Negotiating Community Rights to Forest Resources in the Tanganyika Basin in Zambia: Understanding structural power asymmetries in a landscape approach

The effectiveness of community resource management and land rights in the Lake Tanganyika Integrated Project (LTIP) has been premised on principles that legally devolved control over demarcated forests to the locals will secure community rights to resources, increase local stewardship and thus create a sustainable management option. Traditionally, the conservation regimes in this region have been centralised through a network of forest reserves and open landscapes under the control of government and traditional authorities respectively. Through stakeholders’ advocacy, there has been a recent shift from centralised forest management policy to community engagement in a landscape approach. A study was conducted in this landscape to analyse the engagement of two communities comprising 87 respondents. The objective of the study was to understand how different actors in the community influence decision-making in the negotiation process of forestland rights and benefits within the context of a landscape approach. The paper also discusses the asymmetries of power and gender within the communities, and how such asymmetries affect access to environmental goods and services. Based on ethnographic work, focus group interviews and historical analysis of forestry policies affecting the Tanganyika Basin, the study validates that through rigorous stakeholder engagement and negotiated common goal entry points for resource use and management, communally managed forests increase stewardship of local resources, thereby creating opportunities to leverage conservation and development. The findings also indicate that decentralisation of forest resource governance is a complex political process, involving (re)distribution of power and requiring strong local administrative capacities. Involving women and youths in decision-making processes increases equitable access to forest resources compared to more centralised options. Finally, the research found that communal forest, while promising a steady flow of ecosystem services arising from sustainable management, has potential to create exclusivity in social networks that may foster resource use conflicts at inter-community level. The paper concludes that the negotiation process for resource rights takes a long time and requires a well thought out consultative process

The Role of Multistakeholder Platforms in Environmental Governance: Analyzing Stakeholder Perceptions in Kalomo District, Zambia, Using Q-Method

Multistakeholder platforms (MSPs) are increasingly applied in environmental governance as institutions to collectively negotiate challenges, opportunities, and policy options in contested landscapes. However, their contributions and effectiveness depend on how stakeholders perceive and frame the role of MSPs in addressing social and environmental challenges. Despite this dependence, stakeholder perceptions of MSPs are currently under-researched. Hence this empirical study carried out in Zambia’s Kalomo District asks: how do stakeholder groups perceive the role of MSPs in addressing landscape challenges, given the context of the dual land tenure system, and what does this imply for the implementation of integrated landscape approaches? This study uses Q-methodology to analyze the perceptions of purposefully selected stakeholders from state institutions, civil society organizations, land users, and others familiar with existing MSPs at the district and village levels. The findings reveal three narratives. The first one presents MSPs as institutions that foster dialogue. The second narrative foregrounds the role of the government and private sector, despite acknowledging the diversity of stakeholders in MSPs. In this narrative, MSPs should focus on supporting market-driven solutions to resolve landscape challenges. The third narrative recognizes power imbalances and considers MSPs as institutions to identify policy gaps and needs. The first two narratives are positioned in Dryzek’s discourse classification as environmental problem-solving, while the third inclines toward green radicalism. Despite this divergence, there was consensus that MSPs have the potential to harmonize policies in a dual governance system and encourage dialogue between stakeholders to reconcile landscape challenges

Navigating power imbalances in landscape governance: a network and influence analysis in southern Zambia

Actors engaging in integrated landscape approaches to reconciling conservation and development represent multiple sectors and scales and actors with different powers, resource access, and influence on decision-making. Despite growing acknowledgement, limited evidence exists on the implications of power relations for landscape governance. Therefore, this paper asks why and how different forms of power unfold and affect the functioning of multi-stakeholder platforms in southern Zambia. Social network analysis and a power influence assessment reveal that all actors exercise some form of visible, hidden, or invisible power in different social spaces to influence decision-making or negotiate a new social order. The intersection of customary and state governance reveals that power imbalances are the product of actors’ social belongingness, situatedness, and settlement histories. We conclude that integrated landscape approaches are potentially suited to balance power by triggering new dynamic social spaces for different power holders to engage in landscape decision-making. However, a power analysis before implementing a landscape approach helps better recognise power differentials and create a basis for marginalised actors to participate in decision-making equally. The paper bears relevance beyond the case, as the methods used to unravel power dynamics in contested landscapes are applicable across the tropics where mixed statutory and customary governance arrangements prevail

Using Scenario Building and Participatory Mapping to Negotiate Conservation-Development Trade-Offs in Northern Ghana

In multifunctional landscapes, expanding economic activities jeopardise the integrity of biodiverse ecosystems, generating conservation-development trade-offs that require multi-stakeholder dialogue and tools to negotiate conflicting objectives. Despite the rich literature on participatory mapping and other tools to reveal different stakeholder perspectives, there is limited evidence on the application of such tools in landscape-scale negotiations. This paper addresses this gap by analysing a participatory mapping process in Ghana’s Western Wildlife Corridor, where a community-based landscape governance system called the community resource management area (CREMA) exists. Data from three participatory mapping workshops and focus group discussions with community and institutional actors reveal that increasing demand for food and natural resources and climate change impacts are drivers of landscape degradation, resulting in declining faunal and floral biodiversity and reduced ecosystem services. Meanwhile, community actors prioritise the expansion of farming land, while institutional actors prioritise forest conservation. However, scenario building and participatory mapping helped communicate each other’s aims and reach a negotiated consensus. Finally, power relations, cultural and traditional rules, and differences in knowledge affected deliberations and decision-making. We conclude that scenario building and participatory mapping can contribute to an inclusive landscape approach, provided that well-functioning multi-stakeholder platforms are in place and facilitators adequately navigate power imbalances and recognise different kinds and degrees of knowledge