Contested forests

Ein beträchtlicher Teil des geografischen Gebiet Indiens besteht aus Waldflächen, welche durch sogenannte Ökosystemleistungen oft wesentlich zum Lebensunterhalt von lokalen Gemeinschaften beitragen. Diese Ressourcen-settings unterliegen meist staatlicher Kontrolle und sind aber vielfach nicht exklusiv in ihrer Nutzung. Sie zeichnen sich durch komplexe Besitzverhältnisse und konkurrierende Ansprüche in Zugang und Verwendung aus. Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit widmet sich den komplexen lokalen Bedingungen innerhalb des Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary in Südindien. Begrifflich wurde das Naturschutzgebiet als Allmenderessource (common-pool resource) gefasst. Durch eine positionelle Analyse soll die stattfindende Interaktion zwischen Menschen und Ökosystem aus einer lebensweltichen Perspektive begriffen werden um eine fortdauernde Nutzung fassbar zu machen. Beim Versuch ein Verständnis der gelebten Praktiken zu entwickeln wird eine situative ‚Umkämpfung’ des Waldes als den institutionellen Strukturen inhärent beobachtet. Eingebettet in einen sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschungsansatz wurde im Rahmen einer zweimonatigen Feldforschung zwischen Juli und September 2011 mit einer Soligas Dorfgemeinschaft gearbeitet. Mittels teilnehmender Beobachtung, unstrukturierten Interviews und informellen Gesprächen wurden Daten gesammelt und gleichzeitig auch zentrale methodische Erkenntnisse gewonnen. Die Frage nach dem wie Daten gesammelt werden trat dabei in den Vordergrund. Angesichts der praktischen und konzeptuellen Herausforderungen während der Feldforschung waren reflexive Überlegungen zu meiner Rolle als Forscherin integral für die Datenerhebung. Basierend auf der empirischen Forschung zeigte sich, dass die Waldflächen wichtige Quellen für bereitstellende, als auch kulturelle Dienstleistungen sind. Es wurde beobachtet, dass das Verhalten der direkten Nutzer augenscheinlich koordiniert auftritt und Interaktionen mit dem Ökosystem nicht unabhängig voneinander passieren. Insbesondere durch Beschränkungen von staatlichen Autoritäten fehlt lokale Autonomie um ein regulatives System zu entwickeln. Unterschiedliche Ausprägungen von inkonsistenten institutionellen Strukturen prägen die Situation, bezeichnet als institutional dissonance (cf. Bromley 1991:105). Gleichzeitig zeigt sich eine Verwandlung von informellen Vereinbarungen zu formal anerkannten Rechten durch die Implementierung des Forest Rights Act 2006.There is considerable part of India’s geographical area that consists of forestlands that provide essential ecosystem services and to which local communities depend for some part of their livelihood. Such resource settings are often non-exclusive and characterised by complex tenure situations, which provoke conflicting assertions over access to and use of the natural environment. Conceptualised as common-pool resource situations this thesis aims at illuminating the particular complex local circumstances within the boundaries of the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary in Southern India. In the positional analysis – of the conditions under which utilisation of the forest occurs and how the continuous interaction with the ecosystem is facilitated – particular focus is given to property rights regimes and situated institutions. In trying to devise an understanding of people’s lived practice(s) the thesis seeks to understand situational contestation as inherent to institutional structures in the current forest management inside protected areas. Embedded in a social scientific approach I conducted a two-months fieldwork between July and September 2011 in a forest settlements called Kalyani podu working with forest-dwelling people from the Soliga community. Drawing on an ethnographic research approach pivotal methodological insights were gained and discussed whereby the question of how data was gathered came to the fore. Through qualitative methods of participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, informal conversations and field note recordings data was gathered. Given the practical and conceptual challenges that were faced during the fieldwork the thesis also includes a reflexive examination of my role as an outsider and researcher being instructive for the data collection process. Based on the empirical insights it is suggested that forest areas provide an essential source of provisioning and cultural services. Users behaviour evidently occurs coordinated, they interact with the ecosystem not independently but naturally communicate. The diversity of utilisation of the common-pool resources is subject to restrictions enforced by state authorities whereas local autonomy to devise regulative systems was lacking. Complex layers of inconsistent institutional structures were observed that are conceptualised as institutional dissonance (cf. Bromley 1991:105). In this situation of quasi-authorisation it is furthermore remarked that informal agreements are transformed into formally sanctioned rules through the implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006

Laypersons' perception of common cold and influenza prevention : a qualitative study in Austria, Belgium and Croatia

Background: Common cold and influenza result in an increased number of primary care consultations, significant work/school absences and cause a socio-economic burden. Laypeople's perceptions and knowledge regarding common cold and influenza prevention is poorly understood and under-researched. Objectives: Our study explores laypeople's knowledge of prevention of common cold and influenza across three European countries. Furthermore, it investigates if there is any distinction between prevention activities focussing on reasons impacting the attitude towards influenza vaccination as well as investigating cross-country variation. Methods: In total, 85 semi-structured individual interviews were performed across three European countries (Austria n = 31, Belgium n = 30, Croatia n = 24). Qualitative thematic content analysis was performed. Results: Most participants across all three countries made no distinction between the prevention of the common cold and influenza and referenced the same preventative measures for both conditions. They mainly expressed negative attitudes towards influenza vaccination possibly effective but only intended for high-risk groups (bedridden/older people, chronic patients or health workers). There were very few cross-country differences in results. Conclusion: The perception of health risk of contracting influenza and a primary healthcare physicians' recommendation played an important role in shaping participants' decisions towards vaccination. Primary healthcare physicians are invited to assess and if necessary adjust inappropriate prevention behaviour through their everyday patient consultations as well as add to the knowledge about influenza severity and influenza vaccination benefits to their patients

'With fever it's the real flu I would say' : laypersons' perception of common cold and influenza and their differences : a qualitative study in Austria, Belgium and Croatia

Background: There is little research on laypersons' perceptions regarding common cold and influenza, their symptomatic distinction and considerations of risk. This study investigates understanding of pathogenesis across three European countries and provides a knowledge base from which adequate prevention recommendations and treatment advice can be derived. Methods: This is a qualitative research study. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 85 participants from three European countries (Austria n=31, Belgium n=30, Croatia n=24) about their experiences, perceptions and risk considerations regarding the common cold and influenza. We performed a qualitative thematic content analysis. Results: Three main themes were identified: common cold as harmless with individualistic symptoms; influenza as mainly distinguishable by fever, confinement to bed and severity of symptoms, but description about onset and duration are diverse; and views on pathogenesis contain references to disease causing agents and circumstances. Overall we found that risk perception is based largely on personal experience and risk is assumed moderate for both diseases. Conclusions: Study participants possessed a fairly good understanding of symptoms, differences and pathogenesis of common cold and influenza; but explanations integrated misconceptions, such as misinterpretation of fever, disease continuums, diverse onset ideas etc. Perceptions were largely based on lived experiences and interventions for prevention and treatment should be led by health care workers and focus on these issues. Basic consultations, awareness raising activities and other knowledge disseminations strategies should include aspects of communicableness and the self-limiting nature of both diseases. An informed understanding of both infectious diseases is crucial and may also increase influenza vaccination coverage in the three respective countries effectively

"We are survivors and not a virus:" Content analysis of media reporting on Ebola survivors in Liberia

Background The Ebola virus disease epidemic between 2013 and 2016 in West Africa was unprecedented. It resulted in approximately 28.000 cases and 10.000 Ebola survivors. Many survivors face social, economic and health-related predicaments and media reporting is crucially important in infectious disease outbreaks. However, there is little research on reporting of the social situation of Ebola survivors in Liberia. Methods The study used a mixed methods approach and analysed media reports from the Liberian Daily Observer (DOL), a daily newspaper available online in English. We were interested to know how the situation of Ebola survivors was portrayed; in what way issues such as stigma and discrimination were addressed; and which stigma reduction interventions were covered and how. We included all articles on the situation of Ebola survivors in the quantitative and in-depth qualitative analysis published between April 2014 and March 2016. Results The DOL published 148 articles that portrayed the social situation of Ebola survivors between the 24 months observation period. In these articles, Ebola survivors were often defined beyond biological terms, reflecting on a broader social definition of survivorship. Survivorship was associated with challenges such as suffering from after-effects, social and economic consequences and psychological distress. Almost 50% of the articles explicitly mentioned stigmatisation in their reporting on Ebola survivors. This was contextualised in untrustworthiness towards international responses and the local health care system and inconclusive knowledge on cures and transmission routes. In the majority of DOL articles stigma reduction and engaging survivors in the response was reported as crucially important. Discussion Reporting in the DOL was educational-didactical and well-balanced in terms of disseminating available medical knowledge and reflecting the social situation of Ebola survivors. While the articles contextualised factors contributing to stigmatisation throughout the reporting, journalistic scrutiny regarding effectiveness of interventions by government and NGOs was missing.(VLID)486837

Number of articles published per month between April 2014 and March 2016.

<p>Number of articles published per month between April 2014 and March 2016.</p

Kappa strength of agreement.

<p>Kappa strength of agreement.</p

Type of publication in the daily observer Liberia.

<p>Type of publication in the daily observer Liberia.</p

Timeline May 2015 until June 2016 [49].

<p>Timeline May 2015 until June 2016 [<a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005845#pntd.0005845.ref049" target="_blank">49</a>].</p

Changes in recreation use in response to urban heat differ between migrant and non-migrant green space users in Vienna, Austria

Previous research has found higher levels of heatwave mortality and morbidity among urban residents with a migration background because of their social, health and environmental conditions. The purpose of the study was to investigate and compare heat induced changes in the outdoor recreation behaviours of Turkish migrants with those of non-migrants on hot days in Vienna. Specifically, the study compared coping behaviours due to heat such as inter-area, intra-area, temporal and activity displacement between migrants and non-migrants. The study interviewed 400 migrants and non-migrants in four public green spaces of different area sizes and asked about their outdoor recreation motives and activities, as well as behavioural changes, due to summer heat. Results show that migrants have different motives for visiting urban green spaces on hot days, and that they visit these less frequently on hot days compared to non-migrants. While both groups shift their outdoor uses more to shady areas and the cooler times of the day, more migrants visit green spaces in the afternoon, perform more energetic recreational activities, and use sunnier sites more frequently than non-migrants on hot days. Few migrants and non-migrants stated that they would visit alternative green spaces when it is hot. The results indicate that migrants’ behaviours result in higher heat exposure, while making less use of the opportunities larger green spaces such as forests can provide for heat relief. Recommendations on how green and city planners could reduce heat related health risks for both study groups are presented