Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

Integrating conservation and sustainable development is difficult, but organisations charged with this mandate must move forward with implementation. Adaptive Co-Management (ACM), an approach that brings together the learning function of adaptation with the linking function of collaboration, has bee...

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Main Authors: Julia Baird, Ryan Plummer, Lisen Schultz, Derek Armitage, Orjan Bodin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2018-01-01
Series:Conservation & Society
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2018;volume=16;issue=4;spage=409;epage=419;aulast=Baird
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author Julia Baird
Ryan Plummer
Lisen Schultz
Derek Armitage
Orjan Bodin
author_facet Julia Baird
Ryan Plummer
Lisen Schultz
Derek Armitage
Orjan Bodin
author_sort Julia Baird
collection DOAJ
description Integrating conservation and sustainable development is difficult, but organisations charged with this mandate must move forward with implementation. Adaptive Co-Management (ACM), an approach that brings together the learning function of adaptation with the linking function of collaboration, has been identified as a promising way to enhance the effectiveness of sustainable development without compromising conservation efforts. We examine four UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BRs) to better understand the extent to which they exhibit characteristics of ACM integrated conservation and sustainable development and gain insights into how they do so. We find that the BRs we studied in Canada and Sweden undertake a substantial number of activities strongly oriented towards integration of conservation and development objectives. These activities involve a wide variety of actors in both on-the-ground implementation efforts and decision-making activities, create novel spaces for interaction among participants which contributes to their bridging ability, and draw on social networks, available assets and individuals' contributions to enable actions in pursuit of their integrative mandate. Insights into these activities and how they were undertaken can offer lessons for future practice and research within the World Biosphere Reserve Network, as well as conservation organisations more broadly. Although we demonstrate that significant efforts are being made towards integration of conservation and development, we nonetheless suggest that further studies should explicitly investigate if and how such integration actually lead to more desirable social and ecological outcomes.
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spelling doaj.art-43bdd874701242d89a151cb73be100412022-12-22T03:45:09ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsConservation & Society0972-49232018-01-0116440941910.4103/cs.cs_17_58Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere ReservesJulia BairdRyan PlummerLisen SchultzDerek ArmitageOrjan BodinIntegrating conservation and sustainable development is difficult, but organisations charged with this mandate must move forward with implementation. Adaptive Co-Management (ACM), an approach that brings together the learning function of adaptation with the linking function of collaboration, has been identified as a promising way to enhance the effectiveness of sustainable development without compromising conservation efforts. We examine four UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BRs) to better understand the extent to which they exhibit characteristics of ACM integrated conservation and sustainable development and gain insights into how they do so. We find that the BRs we studied in Canada and Sweden undertake a substantial number of activities strongly oriented towards integration of conservation and development objectives. These activities involve a wide variety of actors in both on-the-ground implementation efforts and decision-making activities, create novel spaces for interaction among participants which contributes to their bridging ability, and draw on social networks, available assets and individuals' contributions to enable actions in pursuit of their integrative mandate. Insights into these activities and how they were undertaken can offer lessons for future practice and research within the World Biosphere Reserve Network, as well as conservation organisations more broadly. Although we demonstrate that significant efforts are being made towards integration of conservation and development, we nonetheless suggest that further studies should explicitly investigate if and how such integration actually lead to more desirable social and ecological outcomes.http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2018;volume=16;issue=4;spage=409;epage=419;aulast=Bairdadaptive co-managementbiosphere reservesconservationsustainable development
spellingShingle Julia Baird
Ryan Plummer
Lisen Schultz
Derek Armitage
Orjan Bodin
Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
Conservation & Society
adaptive co-management
biosphere reserves
conservation
sustainable development
title Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
title_full Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
title_fullStr Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
title_full_unstemmed Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
title_short Integrating Conservation and Sustainable Development Through Adaptive Co-management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
title_sort integrating conservation and sustainable development through adaptive co management in unesco biosphere reserves
topic adaptive co-management
biosphere reserves
conservation
sustainable development
url http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2018;volume=16;issue=4;spage=409;epage=419;aulast=Baird
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AT ryanplummer integratingconservationandsustainabledevelopmentthroughadaptivecomanagementinunescobiospherereserves
AT lisenschultz integratingconservationandsustainabledevelopmentthroughadaptivecomanagementinunescobiospherereserves
AT derekarmitage integratingconservationandsustainabledevelopmentthroughadaptivecomanagementinunescobiospherereserves
AT orjanbodin integratingconservationandsustainabledevelopmentthroughadaptivecomanagementinunescobiospherereserves