The Science of Sustainable Development: Local Livelihoods and the Global Environment (Biological Conservation, Restoration & Sustainability S)

Science faces major challenges in tackling the interlinked problems of poverty and environmental sustainability. This book reviews how practical science can be applied to real-life conservation and development problems, and aims to de-mystify the sometimes obscure science of natural resources management, interpreting it for the benefit of those who need to deal with the day to day problems of managing complex natural resource systems. The authors give practical guidance to those who design and manage conservation programmes and demonstrate that new technologies are now available that enable integrated natural resource management to move from a theory to a reality. They argue that the threats to the natural environment posed by globalisation require an integrated response encompassing different scales, system components, disciplines and knowledge types, and that such a response can yield real benefits to those living in tropical developing countries, whilst also achieving global environment objectives. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 3 The Science of Sustainable Development: Local Livelihoods and the Global Environment......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Figures......Page 8 Boxes......Page 10 Tables......Page 12 Foreword......Page 13 Preface......Page 15 Acknowledgements......Page 19 Part I - Integrating natural resource management......Page 23 1 The challenge: alleviating poverty and conserving the environment......Page 25 The challenges facing research......Page 29 Dysfunctional development assistance projects......Page 33 Towards a new role for science......Page 39 How integrated do we need to be?......Page 43 Conclusion......Page 47 The keys to integrated natural resource management......Page 49 2 Dealing with complexity......Page 51 The new vision of integrated research......Page 55 Adaptation, not sustainability, as the focus?......Page 60 Becoming part of an action cycle......Page 64 Moving across scales......Page 66 Knowledge management......Page 68 Measuring impact in complex systems......Page 69 Moving to new forms of organising and conducting science......Page 70 Not getting lost in the system......Page 71 Integrating across disciplines......Page 72 The keys to complexity......Page 75 3 Getting into the system: multiple realities, social learning and adaptive management......Page 77 A clash of two paradigms......Page 81 The actor-oriented approach......Page 84 The approach – learning together for change......Page 87 Getting into the system......Page 94 Staying in the system: facilitation of participatory learning and action......Page 97 Keys to getting into and staying in the system......Page 100 4 Issues of scale......Page 101 Temporal scale......Page 102 Biophysical–spatial scale......Page 103 Organisational scale......Page 105 Combining multi-scale models and databases......Page 107 Scale relationships......Page 111 Integrated conservation and development projects......Page 114 Lateral flows and filters......Page 116 5 Models, knowledge and negotiation......Page 120 Model uses and stakeholder participation......Page 121 Modelling to help villagers to improve their adaptive capacity......Page 124 Knowledge management and negotiation support......Page 128 Charting a way forward......Page 134 Step 1 Problem formulation, initial generation of alternatives and establishment of a knowledge management system......Page 135 Step 3 Developing a computer-based model......Page 136 Step 4 Moving to fully blown predictive models and/or decision-support systems......Page 137 The keys to the use of models for natural resource management......Page 138 Part II - Realities on the ground......Page 139 Component science in complex savanna environments......Page 141 Developing productive water points......Page 143 So where are the problems?......Page 145 Living in a complex world: the Kefasi family in Romwe......Page 146 Modelling: fuzzy holistic approaches or rigorous pragmatism......Page 149 Integrating across disciplines......Page 152 Conclusion and the key lessons from Chivi......Page 164 7 Forest margins in Indonesian Borneo......Page 166 The changing face of the forest landscape......Page 169 A holistic study of the changing landscape......Page 173 Tacit and explicit knowledge......Page 178 Teamwork to exploit opportunities......Page 180 The role of research: understanding development trajectories......Page 186 Conclusions and key lessons......Page 190 Forests, watersheds and poor farmers......Page 192 Seeking technological solutions: moving to farmers as owners of the research......Page 197 Organisational and resource management problems in the Rio Cabuyal......Page 201 Lessons learned......Page 205 The keys to the success of the Andean hillside initiatives......Page 208 Part III - The research–management continuum......Page 211 9 The spread of innovations......Page 213 Uptake and community empowerment......Page 215 Farm-family empowerment in Bangladesh......Page 216 Landcare in Australia......Page 217 Principles for achieving dissemination and uptake......Page 218 Information management tools for achieving uptake......Page 220 Site similarity analysis......Page 221 Interfacing simulation models with GIS......Page 223 Land type and farmer categories......Page 224 Bridging local to national and global scales: the experience of community watershed management......Page 225 The keys to widespread uptake......Page 231 10 Measuring the performance of natural resource systems......Page 233 Conceptualising the system: dealing with connectivity......Page 236 Selecting indicators......Page 237 Incorporating simulation modelling......Page 243 Participatory approaches to assessment......Page 245 Integration of indicators......Page 246 Keys to successful evaluation......Page 247 11 Achieving research-based management......Page 248 The democratisation of science......Page 254 The locus of control: local livelihoods versus public goods......Page 256 Delivering science-based natural resource management: reinventing the development project......Page 262 Towards a revolution in natural resource science?......Page 265 The keys to science-based conservation and development......Page 268 Bibliography......Page 270 Index......Page 285

Science faces major challenges in tackling the interlinked problems of poverty and environmental sustainability. This book calls for a restructuring of our present arrangements to achieve integrated natural resource management—integration across scales, system components, disciplines and knowledge types. It advocates the necessity of modelling, multi-scale analysis and action research, institutional and organizational development, and communication enhancement. The book draws on case studies throughout the world.

The challenge : alleviating poverty and conserving the environment Dealing with complexity Getting into the system : multiple realities, social learning and adaptive management Issues of scale Models, knowledge and negotiation Institutions for managing natural resources in African savannas Forest margins in Indonesian Borneo Learning by doing on tropical American hillsides The spread of innovations Measuring the performance of natural resource systems Achieving research-based management. Science faces major challenges in tackling the inter-linked problems of poverty and environmental sustainability. This book investigates these challenges and calls for a restructuring of our institutional arrangements to achieve truly integrated natural resource management that embraces a range of scales, system components, disciplines and knowledge types. Demonstrating how practical science can be applied to real-life conservation and development problems, the authors argue that the threats to the natural environment posed by globalisation require an integrated response encompassing different scales, system components, disciplines & knowledge types. -- publisher's description