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Public participation in managing natural resources is important but obtaining diverse perspectives remains challenging. To assess how Twitter, a globally popular and influential public forum, could provide insights into diverse views about natural resource management in developing countries, we examined tweets about Nepalese National Parks. The content and sentiments of >9,000 tweets posted by >4,500 Twitter users from >90 countries were evaluated. Most tweets were sent by accounts in Nepal, India, USA, UK, Australia and Canada, with tourism, charismatic fauna, landscapes, culture, ethnic people, and issues relating to managing parks common topics. Twitter users' origin/home location influenced which park and topics they discuss and with what emotions. The number of Twitter users was not correlated with park visitation but rather tweets were often sent in response to specific events and news. Twitter can provide insights into perceptions about parks including in low income countries, but there are important limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, co-management of protected areas (PAs) offers promise in efforts to achieve ecological integrity and livelihood needs. Most co-management agreements are premised on joint decision making in defining equitable sharing of benefits from and the management responsibilities for natural resource management. However, co-managed PAs are often conflict ridden. The forceful closure of Silaka Nature Reserve in South Africa in 2013 by a local community epitomizes the conflicts that can emerge in co-management arrangements. Using Silaka Reserve as a case study, we ask questions related to the meaning of land to local people, with an interrogative focus beyond “material benefits” in co-management discourse. The results of this study show that apart from nonaccrual of material benefits, conflicts arise from nonrecognition of nonmaterial aspects such as cultural values of and historical attachment to land and limited involvement of land claimants in decision making. The implications for co-management as a desired outcome on settled land claims are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tiger conservation often requires local-level support to avoid facing serious political challenges. In order to address the political challenges, the social capital of communities can be utilized to create community action and to help understand local dynamics. We studied the social capital in two villages bordering Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Our results indicate that social capital of local communities is a significant determinant of potential for community action to support or oppose tiger conservation outcomes. Our results also indicate that specific components of social capital (solidarity, reciprocity and cooperation, networks, and mutual support) were critical in this potential community action. Further, the data suggest that the decline of social capital was led by the financial disparities created by unplanned growth of tourism outside the reserve boundaries. We suggest that policy and management interventions should consider social capital of local communities and ways in which it may support tiger conservation in India. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When human and financial resources are limited, who assumes responsibility for managing a country's protected areas? In Chile, government-owned protected areas lack sufficient management resources while facing extraction pressure from the rural poor. Multi-stakeholder partnerships have been posited as a co-management style alternative to traditional state-managed systems. This strategy is being tested in the Llancahue watershed near Valdivia, Chile. To understand stakeholders’ views toward the formation of this multi-stakeholder partnership, we evaluated stakeholders’ beliefs, positions, interests, and concerns. Results indicated stakeholders believed an adaptive co-management model could improve Llancahue forest and watershed conservation efforts if the partner roles were explicit, stakeholder involvement was inclusive, and appropriate financing mechanisms were determined. Stakeholders were most concerned with the financial, personnel, and legal costs of managing Llancahue. However, our analysis suggests the perceived benefits of halting illegal logging and creating a peri-urban park currently outweighed stakeholder concerns over project financing and institutional design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the fall of the USSR, the protected-area system within the Russian Federation has been plagued by insufficient financial support and instability in the federal administration. In 2000 President Putin dissolved the State Committee on Environmental Protection and the Federal Forest Service, transferring both agencies’ responsibilities to the Ministry of Natural Resources; since that time, protected-area administration has undergone repeated restructuring. Through a series of elite interviews and site visits, this investigation explores how a lack of stability has been a source of confusion among staff, reduced the ability to secure finances, and impeded the continued development of the system. Though solutions such as partnerships with nongovernmental organizations and capacity-building workshops are being developed, effective protected-area management depends on federal administrative stability and a steady source of financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the reasons for the failure to establish co-managed protected areas (CMPAs) in Taiwan despite supporting legislation being in place since the early 2000s. The study adopts qualitative research methods to examine the case of the proposed Lumpi CMPA, in which the local indigenous people failed to persuade the government's district forest-management authority to designate a natural protected area under co-management arrangements in accordance with legislation. The study finds that insufficient motivation and its concerns about loss of control over forest management caused the district authority to snub the proposed co-management arrangements with the indigenous people. Although a legal basis for co-management clearly exists, it is apparent that Taiwanese authorities can avoid the intention of the legislation by administrative maneuvers. The study concludes that a combination of greater political will and more comprehensive legislation is required if CMPAs are to be established in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of outside, particularly state, control into rural areas through policies designed to protect and serve endangered wildlife has found increasing significance within studies on human-wildlife conflicts. This article expands the scope of these investigations by forwarding a case study from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, in southwest Uganda, of a thriving protected area whose continued success has necessitated its expansion into privately owned land. I argue that such encroachment represents a new form of control, namely, through the dispossession of private property via conservation policies that not only restrict rural farmers from responding to incidents of crop raiding but also prevent local communities from accessing their own land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two complementary studies were conducted to investigate both the immediate and long-term influence of Grand Canyon National Park multi-day commercial whitewater rafting experiences on participants' knowledge of the host protected area, attitudes toward management issues facing the host protected area, and environmental behaviors and future intentions. Through the use of multiple regression models, this investigation also explored the influence of tour and tourist characteristics on these outcomes to test and refine an interactional model. Results suggest that nature-based tourism operators can be efficacious partners for resource managers in providing experiences that educate the public to the importance of protected areas. In addition, the interactional model provided a useful framework for investigating the influence of tourist and tour characteristics on experiential outcomes and ultimately the sustainability of protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parks and protected areas are often seen as human products of nature that have been demarcated, interpreted, and “museumized” for the purpose of visitors and society. In contemporary Ireland, a critical management issue surrounding the extent, appropriate form, and scale of visitor facilities has caused some of the most acrimonious environmental disputes in its history. Visitor center developments in the Burren National Park and the Cliffs of Moher, in the West of Ireland, highlight a number of controversies concerning the commodification of landscapes, homogenization of nature, community involvement, and the extent to which monetary concerns are main driving forces. Drawing on the narrative of these cases this article argues for adopting a consultative approach and involving all stakeholders, particularly the local community, when planning, designing, and operating visitor centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of language in influencing and often determining management, planning, and policy decisions in the environmental arena is well documented. Equally well established is the importance of language in research, both with respect to the assumptive worlds of theory, discussion, and debate, and with respect to operational definitions and methodologies. This research addresses and examines meanings and understandings of a key expression and construct largely responsible for shaping environmental management and conservation thought, practices, and policy in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of Australia, “World Heritage values.” Research findings document the lack of a clear understanding and consensus with respect to the meanings and use of the expression across and within the stakeholder groups and communication contexts examined. This confusing, inconsistent, and often conflicting language use is a formidable and largely unacknowledged management issue and problem in terms of measurement, monitoring, and communication, and strategic and effective on-the-ground management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on research conducted in a rural Ugandan village. Residents of the village have experience with two types of conservation: one led by the state with minimal local involvement, and another led by community members with abundant local participation. The purpose of the research was to compare residents' attitudes toward the community-based approach to conservation with the state-led approach, and to explain any differences in attitude that might exist. The results are based on in-depth interviews conducted with 50 residents who have all been living in the village since both conservation areas were established. Findings show that the community-based approach has generated positive attitudes toward conservation while the state-led approach has not. The difference in attitudes is explained by specific beliefs that residents hold regarding each conservation approach. Possible implications for conservation behavior are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we build on an accompanying critique of recent writings in international biodiversity conservation (this issue). Many scholars and observers are calling for stricter enforcement of protected area boundaries given the perceived failure of integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) and other people-oriented approaches to safeguard biodiversity. Pointing to many ongoing, field-based efforts, we argue that this resurgent focus on authoritarian protection practices largely overlooks key aspects of social and political process including clarification of moral standpoint, legitimacy, governance, accountability, learning, and nonlocal forces. Following a discussion of these six points, we offer a series of recommendations aimed at highlighting existing work and encouraging dialogue and constructive debate on the ways in which biodiversity protection interventions are carried out in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]