Session 3. 9.

Rangelands, covering 54% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface, are experiencing severe degradation worldwide, with overgrazing being one of the primary drivers. Collective action has shown potential in improving natural resource management, contributing to the wellbeing of both people and the environment. Based on household survey data conducted between 2020 and 2022 in northern China, this study estimates the effects of collective action on herders’ livestock herding behavior. Employing propensity score matching to address self-selection bias, the finding indicates that collective action can reduce overgrazing, with joint management across herders being more effective than cooperatives. Furthermore, herders who have received limited educated, have low incomes and have family members in government leadership positions tend to benefit more from collective action. Additionally, the primary mechanism by which collective action mitigates overgrazing is through enhanced rotational grazing. The findings are relevant for addressing rangeland degradation globally, and shed light on creating a more inclusive society in pastoral communities through enhanced collective action.

In recent years, REDD+ projects are introduced in many countries as their main strategy for forest management at the community level. REDD+ means “reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as the sustainable management of forests and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries”. Although the success of the community forest management activities in REDD+ projects largely depends on active households’ participation in community forest management activities, empirical evidence on what determines households’ participation in community forest management activities is still limited. Therefore, this study fills this gap. It uses a REDD+ project in Cambodia as a case study. Data the researcher collected through household questionnaire surveys and interviews was analyzed using the social-ecological system (SES) framework. This study revealed that community members’ willingness to protect forest, financial incentives to communities from carbon credit sales, and social capital (between community members, community REDD+ leader, village chief, NGOs, Department of Environment officials and rangers) were found to motivate community members to participate in forest management activities (forest patrols and REDD+ meetings) at the community level.

Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Amazon are increasingly important actors in the co-management of protected areas, including their buffer zones (BZs). These BZs, typically forested, are inhabited by indigenous and mixed communities that depend on and interact with local natural resources. Within the framework of the REDD+ project, one NGO has been working with communities to develop Life Quality Plans (PCVs), which identify their main communal needs to support local well-being and natural resource conservation. The NGO commits to addressing the communities’ top three priorities, yet there is no clear framework to assess the effectiveness of these interventions in meeting local needs.
This research evaluates the effectiveness of NGO interventions in helping communities fulfill self-identified needs for sustainable welfare, BZ resource protection, and, ultimately, protected area (PA) preservation. Two primary constraints guided this study: 1) relying solely on the NGO’s data collected over thirteen years (2008–2022) and 2) looking beyond income to measure welfare. This approach encourages methodological innovations that use existing data to refine intervention strategies, improve community welfare, and support BZ conservation.
The study employs a mixed-methods approach. The quantitative analysis focuses on education as a welfare indicator, utilizing a Theory of Change framework and difference-in-differences analysis to compare communities with PCVs over two periods (2008 vs. 2016). Qualitatively, the study examines education along with all six dimensions of community-defined welfare (social, economic, political, cultural, natural, and educational) and the various NGO interventions, using content analysis, process tracing, and conditional frequency analysis. This analysis reveals insights into the NGO’s impact on communal welfare and the effectiveness of its interventions, identifying strategies that can strengthen both community well-being and environmental conservation. Ultimately, this study provides valuable guidance for enhancing NGO interventions and co-managing protected areas in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

Since the 1970s, the relationship between people and land in Hong Kong’s rural areas has changed significantly, with many areas subject to abandonment, causing a loss in ecosystem services (ES) and communities. Strategies for sustainable land management require understanding of social, economic and ecological processes, and their mutual interdependencies (Kroll et al. 2012). Understanding these is pertinent given growing populations and land competition to avoid social conflicts and ecological destruction.
Participatory ES assessment can complement biophysical assessments by incorporating community needs (Kim et al. 2021). Participatory assessment methods enable ES to be identified based on the benefits they bring to communities and their management preferences to be identified (Kovacs et al. 2015, Brown & Fagerholm 2015). This can help manage conflicts that arise from changes in land use/management that generate trade-offs among ES (Kovacs et al. 2015), or those that emerge from differing perceptions of ES values, which can result in divergent development or conservation efforts (Brown & Fagerholm 2015). This is pertinent in rural areas as this approach highlights the cultural facet of ES, which are often under explored (Kim et al. 2021).
Here, we develop a framework for place-based participatory ES assessments, which will contribute to the formulation of management plans that more comprehensively account for communities’ preferences and, when combined with biophysical assessments, furnish a more inclusive understanding of an area. This will aid ecologically and socially sensitive development, reducing potential conflicts and the loss of valuable ecosystem benefits. The interactions between different stakeholders when utilising place-based participatory ES assessments will be examined to aid understandings on steering, collaboration and advocacy for policy and institution building when managing urban and rural needs of common resources.

Kim, I., Lee, J.H. & Kwon, H., 2021. Participatory ecosystem service assessment to enhance environmental decision-making in a border city of South Korea. Ecosystem Services, 51
Kroll, F., Müller, F., Haase, D. & Fohrer, N., 2012. Rural–urban gradient analysis of ecosystem services supply and demand dynamics. Land use policy, 29(3)
Kovács, E., Kelemen, E., Kalóczkai, Á…, 2015. Understanding the links between ecosystem service trade-offs and conflicts in protected areas. Ecosystem Services, 12
Brown, G. & Fagerholm, N., 2015. Empirical PPGIS/PGIS mapping of ecosystem services: A review and evaluation. Ecosystem services,