Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Ecological Knowledge Among Communities, Managers and Scientists: Bridging Divergent Perspectives to Improve Forest Management Outcomes

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Multiple actors are typically involved in forest management, namely communities, managers and researchers. In such cases, suboptimal management outcomes may, in addition to other factors, be symptomatic of a divergence in perspectives among these actors driven by fundamental differences in ecological knowledge. We examine the degree of congruence between the understandings of actors surrounding key issues of management concern in three case studies from tropical, subtropical and boreal forests. We identify commonly encountered points of divergence in ecological knowledge relating to key management processes and issues. We use these to formulate seven hypotheses about differences in the bodies of knowledge that frequently underlie communication and learning failures in forest management contexts where multiple actors are involved and outcomes are judged to be suboptimal. Finally, we present a set of propositions to acknowledge and narrow these differences. A more complete recognition of the full triangulation between all actors involved, and of the influence that fundamental differences in ecological knowledge can exert, may help lead to a more fruitful integration between local knowledge and practice, manager knowledge and practice, and contemporary science in forest management.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abatzoglou JT, Kolden CA (2011) Climate change in western US deserts: potential for increased wildfire and invasive annual grasses. Rangel Ecol Manag 64:471–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage D, Berkes F, Doubleday N (2007) Adaptive co-management collaboration, learning, and multi-level governance. UBC Press, Vancouver

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnlund DC (2008) A transactional model of communication. In: Mortensen CD (ed) Communication theory, 2nd edn. Trans, New Brunswick, New Jersey, pp 47–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F (1999) Sacred ecology: traditional ecological knowledge and resource management. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F, Colding J, Folke C (2000) Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecol Appl 10:1251–1262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bodin Ö, Prell C (2011) Social networks and natural resource management: uncovering the social fabric of environmental governance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks JS, Waylen KA, Mulder MB (2012) How national context, project design, and local community characteristics influence success in community-based conservation projects. PNAS 109:21265–21270

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caro TM (2001) Species richness and abundance of small mammals inside and outside an African national park. Biol Conserv 98:251–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang C, Allen JC, Dawson SE, Madsen GE (2012) Network analysis as a method for understanding the dynamics of natural resource management in rural communities. Soc Nat Resour 25:203–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS, Oswood MW, Van Cleve K, Viereck LA, Verbyla DL (2006) Alaska’s changing boreal forest. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Crona B, Hubacek K (2010) The right connections: how do social networks lubricate the machinery of natural resource governance? Ecol Soc 15:18

    Google Scholar 

  • Cundill G, Rodela R (2012) A review of the assertions about the processes and outcomes of social learning in natural resource management. J Environ Manage 113:7–14

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlberg AC (2005) Local resource use, nature conservation and tourism in Mkuze wetlands, South Africa: a complex weave of dependence and conflict. Dan J Geogr 105:43–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Nooy W (2013) Communication in natural resource management: agreement between and disagreement within stakeholder groups. Ecol Soc 18:44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson JL, Zuckerberg B, Bonter DN (2010) Citizen science as an ecological research tool: challenges and benefits. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 41:149–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans SM, Gebbels S, Stockill JM (2008) ‘Our shared responsibility’: participation in ecological projects as a means of empowering communities to contribute to coastal management processes. Mar Pollut Bull 57:3–7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ganeshaiah KN, Uma SR (1998) BRT sanctuary: a biogeographic bridge of the Deccan Plateau. In: Ganeshaiah KN, Uma SR (eds) Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple wildlife sanctuary: natural history, biodiversity and conservation. ATREE and VGKK, India, pp 4–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavin MC, McCarter J, Mead A, Berkes F, Stepp JR, Peterson D, Tang R (2015) Defining biocultural approaches to conservation. Trends Ecol Evol 30:140–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray B (2003) Framing of environmental disputes. In: Lewicki R, Gray B, Elliott M (eds) Making sense of environmental conflicts. Island Press, Washington, pp 11–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez NL, Hilborn R, Defeo O (2011) Leadership, social capital and incentives promote successful fisheries. Nature 470:386–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hajjar RF, Kozak RA, Innes JL (2012) Is decentralization leading to “real” decision-making power for forest-dependent communities? Case studies from Mexico and Brazil. Ecol Soc 17:12

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegde R, Suryaprakash S, Achoth L, Bawa KS (1996) Extraction of non-timber forest products in the forests of Biligiri Rangan Hills, India. 1. Contribution to rural income. Econ Bot 50:243–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houde N (2007) The six faces of traditional ecological knowledge: challenges and opportunities for Canadian co-management arrangements. Ecol Soc 12:34

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntington HP (2000) Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecol Appl 10:1270–1274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson EA, Miyanashi K, Bridge SRJ (2001) Wildfire regime in the boreal forest and the idea of suppression and fuel buildup. Conserv Biol 15:1554–1557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones NA, Ross H, Lynam T, Perez P, Leitch A (2011) Mental models: an interdisciplinary synthesis of theory and methods. Ecol Soc 16:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Karanth KU, Karanth KK (2012) A tiger in the drawing room: can luxury tourism benefit wildlife. Econ Political Wkly 38:38–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasischke ES, Verbyla DL, Rupp TS, McGuire AD, Murphy KA, Jandt R, Barnes JL, Hoy EE, Duffy PA, Calef M, Turetsky MR (2010) Alaska’s changing fire regime-implications for the vulnerability of its boreal forests. Can J For Res 40:1313–1324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmerer RW (2002) Weaving traditional ecological knowledge into biological education: a call to action. Bioscience 52:432–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kothari A, Rai N (2011) Biligiri tiger reserve: include Soligas in conservation plan. The Deccan Herald. In: Published online 9th Feb 2011. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/136029/biligiri-tiger-reserve-include-soligas.html

  • Leach M (2008) Pathways to sustainability in the forest? Misunderstood dynamics and negotiation of knowledge, power and policy. Environ Plan 40:1783–1795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leach M, Scoones I, Stirling A (2010) Dynamic sustainabilities: technology, environment, social justice. Earthscan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Lele S, Wilshusan P, Brockington D, Seidler R, Bawa K (2010) Beyond exclusion: alternative approaches to biodiversity conservation in the developing tropics. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 2:94–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin SA (1999) Fragile dominion: complexity and the commons. Perseus, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Moen J, Rist L, Bishop K, Chapin FS, Ellison D, Kulluvainen T, Petersson H, Puettmann KJ, Ryaner J, Warkentin IG, Bradhaw CJ (2014) Eye on the taiga. Conserv Lett 7:408–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagendra H, Ostrom E (2012) Polycentric governance of multifunctional forested landscapes. Int J Common 6:104–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakashima DJ, Roué M (2002) Indigenous knowledge, peoples and sustainable practice. In: Timmerman P (ed) Encyclopedia of global environmental change 5: social and economic dimensions of global environmental change. Wiley, Chichester, pp 314–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson JL, Zavaleta E, Chapin FS (2008) Boreal fire effects on subsistence resources in Alaska and adjacent Canada. Ecosystems 11:156–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordby H (2008) Values, cultural identity and communication: a perspective from philosophy of language. J Intercult Commun 17

  • Orlove BS, Chiang JCH, Cane MA (2000) Forecasting Andean rainfall and crop yield from the influence of El Niño on Pleiades visibility. Nature 403:68–71

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom E (1990) Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ozesmi U, Ozesmi SL (2004) Ecological models based on people’s knowledge: a multi-step fuzzy cognition mapping approach. Ecol Model 176:43–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Persha L, Agrawal A, Chhatre A (2011) Social and ecological synergy: local rulemaking, forest livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Science 331:1606–1608

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson GD, Cumming GS, Carpenter SR (2003) Scenario planning: a tool for conservation in an uncertain world. Conserv Biol 17:358–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierotti R, Wildcat D (2000) Traditional ecological knowledge: the third alternative. Ecol Appl 10:1333–1340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pretty J (2003) Social capital and the collective management of resources. Science 302:912–1914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ray L (2011) Using Q-methodology to identify local perspectives on wildfires in two Koyukon Athabascan communities in rural Alaska. Sustain: Sci Pract Policy 7:18–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Ray L, Kolden CA, Chapin FS (2012) A case for developing place-based fire management strategies from traditional ecological knowledge. Ecol Soc 17:37

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed MS, Evely AC, Cundill G, Fazey I, Glass J, Laing A, Newig J, Parrish B, Prell C, Raymond C, Stringer LC (2010) What is social learning? Ecol Soc 15:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Rist L (2009) Assessing a threat to sustainable NTFP harvest using ecological data and traditional ecological knowledge. PhD thesis, Imperial College London

  • Rist L, Uma Shaanker R, Milner-Gulland EJ, Ghazoul J (2008) Managing mistletoes: the value of local practices for a non-timber forest resource. For Ecol Manage 255:1684–1691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rist L, Uma Shaanker R, Milner-Gulland EJ, Ghazoul J (2010) The use of traditional ecological knowledge in forest management: an example from India. Ecol Soc 15:3

    Google Scholar 

  • Rist L, Shanley P, Sunderland T, Sheil D, Ndoye O, Liswanti N, Tieguhong J (2012) The impacts of selective logging on non-timber forest products of livelihood importance. For Ecol Manage 268:57–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roux DJ, Rogers KH, Biggs HC, Ashton PJ, Sergeant A (2006) Bridging the science-management divide: moving from unidirectional knowledge transfer to knowledge interfacing and sharing. Ecol Soc 11:4

    Google Scholar 

  • Rupp TS, Olson M, Henkelman J, Adams L, Dale B, Joly K, Collins W, Starfield AM (2006) Simulating the influence of a changing fire regime on caribou winter foraging habitat. Ecol Appl 16:1730–1743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruwanza S, Shackleton CM (2015) Density and regrowth of a forest restio (Ischyrolepis eleocharis) under harvest and non-harvest treatments in dune forests of Eastern Cape province, Economic Botany: South Africa

  • Setty RS, Bawa K, Ticktin T, Gowda CM (2008) Evaluation of a participatory resource monitoring system for non-timber forest products: the case of amla (Phyllanthus spp.) fruit harvest by Soligas in south India. Ecol Soc 13:19

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton CM, Parkin F, Chauke MI, Downsborough L, Olsen A, Brill G, Weideman C (2009) Conservation, commercialisation and confusion: harvesting of Ischyrolepis in a coastal forest, South Africa. Environ Dev Sustain 11:229–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shanker K, Hiremath A, Bawa K (2005) Linking biodiversity conservation and livelihoods in India. PLoS Biol 3:394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shanley P, López C (2009) Out of the loop: why research rarely reaches policy makers and the public and what can be done. Biotropica 41:535–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson MG (1996) Indigenous knowledge in environmental assessment. Arctic 49:278–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone-Jovicich SS, Lynam T, Leitch A, Jones NA (2011) Using consensus analysis to assess mental models about water use and management in the crocodile river catchment, South Africa. Ecol Soc 16:45

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundaram B, Krishnan S, Hiremath AJ (2012) Ecology and impacts of the invasive species, Lantana camara, in a social-ecological system in South India: perspectives from local knowledge. Hum Ecol 40:931–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Hindu (2010) Trees on hundreds of acres burnt in fire in BRT sanctuary. Published online March 10, 2010. http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/10/stories/2010031058950300.htm

  • Ticktin T, Ganesan R, Paramesha M, Setty S (2012) Disentangling the effects of multiple anthropogenic drivers on the decline of two tropical dry forest trees. J Appl Ecol 49:774–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torpey-Saboe N, Andersson K, Mwangi E, Persha L, Salk C, Wright G (2015) Benefit sharing among local resource users: the role of property rights. World Dev 72:408–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uma Shaanker R, Ganeshaiah KN, Reddy BVC, Krishnan V, Rajagoplan R, Aravind J, Kumar A, Vanaraj G, Rao D (2002) Enhancing the role of forest fruits. Ecol Soc 15:3

    Google Scholar 

  • Western D, Wright M, Strum S (eds) (1994) Natural connections: perspectives in community-based conservation. Island Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin R (2003) Case study research: design and methods, 3rd edn. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Young O (2010) Institutional dynamics: resilience, vulnerability and adaptation in environmental and resource regimes. Glob Environ Change 20:378–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Ramesh Kannan sadly passed away before the final publication of this manuscript; his enthusiasm and friendship will be greatly missed by his colleagues. We thank two anonymous reviewers for comments that improved the manuscript. LR was supported in this work by an Alice Horsman Travelling Fellowship from Oxford University and by Future Forests, a multi-disciplinary research programme supported by the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA), the Swedish Forestry Industry, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Umeå University, and the Forestry Research Institute of Sweden. CS was supported the by Indian Council for Cultural Relations. We gratefully thank actors at all three locations for sharing their time and knowledge.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 90183, Umeå, Sweden

    Lucy Rist

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    Charlie Shackleton

  3. Resilience and Adaptation Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    Lily Gadamus

  4. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    F. Stuart Chapin III

  5. Ashoka Trust for Research Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, India

    C. Made Gowda, Siddappa Setty, Ramesh Kannan & R. Uma Shaanker

  6. Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, 560056, India

    R. Uma Shaanker

Authors
  1. Lucy Rist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Charlie Shackleton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lily Gadamus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. F. Stuart Chapin III
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. C. Made Gowda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Siddappa Setty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ramesh Kannan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R. Uma Shaanker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucy Rist.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rist, L., Shackleton, C., Gadamus, L. et al. Ecological Knowledge Among Communities, Managers and Scientists: Bridging Divergent Perspectives to Improve Forest Management Outcomes. Environmental Management 57, 798–813 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0647-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0647-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation