This presentation by IIED associate Francesca Booker summarises a systematic review on alternative livelihoods projects and whether they are effective for conservation. The presentation was made at a session on 'Welfare impacts of changes in natural resource management' at the Forests & Livelihoods: Assessment, Research, and Engagement (FLARE) conference in Paris, France on 28 November, 2015. More details: http://www.iied.org/judging-effectiveness-alternative-livelihoods-projects

1. 1
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Are alternative livelihood
projects effective at
delivering conservation
results?
Francesca Booker @BookerFrancesca
IIED Associate
International Institute for Environment and Development
francesca.booker@iied.org

2. 2
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
What is an alternative livelihood?
Define alternative livelihoods as an:
1. Alternative Occupation
2. Alternative Resource
3. Alternative Method

3. 3
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
What do we know?
Concern that the approach is not working…
• IMM (2008)
- support has focused on supply driven, single
blue print solutions
• FFI (2013) ‘Why NOT alternative livelihoods’
- failure to recognise the complexities of livelihoods
• Wright et al (2015) ‘Reframing the concept of
alternative livelihoods’
- outdated assumptions underpin the approach

4. 4
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Photo Credit: Juliet Wright

5. 5
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Why now?
IUCN WCC 2012, Resolution 111 passed
calling for:
‘a critical review of the biodiversity benefits of
alternative livelihood projects’
Our response (CIFOR, IIED & ZSL):
• Systematic map - provides an overview of the
existing evidence
• Systematic review - analyses and syntheses the
existing evidence

6. 6
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
What did we do?
Extensive literature search & stakeholder
engagement
Searches were conducted in English & French
Captured 22,146 documents
Inclusion criteria used to screen titles, abstracts and full
texts
 For more detail see our Protocol available at:
http://www.environmentalevidencejournal.org/

7. 7
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Systematic map – a description
of the evidence

8. 8
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Systematic map – a description
of the evidence

9. 9
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Systematic map – a description
of the evidence
106 projects included in the systematic map
• 69 % provided an alternative occupation
• 58 % where at least one intervention was dependent
on conservation success
• 28 % identified a specific target group

10. 10
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Systematic review – a synthesis
of the evidence
106 projects included in the systematic map
21 projects included in the systematic review
• No measure of effectiveness
OR
• Part of a wider initiative

11. 11
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Systematic review – a synthesis
of the evidence
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Positive Neutral Negative
Numberofprojects
Overall conservation outcome
Key measures of project effectiveness
Changes in conservation status
Changes in behaviour
Changes in attitude

12. 12
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
So, are alternative livelihoods
projects effective for
conservation?
• Insufficient evidence to answer the question!
• Important shortfalls in the evidence base

13. 13
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Implications
... for policy and management
• Project design, monitoring & lessons
• Theory of change
• Positive AND negative experiences
… for research
• Capture implementer’s experience
• Best practice guidelines

14. 14
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
28/11/2015
Further references
Roe, Booker, Day et al (2015) Are alternative livelihoods
projects effective at reducing local threats to specified
elements of biodiversity and/or improving or maintaining the
conservation status of those elements. Environmental
Evidence, 4:22
Wright et al (2015) Reframing the concept of alternative
livelihoods. Conservation Biology, doi: 10.1111/cobi.12607