As pressure on wildlife and habitat continue to increase, we need to find sustainable and effective ways to develop and implement conservation solutions. Many wildlife conservation programs and projects work to improve equitable benefit sharing of the economic value of wildlife as the primary incentive for communities to conserve wildlife. These projects are often successful while the project funding continues, but what happens when the funding is pulled or when another more lucrative opportunity is offered to exploit the land or wildlife?  How can a project be successful in generating support within the community and reflect the true values of a deep connection to wildlife, the land, and fellow community members?  Non-economic factors like health and education have been incorporated into conservation projects, while other important societal factors such as cultural diversity and resilience, community vitality, and good governance are beginning to be explored by innovative conservation project managers. These factors, when clearly understood and assessed from the community perspective, fundamentally enhance the happiness and wellbeing of the community and ultimately will contribute to the success of wildlife conservation projects over the long term while also supporting greater community cohesion and ecosystem health.

Using a framework (such as GNH) to plan community-based wildlife conservation programs around an holistic set of social wellbeing indicators can contribute to positive wildlife conservation outcomes and project sustainability. Findings indicate that structured and deliberate community engagement of project planning and implementation – or better yet facilitating the community to drive conservation – is essential to success. Future research recommendations include the development and testing of a survey tool to analyze the wellbeing of a community organized around the GNH domains, or other human wellbeing indexes.

Key Themes:

Engagement, Education and Empowerment, Governance, Rights & Conflict, Factors of Success in Community Conservation

Presenters:

Beth Allgood (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

Mark Hofberg (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

Anna Rathmann (Great Plains Conservation Foundation)

Fernando Ochoa (Conservation Alliance for Laguna San Ignacio)

Presented Material:

This session explored how community-scientist teams around the world are changing the process of science by working closely together on conservation and livelihoods issues. We call this approach ‘transformative science with society’. This new science brings together participatory action research, citizen science, transdisciplinary science, adaptive ecosystem management and community development to catalyze transformations in social-ecological systems.

This approach and its framework were discribed by presenters, along with why it grew from the practice of working with communities on conservation and livelihoods. The core of this approach, co-production of knowledge, where local and indigenous knowledge holders bring their knowledge together with that of scientists, was discussed to address critical issues in community conservation. Two examples were shared here, one example examined community conservation through sacred sites, and another looked at herder and scientist observations of rangeland health in community-based conservation initiatives across Mongolia.  A final presentation shed light on scientist-manager partnerships to support conservation and ranching livelihoods in the western US.

The session took the format of a ‘fish bowl’, starting with short talks, and ending with an extended discussion session, concluding with thoughts on the next steps forward for this democratized science approach in support of community-based conservation.

Key Themes:

Factors of Success in Community Conservation, Livelihoods, Governance, Rights & Conflict, Engagement, Education & Empowerment

Presenters:

Robin Reid (Colorado State University)

Maria Fernandez-Gimenez (Colorado State University)

Corrie Knapp (Western State Colorado University)

Fikret Berkes (University of Manitoba)

Chantsallkham Jamsranjav (Colorado State University)

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) offers a valuable yet under-utilized approach for climate change adaptation and mitigation, complementing traditional actions such as infrastructure development. EbA uses biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall strategy to help communities adapt to climate change at local, national, regional or global levels. As part of nature-based solutions, appropriately designed EbA initiatives can also contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing emissions from ecosystem loss and degradation, and enhancing carbon sequestration. Since historical times, human communities have had to adapt to changing climate and several of them have maintained their own practices over centuries. Many cultures across the world have already enhanced their adaptive capacities to respond to climate change challenges using their own traditional knowledge and cultural practices.

It is time to examine what we have learned from various cultures and reevaluate the principles of ecosystem-based adaptation based on such experiences. For example, the importance of the roles of the community and their level of governance has been underlined as essential for effective EbA. The workshop provided an opportunity to discuss the principles through presentations of a few projects with the aim of gaining insight through discussion with conference attendees, which helped to further inform ecosystem-based climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Key Themes:

Factors of Success in Community Conservation, Wildlife & Fisheries, Climate & Environmental Changes

Presenters:

Liette Vasseur (Brock University)

Darwin Horning (University of Northern British Columbia)

Pam McElwee (Rutgers University)

Presented Material:

In striving toward a future which supports both sustainable conservation and human well-being, Conservation International (CI) has developed a draft Environmental and Social Management Framework. This framework is being designed to ensure systematic and transparent management of environmental and social risks in CI’s work. The goal is to not only avoid and minimize adverse risks and impacts but also to identify opportunities for improving environmental and social outcomes. To make the vision of a sustainable and equitable future a reality, it is essential that all people have a voice in and share benefits from the sustainable use of land and resources.

Indigenous peoples and local communities frequently play an inextricable role in the sustainable management of their lands and territories, living close to the land and ensuring its use for future generations. CI recognizes this stewardship of nature as an important determinant not only of economic and ecosystem health, but also of human well-being. Once fully implemented, CI’s Environmental and Social Management Framework will help ensure respect for the rights and roles of these communities, and individual women and men, in managing the world’s natural resources.

In this session, CI sought feedback from indigenous peoples, local communities, gender and social experts, and conservation peers on our draft Environmental and Social Management Framework. We explored three central questions:

• What benefits can a safeguard system generate for communities and project participants?
• Can a safeguard system fall short of protecting community and individual rights?
• What steps should CI take to create a safeguard system to meet our goal: that all women and men have an equitable voice in and benefit from the sustainable use of land and resources?

Key Themes:

Engagement, Education & Empowerment, Indigenous Issues, Factors of Success in Community Conservation

Presenters:

Adrienne McKeehan (Conservation Initiative on Human Rights/ Conservation International)

Alli Cruz (Conservation International)

Presented Material:

An intergenerational panel (consisting of a member from the Statutory Māori Advisory Committee, the Manahautū (General Manager Māori) and a Youth member of the Māori Policy and Operations Unit at the Environmental Protection Authority) discussed the influence of Māori (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, New Zealand) on the policies and practices of the New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority, a Crown agent, in its decision-making. In particular, the panel highlights how incorporating Māori perspectives, Mātauranga Māori (Māori traditional knowledge) and the direct involvement of Māori through a statutory Māori Advisory Committee, Ngā Kaihautū Tikanga Taiao, has managed to affect policy, practice and standards of evidence in a mutually beneficial way.

The journey has not been an easy one and has taken over 20 years through changing political and Māori priorities, but it has nevertheless managed to continue to move forward and evolve.

This session was an opportunity for learning and an exchange of experiences and knowledge, to build partnerships and to help shape the future of how government organisations meaningfully engage with indigenous peoples.

Key Themes:

Indigenous Issues, Governance, Rights & Conflict, Engagement, Education & Empowerment, Climate & Environmental Changes

Presenters:

Doug Jones (Te Mana Rauhī Taiao – Environmental Protection Authority)

Te Taiawatea Moko-Mead (Te Mana Rauhī Taiao – Environmental Protection Authority)

Presented Material:

This workshop centered around the fact that fish conservation and resource sustainability are at a crossroads in the current century, and that it is therefore necessary to engage broad societal participation. The session engaged with academia, fishers, NGOs, governmental agencies and others, as Fishers’ Ecological Knowledge (FEK) application is universal to different social sectors. From this basis, the workshop developed a cross-sectoral network of experts who can identify FEK related goals for the next IUCN strategy cycle and work together to build public and political awareness for these goals and to achieve them. Thus, the workshop promoted interactive participation and therefore represents an important opportunity to integrate experiences and knowledge from the marine and freshwater sectors and from a range of different partners.

The goal of this workshop was to:

a) contribute to promoting and consolidating international experiences that show successful examples on FEK application benefits for fish and fisheries conservation;

b) inspire people to follow successful examples where FEK has benefited fish resources conservation and management;

c) consider FEK as a challenge and an opportunity for contributing to developing better conservation practices; and

d) help embed FEK in fisheries conservation and resources management by initiating the development of “how to” guidelines and film.

Key Themes:

Livelihoods, Factors of Success in Community Conservation, Climate & Environmental Changes, Wildlife & Fisheries

Presenters:

Winston Cowie (Environment Agency Abu Dhabi)

Mohsin Al Ameri (Assistant Scientist, Fisheries. Environment Agency Abu Dhabi)

Shaelene Kamakaʻala (Community Based Fisheries Area Coordinator, Hawaii)

Christiana Louwa (El Molo Forum)

Kevin Chang (Executive Director, Kua’āina Ulu ‘Auamo, Hawaii)

Video & Presentations:

This session focused on the varying dimensions of vulnerabilities of resources dependent local communities in the landscapes harboring iconic species such as the tiger. The human dominated landscapes of South Asia are also the home to rich biodiversity. The state in such areas has taken up the initiative to conserve this biodiversity through the declaration of Protected Areas and Tiger reserves, wherein human activity is often severely restricted.

While conservation of such areas has a multitude of benefits for the larger community in terms of the ecosystem services provided, and cultural and aesthetic values, it can potentially pose a challenge for meeting day-to-day requirements of local people who live in their immediate borderlands. Management solutions for addressing the resultant conflict are often inadequate and misdirected as often they lack the experience and the skills to address these issues. The lack of collaboration among development agencies and lack of livelihood opportunities in the larger landscape compound the problems and result in increased social, economic and ecological vulnerabilities of local people. The situation is further complicated by human Tiger conflicts, issues of access and benefit sharing (where permissible), lack of awareness and direct involvement of local communities in the conservation and an imbalance in sharing the benefits of tiger tourism, resulting in a lose-lose situation for both the local people and conservation efforts.

There are several examples across the region that have successfully been able to link conservation efforts and local livelihoods at the Protected Area level, by encouraging local community support for activities that support the park’s conservation objectives. Such models need to be up-scaled and replicated through exchange of experiences and ideas and policy reforms and institutionalization.

Key Themes:

Livelihoods, Wildlife & Fisheries, Indigenous Issues, Conserved Areas

Authors:

Ruchi Badola (Wildlife Institute of India)

Syed Ainul Hussain (Wildlife Institute of India)

Pariva Dobriyal (Wildlife Institute of India)

Nand Kishore Agarwal (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu)

Archi Rastogi (CBD)

Dispossession and restricted access of Indigenous Peoples to traditional lands and waters are a common feature in many of the world’s coastal areas due to the economic value of resources found in the coastal zone (e.g., mineral resources, forest products, wildlife, and fisheries resources) and the disregard for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, cultural practices and systems of governance. This ongoing disregard for indigenous peoples’ rights and needs continues despite the existence of a raft of international and regional instruments to respect and protect such rights. Here we examine the dispossession of local indigenous people to traditional fishing grounds and adjacent lands in South Africa and Canada’s Pacific Northwest Coast and the struggles and strategies employed to secure rights of access to these areas and resources. Dispossession and restricted access have been a feature of South Africa and Canada’s socio-political past from earliest Colonial times until the present time. From early Colonial times in Canada and in South Africa, forced removals of Indigenous Peoples from traditional lands, restrictions on customary fishing, hunting and forestry practices were largely driven by racially based ideologies supported by discriminatory policies and laws that facilitated ownership of and access to common pool resources for a particular sector of the population. However, despite the demise of these oppressive and discriminatory regimes and the promulgation of legal provisions in both countries to support redress and restoration of socio-economic rights, these rights have not been secured and customary systems of marine resource governance have not been respected.

Key Themes:

Indigenous Issues, Governance, Rights & Conflict, Livelihoods, Engagement, Education & Empowerment

Presenters:

Merle Sowman (University of Cape Town)

Dawn Foxcroft (Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council)

Don Hall (Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council)

Lissa Cowan (Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council)

During this session, presenters offered comparative account of the struggles of traditional fishers in South Africa and the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations in Canada to have their socio-economic rights to fisheries resources recognised and restored. A historical review of the two contexts, outlining the marginalisation and exclusion of these groups from the mainstream economy, examines the efforts and strategies of traditional fishers to have their rights to marine resources recognised through legal action.

Presented Material:

Lawaiʻa pono means to fish righteously, in ways that honor the time-tested values and sustainable practices of our kūpuna (ancestors).  Mālama ʻāina (to care for that which feeds; biocultural resources) is a challenge shared by island nations and indigenous and local communities worldwide. Traditional natural resource management practices in Hawai’i drew upon the place-based knowledge, observations, and experiences of community members and local experts known as “konohiki.” Hawaiians once used these konohiki systems and traditions to ensure an abundance of resources from the mountains to the sea.

Through short film presentations and discussions, this session touched on some of the experiences of communities from around Hawaiʻi who work with state and federal government, conservation partners, researchers and landowners, to implement community-based management solutions for their places.  Presenters shared insight about the role of Community-Based biocultural management in Hawaiʻi in the nearshore environment and the place-based fishing practices and stewardship efforts they have implemented to pass on traditional fishing knowledge and values to perpetuate the practice of “lawaiʻa pono.”  Representatives shared how the collective efforts of grassroots communities empowers community conservation, enhances community health and well-being, and ensures a future of healthy abundant resources for generations to come.

Key Themes:

Indigenous Issues, Livelihoods, Governance, Rights & Conflict, Climate & Environmental Changes

Films presented:

THE HOAʻĀINA OF HĀʻENA – In 2015, a group of lineal families on the north coast of Kauaʻi successfully worked with the State of Hawaiʻi to establish Hawaiʻi’s first Community-based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA). This short film tells the inspirational story of a rural Hawaiian community’s journey to perpetuate the traditional and customary practices of their ancestors and the collective effort it took to make it happen.

HANAI KO’A: CULTURE KEEPERS – A short produce by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on the ʻōpelu fishing families of Hoʻokena, Hawaiʻi.

Presenters:

Kevin Chang (Kua ʻĀina Ulu ʻAuamo (KUA))

Mehana Vaughan (University of Hawaiʻi)

Shaelene Kamaka’ala (State of Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources Community-based Fisheries Planner; Kahana Kilo Kai; E Alu Pu Council (O’ahu Island))

Charles Young (Kama’aina United to Protect the ‘Aina (KUPA); Kai Kuleana Network, West Hawai’i Fisheries Council; E Alu Pu Council (Hawai’i Island))

Solomon Kaho’ohalahala (Maunalei Ahupuaʻa Community Mauka-Makai Managed Area (Maunalei Ahupuaʻa CMMMA), E Alu Pu Council (Lana’i island))

UNESCO Biospheres, such as the Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere Reserve Association (BLBRA – June 29, 2011), promote the growth of environmentally sustainable businesses along with encouraging all people, including industry, with nature to work better together.

In the 1990s an economic benefit was seen to develop gypsum mines within the Bras d’Or Lake watershed but environmental impacts were also recognised. Joe Googoo of We’kokma’q (meaning the end of the bay) started as a full time fisherman at the age of 18 with two licences. He loved oysters but most have been killed off by the MSX parasite that may have been brought in via ballast discharge. Some of his living oysters were overwintered, frozen in shallow salt waters. These seemed to be fighting off the parasite. He fought back using native traditions. Now it is up to the other cultures to determine why he was successful.

Key Themes:

Places & Spaces, Engagement, Education & Empowerment, Livelihoods, Fisheries & Wildlife

Presenters:

Eliot Frosst (BLBRA)

Stan Johnson (CEPI appointi – Eskasoni First Nations Gape Breton)

Small businesses can benefit from using the concept of environmentally sustainable promotion. Examples of this include, Jeremy White of the local craft beer brand, ‘Big Spruce Brewing’ who started to make beer from organically grown hops on the shores of Big Bras d’Or. That which started out as a small ‘fun business venture’ has become a year round operation employing many locals. His craft beer is now sold in the Nova Scotia Liquor stores and at local Farmers Markets. The brewery is open for regular sales of his beer and other social gatherings. His knowledge has been used by many other local sustainable breweries in Cape Breton and Mainland Nova Scotia such as the Tatamgouche Brewery. Eskasoni has started several ecotourism businesses such as guided walks on Goat Island Trail. This with the Iona Highland Village tour fits into the ‘two-eyed seeing’ model. Greg Silver’s sailing operation shows tourists the importance of development in an environmentally friendly way. Ben Eoin Ski Hill overlooks the lake and has developed an ‘Outdoor Classroom’ in collaboration with the BLBRA. This venture as well as with a large citizen science initiative called the ‘Bras d’Or Watch’, are designed to engage and educate residents and visitors about the valuable and charismatic ecosystem of the Bras d’Or Lake biosphere.

The Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere promotes environmentally sustainable development and the ‘two-eyed seeing’ concept in their guiding principles.