1) The Stabilisation through Conservation (StabilCon) philosophy was developed in Kenya as a new approach to conservation that addresses the root causes of threats like poaching. It aims to stabilize vulnerable rural communities and curb illegal wildlife trafficking by meeting local needs, growing nature-based economies, and empowering community conservancies.
2) There was debate at a conference around whether StabilCon appropriately securitizes conservation or places communities at risk. Proponents argued that communities already face these threats and that conservation cannot succeed without addressing stabilization.
3) Questions were also raised around how to balance human development needs with environmental protection, and whether StabilCon's emphasis on development could enable threats like resource extraction. Advoc
Social Resilience andNatural Resource Dependent Societies -Kenya-Dr. Asenath Maobe
This lecture was presented to Master of Science Students at the University of Nairobi, in January 2021 at the invitation of Prof. Joanes Atela a seasoned climate change expert and a convener of Africa Research and Impact Network (ARIN).
The lecture highlights the praxis between social resilience and natural resource dependent societies, a Kenyan context. Enjoy!
Importance of connected communities to flood resilienceNeil Dufty
Floodplain risk management and emergency management will never protect all Victorian communities in all floods. There will always be some residual risk for communities, meaning that the focus will be on how they look after themselves particularly in large flood events. This self-ability to prepare, respond and recover will largely determine how quickly communities return to normal functioning – a measure of flood resilience.
There is a relatively large body of psychological research that identifies the factors determining people’s flood preparedness, appropriate response and effective recovery. However, according to research into disaster resilient communities, not only is the participation of individuals required, but also collective action. Several researchers have found that community connectedness (especially ‘social capital’) is a critical factor in the ability of a community to recover after a disaster.
Social capital has been defined as the ‘networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit’ (Putnam, 1995). Research into recent disasters around the world, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, has shown the benefits of social capital in providing resources for a faster and more efficient recovery. Some recent post-flood evaluations conducted in Victoria also indicate the importance of social capital in flood response and recovery. Research by the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development has shown the need for social capital formation in building general community resilience across the state.
There are several implications of these findings for floodplain and emergency agencies including the need to work with community developers in state and local government to assess and strengthen community connections through social capital formation in flood-prone Victorian communities. This should be done as a preparation for flooding to enable the different types of social capital to work in communities during and after a flood.
Another implication is that community flood education and engagement programs such as FloodSafe should include content that helps people and communities learn how to form and use social capital as part of flood preparedness.
Social Resilience andNatural Resource Dependent Societies -Kenya-Dr. Asenath Maobe
This lecture was presented to Master of Science Students at the University of Nairobi, in January 2021 at the invitation of Prof. Joanes Atela a seasoned climate change expert and a convener of Africa Research and Impact Network (ARIN).
The lecture highlights the praxis between social resilience and natural resource dependent societies, a Kenyan context. Enjoy!
Importance of connected communities to flood resilienceNeil Dufty
Floodplain risk management and emergency management will never protect all Victorian communities in all floods. There will always be some residual risk for communities, meaning that the focus will be on how they look after themselves particularly in large flood events. This self-ability to prepare, respond and recover will largely determine how quickly communities return to normal functioning – a measure of flood resilience.
There is a relatively large body of psychological research that identifies the factors determining people’s flood preparedness, appropriate response and effective recovery. However, according to research into disaster resilient communities, not only is the participation of individuals required, but also collective action. Several researchers have found that community connectedness (especially ‘social capital’) is a critical factor in the ability of a community to recover after a disaster.
Social capital has been defined as the ‘networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit’ (Putnam, 1995). Research into recent disasters around the world, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, has shown the benefits of social capital in providing resources for a faster and more efficient recovery. Some recent post-flood evaluations conducted in Victoria also indicate the importance of social capital in flood response and recovery. Research by the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development has shown the need for social capital formation in building general community resilience across the state.
There are several implications of these findings for floodplain and emergency agencies including the need to work with community developers in state and local government to assess and strengthen community connections through social capital formation in flood-prone Victorian communities. This should be done as a preparation for flooding to enable the different types of social capital to work in communities during and after a flood.
Another implication is that community flood education and engagement programs such as FloodSafe should include content that helps people and communities learn how to form and use social capital as part of flood preparedness.
Indigenous Knowledge, Disaster Risk Reduction Policy NoteNoralene Uy
This Policy Note aims to provide a directional path in mainstreaming Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Risk Reduction for national authorities and ministries of disaster management, ministries of education, institutions of higher education in disaster management, and international and national NGOs in Asian countries.
Mitigation Of What And By What PresentationfinalLn Perch
Presentation of Draft Final findings from Research Paper on Mitigation of What and Adaptation by Whom. Presented at DevNet Conference, Uppsala, Sweden, November 2010
Mismanagement of Natural Resources: States, businesses and communitiesEric Kumeh Mensah
This presentation highlights the concepts of mismanagement, public trust and tragedy of the commons. It uses three clear examples to describe natural resources mismanagement at state, business and community levels. Root causes of NR mismanagement are then explored as well as solutions to the key issues raised. I completes by highlighting the role Natural Resource and Environmental Governance student can play in sustainable NRM.
Indigenous knowledge for disaster risk reduction: Good practices and lessons ...Noralene Uy
This publication presents a collection of indigenous practices for disaster risk reduction developed over time in communities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Local and indigenous knowledge for community resilience: Hydro-meteorological...Noralene Uy
A project officially launched in 2011 focusing on local and indigenous knowledge related to hydro- meteorological hazards and climate change in Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste has documented local and indigenous knowledge and practices that help communities to predict, mitigate and adapt to hazards; developed tools for integrating local and indigenous knowledge with science; and published information, education and communication materials that integrate local and indigenous knowledge and science on hydro-meteorological hazard risk reduction and climate change impacts.
Sustainability through Informality
Cristina Dreifuss-Serrano
Abstract
In precarious environments, such as squatter settlements, sustainability can be achieved as an economic resource. It is important, however, to start with assuring a sense of belonging in the members of the communities. Through observation in squatter settlements and conversations with their inhabitants, this paper presents a view on informal sustainability through participative
processes. We argue that if we begin by looking at cultural sustainability, people’s sense of belonging becomes a key factor in taking care of the environment. We aim to demonstrate that even if squatter settlements are regarded as areas of conflict in terms of pollution, occupation of the land, and waste disposal, through informal processes people can achieve a degree of awareness that will not only result in sustainable practices, but that can also propose new creative ways to achieve them, with
economical considerations in mind.
Keywords: Cultural sustainability, informality, human development, squatter settlements, identity
Good governance, equitable adaptation & building coalitions around climate change. Presented by Edith Fernandez-Baca at the "Perth II: Global Change and the World's Mountains" conference in Perth, Scotland in September 2010.
Threats and stresses to our 21st century world come in all shapes and sizes, just as they have since the beginning of human existence. But what distinguishes today’s threats from those of the past is the escalating rate at which they are occurring, without mind for geography or man-made borders. Issues once identified and analyzed individually – our environment, the economy, and social challenges – are now inextricably interlinked.
Despite all we know about resilience and the large body of research and literature that has been written on the subject – too few societies, organizations, and systems get resilience right.
In our new publication, titled Rebound: Building a More Resilient World, we asked leaders from various disciplines to share their lessons of what resilience means and what it requires of us. Through the lens of their own experiences, we can begin to explore some of the ways we can help prepare for, withstand and emerge stronger from the acute shocks and chronic stresses of the 21st century.
Indigenous Knowledge, Disaster Risk Reduction Policy NoteNoralene Uy
This Policy Note aims to provide a directional path in mainstreaming Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Risk Reduction for national authorities and ministries of disaster management, ministries of education, institutions of higher education in disaster management, and international and national NGOs in Asian countries.
Mitigation Of What And By What PresentationfinalLn Perch
Presentation of Draft Final findings from Research Paper on Mitigation of What and Adaptation by Whom. Presented at DevNet Conference, Uppsala, Sweden, November 2010
Mismanagement of Natural Resources: States, businesses and communitiesEric Kumeh Mensah
This presentation highlights the concepts of mismanagement, public trust and tragedy of the commons. It uses three clear examples to describe natural resources mismanagement at state, business and community levels. Root causes of NR mismanagement are then explored as well as solutions to the key issues raised. I completes by highlighting the role Natural Resource and Environmental Governance student can play in sustainable NRM.
Indigenous knowledge for disaster risk reduction: Good practices and lessons ...Noralene Uy
This publication presents a collection of indigenous practices for disaster risk reduction developed over time in communities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Local and indigenous knowledge for community resilience: Hydro-meteorological...Noralene Uy
A project officially launched in 2011 focusing on local and indigenous knowledge related to hydro- meteorological hazards and climate change in Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste has documented local and indigenous knowledge and practices that help communities to predict, mitigate and adapt to hazards; developed tools for integrating local and indigenous knowledge with science; and published information, education and communication materials that integrate local and indigenous knowledge and science on hydro-meteorological hazard risk reduction and climate change impacts.
Sustainability through Informality
Cristina Dreifuss-Serrano
Abstract
In precarious environments, such as squatter settlements, sustainability can be achieved as an economic resource. It is important, however, to start with assuring a sense of belonging in the members of the communities. Through observation in squatter settlements and conversations with their inhabitants, this paper presents a view on informal sustainability through participative
processes. We argue that if we begin by looking at cultural sustainability, people’s sense of belonging becomes a key factor in taking care of the environment. We aim to demonstrate that even if squatter settlements are regarded as areas of conflict in terms of pollution, occupation of the land, and waste disposal, through informal processes people can achieve a degree of awareness that will not only result in sustainable practices, but that can also propose new creative ways to achieve them, with
economical considerations in mind.
Keywords: Cultural sustainability, informality, human development, squatter settlements, identity
Good governance, equitable adaptation & building coalitions around climate change. Presented by Edith Fernandez-Baca at the "Perth II: Global Change and the World's Mountains" conference in Perth, Scotland in September 2010.
Threats and stresses to our 21st century world come in all shapes and sizes, just as they have since the beginning of human existence. But what distinguishes today’s threats from those of the past is the escalating rate at which they are occurring, without mind for geography or man-made borders. Issues once identified and analyzed individually – our environment, the economy, and social challenges – are now inextricably interlinked.
Despite all we know about resilience and the large body of research and literature that has been written on the subject – too few societies, organizations, and systems get resilience right.
In our new publication, titled Rebound: Building a More Resilient World, we asked leaders from various disciplines to share their lessons of what resilience means and what it requires of us. Through the lens of their own experiences, we can begin to explore some of the ways we can help prepare for, withstand and emerge stronger from the acute shocks and chronic stresses of the 21st century.
A Suspected Derivative Morphology for pheophytin (脫鎂葉綠素) and the Enhanced H...cclarbl
● What’s the role of pheophytin (pheo) in photosynthesis?
● What might be pheo’s other structure-related roles? → things we bumped into in the original low-power chlorophyll battery
●. Porphyrin-ring family and their uses
●. A conjectured derivative morphology and associated proton conduction path within pheophytins (pheo’s)
● Spectral comparison among: 1st-principle quantum simulation, measurement on ethanol-extracted pheo, and existing literature
● Experimental evidence in pheo-catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen gas
● Summary and conclusions
• Background and motivation – the success of pheophytin (pheo, 脫鎂葉綠素) catalyst
• Porphyrin-ring family and roles of their derivative morphologies
• Similar derivatives within DNA base pairs
• 1st-principle simulation of simplified H2 decomposition steps involving derivative DNA base pairs à energetically favorable?
• Wet DNA-catalyzed chemical battery experiment and result
• Dry DNA-catalyzed hydrogen fuel cell under room temperature
• Summary and conclusions
In December 2016, The Rockefeller Foundation’s African Regional Office hosted the Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Convening in Nairobi, Kenya. Over 150 delegates and 40 speakers participated, sharing insights, examples, and engaging in debate and discussion on why and how ‘resilience’ can enhance Africa’s ongoing development.
Conservation, land rights and livelihoods in north kenyaGian Paolo Pezzi
In the last 15 years, NGOs and other civil society conservation groups have aggressively pursued efforts to bring important wildlife habitats in Northern Kenya under some sort of conservation management in an effort to protect the wildlife populations, while also creating income generating opportunities from conservation. These efforts have targeted wildlife habitatsthat lie outside the Government protected areas, namely parks and reserves. The term ‘community-based conservation’ is used for the in-situ governance structures that are created to implement these conservation initiatives.
Governing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), with UCL's Peter JonesIIED
In the latest of a series of IIED critical themes, Peter Jones, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography at UCL, discussed Governing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) on October 6, 2014.
His presentation explored the argument that the key to the resilience is diversity, both of species in ecosystems and incentives in governance systems.
The discussion drew on the findings of 20 MPA case studies from around the world, employing a novel governance analysis framework to address some key questions: How can top-down and bottom-up approaches to MPA governance be combined? What does this mean, in reality, in different contexts? How can we develop and implement governance approaches that are both effective in achieving conservation objectives and equitable in fairly sharing associated costs and benefits?
Jones has spent more than 20 years undertaking trans-disciplinary research on the governance of human uses of marine resources, provided advice to many national and international organisations on MPA and MSP issues, is a Ministerial Appointee to the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority and recently published the book Governing Marine Protected Areas: resilience through diversity (2014, Routledge).
More details: http://www.iied.org/critical-theme-governing-marine-protected-areas
People not Poaching: community-based approaches to tackling illegal wildlife ...IIED
A presentation by Oliver Wilson-Holt, database editor of the People not Poaching initiative, providing a guided tour of the initiative to showcase community efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trade.
She highlights a diversity of case studies that are responding to conflict between communities and wildlife.
The presentation was given at a webinar on community-based approaches to tackling poaching and illegal wildlife trade hosted by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) on 30 March 2020.
More details: https://www.iied.org/iied-webinar-community-based-approaches-tackling-poaching-illegal-wildlife-trade
International Union for Conservation of Nature World Parks Congress 2014 - Is...Graciela Mariani
Volume 89 Number 15 - 19 November 2014
IUCN WORLD PARKS CONGRESS 2014 HIGHLIGHTS
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
In the morning, participants attended stream sessions while a high-level roundtable convened. Government representatives provided inputs to the vision of the Promise of Sydney and pledged national commitments for the next decade. An evening World Leaders’ Dialogue focused on finding the balance between the global appetite for mineral resources and how this defines PAs.
1. 01/12/14 LEWISTON, John
RUSI Conference
Stabilisation through Conservation: Introducing a Grounded Alternative for
World Problems
Conservation efforts often depend upon the measure of political support afforded to them; but
how to conserve in areas of chronic instability which are less responsive to the policies and
interventions of central governments? This has been the predicament for those trying to save
Kenya’s elephant population. Despite banning the ivory trade, actively combatting poaching and
corruption, and voluntarily destroying national stockpiles of ivory, Kenya has seen its elephant
population decimated in recent years. The problem seems to be the increasingly lucrative trade in
illegal ivory. To use the favoured formula of commodity analysts, this is simply a case of reduced
supply (elephants) and expanded demand (largely due to the growth of Asia’s middle classes). It has
become clear that political will alone is not enough. A new approach to conservation is needed if
this negative trend is to be reversed.
With the majority of elephants being located outside of protected areas, conservation can only be
successful if built upon the support of local communities. However, it can be difficult to engage
rural communities in conservation, as they are often isolated and vulnerable to the incursions of
transnational elements. This problem is particularly acute in rural areas embroiled in violence as the
destruction of normal economic activity has pulled disenfranchised locals into criminal enterprises.
The Kenyan government’s response has been to work in partnership with the Tsavo Trust to
produce a ‘home-grown’, African-driven conservation concept: the ‘Stabilisation through
Conservation’ philosophy (‘StabilCon’). StabilCon addresses human needs as part of a holistic
approach that uses wildlife conservation as the catalyst for stabilising vulnerable rural areas,
undermining the drivers of wildlife crime, and building a secure and sustainable environment for
wildlife and people alike. The aim is to be pro-active rather than reactive and defensive.
To do this, StabilCon seeks to adopt an ‘ink spot’ approach, developing and expanding from small,
carefully-managed centres with Community Wildlife Conservancies. The first step will be the
deployment of professional anti-poaching units, recruited from local communities and trained to
meet local challenges. With minimum security, StabilCon will seek to build local economies—
particularly those which are nature-based—and educate on the ways in which wildlife contributes
to local prosperity. Once human needs have been addressed and the drivers of crime have been
curtailed, StabilCon seeks to safeguard the environment through science-based planning and
protected area management of the ecosystem. This will include zoning which accommodates
different land uses, accounting for biodiversity, population needs, and the availability of natural
resources. Over time these centres will link humans and wildlife together across wider areas.
Indeed, the hope is that StabilCon is a concept which can be applied internationally as a best-
practice framework for indigenous conservation solutions, which seeks to empower successful local
projects with international funding and contacts.
2. 01/12/14 LEWISTON, John
That’s the theory. That’s the ambition. But the proponents of StabilCon understand that the
concept is developing and will need to be tested and periodically updated to reflect new challenges
and dynamic operating conditions. Enter the University of Exeter’s Strategy & Security Institute (SSI)
and December’s conference at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Senior practitioners in
security, conservation, development and stabilisation were invited to debate the concept of
StabilCon. The result was a formative contribution to a nascent learning process and direction for
SSI’s future research.
One of the primary concerns voiced by attendees was that StabilCon may be inappropriately
securitising conservation. Indeed, some feared that StabilCon’s avowed aim to create locally-
enforced ‘buffer zones’ around parks might place its constituent communities directly on the
frontline of operations against armed groups. The response was that this is already the reality for
these communities. Judi Wakhungu, Kenya’s Minister for Environment, Water & Natural Resources,
conceded that her very presence was indicative of the securitisation of conservation, but argued
that the illegal exploitation of wildlife and the targeting of proximate communities are already
prominent in the activities of terrorists and insurgents. This point was supported by Ambassador
Hussein Dado, the Governor of Tana River County in Kenya, who described how the disruption of
communal violence in his county had created a vacuum for transnational groups like al-Shabaab.
Therefore, what would be inappropriate would be to attempt to conserve without due
consideration for stabilisation operations. The fact that these communities were not being engaged
represented more of an opportunity than a risk, as valuable intelligence was available if locals could
be convinced that conservation was not solely a government issue.
These rebuttals raised a new point: was there really evidence that these illegal activities were
linked to terrorist operations? The challenges surrounding intelligence gathering make this a
difficult question to answer. Not only is the majority of revenue produced by illegal wildlife
trafficking untraceable, but many of the individuals participating in the enterprise are doing so on a
temporary basis before reverting to civilian roles. However, according to Iain Saunders of the Tsavo
Trust, the criminal elements in the region are so pervasive that the linkages between poaching and
violence are obvious on the ground, even if one could not tie a specific sale to a specific attack.
What is important is that the illegal trade in wildlife products is strengthening armed organisations.
Those in attendance at RUSI generally agreed that there was value to locally-sourced intelligence,
even if anecdotal, but still made the point that publishable evidence was necessary if adherents of
StabilCon were to secure more support for the concept. Perhaps more importantly, gathering more
evidence is important to StabilCon’s learning process and how it measures its success. Rigorous
testing will be needed to prevent solutions being formulated on occupational biases. Undoubtedly,
this will be an integral aspect of SSI’s future research into StabilCon.
StabilCon emphasises the need to counter poverty to remove the need and temptation to engage
in illicit activities. Ambassador Dado voiced the urgent need for education, employment and
income to bolster Kenya’s youth against radicalisation. Nevertheless, the next point of contention
came over economic development and where the needs of humans might contravene those of the
3. 01/12/14 LEWISTON, John
animals. Of particular concern was whether StabilCon’s emphasis on human needs would facilitate
the expansion of extractive industries into conservation areas, principally where oil reserves have
been discovered. Some conservationists argued that the creation of jobs and infrastructure may not
justify the potential negative effects on wildlife and that large investment could even induce wider
corruption, threatening both conservation and stability. The response from StabilCon’s advocates
was that resource extraction also represented an opportunity for conservation funding and was
another reality that had to be accepted. StabilCon’s role was to ensure that extraction did not
subordinate environmental concerns and that viable institutions were built to counter corruption. It
has to be said that some attendees remained unconvinced, but it was then reiterated that this was
a Kenyan decision and those present believed that extraction could be complementary to StabilCon.
There were also concerns over trends such as population growth, though it was acknowledged that
this is a trend which could be described as a ‘wicked problem’; StabilCon can only remain flexible in
the face of future population control and movement. Drastic measures to counter population
trends for the sake of conservation can only be initiated by the Kenyan government.
With much of the debate having centred on conservation, the event concluded with a discussion of
stabilisation as a concept, led by Dr Christian Dennys of the Stabilisation Unit. For Dennys, ‘stability’
is the ability of a system to be able to withstand a number of shocks and return to a sort of
equilibrium. Crucially, this does not mean that stability is a frozen state. It is fluid and StabilCon will
have to adapt to how stability is interpreted differently in different places and over time. This
process will demand an appreciation of how stabilisation differs from development – it is a political
process, attempting to achieve a political effect, including through the use of military operations.
Coupled with this conceptual fluidity, StabilCon operations will have to stay mobile as threats
instinctively migrate away from where success is being achieved. This is why it is so vital that
StabilCon’s approach is community-driven; unlike international organisations, they are the only
entities which will be present for the timescale necessary to implement StabilCon.
Ultimately, the StabilCon philosophy is not a prescriptive ‘silver bullet’ which will resolve all of the
complexities surrounding conservation, but its potential was clear from the day’s discussions.
Community conservation groups and conservancies are a proven tool and the prospect of local
successes being matched with international finance, contacts and training is enticing. StabilCon’s
future depends upon an ongoing learning process and its implications for how we understand the
desired end states in different areas. December’s RUSI conference was a first step in a future which
will be built in partnership with academic institutes like Exeter’s SSI.