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Cross-scale and multi-level mismatch problems in marine natural resources management: case studies in the Penghu Archipelago, Taiwan

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Abstract

Humans utilize natural resources for their livelihood and form institutions that are meant to manage the resources. However, many institutions tend to mismanage the natural resources and fail to solve the natural resources crisis because mismatches occur between the institutions and the systems to be governed. Although mismatch problems on temporal, spatial and functional scales are recognized in many natural resources management cases, a need remains to understand how mismatch problems emerge in complex humans in nature systems. This study used social–ecological system (SES) as a framework for conducting a cross-scale assessment of multi-level linked systems for better understanding of mismatch problems. Both bottom-up and top-down institutions regulating the utilization of marine natural resources were examined to unveil the cause of temporal, spatial and functional mismatch problems in Penghu Archipelago, a regional SES in Taiwan. Results of the assessment indicated that the single-level design of conventional institutions in marine natural resources management was a primary cause of mismatch problems. Thus, for better governance, adaptive and cooperative management systems of the marine natural resources in Penghu Archipelago, a more integrated institutional design is recommended.

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Notes

  1. The property rights of a single member in the community can be inherited by descendants who may not be living in the village or are not registered in Penghu county but still have links to the community through his or her identity. In this case, the population of the community with respect to identity increased, while the population actually living in the community decreased.

  2. Input controls are types of fishery “management instruments used to control the time and place as well as type and/or amount of fishing with the view to limit yields and fishing mortality; for example, restrictions on type and quantity of gear, effort and capacity; closed seasons.” [FAO Fisheries Glossary (http://fao.org/fi/glossary)].

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Acknowledgments

This article is based on a presentation in the Land–Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) Open Science Conference, Coastal Systems, Global Change and Sustainability, September 12–15, 2011, Yantai, China. The author would like to thank the Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship for financial assistance for author to attend the conference. Special thanks to Marion Glaser, Bernhard Glaeser and the participants for fruitful discussions. The author thanks the Taiwan Environmental Information Association for facilitating the conduction of the field work and Ministry of Education, Taiwan, for the scholarship. The insights and generous hospitality provided by residents of Penghu are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Str. 3, 53113, Bonn, Germany

    Chia-Chi Wu

  2. Leibniz-Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Fahrenheitstr. 6, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Chia-Chi Wu

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  1. Chia-Chi Wu
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Correspondence to Chia-Chi Wu.

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Wu, CC. Cross-scale and multi-level mismatch problems in marine natural resources management: case studies in the Penghu Archipelago, Taiwan. Reg Environ Change 14, 2079–2087 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-013-0436-4

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