Power, politics, and culture of marine conservation technology in fisheries.

The term conservation technology is applied widely and loosely to any technology connected to conservation. This overly broad understanding can lead to confusion around the actual mechanisms of conservation in a technological system, which can result in neglect and underdevelopment of the human dimensions of conservation technology. Ultimately, this hinders its effectiveness as technological fixes for conservation problems. Through a process of concept mapping based on key case studies and literature, I devised precise definitions of marine conservation technology and technological marine conservation system. Concerns about the use of marine conservation technologies included unintended consequences, halfway technologies that address the symptoms but not the causes of problems, and misguided techno-optimism (i.e., technology is a panacea that can solve any problem). Technology and technological systems can have power, politics, and culture, and these characteristics can influence the contextual fit of a technology, requiring that technology be thoughtfully created or adapted to the circumstances in which it will be used. Power, politics, and culture inherent in technology can also influence the distribution of conservation risks and benefits and potentially widen gaps in wealth, privilege, opportunities, and justice. Addressing these concerns can potentially be achieved through the better integration of social sciences in marine conservation technology and technological marine conservation system design and development and the application of the social-ecological-technological systems framework. This framework melds key concepts from the socioecological systems framework and science and technology studies. It recognizes as and elevates technology to be a central actor that can shape societies and the natural world. Such a framework incorporates broader understanding, so that the values and concerns of society are more effectively addressed in the creation and implementation of marine conservation technologies and technological marine conservation systems.

Poder, Política y Cultura de la Tecnología de Conservación Marina en las Pesquerías Resumen El término tecnología de la conservación es aplicado extensa y ligeramente a cualquier tecnología vinculada a la conservación. Este concepto excesivamente generalizado puede resultar en una confusión en torno a los mecanismos actuales de conservación incluidos en los sistemas tecnológicos, lo que puede llevar al descuido y subdesarrollo de las dimensiones humanas que tiene la tecnología de la conservación. Como última instancia, esto obstaculiza su efectividad como arreglo tecnológico para los problemas de conservación. Construí las definiciones precisas de tecnología de conservación marina y sistema tecnológico de conservación marina mediante un proceso de mapeo de conceptos basado en estudios importantes de caso y en la literatura. Las inquietudes en cuanto al uso de la tecnología de conservación marina incluyen las consecuencias accidentales, tecnología a medias que aborda los síntomas, pero no la causa de los problemas y tecno-optimismo mal dirigido (es decir, la tecnología es una panacea que puede resolver cualquier problema). La tecnología y los sistemas tecnológicos pueden tener poder, políticas y cultura, y estas características pueden influir sobre el ajuste contextual de la tecnología, lo que requiere que la tecnología sea creada o adaptada cuidadosamente a las circunstancias en las que será utilizada. El poder, las políticas y la cultura inherentes a la tecnología también pueden influir sobre la distribución de los riesgos y beneficios de la conservación y pueden potencialmente ampliar las brechas en la riqueza, el privilegio, las oportunidades y la justicia. La solución a estas inquietudes puede lograrse potencialmente por medio de una mejor integración de las ciencias sociales a la tecnología de la conservación marina y al diseño de sistemas tecnológicos de conservación marina y por medio del desarrollo y aplicación del marco de trabajo de los sistemas socio-ecológicos-tecnológicos. Este marco de trabajo combina conceptos clave tomados del marco de los sistemas socio-ecológicos con aquellos de los estudios científicos y tecnológicos. También reconoce y eleva a la tecnología como un actor central que puede moldear a las sociedades y al mundo natural. Dicho marco incorpora una comprensión más amplia, de tal manera que los valores e inquietudes de la sociedad se abordan de manera más efectiva durante la creación e implementación de las tecnologías de la conservación marina y los sistemas tecnológicos de conservación marina.

A qualitative systematic review of governance principles for mangrove conservation.

Management of mangrove ecosystems is complex, given that mangroves are both terrestrial and marine, often cross regional or national boundaries, and are valued by local stakeholders in different ways than they are valued on national and international scales. Thus, mangrove governance has had varying levels of success, analyzed through concepts such as principles of good governance and procedural justice in decision-making. Although there is substantial research on case studies of mangrove management, global comparisons of mangrove governance are lacking. This research aims to fill this gap by comparing relationships among qualities of governance across mangrove social-ecological systems worldwide. Through a systematic literature search and screening process, we identified 65 articles that discussed mangrove governance and conservation. Case studies in these articles, drawn from 39 countries, were categorized as top-down, bottom-up, or comanaged and thematically coded to assess the influence of eight principles of good governance in mangrove conservation success. Across all three governance systems, the principles of legitimacy, fairness, and integration were most important in determining conservation success or failure. These principles are closely related to the concept of procedural justice, highlighting the importance of stakeholder inclusion throughout all stages of mangrove management. Thus, we recommend clearly defined roles for all governance actors, transparent communication of policy development to stakeholders, fairness in both process and outcome, and careful consideration of sustainable access to conservation resources.

Una Revisión Cualitativa de los Principios de Gestión para la Conservación de los Manglares Resumen El manejo de los manglares es complejo dado que son terrestres y marinos, con frecuencia cruzan las fronteras regionales o nacionales y están valorados por los actores de diferentes maneras de cómo son valorados en las escalas nacionales e internacionales. Por lo tanto, la gestión de los manglares ha tenido diferentes niveles de éxito al ser analizados con medidas como los principios de buena gestión de Lockwood et al. (2010) y con conceptos como la justicia procesal (O'Beirne et al. 2020) en la toma de decisiones. Aunque existe una cantidad sustancial de información de estudios de caso del manejo de manglares, existen pocas comparaciones mundiales de la gestión de los manglares. Este trabajo busca cerrar esta brecha mediante la comparación de relaciones entre la calidad de las gestiones en los sistemas socio-ecológicos de manglares a nivel mundial. Identificamos 65 artículos que abordaban la conservación y gestión de los manglares mediante una búsqueda sistemática de la literatura y un proceso de análisis. Los estudios de caso en estos artículos, realizados en 39 países, fueron categorizados como gestión ascendiente, descendiente o de co-manejo y codificados por tema para analizar la influencia de los ocho principios de buena gestión de Lockwood et al. (2010) en el éxito de conservación de los manglares. En los tres sistemas de gestión, los principios de legitimidad, equidad e integración fueron los más importantes para determinar el éxito o fracaso de la conservación. Estos principios están fuertemente relacionados con el concepto de justicia procesal, resaltando la importancia de la inclusión de los actores durante todas las etapas del manejo de los manglares. Por lo tanto, recomendamos que todos los actores gestores tengan papeles claramente definidos, que exista una comunicación transparente del desarrollo de las políticas a los actores, equidad tanto en el proceso como en los resultados y la consideración meticulosa del acceso sustentable a los recursos de conservación.

Key considerations and challenges in the application of social-network research for environmental decision making.

Attempts to better understand the social context in which conservation and environmental decisions are made has led to increased interest in human social networks. To improve the use of social-network analysis in conservation, we reviewed recent studies in the literature in which such methods were applied. In our review, we looked for problems in research design and analysis that limit the utility of network analysis. Nineteen of 55 articles published from January 2016 to June 2019 exhibited at least 1 of the following problems: application of analytical methods inadequate or sensitive to incomplete network data; application of statistical approaches that ignore dependency in the network; or lack of connection between the theoretical base, research question, and choice of analytical techniques. By drawing attention to these specific areas of concern and highlighting research frontiers and challenges, including causality, network dynamics, and new approaches, we responded to calls for increasing the rigorous application of social science in conservation.

Consideraciones y Retos Importantes en la Aplicación de la Investigación por medio de Redes Sociales para la Toma de Decisiones Ambientales Resumen Los intentos por tener un mejor entendimiento del contexto social en el que se toman las decisiones ambientales y de conservación han derivado en un incremento en el interés por las redes sociales humanas. Para mejorar el uso del análisis de redes sociales en la conservación, buscamos en la literatura los estudios recientes que hayan aplicado dichos métodos y los sometimos a una revisión. En esta revisión, examinamos los problemas en el diseño de la investigación y del análisis que limitan la utilidad del análisis de redes. Diecinueve de los 55 artículos publicados entre enero 2016 y junio 2019 exhibieron al menos uno de los siguientes problemas: aplicación de métodos analíticos inadecuados o sensibles a la información incompleta sobre las redes; aplicación de estrategias estadísticas que ignoran la dependencia en la red; o falta de conexión entre la base teórica, la pregunta de investigación y la selección de técnica analítica. Al llamar la atención hacia estas áreas específicas de interés y resaltar las fronteras y retos de la investigación, incluyendo la causalidad, las dinámicas de redes y las estrategias nuevas, respondimos a la necesidad de incrementar la aplicación rigurosa de las ciencias sociales en la conservación.

Design trade-offs in rights-based management of small-scale fisheries.

Small-scale fisheries collectively have a large ecological footprint and are key sources of food security, especially in developing countries. Many of the data-intensive approaches to fishery management are infeasible in these fisheries, but a strategy that has emerged to overcome these challenges is the establishment of territorial user rights for fisheries (TURFs). In this approach, exclusive fishing zones are established for groups of stakeholders, which eliminates the race to fish with other groups. A key challenge, however, is setting the size of TURFs-too large and the number of stakeholders sharing them impedes collective action, and too small and the movement of target fish species in and out of the TURFs effectively removes the community's exclusive access. We assessed the size of 137 TURFs from across the globe relative to this design challenge by applying theoretical models that predict their performance. We estimated that roughly two-thirds of these TURFs were sized ideally to overcome the challenges posed by resource movement and fisher group size. However, for most of the remaining TURFs, all possible sizes were either too small to overcome the resource-movement challenge or too large to overcome the collective action challenge. Our results suggest these fisheries, which target mobile species in densely populated regions, may need additional interventions to be successful.

Diseño de Compensaciones en la Administración Basada en Derechos de las Pesquerías de Pequeña Escala Resumen Las pesquerías de pequeña escala tienen una gran huella ecológica de manera colectiva y son fuentes importantes de seguridad alimenticia, especialmente en los países en desarrollo. Muchas de las estrategias cargadas de datos para la administración de las pesquerías son inviables en este tipo de pesquerías, pero una estrategia que ha emergido para sobrellevar estos retos es el establecimiento de los derechos de uso territorial para las pesquerías (TURFs, en inglés). Como parte de esta estrategia se establecen zonas exclusivas de pesca para los grupos de accionistas, lo que elimina la competencia por la pesca con otros grupos. Sin embargo, un reto importante es el establecimiento del tamaño de los TURFs - si son muy grandes, el número de accionistas que los comparten impide la acción colectiva; si son muy pequeños, el movimiento de las especies diana de peces dentro y fuera de los TURFs le retira efectivamente el acceso exclusivo a la comunidad. Evaluamos el tamaño de 137 TURFs ubicados en todo el mundo en relación con este reto del diseño aplicando modelos teóricos que pronosticaron su desempeño. Estimamos que aproximadamente dos tercios de estos TURFs tenían el tamaño ideal para superar los retos que presentan el movimiento del recurso y el tamaño del grupo pesquero. Sin embargo, para la mayoría de los TURFs restantes todos los tamaños posibles eran o muy pequeños para superar el reto del movimiento del recurso, o muy grandes para sobrellevar el reto de la acción colectiva. Nuestros resultados sugieren que estas pesquerías que se enfocan en especies móviles dentro de regiones pobladas densamente pueden requerir de intervenciones adicionales para ser exitosas.

Governing trade-offs in ecosystem services and disservices to achieve human-wildlife coexistence.

Sustaining wildlife populations, which provide both ecosystem services and disservices, represents a worldwide conservation challenge. The ecosystem services and Ostrom's social-ecological systems frameworks have been adopted across natural and social sciences to characterize benefits from nature. Despite their generalizability, individually they do not include explicit tools for addressing the sustainable management of many wildlife populations. For instance, Ostrom's framework does not specifically address competing perspectives on wildlife, whereas the ecosystem services framework provides a limited representation of the social and governance context wherein such competing perspectives are embedded. We developed a unified social-ecological framework of ecosystem disservices and services (SEEDS) that advances both frameworks by explicitly acknowledging the importance of competing wildlife perspectives embedded in the social and governance contexts. The SEEDS framework emulates the hierarchical structure of Ostrom's social-ecological systems, but adds subsystems reflecting heterogeneous stakeholder views and experiences of wildlife-based services and disservices. To facilitate operationalizing SEEDS and further broader analyses across human-wildlife systems, we devised a list of variables to describe SEEDS subsystems, such as types and level of services and disservices, cost and benefit sharing, and social participation of stakeholders. Steps to implement SEEDS involve engaging local communities and stakeholders to define the subsystems, analyze interactions and outcomes, and identify leverage points and actions to remedy unwanted outcomes. These steps connect SEEDS with other existing approaches in social-ecological research and can guide analyses across systems or within individual systems to provide new insights and management options for sustainable human-wildlife coexistence.

Control de las Compensaciones de los Servicios y Perjuicios Ambientales para Lograr la Coexistencia entre Humanos y Fauna Resumen El mantenimiento de las poblaciones silvestres de fauna, las cuales proporcionan servicios y perjuicios, representa un reto para la conservación a nivel mundial. Los servicios ambientales y los marcos de trabajo de los sistemas socio-ecológicos de Ostrom se han adoptado en la ciencias naturales y sociales para caracterizar los beneficios que proporciona la naturaleza. A pesar de ser generalizables, individualmente no incluyen herramientas explícitas para tratar el manejo sustentable de muchas poblaciones silvestres. Por ejemplo, el marco de trabajo de Ostrom no trata de manera específica las perspectivas rivales sobre fauna, mientras que el marco de trabajo de los servicios ambientales proporciona una representación limitada del contexto social y de gobierno en los que están embebidas dichas perspectivas rivales. Desarrollamos un marco de trabajo socio-ecológico unificado de servicios y perjuicios ambientales (SEEDS, en inglés) que impulsa ambos marcos de trabajo al reconocer explícitamente la importancia de las perspectivas rivales sobre fauna embebidas en los contextos sociales y de gobierno. El marco de trabajo SEEDS emula la estructura jerárquica de los sistemas socio-ecológicos de Ostrom, pero añade subsistemas que reflejan la visión y las experiencias heterogéneas que los accionistas tienen sobre los servicios y perjuicios basados en la fauna. Para facilitar la operación de los SEEDS y ampliar los análisis en todos los sistemas humano-fauna, diseñamos una lista de variables para describir los subsistemas de los SEEDS, como los tipos y niveles de los servicios y perjuicios, el costo y beneficio del reparto, y la participación social de los accionistas. Los pasos para implementar los SEEDS involucran comprometer a las comunidades locales y a los accionistas para que definan los subsistemas, analicen las interacciones y los resultados, e identifiquen los puntos y acciones de ventaja para remediar los resultados no deseados. Estos pasos conectan a los SEEDS con otras estrategias de investigación socio-ecológica y pueden guiar los análisis a través de varios sistemas o dentro de sistemas individuales para proporcionar nueva información y opciones de manejo para una coexistencia sustentable entre humanos y fauna.

Mapping social-ecological vulnerability to inform local decision making.

An overarching challenge of natural resource management and biodiversity conservation is that relationships between people and nature are difficult to integrate into tools that can effectively guide decision making. Social-ecological vulnerability offers a valuable framework for identifying and understanding important social-ecological linkages, and the implications of dependencies and other feedback loops in the system. Unfortunately, its implementation at local scales has hitherto been limited due at least in part to the lack of operational tools for spatial representation of social-ecological vulnerability. We developed a method to map social-ecological vulnerability based on information on human-nature dependencies and ecosystem services at local scales. We applied our method to the small-scale fishery of Moorea, French Polynesia, by combining spatially explicit indicators of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of both the resource (i.e., vulnerability of reef fish assemblages to fishing) and resource users (i.e., vulnerability of fishing households to the loss of fishing opportunity). Our results revealed that both social and ecological vulnerabilities varied considerably through space and highlighted areas where sources of vulnerability were high for both social and ecological subsystems (i.e., social-ecological vulnerability hotspots) and thus of high priority for management intervention. Our approach can be used to inform decisions about where biodiversity conservation strategies are likely to be more effective and how social impacts from policy decisions can be minimized. It provides a new perspective on human-nature linkages that can help guide sustainability management at local scales; delivers insights distinct from those provided by emphasis on a single vulnerability component (e.g., exposure); and demonstrates the feasibility and value of operationalizing the social-ecological vulnerability framework for policy, planning, and participatory management decisions.

Developing an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral community of practice in the domain of forests and livelihoods.

Although significant resources are being spent researching and fostering the relationship between forests and livelihoods to promote mutually beneficial outcomes, critical gaps in understanding persist. A core reason for such gaps is that researchers, practitioners, and policy makers lack the structured space to interact and collaborate, which is essential for effective, interdisciplinary research, practice, and evaluation. Thus, scientific findings, policy recommendations, and measured outcomes have not always been synthesized into deep, systemic understanding; learning from practice and implementation does not easily find its way into scientific analyses, and science often fails to influence policy. Communities of practice (CofPs) are dynamic sociocultural systems that bring people together to share and create knowledge around a common topic of interest. They offer participants a space and structure within which to develop new, systemic approaches to multidimensional problems on a common theme. Uniquely informed by a systems-thinking perspective and drawing from the scientific and gray literatures and in-depth interviews with representatives of established CofPs in the natural resource management and development domain, we argue that a well-designed and adequately funded CofP can facilitate interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral relationships and knowledge exchange. Well-designed CofPs integrate a set of core features and processes to enhance individual, collective, and domain outcomes; they set out an initial but evolving purpose, encourage diverse leadership, and promote collective-identity development. Funding facilitates effective communication strategies (e.g., in person meetings). We urge our colleagues across sectors and disciplines to take advantage of CofPs to advance the domain of forests and livelihoods.

Linkages between measures of biodiversity and community resilience in Pacific Island agroforests.

Designing agroecosystems that are compatible with the conservation of biodiversity is a top conservation priority. However, the social variables that drive native biodiversity conservation in these systems are poorly understood. We devised a new approach to identify social-ecological linkages that affect conservation outcomes in agroecosystems and in social-ecological systems more broadly. We focused on coastal agroforests in Fiji, which, like agroforests across other small Pacific Islands, are critical to food security, contain much of the country's remaining lowland forests, and have rapidly declining levels of native biodiversity. We tested the relationships among social variables and native tree species richness in agroforests with structural equation models. The models were built with data from ecological and social surveys in 100 agroforests and associated households. The agroforests hosted 95 native tree species of which almost one-third were endemic. Fifty-eight percent of farms had at least one species considered threatened at the national or international level. The best-fit structural equation model (R2 = 47.8%) showed that social variables important for community resilience-local ecological knowledge, social network connectivity, and livelihood diversity-had direct and indirect positive effects on native tree species richness. Cash-crop intensification, a driver of biodiversity loss elsewhere, did not negatively affect native tree richness within parcels. Joining efforts to build community resilience, specifically by increasing livelihood diversity, local ecological knowledge, and social network connectivity, may help conservation agencies conserve the rapidly declining biodiversity in the region.

Using a social-ecological framework to inform the implementation of conservation plans.

One of the key determinants of success in biodiversity conservation is how well conservation planning decisions account for the social system in which actions are to be implemented. Understanding elements of how the social and ecological systems interact can help identify opportunities for implementation. Utilizing data from a large-scale conservation initiative in southwestern of Australia, we explored how a social-ecological system framework can be applied to identify how social and ecological factors interact to influence the opportunities for conservation. Using data from semistructured interviews, an online survey, and publicly available data, we developed a conceptual model of the social-ecological system associated with the conservation of the Fitz-Stirling region. We used this model to identify the relevant variables (remnants of vegetation, stakeholder presence, collaboration between stakeholders, and their scale of management) that affect the implementation of conservation actions in the region. We combined measures for these variables to ascertain how areas associated with different levels of ecological importance coincided with areas associated with different levels of stakeholder presence, stakeholder collaboration, and scales of management. We identified areas that could benefit from different implementation strategies, from those suitable for immediate conservation action to areas requiring implementation over the long term to increase on-the-ground capacity and identify mechanisms to incentivize implementation. The application of a social-ecological framework can help conservation planners and practitioners facilitate the integration of ecological and social data to inform the translation of priorities for action into implementation strategies that account for the complexities of conservation problems in a focused way.

Mainstreaming the social sciences in conservation.

Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice. The conservation social sciences can provide unique and important contributions to society's understanding of the relationships between humans and nature and to improving conservation practice and outcomes. There are 4 barriers-ideological, institutional, knowledge, and capacity-to meaningful integration of the social sciences into conservation. We provide practical guidance on overcoming these barriers to mainstream the social sciences in conservation science, practice, and policy. Broadly, we recommend fostering knowledge on the scope and contributions of the social sciences to conservation, including social scientists from the inception of interdisciplinary research projects, incorporating social science research and insights during all stages of conservation planning and implementation, building social science capacity at all scales in conservation organizations and agencies, and promoting engagement with the social sciences in and through global conservation policy-influencing organizations. Conservation social scientists, too, need to be willing to engage with natural science knowledge and to communicate insights and recommendations clearly. We urge the conservation community to move beyond superficial engagement with the conservation social sciences. A more inclusive and integrative conservation science-one that includes the natural and social sciences-will enable more ecologically effective and socially just conservation. Better collaboration among social scientists, natural scientists, practitioners, and policy makers will facilitate a renewed and more robust conservation. Mainstreaming the conservation social sciences will facilitate the uptake of the full range of insights and contributions from these fields into conservation policy and practice.

A typology of time-scale mismatches and behavioral interventions to diagnose and solve conservation problems.

Ecological systems often operate on time scales significantly longer or shorter than the time scales typical of human decision making, which causes substantial difficulty for conservation and management in socioecological systems. For example, invasive species may move faster than humans can diagnose problems and initiate solutions, and climate systems may exhibit long-term inertia and short-term fluctuations that obscure learning about the efficacy of management efforts in many ecological systems. We adopted a management-decision framework that distinguishes decision makers within public institutions from individual actors within the social system, calls attention to the ways socioecological systems respond to decision makers' actions, and notes institutional learning that accrues from observing these responses. We used this framework, along with insights from bedeviling conservation problems, to create a typology that identifies problematic time-scale mismatches occurring between individual decision makers in public institutions and between individual actors in the social or ecological system. We also considered solutions that involve modifying human perception and behavior at the individual level as a means of resolving these problematic mismatches. The potential solutions are derived from the behavioral economics and psychology literature on temporal challenges in decision making, such as the human tendency to discount future outcomes at irrationally high rates. These solutions range from framing environmental decisions to enhance the salience of long-term consequences, to using structured decision processes that make time scales of actions and consequences more explicit, to structural solutions aimed at altering the consequences of short-sighted behavior to make it less appealing. Additional application of these tools and long-term evaluation measures that assess not just behavioral changes but also associated changes in ecological systems are needed.

A framework for evaluating and designing citizen science programs for natural resources monitoring.

We present a framework of resource characteristics critical to the design and assessment of citizen science programs that monitor natural resources. To develop the framework we reviewed 52 citizen science programs that monitored a wide range of resources and provided insights into what resource characteristics are most conducive to developing citizen science programs and how resource characteristics may constrain the use or growth of these programs. We focused on 4 types of resource characteristics: biophysical and geographical, management and monitoring, public awareness and knowledge, and social and cultural characteristics. We applied the framework to 2 programs, the Tucson (U.S.A.) Bird Count and the Maui (U.S.A.) Great Whale Count. We found that resource characteristics such as accessibility, diverse institutional involvement in resource management, and social or cultural importance of the resource affected program endurance and success. However, the relative influence of each characteristic was in turn affected by goals of the citizen science programs. Although the goals of public engagement and education sometimes complimented the goal of collecting reliable data, in many cases trade-offs must be made between these 2 goals. Program goals and priorities ultimately dictate the design of citizen science programs, but for a program to endure and successfully meet its goals, program managers must consider the diverse ways that the nature of the resource being monitored influences public participation in monitoring.

A protocol for eliciting nonmaterial values through a cultural ecosystem services frame.

Stakeholders' nonmaterial desires, needs, and values often critically influence the success of conservation projects. These considerations are challenging to articulate and characterize, resulting in their limited uptake in management and policy. We devised an interview protocol designed to enhance understanding of cultural ecosystem services (CES). The protocol begins with discussion of ecosystem-related activities (e.g., recreation, hunting) and management and then addresses CES, prompting for values encompassing concepts identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) and explored in other CES research. We piloted the protocol in Hawaii and British Columbia. In each location, we interviewed 30 individuals from diverse backgrounds. We analyzed results from the 2 locations to determine the effectiveness of the interview protocol in elucidating nonmaterial values. The qualitative and spatial components of the protocol helped characterize cultural, social, and ethical values associated with ecosystems in multiple ways. Maps and situational, or vignette-like, questions helped respondents articulate difficult-to-discuss values. Open-ended prompts allowed respondents to express a diversity of ecosystem-related values and proved sufficiently flexible for interviewees to communicate values for which the protocol did not explicitly probe. Finally, the results suggest that certain values, those mentioned frequently throughout the interview, are particularly salient for particular populations. The protocol can provide efficient, contextual, and place-based data on the importance of particular ecosystem attributes for human well-being. Qualitative data are complementary to quantitative and spatial assessments in the comprehensive representation of people's values pertaining to ecosystems, and this protocol may assist in incorporating values frequently overlooked in decision making processes.

Conservation success as a function of good alignment of social and ecological structures and processes.

How to create and adjust governing institutions so that they align (fit) with complex ecosystem processes and structures across scales is an issue of increasing concern in conservation. It is argued that lack of such social-ecological fit makes governance and conservation difficult, yet progress in explicitly defining and rigorously testing what constitutes a good fit has been limited. We used a novel modeling approach and data from case studies of fishery and forest conservation to empirically test presumed relationships between conservation outcomes and certain patterns of alignment of social-ecological interdependences. Our approach made it possible to analyze conservation outcome on a systems level while also providing information on how individual actors are positioned in the complex web of social-ecological interdependencies. We found that when actors who shared resources were also socially linked, conservation at the level of the whole social-ecological system was positively affected. When the scales at which individual actors used resources and the scale at which ecological resources were interconnected to other ecological resources were aligned through tightened feedback loops, conservation outcome was better than when they were not aligned. The analysis of individual actors' positions in the web of social-ecological interdependencies was helpful in understanding why a system has a certain level of social-ecological fit. Results of analysis of positions showed that different actors contributed in very different ways to achieve a certain fit and revealed some underlying difference between the actors, for example in terms of actors' varying rights to access and use different ecological resources.

Current practice and future prospects for social data in coastal and ocean planning.

Coastal and ocean planning comprises a broad field of practice. The goals, political processes, and approaches applied to planning initiatives may vary widely. However, all planning processes ultimately require adequate information on both the biophysical and social attributes of a planning region. In coastal and ocean planning practice, there are well-established methods to assess biophysical attributes; however, less is understood about the role and assessment of social data. We conducted the first global assessment of the incorporation of social data in coastal and ocean planning. We drew on a comprehensive review of planning initiatives and a survey of coastal and ocean practitioners. There was significantly more incorporation of social data in multiuse versus conservation-oriented planning. Practitioners engaged a wide range of social data, including governance, economic, and cultural attributes of planning regions and human impacts data. Less attention was given to ecosystem services and social-ecological linkages, both of which could improve coastal and ocean planning practice. Although practitioners recognize the value of social data, little funding is devoted to its collection and incorporation in plans. Increased capacity and sophistication in acquiring critical social and ecological data for planning is necessary to develop plans for more resilient coastal and ocean ecosystems and communities. We suggest that improving social data monitoring, and in particular spatial social data, to complement biophysical data, is necessary for providing holistic information for decision-support tools and other methods. Moving beyond people as impacts to people as beneficiaries, through ecosystem services assessments, holds much potential to better incorporate the tenets of ecosystem-based management into coastal and ocean planning by providing targets for linked biodiversity conservation and human welfare outcomes.

Applying the SES Framework to coral reef restoration projects on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica

Introduction: Global and local stressors have led to rapid declines in coral reef health. The high rates of coral degradation have motivated restoration initiatives worldwide. Evaluation of these initiatives has provided valuable information regarding coral restoration techniques and limitations faced by projects. However, most of the literature is focused on evaluating metrics related to fragment survival rate and growth, leaving a gap in understanding how social aspects such as governance structure affect project outcomes. Objective: The present research applies the Social-Ecological Systems Framework to identify social and ecological factors contributing to the success of three coral reef restoration projects in Costa Rica. Methods: Data was gathered from 50 semi-structured interviews with project members, volunteers, tour operators, fishers, and related community and government organizations that were analyzed using the categories determined by the Social-Ecological Systems Framework. Results: Despite each case's specific ecological and governance characteristics, research results show that three main steps have contributed to project success. First, the importance of locals having a positive perception of coral reef and project benefits; second, the use of network structure to obtain adequate financial and human resources and third, the importance of compliance with a regulatory framework to create enabling environments for reef restoration. Conclusions: Results show no universal solutions for coral reef restoration projects. Project managers must understand the ecological and social context of the restoration site to boost the benefits that reef restoration projects can provide, such as an increase in local stewardship, income generation, and the creation of more resilient communities.

Introducción: Los factores de estrés globales y locales han llevado a una rápida disminución de la salud de los arrecifes de coral. Las altas tasas de degradación de los corales han motivado iniciativas de restauración en todo el mundo. La evaluación de estas iniciativas ha proporcionado información valiosa sobre las técnicas de restauración de coral y las limitaciones que enfrentan los proyectos. Sin embargo, la mayor parte de la literatura se centra en la evaluación de métricas relacionadas con la tasa de supervivencia y el crecimiento de fragmentos, lo que deja un vacío en la comprensión de cómo los aspectos sociales y estructura de gobernanza, afectan los resultados del proyecto. Objetivo: La presente investigación aplica el Marco Conceptual de Sistemas Socio-Ecológicos para identificar los factores sociales y ecológicos que contribuyen al éxito de tres proyectos de restauración de arrecifes de coral en Costa Rica. Métodos: Los datos se recopilaron a partir de 50 entrevistas semiestructuradas con miembros del proyecto, voluntarios, operadores turísticos, pescadores y organizaciones comunitarias y gubernamentales relacionadas que se analizaron utilizando las categorías determinadas por el Marco Conceptual de Sistemas Socio- Ecológicos. Results: A pesar de las características ecológicas y de gobernanza específicas de cada caso, los resultados de la investigación muestran que tres pasos principales han contribuido al éxito del proyecto. Primero, la importancia de que los locales tengan una percepción positiva de los arrecifes de coral y los beneficios del proyecto; segundo, el uso de la estructura de la red para obtener recursos financieros y humanos adecuados y tercero, la importancia del cumplimiento de un marco regulatorio para crear entornos propicios para la restauración de arrecifes. Conclusiones: A pesar de las características ecológicas y de gobernanza específicas de cada caso, los resultados de la investigación muestran que tres puntos principales han contribuido al éxito del proyecto. Primero, la importancia de que los locales tengan una percepción positiva de los arrecifes de coral y los beneficios del proyecto; segundo, el uso de la estructura de la red para obtener recursos financieros y humanos y tercero, la importancia del cumplimiento de un marco regulatorio para crear entornos propicios para la restauración de arrecifes.

Indicator-based management recommendations for an artisanal bottom-longline fishery in Costa Rica, Central America / Recomendaciones de manejo basadas en indicadores para la pesca artesanal con líneas de fondo en Costa Rica, Centroamérica

AbstractThere is a growing need to strengthen the small-scale fishing sector with emerging governance methods that improve fishers' threatened livelihoods. Therefore, this study's aim was to develop management recommendations, based on easily interpreted conclusions that can be used to address the socio-ecological difficulties that the artisanal, bottom-longline fishery in Bejuco, Pacific coast of Costa Rica faces. The results of previously recorded fisher socio-ecological perceptions and an evaluation of the spotted rose snapper's, Lutjanus guttatus, population dynamics were assigned a measurable set of indicators in reference to the fishery's natural, human and management sub-systems. This was done via the traffic light method with easily interpreted colors based on a review of similar published fisheries studies. According to these results, a stock assessment for the fishery's target species and research to determine the composition and magnitude of the fishery's discarded species were recommended. Fisher economic dependence on bottom-longline activities led to the recommendation to develop alternative livelihood strategies. Also, the promotion of alternative markets and sustainability certification strategies for the snapper fishery are advised. Enlargement of the multi-use marine protected areas within the fishery's grounds and improvement of their management strategies is also recommended. In order for this to occur, improved resource user coordination in the form of a fisher association that has the capability to lobby for increased enforcement of the protected areas from destructive fisheries must be realized. Doing so would aid the development of a local management plan and participatory governance system. Such an initiative would justify the development of community lead marine protected area management regimes.

ResumenExiste una creciente necesidad de fortalecer el sector de la pesca de pequeña escala con métodos de gobernanza emergentes que mejoren las estrategias de subsistencia de los pescadores. Por lo tanto, el presente estudio se centró en el desarrollo de recomendaciones de manejo, basadas en conclusiones fácilmente interpretables, que ayuden a atender las dificultades socio-ecológicas que enfrentan los pescadores artesanales que utilizan líneas de fondo en Bejuco, Pacífico de Costa Rica. Se asignó un conjunto medible de indicadores para cada sub-sistema (natural, humano y manejo) de la pesquería a partir de los resultados de un análisis previo de las percepciones socioecológicas de los pescadores y una evaluación de aspectos biológico-pesqueros para el pargo manchado Lutjanus guttatus. Se usó la técnica de semáforo con la cual se asignaron colores para la evaluación de indicadores construidos con base en la revisión de literatura publicada. Se propusieron recomendaciones de manejo basadas en los resultados. Se sugiere un análisis del estado del stock de la principal especie objetivo de pesca y un estudio que determine la magnitud y composición de las especies descartadas. Debido a la alta dependencia económica de los pescadores, se recomienda la implementación de programas que permitan el desarrollo de opciones alternativas del empleo. Además, se recomienda promover mercados alternativos y sistemas de certificación sostenible para la captura de pargo manchado. También se recomienda la ampliación de las áreas marinas protegidas de uso múltiple de la zona. Para esto es necesario mejorar la coordinación y participación de los usuarios mediante la formación de una asociación que tenga la capacidad de vincular a la contraparte gubernamental en la solución de múltiples limitaciones y problemas (p. ej pesca ilegal) en la actividad pesquera de Bejuco.Esto facilitaría la construcción de un plan de manejo local bajo un sistema de gobernanza participativa.