Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Natural resources – India'

For many decades in India, natural resource management (NRM) programs were implemented by government bureaucracies in a centralized, top-down manner. The programs were unsustainable and suffered from resource use inefficiency and inequity. In the 1990s, under pressure from civil society organizations and multilateral agencies, the Government of India and many State Governments introduced policies that decentralized NRM programs and mandated active participation of users in the management of resources. When implementation responsibilities were transferred to resource user-groups many of the problems associated with centralization could be reduced significantly. However, despite their proven capacity of being better resource managers than government agencies, the user-groups encountered difficulties as self-governed people's organizations. Participation of users declined and problems of equity resurfaced in many user-groups. This dissertation describes the research that examines the causes of problems in the governance of user-groups in villages of Mehsana District in Gujarat. Using an eight-fold criteria of good governance, the study looks at eight Water Users Associations (WUAs) that took over irrigation management responsibilities from the Irrigation Department. This program of decentralization of irrigation is called Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM). The assessment of each WUA on each of the eight criteria reveals a close link between characteristics of good governance and the process of democratization. It can be seen that the WUAs that performed well on participation, equity, transparency, accountability, rule of law and consensus-orientation were less likely to face situations of dysfunction than the WUAs that performed poorly on these criteria. These criteria for good governance are also the core elements of democratic governance. At the same time, the case-studies reveal the tension between the democratization process that is attempted within the WUAs and the historical and cultural legacy of the feudal, autocratic and patriarchal society that rural India has been for many centuries. The thesis supports the argument, with empirical evidence, that the decentralization process can be sustainable only when user-groups institutionalize democratic processes and the early leaders behave in a democratic manner. It also suggests that the transition from an undemocratic institution to a democratic one can be enabled when external support agencies play an important catalytic role.

The challenges of poverty, malnutrition, and livelihood security in developing countries is of major concern for policy makers, development practitioners and, most of all, the people suffering from these problems. Adverse environmental changes and degradation of natural resources, upon which the food security and livelihoods of majority depend, are aggravating the situation. India has seen a remarkable economic growth in recent decades. Rapid changes in livelihood opportunities, socio-economic structures and natural resources are well recognised. However, there are contrasting views on the outcomes in terms of changes in poverty, inequality and food insecurity situations. This research investigates changes in livelihood opportunities and natural resources and the outcomes of such changes with a focus on local perspectives. The study is based on empirical data from fifteen villages in the central plains of Chhattisgarh state in India. A mixed method approach has been used involving a survey of 240 households and focus groups, in-depth interviews and case studies. An increase in livelihood opportunities primarily induced by industrialisation, urbanisation and agricultural intensification was found. However, regional and socio-economic disparities were also influential in providing access to these opportunities. Access to land was found to be the most important driver influencing households' ability to improve their livelihood situations. While many households were able to move upward many others remained deprived and marginalised. Social equity and environmental sustainability emerged as the most important challenges which need to be addressed in order to move towards sustainable rural livelihoods and natural resources. The findings contribute to our understanding of the local perspectives on changes in livelihoods and environment and will help policy formulations and actions to improve livelihoods and protect natural resources.

Objectives and Research Questions 1. To reconstruct the history of invasion of Lantana in India from where, by who, and when was Lantana species introduced into India?, given its long history in the country, is it still spreading or has it become more or less stable? 2. To study the human adaptation to Lantana invasion: socioeconomic causes and consequences of the use of Lantana as an alternative source of livelihood for forest dependent communities in southern India; how have local communities adapted to the invasion?; what are the key determinants that may have driven communities to use Lantana?; what are the economic consequences of the use of Lantana by local communities? 3. To critically review local practices and forest policy for the management of Lantana in southern India.; how has the use of Lantana by local communities impacted its local regeneration?; does the use of Lantana in local context have implications for its management?; what has been the role of the Forest Department and its policies in managing Lantana?

Over the last two decades, there have been increasing concerns about environmental degradation and its consequences on the long-term sustainability of socio-economic systems around the world. The publication of the report of the Club of Rome in 1972, (Meadows et al. 1972) focused on the issue of limits to growth. Since then, there has been a profusion of literature and general models have been developed to address the causes of environmental degradation and the unsustainability of current patterns of growth (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 1970; 1990). Essentially these models used parameters that included population growth, consumption levels and aspects of technology, and their effects on the environment. While these models and studies were at a macro level that helped focus attention on the patterns of growth and their unsustainability, they did not provide insights into the mechanisms that were driving ecological change, nor suggest alternative models of growth. An entry point into the current study is to understand the mechanisms that drive ecological change. Motivated by concerns for environmental degradation, and the need to understand the mechanisms that drive ecological change, the study is situated in the academic domain of studies on human-nature interactions. The complex nature of interactions between human groups with their environment and their dependence on the situational context, requires that such studies be at a regional and local scale for which sufficient detail is available. This particular study is situated in the Nilgiri hills in the Western Ghats of Southern India for which such detailed information is available. The study reconstructs the ecological history of the Nilgiri area during the last 200 years, and from this laboratory of human-nature interactions, attempts to derive general patterns.

Land degradation is one of the most important drivers of landscape change around the globe. This dissertation examines land use-land cover change within a mosaic landscape in Eastern Terai, India, and shows evidence of anthropogenic factors contributing to landscape change. Land use and land cover change were examined within the Alipurduar Subdivision, a representative of the Eastern Terai landscape and the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area nested within Alipurduar through the use of multi-temporal satellite data over the past 28 years (1978 - 2006). This study establishes the potential of remote sensing technology to identify the drivers of landscape change; it provides an assessment of how regional drivers of landscape change influence the change within smaller local study extents and provides a methodology to map different types of grassland and monitor their loss within the region. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and a Normalized Difference Dry Index (NDDI) were found instrumental in change detection and the classification of different grasslands found inside the park based on their location, structure, and composition. Successful spectral segregation of different types of grasslands and their direct association with different grassland specialist species (e.g., hispid hare, hog deer, Bengal florican) clearly showed the potential of remote sensing technology to efficiently monitor these grasslands and assist in species conservation. Temporal analysis provided evidence of the loss of dense forest and grasslands within both study areas with a considerably higher rate of loss outside the protected area than inside. Results show a decline of forest from 40% in 1978 to 25% in 2006 across Alipurduar. Future trends project forest cover and grassland within Alipurduar to reduce to 15% and 5%, respectively. Within the Alipurduar, deforestation due to growth of tea industry was the primary driver of change. Flooding changed the landscape, but more intensely inside the wildlife preserve. Change of the river course inside Jaldapara during the flood of 1968 significantly altered the distribution of grassland inside the park. Unless, the direction of landscape change is altered, future trends predict growth of the tea industry within the region, increased forest loss, and homogenization of the landscape.

Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNA) are concerns on reservations across the entire United States. Issues related to the practice and accessibility ofthe natural environment is important for the future of individuals, tribal governments, and the US government. On the forefront to maintain tribalauthority and sovereignty over AGNA is tribal/state/federal programs designed to address certain economically based AGNA on reservations. With limited funding and resources much needs to be done in the field of tribal AGNA. In the middle of the struggle is the Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program Agent,attempting to analyze, think critically about AGNA issues, and develop culturallysensitive AGNA recommendations to the tribe and individual tribal members.A study was conducted using a survey instrument to describe the unique experiences and knowledge of FRTEP agents, and apply that knowledge to structuring a culturally sensitive tribal AGNA department. The following literature and survey instrument was developed to extract the FRTEP agents understanding and experiences in the world of tribal agricultural and natural resources. How would they (FRTEP agents) design an adequate AGNA program for tribes? How would they assist tribes in administering their own form ofAGNA, within an already designed and formatted AGNA departmental structure?This research was designed to give tribes resources that assist them in the development and management of AGNA. FRTEP agents are utilized for their knowledge of tribal AGNA and their experience working with tribal cultures on AGNA.

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This fact sheet describes the socioeconomic and cultural aspects of the CRIT reservation, as well as the history of extension and effective extension programs and collaborations conducted on this reservation.

This thesis presents the application and results from the Q Sorting Technique to elicit land use preferences among the membership of the Adams Lake Indian Band of Chase, British Columbia. First Nations in BC and elsewhere have historically articulated their land use preferences through different paradigms than the frameworks employed by the provincial and federal governments, private industry and non-governmental organizations. A literature review on that paradigm—the Criteria and Indicator framework— explores where existing shortcomings can be enhanced to include land management objectives set by First Nations stakeholders at the resource level. The Q Sorting Technique and factor analysis reveal one dominant mode of thinking among the membership regarding management of the ALIB traditional territory, which is bifurcated into discrete dimensions: the Secwepemc land management paradigm, and prescriptive management direction. In addition, subsequent individualized perspectives emerged from the Q Sorting Technique and factor analysis. However, the dominant factor shows significant consensus with differing perspectives among the membership of ALIB. Further, this thesis explores the translation of Aboriginal concerns into a Criteria and Indicator framework, the utility of the Q Method and the potential for including this approach to elicit Aboriginal values as a decision support mechanism for natural resource management decision makers.

Thousands of floating objects, known as drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs), are released every year by commercial tropical tuna purse seine vessels in the three equatorial oceans to aggregate tuna and increase catch. The escalation in the number of dFADs deployed over the last three decades has caused changes in fishing effort that are poorly reflected in traditional indices of purse seine effort and catch per unit of effort (CPUE). In addition, concerns have been raised regarding the impacts of such high numbers of dFADs being deployed on both catch and bycatch species. I studied two aspects of dFAD deployments in order to clarify how dFADs are used by purse seiners and how they affect the magnitude of bycatch. My specific goals were to determine how often purse seine vessels fish on the dFADs they deploy and how regional dFAD density affects the magnitude of bycatch and catch. I analyzed commercial data, independent observer data, satellite buoy trajectories, and estimated floating object densities from the French tropical tuna purse seine fisheries in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to examine these relationships. My results indicate that only 2.7-20.6% of dFAD fishing sets were on the dFADs that French purse seiners deployed over the period 2007-2013. Although this percentage increased over time, such a low percentage suggests that French vessels do not primarily increase CPUE by using the dFADs they deploy for directed fishing. If French purse seiners are not mainly using their own dFADs in this manner, then using a metric of nominal effort based on individual vessel activity is unlikely to produce reliable CPUE estimates for the fishery. While information about how often purse seiners fish on their own dFADs could be incorporated into indices of fishing effort, it may be just as important, if not more so, to quantify the collective component of dFAD releases for overall fishing effort. The results for the second objective showed that average dFAD density had a relatively weak relationship with total bycatch biomass. There was no statistically significant effect on mean total bycatch biomass, but dFAD density was related to heteroscedasticity in bycatch biomass. In particular, there was a significant negative relationship between dFAD density and the upper quantiles of the bycatch biomass distribution, suggesting that dFAD density determines the upper bound for bycatch biomass caught per set. These relationships were not constant across species, however, as the five most prevalent bycatch species (i.e., those caught in the greatest number of sets) showed a mix of positive, negative, or no relationships to dFAD density. The total biomass of catch increased significantly as average dFAD density increased both at the mean and throughout the majority of the distribution, although this effect only explained a small fraction of the total variance in catch biomass. at this time, the low amount of variance explained and the inconsistent impact of average dFAD density on bycatch and target species indicate that it would be ineffective to mitigate bycatch levels in these fisheries by attempting to control regional dFAD densities.

Native American lands have significant renewable energy resource potential that could serve to ensure energy security and a low carbon energy future for the benefit of tribes as well as the United States. Economic and energy development needs in Native American communities match the energy potential. A disproportionate amount of Native American households have no access to electricity, which is correlated with high poverty and unemployment rates. Despite the vast resources and need for energy, the potential for renewable energy development has not fully materialized. This research explores this subject through three separate articles: 1) a case study of the Navajo Nation that suggests economic viability is not the only significant factor for low adoption of renewable energy on Navajo lands; 2) an expert elicitation of tribal renewable energy experts of what they view as barriers to renewable energy development on tribal lands; and 3) a reevaluation of Native Nation Building Theory to include external forces and the role that inter-tribal collaboration plays with renewable energy development by Native nations. Major findings from this research suggests that 1) many Native nations lack the technical and legal capacity to develop renewable energy; 2) inter-tribal collaboration can provide opportunities for sharing resources and building technical, legal, and political capacity; and 3) financing and funding remains a considerable barrier to renewable energy development on tribal lands.

The present study is one of the first attempts to analyze the societal importance of seagrasses (marine flowering plants) from a Natural Resource Management perspective, using a social-ecological systems (SES) approach. The interdisciplinary study takes place in East Africa (Western Indian Ocean, WIO) and includes in-depth studies in Chwaka Bay, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Natural and social sciences methods were used. The results are presented in six articles, showing that seagrass ecosystems are rich in seagrass species (13) and form an important part of the SES within the tropical seascape of the WIO. Seagrasses provide livelihoods opportunities and basic animal protein, in from of seagrass associated fish e.g. Siganidae and Scaridae. Research, management and education initiatives are, however, nearly non-existent. In Chwaka Bay, the goods and ecosystem services associated with the meadows and also appreciated by locals were fishing and collection grounds as well as substrate for seaweed cultivation. Seagrasses are used as medicines and fertilizers and associated with different beliefs and values. Dema (basket trap) fishery showed clear links to seagrass beds and provided the highest gross income per capita of all economic activities. All showing that the meadows provide social-ecological resilience. Drag-net fishery seems to damage the meadows. Two ecological studies show that artisanal seaweed farming of red algae, mainly done by women and pictured as sustainable in the WIO, has a thinning effect on seagrass beds, reduces associated macrofauna, affects sediments, changes fish catch composition and reduces diversity. Furthermore, it has a negative effect on i.a. women’s health. The two last papers are institutional analyses of the human-seagrass relationship. A broad approach was used to analyze regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive institutions. Cooperation and conflict take place between different institutions, interacting with their slow or fast moving characteristics, and are thus fundamental in directing the system into sustainable/unsustainable paths. Ecological knowledge was heterogeneous and situated. Due to the abundance of resources and high internal control, the SES seems to be entangled in a rigidity trap with the risk of falling into a poverty trap. Regulations were found insufficient to understand SES dynamics. “Well” designed organizational structures for management were found insufficient for “good” institutional performance. The dynamics between individuals embedded in different social and cultural structures showed to be crucial. Bwana Dikos, monitoring officials, placed in villages or landing sites in Zanzibar experienced four dilemmas – kinship, loyalty, poverty and control – which decrease efficiency and affect resilience. Mismatches between institutions themselves, and between institutions and cognitive capacities were identified. Some important practical implications are the need to include seagrass meadows in management and educational plans, addressing a seascape perspective, livelihood diversification, subsistence value, impacts, social-ecological resilience, and a broad institutional approach.

The main argument of this dissertation is that the White Mountain Apache Tribe's appropriation of ecological restoration played a vital role in reinstituting control over knowledge production and eco-cultural resources on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in the second half of the twentieth century. As a corollary, I argue that the shift in knowledge production practices from a paternalistic foundation to a community-based approach resulted in positive consequences for the ecological health of the Apachean landscape and Apache culture. The democratization of science and technology on the reservation, therefore, proved paramount to the reestablishment of a relatively sustainable Apache society. Beginning with the Indian New Deal, the White Mountain Apache slowly developed the capacity to employ ecological restoration as an eco-political tool to free themselves from a long history of Euro-American cultural oppression and natural resource exploitation. Tribal restoration projects embodied the dual political function of cultural resistance to and cultural exchange with Western-based land management organizations. Apache resistance challenged Euro-American notions of restoration, nature, and sustainability while maintaining cultural identity, reasserting cultural autonomy, and protecting tribal sovereignty. But at the same time, the Apache depended on cultural exchange with federal and state land management agencies to successfully manage their natural resources and build an ecologically knowledgeable tribal workforce. Initially adopting a utilitarian conservation model of land management, restoration projects aided the creation of a relatively strong tribal economy. In addition, early successes with trout, elk, and forest restoration projects eventually granted the Tribe political leverage when they sought to reassume control over reservation resources from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Building on this foundation, Apache restoration work significantly diverged in character from the typical Euro-American restoration project by the 1990s. While striving toward self-sufficiency, the Tribe hybridized tribal cultural values with Western ecological values in their restoration efforts. These projects evolved the tripartite capacity to heal ecologically degraded reservation lands, to establish a degree of economic freedom from the federal government, and to restore cultural traditions. Having reversed their historical relationship of subjugation with government agencies, the Apache currently have almost full decision-making powers over tribal eco-cultural resources.
Ph. D.

The term Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is generally interpreted as the knowledge held by Indigenous communities about their environment and the cultural frameworks in which such knowledge is transmitted. There is no universally accepted definition of TEK and interpretations can vary between Western and Indigenous lenses. TEK as an academic field has gained a vast literature base; however, there is a dearth of literature in the wildlife field that expresses TEK through an Indigenous lens. There has been growing attention on TEK in the wildlife profession, warranting further exploration of how Indigenous and Western scientific paradigms may be used together in natural resources conservation. Herein, I present my doctoral research, where I focused on a culturally sensitive approach in the pursuit of TEK studies. I conducted interdisciplinary research with the Yurok Tribe of northwestern California in two parts: (1) a human dimensions study where I interviewed Yurok people regarding TEK and their relationship with wildlife and (2) a wildlife survey on Yurok ancestral lands where I used genetic analyses of scats as a noninvasive method for determining species presence and diet. In addition, I developed a synthesis document regarding historical aspects of Indian Country in the United States and philosophical contexts of TEK as science to facilitate dialogue regarding cultural sensitivity in wildlife research with a TEK component. During an internship with the National Park Service (NPS), I developed a guidance document to provide resources regarding TEK in wildlife conservation and a case study detailing how I navigated my doctoral research. My dissertation consists of five manuscripts, each formatted for a specific journal or the NPS.

Decentralized development approaches have in recent years gained wide acceptance in policy circles. In India the national and the state

governments have for a long time undertaken the primary responsibility for water management. In recent years however, there has been a clear shift of policy towards increased reliance on the local communities. This thesis deals with the capacity of rural communities in India to manage their water resources in a sustainable way.

Through a case study of water management in a South Indian village opportunities and barriers for rural communities in India to manage their water resources in a sustainable way is analysed. The thesis deals with both formal and informal institutions involved in the water management.Factors that can promote and obstruct locals’ contribution in water management are discussed. Also the role of external actors such as NGOs, the Panchayats and the government is dealt with, and how they may facilitate a development towards sustainability and increased locals’ contribution in order to achieve a sustainable community bases water management.

Theories on collective action and the commons have been used in the analysis. These theories deal with how to get people to cooperate regarding the management of common resources such as water in order to achieve higher collective benefits. The study is primarily based on 66 semistructured qualitative interviews with local water users in a village in Andhra Pradesh.

Decentralized development approaches have in recent years gained wide acceptance in policy circles. In India the national and the state

governments have for a long time undertaken the primary responsibility for water management. In recent years however, there has been a clear shift of policy towards increased reliance on the local communities. This thesis deals with the capacity of rural communities in India to manage their water resources in a sustainable way.

Through a case study of water management in a South Indian village opportunities and barriers for rural communities in India to manage their water resources in a sustainable way is analysed. The thesis deals with both formal and informal institutions involved in the water management.Factors that can promote and obstruct locals’ contribution in water management are discussed. Also the role of external actors such as NGOs, the Panchayats and the government is dealt with, and how they may facilitate a development towards sustainability and increased locals’ contribution in order to achieve a sustainable community bases water management.

Theories on collective action and the commons have been used in the analysis. These theories deal with how to get people to cooperate regarding the management of common resources such as water in order to achieve higher collective benefits. The study is primarily based on 66 semistructured qualitative interviews with local water users in a village in Andhra Pradesh.

The ISRN in the pdf-file is incorrect. The correct ISRN is shown below.

India and many other developing countries confront serious problems of declining water tables. In India there is no real water shortage, but ineffective use of surface water leads to freshwater run-off. By building dams and irrigation water systems the Indian government has been trying to find a more effective use of surface water and thereby increase the agricultural productivity. But mismanagement of irrigation systems by local governments called for alternative management techniques, and during the last decades the central Indian government has been trying to decentralise management and governance of irrigation water to local water users. This Minor Field Study (MFS) focuses on a local implementation of Participatory Irrigation Management in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the way the local government handles the decentralisation of irrigation water management, by identify and illuminate communication channels. The thesis is built on the basic idea that functioning environmental communication is the key to reach a functioning decentralised and sustainable water management. Interviews with local government officials, citizens of a local village, and staff from a locally involved NGO within a case study constitute most of the empirical data. Theories of decentralisation of natural resource management, community participation, communication, and NGO cooperation are presented. With starting point in the empirical material and the presented theories has way the local government handles the decentralisation process, and the role of the locally involved NGO, been analysed. The study shows shortcomings in: education of stakeholders, communication training among government officials, trust in the capability of local water users, and communication between stakeholders. The study also enlighten the government officials fear of losing political power, the NGOs role as communication channel, and the formation of locally rooted organisations.

The task of producing policies for the management of Earth’s natural resources is a problem of the gravest concern worldwide. Such policies must address both responsible use in the present and the sustainability of those finite resources in the future. Resources are showing the adverse results of generations of exploitation, and communities fail to see the outcomes of past policies that have produced, and continue to produce, these results. They have not learned from past policy failures, and consequently fail to produce natural resource management (NRM) policies that support sustainable development.¶ It will be argued that NRM policy makers fail to learn from the past because they do not have a good historical perspective and a clear understanding of the dynamics of the complex human-environment system that they manage. It will also be argued that historians have not shown an interest in collaborating with policy makers on these issues, even though they have much to offer. Therefore, a new approach is proposed, which brings the skills and understanding of the trained historian directly into the policy arena.¶ This approach is called Applied Environmental History (AEH). Its aims are to help establish an area of common conceptual ground between NRM practitioners, policy makers, historians and dynamicists; to provide a framework that can help NRM practitioners and policy makers to take account of the historical and dynamical issues that characterise human-environment relationships; and to help NRM practitioners and policy makers improve their capacity to learn from the past. Applied Environmental History captures the characteristics of public and applied history and environmental history. In order to include an understanding of feedback dynamics in human-environment systems, it draws on concepts from dynamical systems theory. Because learning from the past is a particular form of learning from experience, AEH also draws on theories of cognitive adaptation.¶ Principles for the application of AEH are developed and then tested in an exploratory study of irrigation development that is focused on the NRM issue of salinity. Since irrigation salinity has existed for centuries, and is a serious environmental problem in many parts of the world, it is a suitable NRM context in which to explore policy makers' failure to learn from the past. AEH principles guide this study, and are used, together with insights generated from the study, as the basis for the design of AEH Guidelines.

There is no clear consensus on the impact of local communities on the resources they manage, primarily due to a shortage of studies with large sample sizes that incorporate multiple causal factors. As governments decentralize resource management to local communities, it is important to identify factors that prevent resource degradation, to inform more effective decentralization, and help the development of institutional characteristics that prevent resource degradation. This study used remote sensing techniques to quantify forest biomass in tropical deciduous forests in Kanha Pench landscape of Central India, and used these metrics to identify factors associated with changes in forest biomass. Kanha Pench landscape was chosen because of its variation in forest use, and because forests were transferred over a period where satellite imagery was available to track changes. To verify that remote- sensing measured changes indeed constitute degradation, I conducted ecological studies in six villages, to understand changes in biomass, understory, canopy, species diversity and long-term forest composition in intensively used forests. To understand the impact of institutional variables on changes in forest, I interviewed members of forest management committees in fifty villages in the landscape, and tested which institutional variables were associated with changes in forest canopy since 2002, when the forests were decentralized to local communities. The empirical results are of particular conservation significance in India, where further decentralization of forests to local communities in scheduled under the Forest (Dwellers) Rights Act, 2006. Results indicate that local forest use is associated with decreases in forest biomass, understory, canopy cover, and changes in vegetation structure, species richness and diversity. Most importantly, I found that human use has the potential to alter long- term forest composition as transition of some species to higher size classes is altered where humans use forest more intensively. Particularly, species that are fire and trampling resistant are more likely to become mature trees in intensely used forests. Thus, local forest use is associated with forest degradation as the long-term trajectory of the forest is altered, and forests may not be able to provide ecosystem services including livelihood needs such as fuelwood, construction, and non-timber forest products in the future. At a broader scale, remote sensing techniques (optical imagery Landsat and RADAR imagery ALOS-PALSAR FBD) were able to quantify forest biomass at an acceptable accuracy (67 percent), while more easily operatable MODIS based EVI was not. Landscape analysis showed that changes in forest biomass from 2007 to 2010 were associated with high population density, high fire radiative power and greater distance to towns. Since people only travel approximately 2 kilometers for subsistence forest use, the significance of greater changes further from towns suggests that, at a broader landscape scale, forest degradation is not primarily due to local use, but may be a result of other factors. Action taken to exclude outsiders and lower meeting frequency of committees (never) were identified as institutional variables associated with remotely-sensed positive change in canopy over the period when forest management was transferred (2002 to 2010). Villages with no meetings were also associated with higher incumbency of committee Chairpersons and lower incumbency of other committee members. Simultaneously, while economic payments increased awareness and participation in forest management committees, economic payments were not associated with any action to exclude outsiders from forest use. This suggests that managers need to focus on factors besides economic payments to incentivize committees to exclude outsiders, especially as it is associated with positive changes in the forest. Further, while elite capture of resources (as indicated by incumbency and lack of inclusiveness in decision-making) is not helpful for social equity, it does not appear to be detrimental for forests. Overall, this study suggests a number of management strategies to reduce forest degradation. Managers could focus on forests at a distance from towns and roads, as this is where most negative change in forests appears to occur. They could also work with local communities so that their use of forests does not prevent regeneration of species important for ecosystem services. Managers could also work with committees to find strategies other than economic payments for incentivizing community protection of forests.

Marine fish stocks are under serious threat of depletion due to increasing numbers of resource users with competing interests, resulting in degradation and the decline of fish catch. Using qualitative and quantitative techniques such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, household surveys and remote sensing and GIS, this study addresses: (1) the complex and inter-related nature of resource dependency, (2) the role of assets in determining survival strategies of households in artisanal fishing communities in Ponnani, India, (3) how asset degradation impacts resource-dependent households, (4) how households develop survival strategies, and (5) considers access to social, political, physical, human and financial assets. Information is organized using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) with modifications to suite the local complexities. Results show that households - engaged in diverse activities, including fishing, fish processing/marketing/culture and daily labour - evolved property rights of natural resources over generations. The Pathemari cargo business’s limited knowledge of fisheries compared to artisanal fishers, and the government led modernization resulted in resource degradation. Therefore, artisanal fishers living in coastal wards threatened by intense erosion, abandoned traditional occupations in pursuit of livelihood security. Results from image analysis and derived thematic maps indicate increased erosion of 0.35 sq km shoreline coinciding with government development initiatives. To improve livelihood options, the results indicate that 50% surveyed accessed political assets such as fishers’ cooperatives and only 20% accessed financial assets such as government sponsored schemes and loans. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions revealed many limiting factors of access, specifically marginalization and lack of financial assets: only 6% surveyed could raise enough money to migrate. With changes in technology, from harvesting to processing, gender roles are being radically altered. Women are losing jobs and income. Politically, the study revealed that local participation helped governing bodies prioritize on housing, roads, water and sanitation. Analysis of the information through the modified SLF suggests three strategies to enhance the asset base of coastal poor: strengthening grassroots organizations; transforming state relations; and developing new alternatives to conventional coastal development practice. Finally, the study suggests resource management policies to improve the households’ livelihood options and well-being.

No
The article aims to provide a synthesis of key discussions within scholarship that is critical of Mainstream Institutionalism. It adopts a thematic approach to chart debate and areas of convergence about key issues. The first section of the article briefly charts the rise to prominence of the mainstream 'collective action' school. Each of the themes identified as central to the alternative critical approach is then examined in turn. These are the 'homogenous community' critique, the avoidance of politics critique (further divided into ideational politics and politics of local empowerment) and the sociological critique. The article concludes by reflecting on the challenge of 'making complexity legible' that faces the nascent critical tradition in institutional analysis.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2000.
Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-63).

Cette recherche porte sur les origines et les effets de la dégradation de l’environnement dans le désert de Thar, au Rajasthan en Inde. Elle expose les processus politico-économiques qui conditionnent la gestion des ressources naturelles dans la région du Marwar depuis l’indépendance de l’Inde à aujourd’hui. Les modes de gestion des ressources environnementales et agraires dans le contexte du système jagirdari, un système foncier domanial qui prévalait dans la région avant l’indépendance de l’Inde, sont d’abord présentés. S’en suit une analyse de la manière dont les diverses idéologies liées au développement postcolonial ont reconfiguré le paysage socio-administratif et environnemental de la région. Ces transformations ont engendré des désordres écologiques qui ont donné lieu à une crise environnementale et agraire qui connaît son paroxysme avec les nombreux déficits pluviométriques qui sévissent depuis la dernière décennie dans la région. À partir d’une recherche de terrain effectuée dans la communauté de Givas, l’impact – au plan physique et métaphysique – de ces problèmes environnementaux sur la population locale est examiné. L’étude porte également sur les réponses à ces changements, soit les stratégies de subsistance adoptées par la population locale, de même que les interventions déployées par une organisation non gouvernementale et par l’État indien – à travers le National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). L’analyse démontre que l’expérience de la dégradation de l’environnement, à travers ses effets et les stratégies d’adaptation qui s’en suivent, est tributaire de facteurs politiques, économiques et socioculturels et donc différenciée selon le genre, la classe et la caste.
This research focuses on the origins and the consequences of environmental degradation in the Thar Desert in the State of Rajasthan, India. It outlines the political and economic processes that have influenced how natural resources are managed in the region of Marwar since Indian independence. First are presented the modes of agrarian and natural resources management that were current during the jagirdari, the pre-independence land tenure system that prevailed in this region. This is followed by an analysis of how different ideologies of postcolonial development have reshaped the social, administrative and environmental landscape of this region. These changes have led to ecological disruptions which have given rise to an environmental and agrarian crisis that has now reached a critical point with the rainfall deficits of the past decade in this region. Based on field research conducted in the community of Givas, the implications – physical and metaphysical – of these environmental problems are analyzed. The study also looks at the responses generated in order to cope with these changes, namely the livelihood strategies adopted by the local people, as well as the interventions from a non-government organization and the Indian state – through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The analysis reveals that the experience of environmental degradation, through its effects and responses, is conditioned by political, economic and sociocultural factors, and thus differentiated by gender, class and caste.

I studied aspects of fisher (Martes pennanti) population ecology on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in northern California to fill critical information gaps relative to timber management and its effect on the status of fishers, a candidate for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. A decline in mark-resight density estimates of fishers from 1998 (52/100 km2; 95% CI = 43–64) to 2005 (14/100 km2; 13–16) was likely due to changes in prey habitat suitability, increased predation pressure, and/or disease. The decline was also indicated by catch-per-unit effort indices, but not by camera station or track-plate station indices. Colleagues and I developed and tested methods of collecting mark-recapture data using genetic marking, passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag technology, and digital, passive-infrared photography that could be used in a demographic monitoring protocol. The comparatively high cost of PIT tag reading equipment and genetic analyses makes the use these methods dramatically more expensive and yield less demographic data compared to using a traditional mark-recapture approach using only live trapping. By monitoring 40 radio-marked, breeding age (≥ 2 years old) females during 2005–2011, we found that 87% exhibited denning behavior and 65% of these were successful in weaning at least one kit (mean = 1.9). Of 14 kits radio-marked in their first fall, 3 died prior to dispersal, 3 lost collars, and the other 8 established home ranges 0.8–18.0 km away from natal areas. Nipple size (width multiplied by height of the largest anterior nipple), evaluated as a predictive index of female fisher reproductive success, differed among nonbreeders vs. attempted and current breeders. A predictive index for use in assigning reproductive status to females with unknown reproductive histories had an overall correct classification rate of 81% and a chance-corrected measure of prediction of 69.5%. These results illustrate the value in establishing long-term, accurate programs to monitor populations of imperiled species which strive to determine cause and affect relationships to changes in populations and ultimately, modeling habitat fitness. The relatively low reproductive rate of female fishers brings into question the species ability to demographically respond to increased rates of juvenile and adult mortality with increased reproduction and/or survival. The limited dispersal capability of juvenile fishers restricts ability to rescue vanishing local populations from extirpation, re-inhabit landscapes from which they were previously extirpated, and establish the functional connectivity of metapopulations.

The task of producing policies for the management of Earth’s natural resources is a problem of the gravest concern worldwide. Such policies must address both responsible use in the present and the sustainability of those finite resources in the future. Resources are showing the adverse results of generations of exploitation, and communities fail to see the outcomes of past policies that have produced, and continue to produce, these results. They have not learned from past policy failures, and consequently fail to produce natural resource management (NRM) policies that support sustainable development. ¶ It will be argued that NRM policy makers fail to learn from the past because they do not have a good historical perspective and a clear understanding of the dynamics of the complex human-environment system that they manage. It will also be argued that historians have not shown an interest in collaborating with policy makers on these issues, even though they have much to offer. Therefore, a new approach is proposed, which brings the skills and understanding of the trained historian directly into the policy arena. ¶ This approach is called Applied Environmental History (AEH). Its aims are to help establish an area of common conceptual ground between NRM practitioners, policy makers, historians and dynamicists; to provide a framework that can help NRM practitioners and policy makers to take account of the historical and dynamical issues that characterise human-environment relationships; and to help NRM practitioners and policy makers improve their capacity to learn from the past. ¶ ...