesia. The results of the study contribute to improve understanding of how to link a growing number of actors across multiple jurisdictions and quasi-autonomous governance units and identify points of leverage to facilitate integrated multi-level marine governance.

This empirical research investigates whether distinct network configurations between actors facilitate or impede successful local natural resource governance in decentralized political systems. Network analysis is applied to disentangle the interaction between actors involved in a decentralized fishery governance system in Indonesia from a polycentric perspective. Using an embedded network case study design, the study examines whether common interaction patterns are observed in local study sites with more successful governance outcomes compared to study sites with less successful outcomes. Three common patterns are identified: (i) higher frequency of interaction of local actors, and (ii) stronger activity of local non‐governmental actors in the polycentric governance network are found in the sites with more successful outcomes. Furthermore, the results show (iii) a higher centralization of the local governance networks with rent‐seeking actors in strong brokerage positions where highly unsustainable resource use prevails. This points to the existence of a 'dark side' of brokerage.

Around the globe, extreme weather events like storms, droughts and floods get stronger and hit more often. In their struggle to overcome the impacts of such disasters, natural resource users (fishers, farmers) depend on knowledge and support coming from both within and outside their communities. To answer the question 'how to cope with crises?', we therefore have to find out 'whom to turn to when disasters hit'. We provide insights into two examples of ongoing research that investigate the role of fishers and farmers' social networks when dealing with and recovering from environmental disasters that brought drastic change to their respective communities in Peru and Bangladesh. Our findings indicate that the number and diversity of connections is crucial for coping with crises, and suggest the need for further research on the ways social networks are shaping individual and community responses to environmental impacts.

Weltweit werden extreme Wetterereignisse wie Stürme, Dürren und Überschwemmungen immer stärker und treten häufiger auf. Bei der Bewältigung der Auswirkungen solcher Katastrophen sind die Nutzerinnen und Nutzer natürlicher Ressourcen (Fischer*innen, Landwirte und Landwirtinnen) auf Wissen und Unterstützung sowohl von innerhalb und als auch außerhalb ihrer Gemeinschaften angewiesen. Um die Frage zu beantworten, wie man Umweltkatastrophen am Besten übersteht, müssen wir daher herausfinden, welche Verbindungen im Krisenfall besonders hilfreich sind. Wir geben Einblicke in zwei Beispiele laufender Forschungsarbeiten, welche die Rolle sozialer Netzwerke bei der Bewältigung von Naturkatastrophen in Peru und Bangladesch untersuchen. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Anzahl und die Vielfalt der Verbindungen für die Krisenbewältigung entscheidend sind. Dies macht deutlich, dass die Art und Weise, wie soziale Netzwerke
die individuellen und gemeinschaftlichen Reaktionen auf Umweltauswirkungen beeinflussen, weiter erforscht werden muss.

En todo el mundo, los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, como las tormentas, las sequías y las inundaciones, son cada vez más fuertes y frecuentes. En su lucha por superar los impactos de estos desastres, los usuarios de los recursos naturales (pescadores, agricultores) dependen de los conocimientos y del apoyo que les llega tanto desde dentro como fuera de sus comunidades. Para responder a la pregunta "¿cómo afrontar las crisis?", hay que saber «a quién acudir en caso de catástrofe». Aportamos información sobre dos ejemplos de investigaciones en curso que estudian el rol de las redes sociales de pescadores y agricultores a la hora de afrontar y recuperarse de catástrofes medioambientales que provocaron cambios drásticos en sus respectivas comunidades en Perú y Bangladesh. Nuestras conclusiones indican que el número y la diversidad de las conexiones son cruciales para afrontar las crisis, y sugieren la necesidad de seguir investigando sobre las formas en que las redes sociales configuran las respuestas individuales y comunitarias a los impactos ambientales.

The notion of a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus was introduced to encourage a more holistic perspective on the sustainable development of natural resources. Most attention has been directed at identifying potential synergies and trade-offs among sectors that could be addressed with improved technologies and management. The governance of the WEF nexus more broadly has received comparatively little attention, and the importance of scale in space and time has been largely ignored. Inspired by scholarship on multi-level governance in individual sectors, this paper identifies four scale-related governance challenges in the WEF nexus, namely: (1) scalar fit, which arises when planning and operating procedures work at different levels along the scales of space and time in different sectors; (2) scalar strategies, wherever the levels at which actors have influence and in which action takes place are contested and negotiated; (3) institutional interplay, where rules and norms in different sectors influence each other at different levels; (4) scalar uncertainty, arising out of the complexity of multi-level and multi-scale interactions. The relevance of these four challenges is illustrated with case studies from developed and developing countries. These examples show the importance of considering multiple levels and scales when assessing the likely effectiveness of WEF nexus governance mechanisms or proposals. The cases underline the need to pay close attention to issues of power, contestation, and negotiation, in addition to the analysis of institutional design. Thus, this paper recommends that nexus governance efforts and proposals be scrutinized for scale assumptions. The four identified challenges offer a suitable starting point for diagnosis.