IFRI: A Springboard to Tropical Forest Conservation and Co-Management in Western Ecuador

dc.contributor.authorBecker, C. Dustinen_US
dc.coverage.countryEcuador
dc.coverage.regionSouth Americaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-07-31T14:39:10Z
dc.date.available2009-07-31T14:39:10Z
dc.date.issued2000en_US
dc.date.submitted2001-07-02en_US
dc.date.submitted2001-07-02en_US
dc.description.abstract"This paper contributes to the literature on common forest resources and their collective management. In 1995, an International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) study was completed in the Comuna of Loma Alta, a rural farming community in western Ecuador. Despite having property rights to a 6,842 hectare watershed, strong local institutions, and value for forest resources, the Comuna had not organized to conserve or protect highland forest, a key resource that provided water for agriculture. Results of the IFRI study provided a foundation for design and implementation of an integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) financed by People Allied for Nature (PAN) and the Earthwatch Institute, two non-profit organizations based in the USA. The IFRI study suggested that a greater understanding of ecosystem services provided by forests might encourage Comuneros to protect them. When informed that the forest trapped fog and thus provided water for the lowlands, the Comuna decided to establish a 1000 hectare ecological reserve. Through a co-management agreement, People Allied for Nature financed the demarcation and guarding of the reserve. To assess the impact of these ICDP activities on local knowledge and attitudes, two surveys were conducted. In one survey 41% of the respondents from the Comuna of Loma Alta listed water conservation as the most important role of highland forest, whereas only 5% of peers in an adjacent watershed with no conservation project ranked water conservation as most important. Conservation of water and biodiversity were ranked as more important than employment benefits by 28% of the respondents in Loma Alta. Community members that viewed the President of the Comuna as the rule- maker were less supportive of co-management than those who viewed themselves as rule-makers. According to the survey, participation in demarcation of the reserve was biased towards community members who did not approve of co-management. The IFRI method not only provides useful information for stakeholders in social forestry in Latin America, but can be useful as a springboard or foundation for conservation and development projects."en_US
dc.identifier.citationconfdatesMay 31-June 4en_US
dc.identifier.citationconferenceConstituting the Commons: Crafting Sustainable Commons in the New Millennium, the Eighth Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Propertyen_US
dc.identifier.citationconflocBloomington, INen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10535/1735
dc.languageEnglishen_US
dc.subjectIASCen_US
dc.subjectco-managementen_US
dc.subjectcommon pool resourcesen_US
dc.subjectforest managementen_US
dc.subjectIFRIen_US
dc.subjectcommunity forestryen_US
dc.subjectprotected areasen_US
dc.subjectconservationen_US
dc.subjectsurveysen_US
dc.subjectWorkshopen_US
dc.subject.sectorForestryen_US
dc.submitter.emailhess@indiana.eduen_US
dc.titleIFRI: A Springboard to Tropical Forest Conservation and Co-Management in Western Ecuadoren_US
dc.typeConference Paperen_US

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