Participatory 3D modelling as a socially engaging and user-useful approach in ecosystem service assessments among marginalized communities

Land use decision making in the Upper Suriname River area knows a history of disempowerment and marginalization of the Saamaka communities inhabiting the area. Non-recognition of land rights is at the origin of this problem. This is aggravated by the increasing over-exploitation of timber resources by powerful stakeholders and the unfair distribution of timber benefits. This has left Saamakans marginalized, causing distrust and opposition among themselves and towards outsiders. Furthermore, as a result of deforestation, Saamakans face detrimental changes in the ecosystem services (ES) that support their traditional livelihoods, with important effects for their wellbeing. This environment of distrust, opposition and marginalization makes it difficult to assess these concerns. Hence, an ES assessment approach that would generate salient ES knowledge while generating trust, communication among stakeholders and local capacity building was needed. In this paper we evaluate whether Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) is an effective approach for ecosystem services assessments in such disenabling environments. We evaluate this by using empirical data from an ES assessment in the Saamaka region using a P3DM approach. Results show the efficient identification and evaluation of 36 ES representing provisioning, cultural and regulating service categories with crops, fish, wild meat, timber and forest medicines identified as most important. We found a decrease in the demand and supply of crops, fish and wild meat associated with ecosystem degradation, out-migration and changes in lifestyles. Further, our findings show an increasing demand and decreasing supply for timber related to over-exploitation. We provide evidence of the utility of P3DM to foster multi-functional landscape development among wary communities. Further, we discuss the usefulness of the approach and the necessary conditions needed for P3DM process to tackle the needs of the local communities as well as the need for a broader P3DM implementation strategy beyond the engagement, screening, and diagnostic phases of ES assessments when the aim is to enhance ES outcomes for marginalized communities

Agroforestry in the Amazon Region: A Pathway for Balancing Conservation and Development

This chapter argues for a broader conceptual domain provided by agroforestry practices as a key pathway for the reorientation of agricultural systems in the Amazon toward modes of production that combine productivity and sustainability. A contextualization of the multiple expressions of current agroforestry development in the Amazon shows that, contrasting with homegardens and shifting cultivation, ubiquitous in the region, planned or organized agroforestry systems are still minor elements of the agricultural landscape, often arising from farmers’ experimentation or resulting from initiatives funded by international cooperation. A “multichain” approach focusing on both established markets as well as “secondary chains” is suggested as a pathway for agroforestry to go beyond subsistence toward income generation and to reduce the constraints faced by Amazon farmers to intensify land use. The costs and risks presented by practices leading to intensification, aggravated by problems in regional infrastructure, limited access to adequate technical and financial services, and insecure land tenure require equitable development policies and programs to support such initiatives. A stronger policy identity for agroforestry in the region should thus recognize the provision of both economic goods and ecosystem services, and this chapter argues that given the carbon stored in agroforestry systems, the framework of environmental international agreements is an opportunity to combine environmental and livelihood benefits through the design, promotion, and dissemination of agroforestry strategies. A review of policies that can influence adoption of sustainable land use systems in the Amazon region attests their operation in a fragmented manner. These policies must be set as a cohesive whole, being agroforestry the common thread to support and link initiatives to reduce poverty and hunger, curb deforestation and CO2 emissions, and to mitigate climate change. Agroforestry will be then an effective strategy to bridge gaps between policies, and particularly in linking environmental opportunities with economic realities, while enhancing the livelihoods of smallholders, traditional communities, and indigenous peoples in the Amazon

Formalizing Community Forest tenure rights: A theory of change and conditions for Success

The formalization of community forest tenure rights is expected to promote sustainable community forest management, and is seen as a way to combine objectives related to environmental conservation, livelihood improvement, and local self-determination. However, the formalization of forest tenure rights by itself, does not automatically result in the intended impacts. There is a need to better understand the conditions under which communities are able to use these rights to achieve positive outcomes across multiple dimensions. We formulated a simple theory of change that underlies the formalization of community forest tenure rights, and used it to assess the outcomes, bottlenecks and enabling conditions of community forest tenure models across the forested tropics. Based on this analysis, we identified ten conditions that need to be in place for community forest tenure rights formalization to achieve the intended impacts. The theory of change and associated conditions form a generic conceptual framework that can be used to inform policy and practice of actors supporting community forest tenure rights, including civil society organizations and government agencies