Browsing by Subject "Community-based environmental management"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
A Formative Evaluation of the Mount Kilimanjaro Roots & Shoots Community-based Conservation Project: Re-integrating participatory approaches into the program
(2009-12-03T19:38:51Z) Gorczyca, Angela
The purpose of my Masters project was to conduct a formative evaluation of the Mount Kilimanjaro Roots & Shoots Community-based Conservation Partnership Project (Conservation Site) in Northeast Tanzania. After one year of operation in 2008, Roots and Shoots staff sought to assess the Conservation Site’s initial progress in providing demonstration workshops on tree nurseries, beekeeping, fuel-efficient stoves, and fish farming to the students, teachers and members of the Mweka Village. A formative evaluation was especially pertinent because Roots & Shoots made significant changes to the original Community-based initiative for the Conservation Site. Due to a limitation in human and financial resources, Roots & Shoots did not conduct a Community assessment before the Conservation Site was established in 2007. I implemented a participatory survey that focused on three research questions: Awareness/Adoption of selected sustainable practices, Conservation Site Awareness/Participation and Conservation Site Effectiveness/Recommendations. The 223 participants were selected using the snowball method. I coded the responses to the questions in the NVivo8 qualitative data software program and calculated the frequencies. Chi-square analyses were conducted to test for significant associations between participant demographics and environmental behavior. The results of this evaluation indicate the Conservation Site’s limited progress in engaging the Community and promoting the adoption of the four activities. Beekeeping and tree nurseries were more familiar and established, while a minority of the sample was aware of and using the recently introduced activities, fish farming (42 %) and fuel-efficient stoves (30 %). Only 40 percent of the sample was familiar with the conservation site. The respondents’ main recommendations for the Conservation Site were to improve Community participation, outreach and management. Education, property size, years lived in village, age and gender were demographic variables that were found to be significantly associated with environmental behavior. The results of this formative evaluation are indicative of the lack of Community involvement during the formulation and implementation stages of the Conservation Site. I encourage Roots & Shoots to reintegrate participatory approaches at the Conservation Site through training of trainer seminars, a Conservation Site board of Community stakeholders, and a participatory rural appraisal.
Open Access
Communicating the Processes, Values, and Impacts of Carbon Offsetting by the Communities of the Integrator of Indigenous and Campesino Communities of Oaxaca (ICICO)
(2024-04-25) Cloer, Ashton; Palia, Sophia
The Integrator of Indigenous and Rural Communities of Oaxaca (ICICO) is an indigenous-led, community-based organization devoted to overseeing the sustainable management of natural resources of 16 communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. Our Master’s Project explores and informs effective strategies ICICO can use to communicate their story and carbon offset project to a variety of external audiences, including carbon offset buyers, the general public, potential funders, and the Mexican and international press. Through interviews, articles, and an extensive literature review, we identified themes important to ICICO and target audiences. We found that ICICO values community engagement, co-benefits of carbon offsetting, and the Oaxacan context of their project. In contrast, carbon offset buyers and funders are more interested in project developers clearly addressing key criteria, such as additionality, durability, and transparency. The general public is most interested in accessible storytelling and engaging, interactive content. The press is attracted by a mix of information related to verifiability, co-benefits of carbon offsetting, and culture. During our project, we also identified another audience important to ICICO’s external communications: communities interested in learning from and/or joining ICICO’s work. Our research will inform 5 main bilingual deliverables for ICICO including a website, edited media footage, verification document suggestions, an annual report template, and a condensed summary of our research, results, recommendations, and useful resources.
Open Access
Determining local perceptions and challenges for environmental conservation in Utila, Honduras
(2011-04-29) Daniel, Jessica
The Bay Islands are a group of small islands off the coast of Honduras, comprised of three larger islands - Roatan, Utila and Guanaja - and several dozen cays. Due to the Islands’ Caribbean feel and inexpensive cost they have become a popular tourist destination for thrifty travelers and are a frequent stop for SCUBA diving enthusiasts. Major threats in the region are the destruction of natural coastal habitats by increasing coastal population and tourism developments and increased sedimentation due to extensive use of watersheds and inland deforestation. In particular, Utila has become known as one of the best diving sites in the world, placing further pressure on the island’s fragile marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Declines in island species such as the endemic iguana Ctenosaura bakeri have been documented, along with damaged coral reefs from various activities, mangrove deforestation, decreasing coral cover and noted fish declines for several fish species. This last fact may be particularly important given the large fishing community that has existed on the island for decades. Despite Utila’s small size, its roughly 8000 residents are a mix of generational Utilians, mainland Hondurans, and Ex-patriates who come from extremely diverse backgrounds, thus often making attempts to engage the community in environmental conservation difficult. In an effort to understand the environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of Utila’s three main populations, an environmental survey was conducted in the summer of 2010. Results from the survey indicate that the majority of islanders recognize and are concerned with the decreasing health of the island’s ecosystems and resources. It was also found that though most individuals were aware of the island’s various environmental regulations, they recognize that the majority of people do not follow them, and that this is particularly true for fishing regulations. This finding and firsthand experiences led to an in depth look at the Honduran Fisheries Law and subsequent regulations related to the law. This paper presents the findings from the survey and also explores the possibility of using a community based environmental management approach to protect the island’s resources and monitor local fishing practices.
Open Access
Effectively Communicating with Subsistence Fish Consumers to Reduce Exposure to Contaminants
(2020-04-24) Dietz, Martin; Yang, Steven
Economic factors and cultural values influence individual choices to catch local fish as an important supplement to their diet. This practice is commonly referred to as subsistence fishing. We believe the term “fishing for food” is more appropriate, given the mosaic of values and motivations that underlie the practice. While fishing for food is an affordable and accessible way to acquire a nutritional food source, chemical contaminants from the environment can build up in certain species of fish. Consumption of fish that contain chemical contaminants may harm human health. Fishing for food creates environmental justice concerns because low income and minority communities generally depend on wild caught fish in different ways and to a greater extent than society as a whole and are therefore likely to be disproportionately exposed to the harmful contaminants. The practice of fishing for food is informal, and fishers have a wealth of specialized local knowledge, which they frequently share amongst themselves. The informality of the practice and centrality of local, specialized knowledge means that little information is available on people who fish for food. Our project addresses this data gap in eastern North Carolina through a combination of intercept surveys, key actor interviews, and participant observations that allow us to tap the local knowledge and community experiences necessary for deepening our understanding of fishing for food. This methodology allows us to examine the behaviors, motivations, and values of people fishing for food along the lower Cape Fear River in North Carolina, a waterway that is heavily impaired by pollution. Our findings provide a glimpse into the behaviors, motivations, and values of those fishing for food in this area that will be used to inform an ongoing, local community-based social marketing campaign. This campaign endeavors to provide community relevant information and actionable alternatives that help individuals who fish for food avoid exposure to chemical contaminants. More generally our research demonstrates how community-based research approaches can be used to inform the development of locally relevant public health initiatives that address the unique behaviors, values, and contexts of impacted communities.
Open Access
How Should the Fundacion Gonzalo Rio-Arronte Allocate $15 Million Annually to Address Mexico's Water Problems?
(2018-04-26) Lee, Jason Yongwoo; Xu, Zoey Zhuying
Mexico’s water issues are complicated by a heterogeneous distribution of water resources that is inverse to its distribution of socioeconomic resources. The Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte is a Mexico City-based charitable foundation that would like to know the best practices in improving water supply and quality in Mexico. Possible water interventions were sorted into four categories: technology-based solutions, microfinance, community engagement and capacity-building, and green infrastructure. Best practices in each of these four areas were summarized with literature reviews, case studies, and interviews with global NGOs. We report the following. Technology-based solutions should be integrated with education and advocacy programs to ensure the longevity of the project. The key to a successful, self-sustaining microfinance program is a high repayment rate. Community-based projects must create a feeling of ownership of the water project or resources through provision of training, meaningful local control of decisions, and building local human capital. Constructed wetlands can be a low-cost, low-maintenance, decentralized option for local water quality treatment. Ecosystem restoration projects should have a consistent, scientific protocol of site selection to make these expensive projects cost-effective.