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Research initiatives
The 2004 Symposium
‘Monitoring Matters’
Monitoring Matters: Comparative Analysis of Innovative Approaches
Climate Change
Monitoring in Developing Countries
Locally based Monitoring and Indigenous People in the Arctic
The 2004 Symposium
‘Monitoring Matters’
The suggested benefits of locally-based
monitoring of natural resources are promising. An important question however
is: How much of the potential of locally-based monitoring can be translated
into tangible results on the ground? To address this question, the
Nordic Agency for
Development and Ecology (NORDECO, Denmark), and the
Zoology Department of
Cambridge University (UK) hosted a two-day symposium on locally-based
monitoring in Denmark in 2004. Workshop participants included scientists,
natural resource managers and staff of indigenous organizations, NGOs,
governments, The Global Environment Facility, and The World Bank.
Fifteen case studies were presented and
discussed at the symposium (See objectives;
and Programme) The case studies have all been
published in a Special Issue of Biodiversity and
Conservation. One of the main
conclusions arising from the discussions at the symposium was the need
for further quantitative comparisons of the findings of locally-based and
scientist-executed monitoring, especially in developing countries, and in
circumstances where data-gatherers have received little or no formal
scientific education.
‘Monitoring Matters: Comparative Analysis of Innovative Approaches’
A new research programme, ‘Monitoring
Matters: Comparative Analysis of Innovative Approaches’, abbreviated MOMA,
was initiated in 2006.
The MOMA
programme examines whether the locally-based monitoring approaches can
detect true local or larger-scale natural resource trends and address the
shortfalls of conventional monitoring.
This programme is conducting quantitative comparisons of the findings of
locally-based vis-à-vis conventional natural resource monitoring in selected
sites in five priority developing countries. These countries are Ghana,
Madagascar, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Tanzania. The findings will not
only be of relevance for natural resource management communities, agencies
and donors in their efforts to establish and sustain effective monitoring,
but also for guiding realistic indicator development and policy-making of
national line ministries.
The programme is funded by the Research Council of the Danish Government
(Danida) over a four-year period. It involves 15 institutions in 9
countries:
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Life
Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Nordic Agency for Development and
Ecology, Copenhagen, Denmark (NORDECO)
- Zoological Museum, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark (ZMUC)
- Forestry and Beekeeping Division,
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Tanzania (MNRT)
- Kilolo Districts Lands, Natural
Resources and Environment Office, MNRT, Tanzania
- Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Tanzania
- Centro Humboldt, Nicaragua
- Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment, Nicaragua
- Wildlife Division, Forestry Commission
of Ghana, Ghana
- Ministry of Environment and WWF
Namibia under the LIFE Programme, Namibia
- Durrell Wildlife Madagascar Programme,
Madagascar
- Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR), Protected Area and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), Philippines
- University of California Berkeley,
Department of Environmental Science, Berkeley, California, USA
- The University of Florida, Centre for
African Studies and Department of Geography, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Conservation Science Group, Zoology
Department, Cambridge University, UK
A 3-day
Programme
Kick-Off Workshop was convened in April 2006, involving the
participating researchers and institutions to discuss and plan the research.
The fieldwork of the research programme began in late 2006 and is now
ongoing. Progress reports for
2006 and
2007 are available.
Climate Change
Monitoring in Developing Countries
Deforestation continues at an alarming
rate. It results in release of greenhouse gases originally stored in the
trees and in other organic matter.
Reducing and preventing deforestation is the mitigation option with the
largest and most
immediate carbon stock impact in the short term per hectare and per year
globally Most forest-clearing occurs in developing countries.
The Copenhagen compact of 2009 is likely to mandate forest conservation
payments, because greenhouse gas emission abatement from forest conservation
is much lower-cost than abating emissions from
fossil fuels. Carbon traders and donor agencies demand accountability,
transparency and quantifiable achievements in return for their support. In
order to ensure the support of the people living in the forested areas,
transparency, participatory decision-making and benefit sharing is
necessary. No common methodology is in place to estimate and verify carbon
emission reduction benefits in initiatives to reduce forest degradation and
improve land and resource management.
Locally based monitoring may serve to ground-truth data from remote sensing,
reduce uncertainty and add governance aspects yet it does not seem to be
fully included in the discussions on carbon emission reduction activities in
developing countries. Details on why locally based monitoring may be useful
to
monitor reductions in emissions from forest degradation are available.
Three factors make locally based monitoring techniques particularly
relevant:
- They can promote accountability of
carbon emission reduction efforts.
- They appear effective in incorporating
evidence-based assessments in decision-making at the local level, and
thus have considerable potential to influence on-the-ground management
activities in favour of sustainable forest management.
- They can generate ownership to carbon
emission reduction efforts, and they can encourage equitable
benefit-sharing at local levels and contribute to build social capital.
Locally-based Monitoring and Indigenous People in the Arctic
Locally-based approaches to monitoring of
natural resources appear to be relevant in the Arctic
(see Science 2007). In Greenland, the livelihood of the 2,500-3,000
full-time hunters and fishermen is threatened by
climate changes. With
the rapid change in ice cover, the future of the hunting and fishing
communities remains uncertain. Moreover, Greenland is being widely
criticised internationally for the decline in the numbers of several
species. Recently, the Home Rule Government has issued new policies for
hunting but the regulations are not benefiting from support of the local
people.
In 2008, the Home Rule
Government organized a 4-day seminar on "Sustainable Management of
Living Resources" for hunters and fishermen and the local government
administration. One of the topics discussed was the possible potential of
locally based monitoring to further improve the dialogue between local
stakeholders, government resource managers and scientists, and to enhance
the capacity of local community members in resource monitoring and
management.
The Home Rule and The
Organization of Fishermen and Hunters in Greenland are discussing
opportunities for developing a hunter/fisher-based monitoring scheme and to
initially establish this scheme on pilot-basis in a small number of
villages. A project brief of
”Opening Doors to Native Knowledge” is available in Danish and
Greenlandic.

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