Stakeholder discourses on urban mangrove conservation and management

In Southeast Asia, mangrove forest cover and biodiversity has shown a rapid decline in recent decades, despite extensive conservation efforts. Identifying and analysing discourses on biodiversity conservation improves our knowledge and understanding of stakeholder perspectives (including normative values and socially constructed viewpoints) on biodiversity conservation within a specific social-ecological context. Considering these perspectives in a decision-making context contributes to the long-term sustainability of resulting conservation approaches, thus contributing to continued biodiversity conservation efforts in the far future. We consider the urban City State of Singapore to identify and interpret stakeholder discourses -including values and socially constructed viewpoints-on (effective) mangrove biodiversity conservation and management in an urban context. Using the Q methodology, we: (i) delineate and describe mangrove conservation and management discourses in Singapore and (ii) extract consensual perspectives common to discourses as a basis for management recommendations. Areas of agreement and disagreement on motivation, prioritization and responsibilities related to mangrove conservation and management are described based on numerical (i.e. sorting of statements along an ordinal scale) and qualitative data (i.e. structured interviews). There was a large overlap between discourses, suggesting that disagreement between various stakeholders may not be a prominent inhibitor of future decision making regarding mangrove conservation and management. It seems stakeholders realise the urban context strongly limits the range of realistic conservation and management approaches of mangrove forests, resulting in the larger overlap between discourses. Generally, all participants agree no further loss of existing Singapore mangroves should be allowed. The most important recommendations to reach this ultimate objective include indefinite legal protection and increase of mangrove areas under national park and nature reserve status, as well as continued promotion of mangrove's cultural ecosystem services. The identified discourses can inform decision-making by deducing shared stakeholder objectives based on the consensus values and perspectives. These shared objectives can readily be incorporated in decision-making processes on mangrove conservation and management in an urban context.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Analysing discourses of environmental stakeholders on effective conservation of mangrove forests in Singapore

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Local stakeholder perception as a key component to improve mangrove management in Matang, Malaysia

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Mapping research gaps for sustainable forest management based on the nominal group technique

Managing a complex social-ecological system requires data about the many social and ecological variables characterizing it and about their interactions. While the selection of research topics has its own, mostly unpredictable dynamics and contingencies, there has been a recent surge of interest regarding the involvement of non-academic stakeholders in suggesting research topics and identifying perceived knowledge gaps regarding the management of complex social-ecological systems. Decision-makers will invariably be confronted with limitations regarding resources to be allocated to the study of various systems components, and regarding the processing capacity of scientists and other stakeholders alike. Matang forest is one of the longest-managed mangroves in the world and provides a widely cited example of silvicultural management for charcoal and pole production, while providing a range of other ecosystem services. We applied the nominal group technique (NGT) to identify research priorities for Matang, as it provides a systematic and participatory approach to identify collective priorities while also reducing bias. The method consists of two rounds, during which participants were asked to refect frst individually, and then collectively, about key characteristics of mangrove management and about research priorities in Matang. The results were compared to the recommendations of the scientifc literature. NGT provides a rapid, robust and systematic approach to identify research priorities for mangrove management and can hence be a timely method to support decision-makers across South-East Asia in guiding resource allocation toward research needs in times of increasing mangrove degradation. This is the frst time that the application of NGT has been documented in a mangrove context. Moreover, NGT is not yet being used frequently in natural resources management, hence in documenting our NGT application, we aim to contribute to the development of a the NGT body of knowledge beyond mere mangrove forest settings. Rapid methods (such as NGT) to identify pressing research priorities are needed to guide resource allocation and investment of time and scientifc capacity based on a systematic and pluralistic assessment

Call for a collaborative management at Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve, Malaysia: An assessment from local stakeholders’ view point

Effective management of a socio-ecological system (SES) requires a good understanding of: (i) ecosystem functionality, (ii) interactions between social and ecological units, and (iii) stakeholder perceptions and activities. Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve (MMFR) covering 40,200 ha in Peninsular Malaysia is under silvicultural management (with a 30-year forest rotation cycle) for charcoal and timber production since 1902. The aim of this study is to assess the perceptions of (select) local stakeholders on the ongoing mangrove management of MMFR. Earlier, Huge et al. (2016), using Q methodology, identified three main shared perceptions, called discourses: (1) Optimization- ‘keep up the good work, but keep improving’, (2) Change for the better- ‘ecotourism & participatory management for sustainability’, and (3) Continuity – ‘business as usual is the way to go’. The current study is a follow-up to Huge et al. (2016) and reports on a survey which assessed the degree of support of the local stakeholders towards those three management discourses. The core statements of each discourse were presented as questions and then ranked by the participants. Based on the findings of the survey, the local stakeholders were clustered into three main working categories: (i) charcoal and timber workers, (ii) fishermen and (iii) service providers. The interviews held with 114 stakeholders indicated that discourse (2) ‘change for the better’ is the most popular (supported by 72% of the participants) regardless of the stakeholders’ working category. This discourse voices the involvement of local people in decision making, adopts participatory management, and encourages diverse mangrove-based economic activities beyond mere charcoal and timber production. Single-use management (focusing only on maximising charcoal and timber yields) was perceived as not equitably benefiting all local stakeholders. The insights of this study can guide the managers of Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve to improve the sustainability and the local support base for the existing mangrove management regime, e.g. by promoting diverse livelihood options for the local stakeholders.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Crab community structure as ecological indicator of Matang mangrove forest in Malaysia

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What does conservation mean? Galapagos experience & methodological perspectives

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Reconciling nature, people and policy in the mangal social-ecological system through the adaptive cycle heuristic

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