A fine mess: Bricolaged forest governance in Cameroon

Value chains of Cameroonian non-timber forest products move through harvesters, processors and traders, to consumers locally and worldwide. This paper characterises six governance arrangements governing eight such chains: statutory and customary regulations, voluntary market-based systems, international conventions, project-based systems and corruption. Governance is messy with overlapping, multiple layers of institutions and actors. There are voids where no institutions govern access to resources and markets; some actors fulfil roles normally the reserve of the state. In some chains the state performs its duties, in others not, and other institutions fill the gaps. To negotiate this complexity, many actors have become adept ‘bricoleurs'. They make the best of the arrangements in which they find themselves, and creatively use capitals available, building on natural capital to construct new governance arrangements and/or remould existing ones to meet their current objectives, circumstances and livelihoods. This ‘fine mess’ makes examining the impacts on the livelihoods of participants and their sustainability challenging. A measure of governance intensity and extensive fieldwork was thus used. It indicates strong trade-offs between natural, social and economic capital, creating winners and losers. Trade-offs between livelihoods and sustainability are most acute either when there are no governance arrangements; when arrangements do not take account of the susceptibility of a species to harvesting; or when they do not balance supply and demand. Policy challenges and opportunities include recognising and dealing with pluralism; reconciling conflicting rules; hearing the voices of silent actors; learning from failures and raising chain visibility by recognising natural and  socio-economic values

Small-scale Tourism Development in Brazilian Amazonia: The Creation of a ‘Tourist Bubble’

In Brazil, tourism is promoted as a means of generating employment, tax revenues, foreign exchange and investments in infrastructure. The Amazon region is thereby primarily marketed as a ‘green’ destination. One such a destination is the village of Alter do Chão in the municipality of Santarém in the state of Pará, where tourism has expanded rapidly during the past decade. Looking at the main characteristics of tourism in the study area and the actors involved, the authors show that the notion of a ‘tourist bubble’, which was developed for large-scale enclave-like resorts, may apply equally to a small-scale destination. First, it is in the sense of abstracting from historical and cultural contexts in relation to the antecedents of the local population and by commercializing the local Sairé festival as ‘staged authenticity’. Second, a ‘tourist bubble’ is emerging as a result of increasing physical and functional segregation of tourism and residential areas. As far as the local population is concerned, the creation of the ‘bubble’ primarily represents new economic opportunities. However, the introduction of ‘invented traditions’ is also easily adopted because it fits in with the ongoing ethnic reclassification process in Brazil among culturally fragmented populations in search for their ‘roots’ and lost rights. The authors conclude that in order to fully understand the complexity and dynamics of cultural and economic transformations following tourism development, it is necessary to also look beyond the ‘tourist bubble’.Resumen: El desarrollo turístico de pequeña escala en la Amazonía brasileña: la creación de una ‘burbuja turística’En Brasil, los gobiernos en todos niveles están promoviendo el turismo para generar empleo, impuestos, divisas e inversiones en infraestructura. La región amazónica brasileña está siendo comercializada como un destino ‘verde’. La aldea de Alter do Chão en la municipalidad de Santarém al oeste del estado del Pará, donde el turismo se ha expandido rápidamente en la última década, es un ejemplo de tal destino. Analizando las características del turismo en el área de estudio y los actores involucrados, las autoras muestran que la noción de ‘burbuja turística’ se aplica tanto a destinos turísticos de pequeña escala como a complejos tipo enclave a gran escala. Primero, porque en la comercialización del festival de Sairé se abstraen los contextos históricos y culturales propios de la población local. En segundo lugar porque la intensificación de la segregación física y funcional entre las áreas turísticas y residenciales ha provocado una ‘burbuja turística’, aumentando los precios de terrenos residenciales en el centro de la villa. En lo que concierne a la población local, estos desarrollos representan nuevas oportunidades económicas. Sin embargo, las ‘tradiciones inventadas’ son fácilmente adoptadas porque coinciden con el proceso de reclasificación étnica actualmente en curso en Brasil entre grupos de la población socialmente fragmentados y a la búsqueda de sus ‘raíces’ y derechos perdidos. Se describen varios otros efectos, como las consecuencias positivas y negativas en las esferas ambientales, económicas y sociales. Aunque la balanza del desarrollo del turismo en la aldea es positiva en la percepción de los habitantes locales, más expansión engendra el riesgo de degradación ambiental irreversible y la exclusión de los inmigrantes pobres de comunidades vecinas que buscan empleo relacionado con el turismo. Los autores concluyen que para comprender cabalmente la complejidad y dinámica de las transformaciones culturales y económicas del desarrollo del turismo, es necesario mirar más allá de la ‘burbuja turística’

Local knowledge and practices among Tonga people in Zambia and Zimbabwe: A review

There is increasing recognition of the role of Indigenous and local knowledge systems in sustainable land use and conservation practices. However, the evidence base remains fragmented, while local knowledge remains marginalised in many national biodiversity strategies and development plans. This applies to the Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Here, we synthesise existing evidence of Tonga knowledge and practices to explore their potential contribution to the implementation of integrated landscape approaches that aim to incorporate multiple stakeholders’ objectives in landscape-scale management. Based on a semi-systematic literature review, we identify how various dimensions of Tonga knowledge contribute to biodiversity, food security, soil conservation, and other well-being dimensions. Research gaps identified include significantly less documented evidence of Tonga knowledge and practices in Zimbabwe and limited attention to the biophysical impact of local practices on land and natural resources. Furthermore, there is limited attention to the historical processes that have led to the erosion of Tonga local knowledge and the political disempowerment of Tonga knowledge holders. The findings contribute to greater recognition and validation of Tonga local knowledge and practices in natural resource governance, particularly how such knowledge can contribute to integrated landscape governance. Finally, the review helps to define a future research agenda based on the knowledge gaps identified

Forging connections, pursuing social justice: a tribute to Maarten Bavinck’s conceptual and institution-building contributions to maritime studies

This paper is written in recognition of the contributions that Maarten Bavinck has made to the field of maritime studies and for the inspiration that he has been for many. It is hard to separate Maarten’s academic and institution-building contributions from his personal qualities, particularly his interest in human relationships. Maarten’s aptitude for building bridges between people, ideas, and institutions has allowed him to connect people in larger knowledge generation and action projects and forge new conceptual bridges. In addition to reflecting shortly on Maarten's key role in establishing the Centre for Maritime Research (MARE) as a institutional anchor in maritime studies, this paper reviews on some of his important and original contributions to four academic domains: legal pluralism, interactive governance, the study of fisheries conflicts, and the environment-development interface. Common threads across these domains include his long-term commitment to meticulous fieldwork in South Asia that grounds his work so firmly, his focus on achieving a more socially just use of marine and coastal resources, and his pragmatic approach that has led to original connections across distinct conceptual and institutional fields

Will agroforest vanish? the case of Damar agroforest in Indonesia

A-08-37International audienceResin producing agroforestry in the Krui area of Sumatra in Indonesia is presented as an environmentally friendly, income generating land-use system which contributes to both development and conservation objectives. We studied the change in household income portfolios in three communities in the Krui area. The studies revealed that in the period 1995–2004 agroforestry remained the main source of income. We predict, however, that due to declining resin productivity per hectare, and rising price and demand for timber, an increasing number of farmers will cut their mature agroforests in the near future. At the same time our data suggests that farmers will continue tree planting activities. In result old agroforests may vanish while new ones will be established

Gold, power, protest: Digital and social media and protests against large-scale mining projects in Colombia

Colombia’s Internet connectivity has increased immensely. Colombia has also ‘opened for business’, leading to an influx of extractive projects to which social movements object heavily. Studies on the role of digital media in political mobilisation in developing countries are still scarce. Using surveys, interviews, and reviews of literature, policy papers, website and social media content, this study examines the role of digital and social media in social movement organisations and asks how increased digital connectivity can help spread knowledge and mobilise mining protests. Results show that the use of new media in Colombia is hindered by socioeconomic constraints, fear of oppression, the constraints of keyboard activism and strong hierarchical power structures within social movements. Hence, effects on political mobilisation are still limited. Social media do not spontaneously produce non-hierarchical knowledge structures. Attention to both internal and external knowledge sharing is therefore conditional to optimising digital and social media use

Small-scale Tourism Development in Brazilian Amazonia: The Creation of a ‘Tourist Bubble’

In Brazil, tourism is promoted as a means of generating employment, tax revenues, foreign exchange and investments in infrastructure. The Amazon region is thereby primarily marketed as a ‘green’ destination. One such a destination is the village of Alter do Chão in the municipality of Santarém in the state of Pará, where tourism has expanded rapidly during the past decade. Looking at the main characteristics of tourism in the study area and the actors involved, the authors show that the notion of a ‘tourist bubble’, which was developed for large-scale enclave-like resorts, may apply equally to a small-scale destination. First, it is in the sense of abstracting from historical and cultural contexts in relation to the antecedents of the local population and by commercializing the local Sairé festival as ‘staged authenticity’. Second, a ‘tourist bubble’ is emerging as a result of increasing physical and functional segregation of tourism and residential areas. As far as the local population is concerned, the creation of the ‘bubble’ primarily represents new economic opportunities. However, the introduction of ‘invented traditions’ is also easily adopted because it fits in with the ongoing ethnic reclassification process in Brazil among culturally fragmented populations in search for their ‘roots’ and lost rights. The authors conclude that in order to fully understand the complexity and dynamics of cultural and economic transformations following tourism development, it is necessary to also look beyond the ‘tourist bubble’.Resumen: El desarrollo turístico de pequeña escala en la Amazonía brasileña: la creación de una ‘burbuja turística’En Brasil, los gobiernos en todos niveles están promoviendo el turismo para generar empleo, impuestos, divisas e inversiones en infraestructura. La región amazónica brasileña está siendo comercializada como un destino ‘verde’. La aldea de Alter do Chão en la municipalidad de Santarém al oeste del estado del Pará, donde el turismo se ha expandido rápidamente en la última década, es un ejemplo de tal destino. Analizando las características del turismo en el área de estudio y los actores involucrados, las autoras muestran que la noción de ‘burbuja turística’ se aplica tanto a destinos turísticos de pequeña escala como a complejos tipo enclave a gran escala. Primero, porque en la comercialización del festival de Sairé se abstraen los contextos históricos y culturales propios de la población local. En segundo lugar porque la intensificación de la segregación física y funcional entre las áreas turísticas y residenciales ha provocado una ‘burbuja turística’, aumentando los precios de terrenos residenciales en el centro de la villa. En lo que concierne a la población local, estos desarrollos representan nuevas oportunidades económicas. Sin embargo, las ‘tradiciones inventadas’ son fácilmente adoptadas porque coinciden con el proceso de reclasificación étnica actualmente en curso en Brasil entre grupos de la población socialmente fragmentados y a la búsqueda de sus ‘raíces’ y derechos perdidos. Se describen varios otros efectos, como las consecuencias positivas y negativas en las esferas ambientales, económicas y sociales. Aunque la balanza del desarrollo del turismo en la aldea es positiva en la percepción de los habitantes locales, más expansión engendra el riesgo de degradación ambiental irreversible y la exclusión de los inmigrantes pobres de comunidades vecinas que buscan empleo relacionado con el turismo. Los autores concluyen que para comprender cabalmente la complejidad y dinámica de las transformaciones culturales y económicas del desarrollo del turismo, es necesario mirar más allá de la ‘burbuja turística’