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Evaluating the impact of community-based conservation on natural, social, and physical capital Paul Beier, Patrick Adje

Evaluating the impact of community-based conservation on natural, social, and physical capital Paul Beier, Patrick Adjewodah, John Mason. The first 8 years of the Wechiau Community Hippopotamus Sanctuary, Ghana. 100 km. Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary 40 km of Black Volta River.

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Evaluating the impact of community-based conservation on natural, social, and physical capital Paul Beier, Patrick Adje

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  1. Evaluating the impact of community-based conservation on natural, social, and physical capital Paul Beier, Patrick Adjewodah, John Mason The first 8 years of the Wechiau Community Hippopotamus Sanctuary, Ghana

  2. 100 km Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary 40 km of Black Volta River Ghana’s only other hippo population (Bui National Park) will be flooded for a hydro project.

  3. Wechiau Community Hippopotamus Sanctuary (WCHS) Established 1999, fully community-owned and community-managed. Not a government park! 45-km2 protected Core Zone 150-km2 Development Zone with 10,200 residents in 17 villages. Largest and most advanced Community-Based Conservation project in Ghana

  4. 3 Types of Benefits in every Community-Based Conservation project Physical Capital Social Capital Trust Willingness to work with ‘them’ Pride in stewardship Active participation of all stakeholders Food security Income Farm productivity Potable water Better roads Schools Biodiversity & Ecosystem function Natural Capital

  5. Assess Success in 3 dimensions Social Physical In West Africa, a community-based project must increase all three stocks of capital. Natural

  6. Natural Capital (the conservation goal) We have > 219 plant species, 230 birds, and 31 mammals. Except for hippos, we don’t monitor any of them. So… how do we know if we are increasing natural capital?

  7. Threat Reduction Assessment (TRA) (Salafsky and Margolius 1999) 1. Identify threats. 2. Find a way to index or measure each threat (It’s easier than monitoring 500 species!). 3. Monitor change in Threat Index over time.

  8. Biodiversity (> 500 species) Threats (n < 10) direct interventions Project benefits to stakeholders Threat Reduction Assessment (TRA) 1. Identify threats. 2. Find a way to index or measure each threat. 3. Monitor change in Threat Index over time. Is TRA better than monitoring? 1. TRA is less expensive – all projects can use TRA. 2. TRA may be a better indicator of impending change.

  9. Assessing 3 Types of Success Physical Capital Social Capital Questionnaires & workshop Questionnaires & things we can count. Natural Capital Threat Reduction

  10. Eight-year Assessment Period Social Physical 2007 1999 Natural Established by decree of Paramount Chief of Wechiau Assessment

  11. Preview of the punch line (1 of 3) Physical Social Natural

  12. Preview of the punch line (2 of 3) Increased Social Capital … has allowed participants to create new stakeholder groups & overcome the initial lack of homogeneity The WCHS experiment (so far) suggests that social capital does not have to be well-developed at the outset, but can be developed during a CBC project

  13. Preview of the punch line (3 of 3) Growth in social capital can offset low growth in physical capital The people in WCHS are still poor, but the project has enabled them to • Feel pride in themselves, their culture, their landscape, and their stewardship • Improve their ability to work with other groups • Think of conservation as part of who they are and what they do.

  14. Threats Riverbank farming, fishing, bushfire, hunting. 49 Households & 16 Village Reps scored each threat on a scale of 1-6 in 1999 and 2005.

  15. The Great News: 3 threats were reduced 100% 9 Threats to Biodiversity (Natural Capital) No seasonal migrant fishermen since 2000. One new fisherman immigrated and settled in a village since 1999. 30 farms removed from core zone. No farms in the core zone today. Riverbank farming No hippos have been killed since 1999. Calves are born regularly, but population has not yet increased. Killing hippos

  16. The Good News: 4 threats were reduced 54%-69%. Rangers & farmers agree poaching is rare. About ½ of households still hunt – outside the core zone. 9 Threats to Biodiversity (Natural Capital) Cutting poles Some illegal gathering still occurs, but no longer a major problem. Wood is abundant outside core zone. Fishing in hippo wallows Fines and confiscation of nets have reduced this practice, but it still occurs occasionally. Half of households that gathered oysters in the core zone in 1999 stopped doing so by 2002. This prohibition is resented and perceived as unfair by Lobis, who use oysters for traditional funerals & weddings. Oyster collecting

  17. The Bad News: 2 threats were not reduced 9 Threats to Biodiversity (Natural Capital) Every year almost all of the core zone burns during the dry season. Only 10% of farmers illegally graze in wet season. But during the dry season, 80% of farmers closest to the core zone illegally graze their cattle in core zone. Many have been fined. However, farmers state they have no grazing options in the dry season. Cattle grazing

  18. Assess Success in 3 dimensions Social Physical Natural

  19. Priorities for physical capital Farm productivity & food security Income – for community, not self Schools Safe drinking water Year-round roads Grain silo

  20. Physical capital I: farm & incomeThe data in the next slide will show that… Farm income, farm productivity, and food security decreased since WCHS began. But household income increased, and community income increased even more.

  21. Physical capital I: farm & income

  22. Economic benefits through tourism: 15 full-time jobs, plus many part-time guides, cooks, & entertainers Tourist Lodge Total Number of Visitors Ghanaian Year

  23. Physical capital II: Schools WCHS built one new school & teacher’s home. It serves 100 children in 3 communities that had no previous access to a school. WCHS scholarships send 4 students per year to Senior Secondary School.

  24. Physical capital III: Safe water Only 3 of 17 villages in WCHS had water in 1999. Today all 17 have boreholes. All but 3 of the new boreholes were installed through effort of WCHS.

  25. Physical capital IV: Roads, lighting Only 1 of 17 villages in WCHS had year-round road access in 1999. In 2007, 6 villages have year-round roads, all due to roads built for WCHS. WCHS brought solar lighting to every compound in 15 “way-off-the-grid” villages.

  26. Assess Success in 3 dimensions Social Physical water, income, roads, schools farm & food Natural

  27. Social Capital“Rules” for successful CBC institutions • Homogeneity of stakeholder groups should be high. • Stakeholder groups should be well-established at the start of the enterprise. -- Ostrom (1990), Schwartzman & Zimmerman (2005)

  28. “Homogeneity of stakeholder groups should be high.” …but it was low at start of Sanctuary in 1999. Walas (28%) are the rulers. Their 2 villages are farthest from the core zone. Lobis (70%) are disempowered, have used Core Zone for 70 years. Immigrant fishermen (2%), greatest conflict with hippos.

  29. “Stakeholder groups should be well-established at the start of the enterprise.” … but they were not! Fishers & Lobi farmers had no organized interest groups. Fishers & Lobi had no tradition of political units above extended family & village. Illiteracy >90% hinders participation in politics. Lobi village headman

  30. Social Capital: The less powerful Lobis & fishers agree (75%-94%) that since WCHS was established: “My community is more willing and able to discuss WCHS with Wala.” “We listen better to other ideas and stakeholders.” “Local people have more control over WCHS than outsiders.” “The Sanctuary Managers & Rangers are becoming more honest and fair.” “The outside world increasingly respects my culture and landscape.” “I have more pride in my culture.” “I have more pride that my community protects nature.” “I understand more about the global importance of WCHS’ plants and animals.”

  31. Assess Success in 3 dimensions Social Capital Physical Natural

  32. 80% of Lobis and 90% of Walas support continuing WCHS The data in the next slide will show that… Personal benefits had a trivial impact on support. Whether or not an individual household felt they had participated or benefited, they favored continuing WCHS as long as they perceived improvements in the 3 capital stocks for WCHS as a whole.

  33. WorseSame Better WorseSame Better WorseSame Better Same Better Same Better Access to water Year-rnd roads Income! No trend! Relations w/ Wala All types Capital

  34. WCHS has created Social Capital. Through WCHS, people created stakeholder groups & overcame the initial lack of homogeneity The WCHS experiment (so far) suggests that social capital does not have to be well-developed at the outset, but can be developed during a CBC project

  35. Growth in social capital can offset low growth in physical capital The people in WCHS are still poor, but the project has enabled them to • Feel pride in themselves, their culture, their landscape, and their stewardship • Improve their ability to work with other groups • Think of conservation as part of who they are and what they do.

  36. Nature Conservation Research Centre We will not rest! Physical Social Food security must improve! Lobi participation must improve! Institutions can’t be built in a 3-year INGO project cycle. A 20-year commitment is needed! Bushfire must be reduced! Natural

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