Characterisation of Human-Wildlife Conflicts around the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

The history of mankind contains so many illustrations of well-classified and violent struggles against various animals over crop production in agricultural fields, attacks on human life or competition in order to have access to certain natural resources. The aim of this study is to characterise the human-wildlife conflicts that occur around the KBNP, especially with regard to primates. Surveys were carried out in 260 households selected using the snowball method. The results showed that human-wildlife conflicts around the KBNP are characterised by the destruction of crops in riparian fields by monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas, the destruction of houses, physical attacks and zoonoses. Despite the conservation and protection measures for wildlife and local populations put in place by the Park’s managers, conflicts between local populations and the Park’s wild animals are still visible. These conflicts lead to the detention of wild animals by local people roaming in the villages and to poaching on the Park’s boundaries. The weakness of the community management policy on the part of the park managers and the resentment of the indigenous peoples towards the restriction of their access to natural resources are the major constraints on the sustainable management of conflicts between the local populations and the wild animals in the KBNP. The strategies for the sustainable resolution of human-wildlife conflicts around the KBNP must be geared towards and integrated into a community conservation approach.

The Challenge of Crafting Institutions for the Commons： The Case of Community Forestry Support Programs in Mexico 2003-2008

Mexico forest tenure structure is known worldwide for its progressive approach of giving local communities full property rights to set a robust support to sustainable livelihoods in forested areas. Most forest areas in Mexico are owned by local communities either through the ejido, agrarian indigenous community or groups of small owners. In the last 30 years, many forest communities explored forest production at a commercial scale, creating their own communal forestry business and concurring to national markets with their timber and non-timber products. The socio-economical impacts of this approach were tremendous, steadily improving communities living standards. This success prompted rural organizations to ask the Mexican government to launch programs to expand the ＂community forestry＂ model. With international assistance from the World Bank and other agencies, the government of Mexico launched three different programs to foster forest commons： the Forest Conservation and Management Program, the Indigenous, Communities and Biodiversity Project and the Mexican part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Performance of these programs has been assessed through the World Bank evaluation framework, but the question about their environmental impact or even about their environmental sustainability and therefore their validity as national policies has been scantily explored and practically not debated. To contribute to answering these questions, the author made an extensive analysis of their impact over forest cover during the 2003-2008 period using land cover maps and correlated them with institutional development variables, building a social organization and collective action index （SOCAI）, following Elinor Ostrom institutional analysis and development framework （lAD）.

Ecological Democracy and Sustainability in Fragile Environment： Environmental Discourse in Select Pieces of Environmental Writing from India

Environmental writing has attained a new relevance in the 21st century. In the present scenario, environmental writing becomes a social discourse. This is the result of a new, vibrant and growing environmental constituency in societies such as Brazil, India, Thailand and other Third World Countries. The features of environmental writing include a visible concern for social justice, defence of livelihood and the determining part played by women. This new discourse has emerged with a new focus on redefinition of terms like human rights, common good, democracy and CPRs （common property resources）. Environmental Writing becomes a powerful discourse when it protests against the increasingly intrusive and interventionist developmental projects, implemented by the government, which in turn assert dominion over indigenous people of the land. There is also a strong emphasis on prudence among the poor as contrasted to the ecological profligacy of the rich. This paper is an attempt to examine the voices of dissent and the accountability of postmodern writers and environmental activists in India regarding environmental issues in India.

The influence of canopy-layer composition on understory plant diversity in southern temperate forests

Background： Understory plants represents the largest component of biodiversity in most forest ecosystems and plays a key role in forest functioning.Despite their importance, the influence of overstory-layer composition on understory plant diversity is relatively poorly understood within deciduous-evergreen broadleaved mixed forests.The aim of this work was to evaluate how tree overstory-layer composition influences on understory-layer diversity in three forest types（monospecific deciduous Nothofagus pumilio（Np）, monospecific evergreen Nothofagus betuloides（Nb）, and mixed N.pumilio-N.betuloides（M） forests）, comparing also between two geographical locations（coast and mountain） to estimate differences at landscape level.Results： We recorded 46 plant species： 4 ferns, 12 monocots, and 30 dicots.Canopy-layer composition influences the herb-layer structure and diversity in two different ways： while mixed forests have greater similarity to evergreen forests in the understory structural features, deciduous and mixed were similar in terms of the specific composition of plant assemblage.Deciduous pure stands were the most diverse, meanwhile evergreen stands were least diverse.Lack of exclusive species of mixed forest could represent a transition where evergreen and deciduous communities meet and integrate.Moreover, landscape has a major influence on the structure, diversity and richness of understory vegetation of pure and mixed forests likely associated to the magnitude and frequency of natural disturbances, where mountain forest not only had highest herb-layer diversity but also more exclusive species.Conclusions： Our study suggests that mixed Nothofagus forest supports coexistence of both pure deciduous and pure evergreen understory plant species and different assemblages in coastal and mountain sites.Maintaining the mixture of canopy patch types within mixed stands will be important for conserving the natural patterns of understory plant composition in southern beech mixed forests.

Natural Fostering in Fritillaria cirrhosa: Integrating herbal medicine production with biodiversity conservation

Protected areas are generally regarded as a power tool to conserve biodiversity.Nonetheless,few protected areas could address three crucial problems simultaneously,namely funding,public participation and rural living.Here,we introduced a new protective approach,Natural Fostering,which integrated herbal medicine production with community conservation.The principles of Natural Fostering adopted species–species interaction at community level.Most effective chemical components of herbal medicine are derived from such interaction.Fritillaria cirrhosa was selected as an economic botany,one of herbal medicines,to carry out Natural Fostering.Community habitats,herbal medicine production,funding and income of local family were investigated to verify the feasibility of Natural Fostering for biodiversity.We found the density of plant populations and the annual average personal income of rural people increased.F.cirrhosa production could provide sufficient funds for sustainable conservation.Local people gradually changed their life style of wild collection and overgrazing,instead of herbal medicine production.The fostering area set up a good sustainable economic cycle.Natural Fostering can be presented as an effective and pragmatic way to conserve biological diversity and sustainable utilization of traditional medicinal resources.

The Development of Wildlife Community Conservancies in Kenya: A Preliminary Review

The significance of biodiversity conservation has transformed from a concern for conservation of endangered species and landscapes into an increasingly diverse yet comprehensive set of conservation, social and economic development goals. Community conservancy, a powerful extension of the PA system, has great potential to support biodiversity conservation, poverty eradication and conflict mitigation. Based on its policy environment and development characteristics, Kenya has implemented community conservation practices, and established over 160 conservancies across the country in the past decades. This paper reviews the development and experiences of community conservancies, discusses how they have been implemented in Kenya, and looks at the management paradigm, efficacy and challenges to help better understand the community conservancy approach. The development trajectory and lessons these conservancies have to offer can contribute to the sustainable utilization of natural resources and the enhancement of community wellbeing in Kenya and other countries alike.