Environmental issues are increasingly important and the role of community-based natural resource management is an increasingly important approach in improving local environmental issues (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.630). The readings that this reading response addresses includes, Enchantment and Disenchantment: The Role of Community in Natural Resource Conservation by Arun Agrawal and Clark C. Gibson, Nepali Women Using Community Forestry as a Platform for Social Change by Kalpana Giri and Ika Darnhofer and Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania by Andreas Scheba and Irmeli Mustalahti. The readings main arguments is that past, current. and ongoing community-based natural resource management has failed to achieve significant improvements in the local environment and that greater importance needs to be given to increasing the active involvement and participation of local, indigenous and marginalized peoples in community-based natural resource management (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.630, p.641, Giri and Darnhofer, 2010, p.1218-1219,p.1227-1228, Scheba and Mustalati, 2015, p.8, p.16). This main argument will be the emphasis of this reading response.
Enchantment and Disenchantment: The Role of Community in Natural Resource Conservation by Arun Agrawal and Clark C.Gibson provides an analytical approach for understanding community-based natural resource management. They argue that community-based resource management is effective in improving resource management because it involves a homogenous social structure that has shared norms and values and it is a small spatial unit (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.630). To increase its effectiveness, community-based natural resource management needs to be more politically and institutionally focused by emphasizing the diverse and competing interests of individuals in the community and how these interests influence local decision-making (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.630). Community-based natural resource management needs to provide “checks and balances” among different individuals in the community, increase authority and power locals have in natural resource management and provide increased funding to locals (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.641).
Nepali Women Using Community Forestry as a Platform for Social Change by Kalpana Giri and Ika Darnhofer provides an example and analysis of community-based natural resource management in Nepal. Here, women have an insignificant role in community forestry as it reflects larger social structures but women in Nepal are actively increasing their active involvement and participation in community forestry (Giri and Darnhofer, 2010, p.1218-1219). Increasing the active involvement and participation of women in community forestry will increase the effectiveness of community forestry because women tend to care more about their community as a whole (Giri and Darnhofer, 2010, p.1227-1228).
Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania by Andreas Scheba and Irmeli Mustalahti provides an example and analysis of community-based natural resource management in Tanzania and criticizes the use of ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania (Scheba and Mustalahti, 2015, p.8). They argue that the use of ‘expert’ knowledge limits community forest management decentralization to a more local level (Scheba and Mustalahti, 2015, p.8). To increase the effectiveness and efficiency of community forest management, community-based natural resource management in Tanzania needs to be less bureaucratically and technically demanding and should increase the active involvement and participation of locals in community forest management (Scheba and Mustalati, 2015, p.8, p.16).
The readings speak to each other significantly in an integrative approach. Similar issues touched on by the readings include the analysis of past, current and ongoing failures of community-based natural resource management and the argument of the need to increase the active involvement and participation of local, indigenous and marginalized peoples in community-based natural resource management to improve its effectiveness (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.630, p.641, Giri and Darnhofer, 2010, p.1227-1228, Scheba and Mustalati, 2015, p.8, p.16). Different issued touched on by the readings includes Nepali Women Using Community Forestry as a Platform for Social Change by Kalpana Giri and Ika Darnhofer emphasis on the insignificant role of women in community forestry and the need for women to increase their active involvement and participation in community forestry through a process of ongoing social change, to increase its effectiveness (Giri and Darnhofer, 2010, p.1218-1219, p.1227-1228). Another different issue touched on by the readings includes Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania by Andreas Scheba and Irmeli Mustalahti criticism of ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania and that ‘expert’ knowledge has limited the decentralization of community forest management to a more local level and community forest management needs to increase the active involvement and participation of locals to increase its effectiveness and efficiency (Scheba and Mustalati,2015, p.8, p.16).
The readings use similar and different approaches and provide different points of view and analytical lenses in their analysis of community-based natural resource management. Similar approaches used in the readings includes the readings use of a literature review to understand past, current and ongoing community-based natural resource management to understand how it has failed and how it can be improved on to achieve more significant improvements in the local environment. The Role of Community in Natural Resource Conservation by Arun Agrawal and Clark C. Gibson mainly uses a literature review for its analysis (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.630). Different approaches used in the readings includes Nepali Women Using Community Forestry as a Platform for Social Change by Kalpana Giri and Ika Darnhofer use of group discussions, interviews and surveys in two community forest user groups in Nepal to understand and provide analysis of the role of women in forest management in Nepal (Giri and Darnhofer, 2010, p.1217). Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania by Andreas Scheba and Irmeli Mustalahti uses a year of field research in Tanzania to understand and provide an analysis of past, current and ongoing failures of forest management inTanzania (Scheba and Mustalahti, 2015, p.8).
The readings increase understanding of how different individuals and groups of people view, experience, address and are impacted by environmental issues and provide insights through their analysis of community-based natural resource management in different communities. Local communities experience different and similar issues in community-based natural resource management and locals are impacted by environmental issues and natural resource management, as they need natural resources for their livelihood and are interested in increasing the effectiveness of community-based natural resource management (Giri and Darnhofer, 2010, p.1217, p.1227).
In conclusion, the readings provide an analysis of community-based natural resource management by touching on similar and different issues, using similar and different approaches and by providing similar and different points of view and analytical lenses. The readings main arguments is that greater importance needs to be given to increasing the active involvement and participation of local, indigenous and marginalized peoples in community-based natural resource management as a result of past, current and ongoing community-based natural resource management failure to achieve significant improvements in the local environment (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999, p.630, p.641, Giri and Darnhofer, 2010,p.1218-1219, p.1227-1228, Scheba and Mustalati, 2015, p.8, p.16).
Sources:
Agrawal, A. and Gibson, C. C. 1999. Enchantment and Disenchantment: The Role of Community in Natural Resource Conservation.World Development, Vol. 27, No. 4, p.629-649, 1999. 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. doi: 10.1016/S0305-750X(98)00161-2
Giri, K. and Darnhofer, I. 2010. Nepali Women Using Community Forestry as a Platform for Social Change. Society andNatural Resource, 23(12), p.1216-1229, 2010. 2010 Taylor and Francis Group,LLC. doi: 10.1080/08941921003620533
Scheba, A. and Mustalahti, I. 2015. Rethinking‘ expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania. Forest Policy and Economics, 60, p.7-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2014.12.007