Hydro-political assessment of water governance from the top-down and review of literature on local level institutions and practices in the Volta Basin

Water resource management / Governance / River basin development / Water law / Colonialism / Institutions / Social participation / Women / Water use

Community Wildlife Management in Zambia: Testing Indicators of Sustainable Use in a Case Study of South Luangwa

This is Chapter 2 in the larger volume Lessons Learned: Case Studies in Sustainable Use. This study presents a means of evaluating sustainable use using a case study from the South Luangwa Area Management Unit in Zambia as an illustration. It gives more emphasis to processes of sustainability, rather than to the achievement of a particular state. Matrixes are presented for most factors (External/Human Population; and Modifiable factors: Economic -- Price-Policy and Market Distortions; Proprietorship: Socio-Political Organization, Resource Governance and Tenure; Management: Organizations and Resources) together with indicators of the processes involved. Indicators have been defined from two perspectives: From an overall assessment of a number of programmes in a region, and of this particular programme. Emphasis is put on social, economic, and political systems, withmanagement of the natural resource seen as being a consequence of these. The study forwards that the key to sustainable use of wildlife lies in promoting its comparative advantage overother types of land use. Proprietorship, correction of market and policy failures, and management of both human and natural resources are seen as the three main pillars leading to sustainable use. T

Recreation, tourism and nature in a changing world : proceedings of the fifth international conference on monitoring and management of visitor flows in recreational and protected areas : Wageningen, the Netherlands, May 30-June 3, 2010

Proceedings of the fifth international conference on monitoring and management of visitor flows in recreational and protected areas : Wageningen, the Netherlands, May 30-June 3, 201

Coastal Resource Management in the Wider Caribbean: Resilience, Adaptation, and Community Diversity

The Caribbean Sea is the second largest sea in the world, including more than 30 insular and continental countries with an approximate population of 35 million. In addition to its highly fractionalized territory, it is characterized by a great linguistic and cultural diversity, a phenomenon enhanced by increasing internal migrations and the expansion of tourism. The implementation of coastal management programs, often embedded in top-down approaches, is therefore faced with a series of ecological and social constraints, explaining why they have had only limited success. This book presents an alternative look at existing coastal management initiatives in the North America (Caribbean); focusing on the need to pay more attention to the local community. Emphasizing the great heterogeneity of Caribbean communities, the book shows how the diversity of ecosystems and cultures has generated a significant resilience and capacity to adapt, in which the notion of community itself has to be re-examined. The concluding chapter presents lessons learned and a series of practical recommendations for decision-makers

The distribution and habitat preferences of wild ungulates and cattle in Lochinvar National Park, Zambia and the use of resources by people living adjacent to the park

(1) The distribution and habitat preferences of wild ungulates and cattle were determined from observations and counts in Lochinvar National Park and the Game Management Area (GMA) on the west em part of the park on the Kafue river floodplain of Zambia over five months. Oribi, zebra and lechwe were the most widely distributed wild ungulates using habitat patches inside and outside the park. Although the distribution of buffalo was restricted within the park, the species was found in all the habitat types unlike lechwe and zebra that preferred only the floodplain and termitaria areas. Wildebeest preferred the termitaria and floodplain areas inside the park. The highest lechwe density was in Chunga floodplain with a density of 504.2/km2 followed by Mulindi GMA with 451.9/km2. The lowest lechwe density was in Mulindl termitaria with 0.4/km2. Zebra density was highest in Nampongwe floodplain with 118/km2 while the highest wildebeest density was on Gwisho dambo with 27/km2. Nampongwe floodplain had the highest oribi density with 2.8/km2. There were significant differences in the density of lechwe inside and outside the park in Mulindi. Zebra and oribi densities inside and outside the park in Mulindi were low and no differences could be noted. (2) The biomass production in the different habitats was determined by harvesting the above ground biomass in selected areas in each habitat. The termitaria were the most productive of the three habitat types with an estimated production of 4320kg/ha followed by the woodland with 3200kg/ha and the least production was in the floodplain with 2850kg/ha. Of this total, grasses made up 87.4%, 83. 7% and 72.5% of the production in the floodplain, termitaria and woodland respectively. There were no significant differences in biomass production between different habitat types, however, there were significant differences in biomass production within the same habitat. (3) The species composition of the dominant plants was different in all habitat types. and as a result, the forage availability in the different habitats also differed. The floodplain was dominated by Echinoehloa spp, Panicum repens and Oryza longistaminata whereas the termitaria was dominated by Hyparrhenia rufa, Setaria spp and Echinochloa colonum. The woodland was dominated by Setaria and Digitaria spp. (4) Cover was determined in the different habitat types using the Parker Step Point method. The highest amount of grass cover was in the floodplain with 46.6% followed by termitaria with 45.6% and the woodland with 13.3%. Non grass cover was highest in the termitaria with 15.8°, followed by floodplain with 9.4% and woodland with 0.5%. The woodland had the highest amount of litter with 66.5% followed by the floodplain with 30.7%. The termitaria had the least amount of litter with 24.9%. The highest amount of bare ground was in the woodland with 19.8% followed by termitaria with 13.8% and the floodplain with 13.3%. There were significant differences in the proportion of grass and non-grass cover in all habitat types. There were no significant differences in the proportion of litter and bare ground between the floodplain and tennitaria and between floodplain and woodland however, there were significant differences in the proportion of litter and bare ground between the tennitaria and woodland. (5) A questionnaire survey revealed that game meat and grazing land are the two main resources that are used by people near the park. The main problems faced by people living near the park is destruction of crops by problem animals like baboons and bushpigs and the transmission of diseases like tuberculosis from game to livestock. The survey also revealed that people are forced to travel inside the park because it is the shortest route to various destinations. Others travel inside the park because the main sources of employment in the area are found inside the park. Game seems to be used to the presence of people and will only run away when closely approached or when people are travelling using a vehicle. (6) The results of the study do not support the hypothesis that cattle can be accommodated in Lochinvar National Park with no adverse effect on lechwe and other large herbivores. Cattle and game use the same areas outside the park in Mulindi but the areas are used at different times in the year. (7) Lochinvar National Park needs a clear burning policy to effectively manage the bush encroachment problem and overgrazing in some areas inside the park. The income generated by the park should be ploughed back into the management of the park in order to effectively control poaching, human encroachment into the park and to monitor the activities and movements of people inside the park

Transboundary water governance and water conflicts in the Lake Victoria Basin: an adaptive and integrative management approach

Lake Victoria Basin is a transboundary natural resource shared by five East African Community countries. The Basin experiences unsustainable water resource utilization and management which creates conflicts among the users. This objective of this study was to examine the contribution of transboundary water governance systems in managing the water conflicts in the Basin. Qualitative data were collected through interviews and focused group discussions where respondents were clustered and purposively selected while quantitative data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS. Lake Victoria Basin Governance Performance Composite Index was also used to assess the effectiveness of governance systems in the Basin. The study findings revealed that: transboundary water governance systems with participation, integration, legal frameworks, collaboration, equity and adaptability, all with P < 0.05 negatively and significantly influence the causes of conflicts and water management challenges; integration (20%) and equity (19%) contribute highly to the model; and both adaptive and integrative water governance systems are less effective with a score of 34% and 35% respectively. The study concludes that the current management systems require an adaptive and integrative governance system. The study recommends harmonization of regional laws and policies governing the Basin and involvement of local communities in decision making

Co-management as an option for private protected areas : a case study of the Shongweni Resource Reserve.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.Since the establishment of the first protected area in 1872, the Yellowstone National Park, the concept of protected areas and their management have witnessed several controversies and conflicts. Generally, ownership and management of most of these protected areas has in the past been restricted to state -governments. Other stakeholders and particularly local communities neighbouring these areas were excluded from their management and ownership. Since the last three decades, however, conservation bodies have been trying to encourage various other protected area governance (management) approaches to address failures in the existing management approach (in which state governments almost solely managed and owned these protected areas ) to achieve the conservation goals. Some of these include co-management and private protected area management approaches. In Component A of this study, "Co-management as an option for private protected areas: A case study of the Shongweni Resource Reserve", attempts were made to explore a selection of literature in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the concepts of private protected areas and co-management. Through this documentary review of literature from various sources (internet, libraries, personal communication, etc) the study identified, examined and documented various issues associated with the concepts. It also explored and documented the historical and current perspectives as well as the legal and policy context of these concepts in South Africa. In addition, the study examined the study area and the methods explored in the study. The study concludes in this Component that: 1. Protected area co-management is a pluralistic approach to the management of protected areas. It recognises a variety of stakeholders that are conducive to the achievement of sustainable conservation goals. 2. Private protected areas have tremendously increased in South Africa, with a total of 13% of the land surface under private protected area management. This is more than double the land surface under public protected area management. 3. South Africa has adequate legal and policy framework provisions that encourage comanagement as well as private protected area management