The Economic Value of Wild Resources to the Indigenous Community of the Wallis Lakes Catchment

There is currently a growing policy interest in the effects of the regulatory environment on the ability of Indigenous people to undertake customary harvesting of wild resources. This Discussion Paper develops and describes a methodology that can be used to estimate the economic benefi ts derived from the use of wild resources. The methodology and the survey instrument that was developed were pilot tested with the Indigenous community of the Wallis Lake catchment. The harvesting of wild resources for consumption makes an important contribution to the livelihoods of Indigenous people living in this area.Indigenous; harvesting of wild resources; natural resource management

The management of tree genetic resources and the livelihoods of rural communities in the tropics: non-timber forest products, smallholder agroforestry practices and tree commodity crops

Products and services provided by trees in forests and farmland support the needs and promote the wellbeing of hundreds of millions of people in the tropics. Value depends on managing both the diversity of tree species present in landscapes and the genetic variation within these species. The benefits from trees and their genetic resources are, however, often not well quantified because trade is frequently outside formal markets, there is a multiplicity of species and ways in which trees are used and managed, and genetic diversity within species is frequently not given proper consideration. We review here what is known about the value of trees to rural communities through considering three production categories: non-timber products harvested from trees in natural and managed forests and woodlands; the various products and services obtained from a wide range of trees planted and/or retained in smallholders’ agroforestry systems; and the commercial products harvested from cultivated tree commodity crops. Where possible, we focus on the role of intra-specific genetic variation in providing support to livelihoods, and for each of the three production categories we also consider wider conservation and sustainability issues, including the linkages between categories in terms of management. Challenges to ‘conventional wisdom’ on tree resource use, value and management – such as in the posited links between commercialisation, cultivation and conservation – are highlighted, and constraints and opportunities to maintain and enhance value are described

Design Matters : CBNRM and Democratic Innovation

Community-based natural resource management (CBRNM) aims to realize sustainable management of resources and improvements in livelihood. A central focus is the empowerment of indigenous and local communities through customary or devolved rights to common pool resources. Less attention is given to the extent to which inclusive forms of governance are realized in CBNRM. Democratic innovations are institutions designed explicitly to increase and deepen citizen participation in political decision-making. A number of exemplary cases around the world provide evidence that it is possible to empower citizens in ways that are inclusive and achieve desirable outcomes such as redistribution, recognition of marginalized groups, and improved livelihoods. By clarifying elements of the design of democratic innovations - in particular goods, tasks, mechanisms, and co-design - it is possible to understand how effective forms of participatory governance can be crafted. With careful attention to the endogenous practices of indigenous and local communities and the governance structures imposed by public authorities, CBNRM practitioners can draw on these elements of democratic design to craft forms of inclusive participatory governance that promote sustainable management of resources and improve livelihoods. A program of collaboration between CBNRM and democratic innovations practitioners will contribute to improvements amongst both communities of practice and the communities they serve

Rural poverty in Mexico: assets and livelihood strategies among the Mayas of Yucatán

Understanding poverty and sustainability needs livelihood studies that acknowledge heterogeneity at the community and household level. This is particularly true for Latin America where inequality and ethnicity are important aspects of poverty and sustainability. This paper is a detailed examination of the natural resources, socioeconomic assets and livelihood strategies of two Mayan communities of the Mexican State of Yucatán. There were three fundamental objectives: to elucidate the people’s perceptions of poverty, to analyze their resource use and livelihood strategies, and to suggest ways in which access to markets can reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the dominance of certain successful strategies is made clear. Firstly, milpa – the traditional system of maize production - is a way of life for the Mayas. Secure access to maize-producing land is a valuable asset, partly because it also attracts government subsidies. Secondly, ownership of small livestock is also part of Mayan life. Ownership of other assets such as bee hives gives access to (relatively) lucrative product markets. Thirdly, active agribusiness marketing also requires assets: ownership of transport services; finance to assemble and sell products such as forest fruits, honey and maize; business skills and an ability to create commercial linkages to traders. Appropriate interventions for different wealth groups are suggested to enhance sustainable development of the communities

Seeing 'REDD'?: Forests, Climate Change Mitigation and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Examines proposals for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and their failure to protect indigenous peoples' rights or to address forest governance problems. Calls for talks to include civil society and indigenous peoples

Compensation for expropriated community farmland in Nigeria: An in-depth analysis of the laws and practices related to land expropriation for the lekki free trade zone in lagos

In Nigeria, the recurring impoverishment and other negative socioeconomic impacts endured by landholders affected by expropriation are well-documented and call into question the Land Use Act’s (LUA) effectiveness in protecting local land rights. The World Bank’s Land Governance Assessment Framework found that, in Nigeria, “a large number of acquisitions occurs without prompt and adequate compensation, thus leaving those losing land worse off, with no mechanism for independent appeal even though the land is often not utilized for a public purpose”. Such negative outcomes may be due to a number of factors, including corruption, limited capacity, and insufficient financing as well as Nigeria’s weak legal framework. According to a recent study of compensation procedures established in national laws of 50 countries, Nigeria’s compensation procedure lags behind many of the countries assessed because the LUA mostly fails to adopt international standards on the valuation of compensation. This article examines Nigerian expropriation and compensation procedures in more detail by combining both an in-depth legal analysis of Nigeria’s expropriation laws as well as survey and qualitative research that indicates, to some extent, how expropriation laws function in practice in Nigeria. Based on our legal assessment, surveys, and interviews with both government and private sector officials involved in the LFTZ, we found that the Nigerian government failed to comply with international standards on expropriation and compensation, both in terms of its laws and its practices in the LFTZ case. This article expands our conference paper written for the UN Economic Commission of Africa Conference on Land Policy in Africa, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November of 2017. Under Nigeria’s LUA, affected landholders are not granted the right to participate in expropriation and compensation decision-making or otherwise be consulted on matters affecting their land and livelihoods. In 2004, the LUA enabled the Lagos State government to set aside 16,500 hectares of expropriated agricultural land from Lagos coastal communities to develop the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ). Following the expropriation, the Lagos State Government (LSG) and Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited signed a Memorandum of Understand (MOU) with nine affected communities in 2007. The MOU is a legally binding document that promises compensation, alternative land, jobs, healthcare, and educational opportunities to the communities affected by expropriation. However, our research suggests that the MOU has not been fully honored. According to a survey of 140 affected households conducted in August 2017, the government still had not paid sufficient compensation to all affected communities or had not yet provided them with suitable alternative land, jobs, equity shares and other entitlements promised by the MOU. While there are several reasons why the MOU has not been honored, this article mainly focuses on the failure of the LUA to establish binding obligations on government officials to compensation, resettle, and reconstruct the livelihoods of affected landholders. This article argues that the LUA must be reformed so that, whenever land is expropriated for development projects, the government and private sector entities (i.e., acquiring bodies) have a legal obligation to provide sufficient and prompt compensation, alternative land, jobs, equity shares, and other entitlements to affected landholders. Moreover, the LUA should obligate the government and acquiring bodies to follow a transparent and participatory process when expropriating land and compensating communities so that, if properly enforced, the reformed LUA can mitigate the risks commonly associated with expropriation, including landholder impoverishment, displacement, food insecurity, and conflict

Climate Justice and Women's Rights: A Guide to Supporting Grassroots Women's Action

This Guide emerged from a "Summit on Women and Climate" in Bali, Indonesia, and aims to increase timely and appropriate funding for worldwide climate action initiatives led by women and their communities. The Guide is not a comprehensive resource on climate change or women's rights. Instead, it addresses an urgent need within the funding community and offers concrete, practical guidance that: Orients grantmakers to the importance of funding at the intersection of climate justice and women's rights.Draws lessons from specific examples of funding for women's climate change initiatives.Provides guidance on how funders can collaborate to direct timely and appropriate funding to women and their communities.Advocates for bringing women's voices into climate change policy discussions.Highlights the strong impact that small (less than $10,000) to medium-sized ($10,000-$50,000) grants can make in women-organized efforts to address climate change at the community level, across geographic boundaries and in global climate policy. Grassroots women's climate activism is becoming increasingly critical to women's collective and individual rights, freedom and survival

Environment for the People

Environment for the People, a joint publication of PERI and the Centre for Science and the Environment (CSE) in India, documents innovative strategies used by environmental activists around the world to build natural assets. In diverse landscapes, from Bangladesh's riverine delta to Somalia's arid uplands, ommunities are investing in ecological restoration. In 'extractive reserves' in the Amazon rainforest, the defense of sustainable livelihoods goes hand-in-hand with defense of bio-diversity. In the Peruvian Andes, indigenous communities are fighting to protect their lands and water from the ravages of the mining industry. And in cities around the world, from Los Angeles to New Delhi, communities are mobilizing to defend the right to clean air. These and other inspiring cases profiled in Environment for the People illustrate that humankind does not face an inexorable 'tradeoff' between protecting the natural environment and improving economic well-being. On the contrary, struggles for environmental protection and sustainable livelihoods are bound together

BAICE Thematic Forum:Challenging deficit discourses in international education and development

Research and policy in international education has o en been framed in terms of a deficit discourse. For instance, policy debates on women’s literacy and education have begun by positioning women as a group who need to ‘catch up’ on certain skills in order to become more active in development. Rather than recognising the skills and knowledge that participants already have and prac se in their everyday lives, researchers who adopt this deficit perspective on learning and education may find that the research agenda and questions will already be shaped to a large extent by the providers’/ policy makers’ standpoint. This BAICE Thematic Forum aimed to deepen understanding around how deficit discourses have shaped the questions and objectives of international educational research. As well as deconstructing and gaining greater knowledge into why and how these dominant deficit discourses have influenced the research agenda, we also set out to investigate and propose alternative conceptual models through two linked seminars. The seminars were intended to explore and challenge dominant deficit discourses that have shaped the way researchers/policy makers look at specific groups in development and thematic policy areas