Browsing by Author "Weitzner, Viviane"

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From Conflict to Collaboration: The Case of Cahuita National Park, Limon, Costa Rica
(1998) Girot, Pascal O.; Weitzner, Viviane; Fonseca, Marvin
"This case study examines the impact of the establishment of Cahuita National Park on the community of Cahuita, a largely Afro-Caribbean community located on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. It analyzes the innovative tactics the community used to manage several conflict situations with the state, and evaluates the collaborative management institution that emerged as a result of negotiations. "The case has caught the attention of many players in the Central American conservation community, because it marks the first time that a national park in Costa Rica is jointly administered by the community and the state. While interesting management arrangements have been established in Costa Rica for 'lesser' conservation categories such as wildlife refuges, the arrangement in Cahuita National Park is precedent-setting in that it involves a national park intended strictly for conservation and recreation. "Moreover, Cahuita's experience of moving from conflict within the state to collaboration mirrors a policy shift on behalf of the government of Costa Rica away from centralized, top-down natural resources management towards a process of 'deconcentration, decentralization, and democratization' (Solorzano 1997). "In light of this policy context, an in-depth evaluation of the Cahuita experience is essential. This case study a) describes the historical background to the conflict situation, and events leading to the development of the joint management committee; b) analyzes the structure and process of the joint management committee; and c) discusses the implications of the Cahuita experience within a national and regional context. It contributes to the growing body of knowledge about co-management by providing an analysis of a first attempt to institute such a figure within the context of national parks management in Central America. Within the theoretical context, the paper addresses the question: Is there co-management in Cahuita National Park?"
Probing the Powers at Play in Co-Management from the Bottom Up: The Case of Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica
(2000) Weitzner, Viviane
"While power is a central concern in the emerging theory of co-management, there has been little attempt to 'unpack' what it means, or to identify the various types and sources of power at play. Co-management practitioners have referred to the concept of power in at least three ways: (i) Defining co-management. Co-management has been defined as 'the sharing of power and responsibility between the government and local resource users,' or, as signifying [a] political claim [by the local people] to the right to share management power and responsibility with the state; (ii) Describing or analyzing the effectiveness of co-management arrangements by adapting Arnstein's 'Ladder of Citizen Participation;' and (iii) Questioning the interest and motivations of the state in devolving 'real power' through the decentralization of natural resources management, as was done in the Ribot and Agrawal panel at IASCP 1998, and in the field of political ecology in general. "Rocha's recent critique of Arnstein and development of a 'Ladder of Empowerment' provides the opportunity to revisit and elaborate on the work of co-management theorists to date, and to engage in a critical reflection on power and empowerment in co-management. What does power mean in the context of co-management? What types of power are involved, and what are their sources? How do these influence and affect the process and outcomes of co-management? This type of analysis can help build and strengthen the emerging field of co-management theory; it can also provide a useful angle for the inquiry into when co-management is feasible, and what conditions are required for success. This paper examines the case of Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica, in order to develop a preliminary typology of power at play in co-management. Power is analyzed in relation to exogenous or non-local forces or variables; local-level or internal community dynamics; and work dynamics and relations between government officials and community members. The insights are based on six-and-a-half months of fieldwork. By spacing our visits to the community over a period of one-and-a-half years and through ongoing follow-up and involvement with the community since then, we have been able to follow the process closely, and gain insights into co-management. "The Cahuita case pushes the boundaries of the conventional view of co-management as a devolution of power, and encourages the question of whether co-management can be a vehicle for socio-political empowerment. When the marine-terrestrial national park was established in 1978, the inhabitants (largely Afro-Caribbean) were forced to leave their farms without receiving compensation for their lands, and many turned to tourism as a livelihood. This new livelihood was threatened in 1994, when the Government of Costa Rica increased national park entrance fees to a level which locals feared would mean the end of tourism. In response, the locals staged a peaceful takeover of the park, and subsequently entered into negotiations with the Government. The result was that in 1997, the first co-management arrangement in a national park was established in Costa Rica. While the arrangement was informal at first and covered only a beach front area of 2 km, it received official sanction in 1998, when the mandate of the management committee was expanded to decision-making over the entire Park. This case is gaining increasing attention from national and regional policy-makers."
Transforming Land-Related Conflict: Policy, Practice and Possibilities
(2006) Baranyi, Stephen; Weitzner, Viviane
From Introduction: "What are some of those challenges? What approaches to land-related conflicts exist at the local level, and what is being learned from them in practice? What are international donor agencies doing at the interface of land and conflict? How are global civil society networks grappling with these issues? What could these and other actors do to promote the transformation of land-related conflicts? This paper reflects on these questions through a review of primary documents and secondary literature. Section 2 analyzes current debates and practices on the resolution of land-related conflicts. Section 3 examines emerging efforts in selected donor agencies, and scans what four global civil society networks are doing at the nexus of land and conflict. Section 4 brings these threads together to identify some areas for reflection and action by different actors. Other dimensions, such as national strategies, regional initiatives, the role of the private sector and other land policy challenges, are only addressed in passing due to time and space limits. Through this joint product, the International Land Coalition and The North-South Institute aim to inform the efforts of a range of different actors trying to enhance their responses to challenges at the crossroads of land and conflict. Our emphasis is on practical options for these actors, but issues not amenable to easy solutions are also raised to provoke deeper reflection."