Local Monitoring and Enforcement as Critical Drivers for Sustainability of Forests and Protected Areas

Abstract

A large number of variables may potentially determine the success or failure of forest and protected area management. Yet the success in finding critical drivers has remained elusive. A research network called International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) through its large-N studies is attempting to precisely resolve this issue. Although the larger question is not fully settled, local monitoring and enforcement has emerged as one of the most important determinants of sustainable governance of forests, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and protected areas. Drawing on the recent work of IFRI research programme, this review provides justification for instituting local monitoring and enforcement systems in the field. This document is part of the ongoing series of technical notes to support connecting science to decision making aimed at bridging the science-management divide. The new research clearly shows that even when a number of other factors are taken into account, higher levels of local enforcement can result in improved regeneration and lower the possibility of habitat destruction across a variety of ecological, economic and social contexts. This understanding has immediate practical utility in the field. Also, because this review paper draws on the robust research available world-wide, it has applicability in a diversity of geographical contexts, including India. We are now at a juncture when enough science is available to persuade practitioners to craft robust systems of local monitoring and enforcement. Practitioners themselves have argued earlier that given the stakes and complexity involved, the crux of the sustainability of forests and protected areas is proper monitoring and adaptation. Accumulating scientific understanding should provide us a conclusive evidence for giving the desired thrust for local monitoring to generate context-specific knowledge, and local enforcement to link that knowledge to action in forests and protected areas in Rajasthan."