Community Biodiversity Inventories as Entry Points for Local Ecosystem Stewardship in a South African Communal Area.

We facilitated the development of a co-designed and locally led community biodiversity inventory (CBI) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, using nine design principles for participatory action research that promoted inclusivity. A questionnaire survey toward the end of the process found significant differences between people who were engaged and disengaged in the CBI. Engaged people valued biodiversity and ecosystem services, envisioned employment through ecotourism, and held a community-led view of governance. Disengaged people valued human-made and abiotic resources, overlooked threats to ecosystems, envisioned development through agriculture, and held a government-led view of governance. We postulate that CBIs attract actors interested in cultural biodiversity conservation. The process reinforces their beliefs and may affect others, forming the nucleus for local ecosystem stewardship. Community biodiversity inventories are, however, no panacea for local empowerment. Processes beyond local people's and facilitators' control and unrealized expectations may negate the impacts of well-intended efforts and good practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]