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Vicuna (Vicugna vicugna) fibre is produced by extremely low-income communities that inhabit the harsh environment of the Andes in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. At the other end of the social scale, affluent consumers are willing to pay high prices for vicuna-made accessories and clothes. Vicuna management projects follow the logic of community-based wildlife management. The rationale for seeking to conserve vicuñas through sustainable use is that commercial utilization of the fibre (obtained from live-shorn animals) will generate sufficient economic benefits to outweigh the costs of conservation, and contribute to community development and poverty alleviation. However, although conservation efforts have been extremely successful with vicuñas having recovered from the brink of extinction, the socio-economic achievements have thus far proved modest. This paper explores multiple-objective projects that address vicuña conservation and poverty alleviation in Andean countries. In doing so, it analyses the tensions that exist between these objectives, as well as the factors that limit a more equitable distribution of benefits among stakeholders. Examples are drawn from vicuna management under common-property in Peru and Bolivia, and vicuna captive management under private property in Argentina. These case studies enable us to illustrate the complex relationship between local communities and the global market, and the importance of community enterprises and supportive government policy in managing a common pool resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vicuna (Vicugna vicugna) fibre is produced by extremely low-income communities that inhabit the harsh environment of the Andes in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. At the other end of the social scale, affluent consumers are willing to pay high prices for vicuna-made accessories and clothes. Vicuna management projects follow the logic of community-based wildlife management. The rationale for seeking to conserve vicuñas through sustainable use is that commercial utilization of the fibre (obtained from live-shorn animals) will generate sufficient economic benefits to outweigh the costs of conservation, and contribute to community development and poverty alleviation. However, although conservation efforts have been extremely successful with vicuñas having recovered from the brink of extinction, the socio-economic achievements have thus far proved modest. This paper explores multiple-objective projects that address vicuña conservation and poverty alleviation in Andean countries. In doing so, it analyses the tensions that exist between these objectives, as well as the factors that limit a more equitable distribution of benefits among stakeholders. Examples are drawn from vicuna management under common-property in Peru and Bolivia, and vicuna captive management under private property in Argentina. These case studies enable us to illustrate the complex relationship between local communities and the global market, and the importance of community enterprises and supportive government policy in managing a common pool resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than half of the natural vegetation in Mexico is managed collectively within common property systems. The appropriation and continuity of government programs related to the conservation of land that is communally used is proposed to depend on the level of organization of the communities and the interaction between the local and governmental institutions, as well as the benefits derived from conservation projects. Patterns of what drives the conservation of common natural resources were analyzed in order to propose improvements to conservation policy. Changes in primary and secondary vegetation cover in common and private properties were identified by performing a historical spatial analysis. Questionnaires were used to survey 32 populations of seven states of the Mexican Republic to determine the conservation status of common property resources, as well as the ability of the community to continue conservation activities initially undertaken by government programs. Some 53% of the primary and secondary vegetation in Mexico is found in common property areas, but the change from primary and secondary vegetation to other uses is the same for common and private property. Communities with a high level of conservation of communal areas and with the ability to continue conservation projects were those that had dedicated the areas to recreation and conservation, had stronger community organization and were less marginalized. A recognition of the heterogeneity of the socioeconomic and cultural context of communities with common property is necessary to design governmental conservation programs that achieve long-term conservation. To meet the needs of a region that is both degraded and marginalized, the creation of synergies between programs that combat poverty and programs that promote conservation is needed. In addition, the continuation of payments with public funds for work that preserves or rehabilitates natural areas is needed, thereby acknowledging the environmental services that these areas generate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]