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In Vietnam, the PFES program of payment for forest environmental services involves more than 100,000 forest right holders. Little is known about the impact of the program on the actual forest management activities by these actors. We used an open-ended self-reporting method in 21 villages in three provinces to characterize changes in forest management due to PFES, to assess levels of change (positive, no change, or negative), and to explore underlying motivations. The major changes identified occurred in the forest patrol groups, trespass and fire prevention, and the effectiveness of forest protection rules. Basically, all respondents reported a positive change in at least one of these features, and no negative change was reported. Respondents also highlighted that the payments and the clarification of boundaries were the main factors underlying this substantial impact. It must be borne in mind however that this success builds on effective forest law enforcement.

Relational values reflect the qualities of the relationships between humans and nature, such as care, social bonding, place attachment and spiritual meanings. In this perspective article, we argue that understanding relational values is vital for nature conservation, and we identify how incorporation of these values may function as leverage points for achieving more effective nature policy. We discuss the distinctive features of the concept of relational values and elaborate how relational values strongly influence people’s perceptions of, engagement with and action for nature. Relational values can also provide important deep leverage points for policy interventions aiming to support citizen’s contribution to nature conservation, to strengthen biodiversity policy and the relationship between people and nature. Based on three realms of leverage (re-think, re-structure and re-connect), we distinguish six routes through which relational values can be integrated in policies and practices of nature conservation: (1) incorporation of pluralized meanings of nature; (2) the uptake of relational language in policy discourse; (3) a prioritization of landscape-based policy; (4) empowering citizens in nature conservation; (5) re-orienting nature education to stimulate people’s personal bond with nature; and (6) using digital technology to stimulate new relationships with nature.

Contains fulltext : 215116.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Biodiversity and nature conservation have become prominent issues in the political agenda, at both local and global level, and in this regard the importance of considering people lifestyles, habits and behaviours has received increasing attention. The present study verified an extended version of the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory (Stern et al., 1999) in the prediction of action for biodiversity and nature conservation. Here we found that the VBN sequential path (including biospheric values, general pro-environmental beliefs, awareness of consequences of action, ascription of responsibility for action, and moral norm), integrated by perceived behavioural control and social norms, predict action for nature and biodiversity. Participants (N = 183), recruited in seven European countries, had performed outstanding actions either in nature-related issues or in other areas (or were just involved in some biodiversity/nature relevant actions). They filled in an online questionnaire measuring the examined constructs. Results confirmed the paths predicted by the VBN. In particular, moral norm and biospheric values, as well as perceived behavioural control, showed a direct impact on action for nature/biodiversity. On the other hand, social norms (notably, injunctive norm) showed only an indirect influence on action, via other dimensions. These outcomes suggest that communication and educational agencies should promote the dissemination of biospheric values in the community, in order to trigger the moral obligation of doing something relevant for nature and biodiversity conservation. A major implication is that by increasing the proportion of people acting in a committed way for biodiversity conservation should then provide a social cue for the ones not yet acting. 8 p.

The distribution of monetary benefits is a central element in PES schemes and arouses ‘distributional risk’ if felt as unjust by the beneficiaries. The paper defines the concept of distributional risk, proposes a framework surrounding the phenomenon and explores their utility in an analysis of distributional decisions in eight Vietnamese communities that participate in a national forest PES program. This program shares a distributional principle with many PES schemes worldwide, paying out on a per hectare basis, implying that the biggest forest owners get most. Up till now, the communities successfully counterbalance this consequence by asserting the village level as the de facto distributor, able to apply their own principles of justice and partially reframing the disbursements as remuneration for work done for the forest rather than forest ownership. We recommend to legally institutionalize this practice, reaping other advantages as well, such as reduced transaction cost.

Many human societies across the world have collapsed or almost gone into extinction because of the scarcity of natural resources. Others however, have survived by either migrating to seek for natural resources elsewhere or by transition and/or adaptation to new environmental conditions. This narrative review paper examines how a society of Machakos District in Kenya has managed to escape from a potential collapse driven by natural resources’ scarcity. The review found that most societies in developing countries have failed to: (i) successfully repack natural resources management information into stories that motivate collective action, and (ii) invest in institutional improvement, innovation and technological changes through the influence of political leaders and economic elites. This paper recommends that for developing countries to successfully avoid societal collapse due the scarcity of natural resources, there is need to follow similar pathways like the society of the Machakos District in Kenya. Key words: Natural resources management, developing countries, societal collapse, population growth, Malthus, Geertz, Boserup.

Contains fulltext : 167948.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of mindful walking in nature as a possible means to maintain mindfulness skills after a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) or mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course. Mindful walking alongside the river Rhine took place for 1, 3, 6, or 10 days, with a control period of a similar number of days, 1 week before the mindful walking period. In 29 mindfulness participants, experience sampling method (ESM) was performed during the control and mindful walking period. Smartphones offered items on positive and negative affect and state mindfulness at random times during the day. Furthermore, self-report questionnaires were administered before and after the control and mindful walking period, assessing depression, anxiety, stress, brooding, and mindfulness skills. ESM data showed that walking resulted in a significant improvement of both mindfulness and positive affect, and that state mindfulness and positive affect prospectively enhanced each other in an upward spiral. The opposite pattern was observed with state mindfulness and negative affect, where increased state mindfulness predicted less negative affect. Exploratory questionnaire data indicated corresponding results, though non-significant due to the small sample size. This is the first time that ESM was used to assess interactions between state mindfulness and momentary affect during a mindfulness intervention of several consecutive days, showing an upward spiral effect. Mindful walking in nature may be an effective way to maintain mindfulness practice and further improve psychological functioning.

Contains fulltext : 190614.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Biodiversity loss is a widely debated world problem, with huge economic, social, and environmentally negative consequences. Despite the relevance of this issue, the psychological determinants of committed action towards nature and biodiversity have rarely been investigated. This study aims at identifying a comprehensive social-psychological profile of activists committed to biodiversity protection and at understanding what determinants best predict their activism. A questionnaire investigating relevant social-psychological constructs identified in the literature on environmental activism was administered to 183 outstanding leaders (vs. non-leaders) in biodiversity protection across seven EU countries. Leaders (vs. non-leaders) in biodiversity protection showed, among other constructs, higher scores on environmental values, attitudes, identity, perceived control, a feeling of union and spirituality with nature, and willingness to sacrifice for their cause. Results are discussed within the theoretical framework of a motivation model of committed action for nature and biodiversity protection. Applications of the results are also proposed. 24 p.

Contains fulltext : 199402.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) In this paper we firstly draw on empirical research to argue that relational values are prime drivers in conservation action and strongly present in the wider public, and further show that they are central to much religious thought. We next clarify the conceptual relations of relational values to both constitutive value and intrinsic value, arguing that relationships with nature have constitutive value and that intrinsic value can reside in the relational triads of humans, nature and their relationship. Lastly, we show that partnership with nature (emphasizing intensity, harmony and space in the humans-nature relationship) and nature-inclusive eudaimonia (emphasizing how relationships with nature can be a central constituent of a flourishing human life) represent two ways in which relational values can crystalize and inspire conservation action. 7 p.

Existing frameworks for analysing interactions between social and natural systems (e.g. Social-Ecological Systems framework, Ecosystem Services concept) do not sufficiently consider and operationalize the dynamic interactions between people's values, attitudes and understandings of the human-nature relationship at both individual and collective levels. We highlight the relevance of individual and collective understandings of the human-nature relationship as influencing factors for environmental behaviour, which may be reflected in natural resource management conflicts, and review the diversity of existing social-cultural concepts, frameworks and associated research methods. Particular emphasis is given to the context-sensitivity of social-cultural concepts in decision-making. These aspects are translated into a conceptual model aiming not to replace but to expand and enhance existing frameworks. Integrating this model into existing frameworks provides a tool for the exploration of how social-cultural concepts of nature interact with existing contexts to influence governance of social-ecological systems.

Contains fulltext : 169530.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Despite ongoing efforts to motivate politicians and publics in Europe regarding nature conservation, biodiversity continues to decline. Monetary valuation of ecosystem services appears to be insufficient to motivate people, suggesting that non-monetary values have a crucial role to play. There is insufficient information about the motivations of actors who have been instrumental in successful conservation projects. We investigated the motivations underlying these biodiversity actors using the ranking of cards and compared the results with the rankings of motivations of a second group of actors with more socially related interests. For both groups of actors, their action relating to biodiversity was supported in general by two groups of motivations related to living a meaningful life and moral values. The non-biodiversity actors also noted that their action relating to biodiversity rested more on beauty, place attachment and intrinsic values in comparison with their main non-biodiversity interests. Our results have implications for environmental policy and biodiversity conservation in that the current tendency of focusing on the economic valuation of biodiversity fails to address the motivations of successful actors, thereby failing to motivate nature conservation on an individual level. 10 p.

Analyzing complex problem domains is not easy. Simulation tools support decision makers to find the best policies. Model-based system development is an approach where a model of the application domain is the central driving force when designing simulation tools. State-of-the-art techniques however still require both expert knowledge of the application domain and the implementation techniques as provided by ICT (such as multilevel agent technology). Domain experts, however, usually do not master ICT sufficiently. Modeling is more insightful for the domain expert when its goal is to formalize the language being used in that domain as a semi-natural language. At the meta level, this language describes the main concepts of the type of application domain. The model then is a concretization of this meta model. The main focus of this article is (1) to propose a natural-language-based approach to modeling application domains, (2) to show how these models can be transformed systematically into computational models, and (3) to propose the tool TiC (Tool in Context) that supports the domain expert when developing a model and generating a simulation tool. Our research methodology is based on Design Science. We verify our approach by describing the various transformation steps in detail, and by demonstrating the way of working via a sample session applying a real problem of Laf Forest Reserve deforestation in North Cameroon.

There is little quantitative data on the cost effectiveness of environmental communication and education efforts. This study evaluates a public awareness campaign for the conservation of the Philippine crocodile in the northern Sierra Madre in terms of outputs, outreach, cognitive and affective outcomes, and impact through a counterfactual comparison. The campaign succeeded in raising awareness on and transforming attitudes toward in situ Philippine crocodile conservation: most people living in close proximity to crocodiles now know that the species is legally protected and support in situ conservation. As a result, crocodiles are no longer purposively killed. Substantial gains can be made in environmental conservation by investing more in communication, education, and public awareness campaigns, particularly in developing countries. Awareness on legislation and pride in the conservation of a rare and iconic species are strong incentives for poor, rural communities to support in situ wildlife conservation.

Visions of nature are defined as public views on what nature is, what values are carried by nature and what is the appropriate relationship between humans and nature. They were studied in Lubelski region, Poland. With respect to the first, respondents expressed that human influence and naturalness do not exclude each other. One result of the values survey was that respondents acknowledged nature's intrinsic value. The study into the relationship between humans and nature showed that the respondents adhered strongly to a steward type of relationship, and that more ecocentric images were adhered to for a lesser, but substantial degree.

In conservation efforts where genuine community involvement is aimed at, communication should be a two-way affair in which the local voice can be truly heard. In developing countries especially, however, this voice tends to be smothered by the power and prestige that usually lies with the supra-local conservation agencies. This paper explores how fictional storytelling, a communication medium as old as mankind, may enable local people to respond in freedom to the issue of conservation. Stories that end by posing a dilemma to the audience are generally used in Cameroon to initiate discussion. First trials in Cameroon used this format to tell a story of animals that found themselves at risk of extinction and sent out a delegation to the human world to plea for a ‘last home’. Although enjoyed by researchers and audience alike, this story appeared to suffer from several technical and structural shortcomings. In order to overcome these, empirical research (for example the gathering of some 600 stories in the field) and theoretical considerations led to the design of a second-generation story that retained the dilemma format but carried fewer implicit messages and introduced a third, adjudicating party. This story was tried out in 13 villages in Central and North Cameroon with full success, both in terms of process (the elicitation of focused and rich debate) and in terms of content (the clarity of arguments and underlying assumptions). If led by the principles developed in this paper, fictional storytelling is a worthy addition to the methodological repertoire of all conservation professionals who wish to communicate conservation to local communities in a manner that is structurally balanced and substantively open.

In southern India, tens of thousands of village-level irrigation systems (‘tanks’ and feeder channels) are in disrepair. This paper analyses the results of a local NGO effort that focused on awareness-raising and advice to bring about self-sustained community action for irrigation system restoration. After designing a model structure that contains both motivational and capacity (social capital) factors, it is found that (pre-existing) collective social capital, as measured through five simple indicators, strongly correlates with success of the NGO strategy. The intensity of the NGO’s effort shows a negative correlation with success, however. The discussion focuses on issues of social capital definition and measurement and the practical implications of the concept for environmental action, especially the difference between using existing social capital for environmental management versus the construction of social capital as a basis for later self-sustained environmental work.

Training needs assessments have revealed the need for people-oriented training to increase the job performance of African protected area (PA) managers. The Garoua regional wildlife college for francophone Africa (Cameroon) developed the first long (diploma and certificate) and refresher courses in community conservation for mid-career PA managers and guards from West and Central Africa. Through lectures, case studies and participatory rural appraisal exercises, the courses emphasized the development of skills for tuning principles of people participation to the conservation objectives of PAs. The present study reviews the trainees' evaluations of these courses, to appreciate their relevance and support their further development. Diploma students judged the course as highly relevant because of the acquired analytical skills, whereas certificate students considered them only of medium relevance. The response to short refresher courses varied as a function of the use of cases from either the trainees' professional experience or from the fieldwork location. The reactions of trainees to this learning opportunity show that PA personnel are not ‘attitude-limited’ as often suggested. Their constraints to develop a more people-oriented work style lie largely in the areas of knowledge and skills. These findings point to the need for increased efforts to implement training of PA personnel in community conservation, preferably early in their careers.

Visions of nature are the subject of much philosophical and policy debate. The present paper focuses, however, on the visions of nature held by people not professionally involved in the issue, namely those of the general public. These visions constitute the democratic basis of environmental conservation and the frame for effective two-way communication between professionals and communities on nature protection and management. It appears that the general public in Europe and the USA has developed a strong general ‘biophilia’ (nature-friendliness). One indicator of this is that in quantitative research, 70–90% of the population recognize the right of nature to exist even if not useful to humans in any way. In qualitative research settings, lay people reveal a remarkable richness and depth of views and experiences of nature. A quantitative survey on images and values of nature, and a qualitative study consisting of in-depth interviews on the relationship between childhood experiences in nature and adult visions of nature were conducted in the Netherlands. A factor analysis revealed a classification of types of nature, which included ‘wild nature’, ‘arcadian nature’, ‘penetrative nature’ and other such images that, with wild nature in the lead, were ascribed a smoothly decreasing degree of naturalness. Asked to rank the values and functions of nature, the top three were formed by the value for human health, the intrinsic value and the value for future generations. In the qualitative interviews, indications were found that more intense childhood experiences with nature could be associated with later ascription of a high degree of naturalness to wild nature, and less intense experiences with later ascription of a high degree of naturalness to arcadian nature. Many significant experiences took place beyond the reach of parental supervision. Findings such as these are of obvious relevance for environmental education and the design of ‘experiential nature’ in and around protected areas. Social science research concerning nature protection is often triggered by frictions between local people and protected area authorities. Such situations tend to be dominated by the airing of grievances, demands for economic compensation and so on, and these then also tend to dominate the research findings. Taking place away from these specific hot spots of conflict, social science research of the types discussed in this paper shows that many non-conflictual lines of communication are open for nature protection agencies.

Item does not contain fulltext With the growing insight that outbreaks of violent conflict may be linked to environmental degradation and scarcity, "environment and security" has become an object of interest to both political and environmental science. The road to mutually reinforcing activities is blocked by several antagonisms, however, and the heavy emphasis on the national level has precluded the tapping of the wealth of conflict knowledge in anthropology. An improved relationship between the security and environment science fields is suggested by clarifying and linking the generalized "causal stories" that security and environmental scientists tell around their core concepts (security and sustainability, respectively). On that basis, and if focusing on a (subnational) scale that facilitates the involvement of anthropology too, joint research projects can yield a balanced understanding of the links between environment and security.

The assessment of total economic value has become a pragmatic and popular approach in nature valuation, yet criticisms have been raised. One major point of critique is that total economic value bases the monetary value of ecosystems purely on the flow of human benefits of services of ecosystems and consequently ignores questions of sustainable use of natural capital per se. This paper explains why total economic value by itself is in principle an inadequate concept to guide sustainable use of ecosystems and gives an overview of essential ecological theory that needs to be taken into account in addition to total economic value to fully include ecosystem sustainability. The paper concludes with a framework for combining ecological theory with economic valuation. The key elements here are theoretical ecological insights about ecosystem resilience and portfolio theory which offers an economic perspective on investment in biodiversity. Portfolio theory puts total economic value in a framework where investment in biodiversity is expanded to cover functional diversity and mobile link species in order to maintain ecosystem resilience and so fosters sustainable use of ecosystems. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Dynamic spatial models are important tools for the study of complex systems like environmental systems. This paper presents an integrated model that has been designed to explore land use trajectories in a small region around Maroua, located in the far north of Cameroon. The model simulates competition between land use types taking into account a set of biophysical, socio-demographic and geo-economics driving factors. The model includes three modules. The dynamic simulation module combines results of the spatial analysis and prediction modules. Simulation results for each scenario can help to identify where changes occur. The model developed constitutes an efficient knowledge support system for exploratory research and land use planning., Les modèles spatiaux dynamiques sont des outils de très grande importance pour l'étude des systèmes complexes comme les systèmes environnementaux. De plus, une approche intégrée est indispensable lorsqu'on veut avoir une compréhension plus complète du comportement de ces systèmes. Cet article décrit les bases d'un modèle intégré développé pour explorer les trajectoires d'utilisation de l'espace dans la région autour de Maroua, à l'Extrême Nord du Cameroun. Le modèle simule la compétition entre différentes catégories d'utilisation de l'espace en prenant en compte l'influence d'un ensemble de facteurs biophysiques, sociodémographiques et géoéconomiques. On distingue trois principaux modules. Le module de simulation dynamique combine les résultats des modules d'analyse spatiale et de prédiction. La calibration et la validation du modèle ont été effectuées pour la période entre 1987 et 1999, et la simulation des changements entre 1999 et 2010. Trois scénarios ont été formulés en s'appuyant sur l'analyse des tendances observées et les hypothèses de transition du système d'utilisation de l'espace. Les principales dynamiques observées concernent le développement de la culture maraîchère et l'extension de la culture du sorgho de contre saison qui induisent une compétition plus importante et des conflits. Les résultats de simulation pour chaque scénario permettent d'identifier des zones prioritaires pour toute intervention allant dans le sens de l'intensification ou d'une gestion intégrée et plus durable de l'espace. Le modèle développé constitue ainsi un outil de recherche exploratoire et un support de connaissances utilisable pour la planification de l'utilisation de l'espace. Une utilisation est envisageable pour initier toute concertation ou négociation entre les acteurs concernés par la gestion de l'espace.

A social scientific survey on visions of human/nature relationships in western Europe shows that the public clearly distinguishes not only between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, but also between two nonanthropocentric types of thought, which may be called “partnership with nature” and “participation in nature.” In addition, the respondents distinguish a form of human/nature relationship that is allied to traditional stewardship but has a more ecocentric content, labeled here as “guardianship of nature.” Further analysis shows that the general public does not subscribe to an ethic of “mastery over nature.” Instead, practically all respondents embrace the image of guardianship, while the more radical relationships of partnership and participation also received significant levels of adherence. The results imply that ethicists should no longer assume that the ethics of the public are merely anthropocentric. Finally, they call into question the idea of a single form of ecocentrism and favor a hermeneutic virtue ethics approach to the study of the interface between ethics and action.

In 2007 the Galapagos, background of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, made news headlines when UNESCO declared the Archipelago a World Heritage Site “in danger” (UNESCO 2007). Tourism had triggered an escalating immigration of people coming from the continent in search of employment. Its population, less than 2,000 in 1950, was up to 25,000, putting unsustainable pressures on limited resources (Gonzales et al. 2008). In 2008 the Virungas, protected areas on the borders of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, known for Gorillas in the Mist, made the news (Jenkins & Stirton 2008). Already a World Heritage Site in danger, the Virungas had witnessed for the second time in a decade an influx of hundreds of thousands of people in its surroundings. A few months later, it was reported that deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon had risen 64%, reaching an annual 8146 km2. Loggers, followed by farmers, are penetrating deep into the forest, setting back Brazil’s conservation efforts (Philips 2008). Little guidance is given to protected area (PA) managers and decision makers to deal with immigration. A decade ago, preliminary reports appeared on the impact of immigration on PAs (Noss 1997; De Sherbenin & Freudenberger 1998; Oates 1999). The first quantitative case study, in Waza-Logone, Cameroon, showed that conservation projects can trigger immigration (Scholte 2003). These case studies emphasized the need for socioeconomic monitoring to assess immigration. They also cautioned against combining conservation with development. More comprehensive studies on migration to protected areas have been published recently (Oglethorpe et al. 2007; Wittemyer et al. 2008), and we build our argument here on these studies. Oglethorpe et al. (2007) elaborate

[1] Dutch river management is moving from traditional dike reinforcements toward “room for river” measures to assure flood protection and to serve other societal goals. With that, the engineering paradigm shifts from mastership over nature to a more partnership-like attitude toward nature. Are these values shared by Dutch riverside residents? Are the measures proposed under the new paradigm accepted? This paper investigates these two questions on the basis of semistructured interviews and a survey in communities along the floodplain of the river Waal (i.e., Rhine). The analyses show that even though their visions of nature are remarkably ecocentric, partnership with nature is not the dominant idea within that ecocentric realm. Partly as a consequence of that and partly because the respondents do not perceive the measures as natural, the investigated room for river measures are not endorsed.

The enhancement of participation first of all requires that people are treated as knowledgeable and trustworthy actors. The interaction between outside staff and local people should be given shape in flexible, “learning” programmes, not in single-design, “knowing” projects. Exemplified by a rural programme of environmental improvement in the Sahel, the programmatic principles of non-doing, non-paying, non-forcing and “development stages” are dealt with. The article is rounded off by a reflection on the conflict between local and supralocal interests, often encountered in wetland management.

This paper summarizes the approach and findings of the NRP project ’Local Actors and Global Tree Cover Policies’ ( Kamminga and De Groot, 1995 ; Toornstra, Persoon and Youmbi, 1995 ; Kamminga and Van den Top, 1995 ; Kamminga, 1995 ). The aim of this project has been to identify the most effective and efficient options for global climate policies focusing on the tropical forest. Tropical deforestation is a process with very complex and variable causes. In the project's conclusions, therefore, much care has been given to arrive at a coherent image of what really counts most in the myriad of factors, actors, policy levels and policy options.

Understanding the causes of land use change is of great importance for issues of tropical deforestation, agricultural development and biodiversity conservation. Many quantitative studies, therefore, aim to link land use change to its causal `driving forces.¿ The epistemology of virtually all these studies is inductive, searching for correlations within relatively large, sometimes spatially explicit, datasets. This can be sound science but we here aim to exemplify that there is also scope for more deductive approaches that test a pre-defined explanatory theory. The paper first introduces the principles and merits of inductive and more deductive types of land use modeling. It then presents one integrated causal model that is subsequently specified to predict land use in an area in northeastern Philippines in a deductive manner, and tested against the observed land use in that area. The same set of land use data is also used in an inductive (multinomial regression) approach. With a goodness-of-prediction of 70% of the deductive model and a goodness-of-fit of 77% of the inductive model, both perform equally well, statistically. Because the deductive model explicitly contains not only the causal factors but also the causal mechanisms that explain land use, the deductive model then provides a more truly causal, as well as more theory-connected, understanding of land use. This provides land use scholarship with an invitation to add more deductive (theory-driven and theory-building) daring to its methodological repertoire.