Rethinking Peace Parks as Social-Ecological Systems: Environmental Peacemaking and Resilience

1. Rethinking Peace Parks as Social-Ecological Systems: Environmental Peacemaking and Resilience Keith G. Tidball Cornell University Dept. of Natural Resources Civic Ecology Initiative

2. WHY SES? Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

3. Open Questions... • Are Peace Parks an adaptation? Of what to what? At what scale (s)? • Peace Parks as complex adaptive social –ecological systems? What are the characteristics? • what might their adaptive cycle look like? • Peace Parks and Resilience-of what to what? Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

4. Peace Parks & Environmental Peacemaking • Peace Park • An area of land and/or sea that straddles one or more boundaries between states, sub-national units such as provinces and regions, autonomous areas and/or areas beyond the limits of national sovereignty or jurisdiction, whose constituent parts are especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed co-operatively through legal or other effective means (Sandwith et al. 2001: 3). • Environmental Peacemaking • Environmental cooperation, in contrast to “environmental security” as a means of peacemaking, through several channels: enhancing trust, establishing habits of cooperation, lengthening the time horizons of decisionmakers, forging cooperative trans-societal linkages, and creating shared regional norms and identities (Conca & Dabelko, 2002). (For a thorough treatment of trans-boundary protected areas, see: Chester, Charles C. 2006. Conservation across borders: Biodiversity in an interdependent world. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. ) Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

5. Social-Ecological Systems and Resilience • Social-Ecological Systems (SES) • linked systems of people and nature. The term emphasizes that humans must be seen as a part of, not apart from, nature — that the delineation between social and ecological systems is artificial and arbitrary. Scholars have also used concepts like ‘coupled human-environment systems´, ‘ecosocial systems´ and ‘socioecological systems´ to illustrate the interplay between social and ecological systems (Stockholm Resilience Center, 2008) • Resilience • is the capacity to deal with change and continue to develop Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

6. Complex Adaptive Systems According to the infallible Wikipedia- Examples of complex adaptive systems include the stock market, social insect and ant colonies, the biosphere and the ecosystem, the brain and the immune system, the cell and the developing embryo, manufacturing businesses and any human social group-based endeavor in a cultural and social system such as political parties or communities. Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

7. Photo of girl with dust mask drawing flower near Ground Zero, September 13, 2001… and the Brooklyn Promenade with twin daffodil flower beds the following Spring. Environmental Cooperation an Adaptation? Stefanick, L. 2008. Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

8. Peace Parks as Complex Adaptive SES? Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

9. Another use of the Adaptive Cycle Model Free Template from www.brainybetty.com Allison, H. E. and R. J. Hobbs. 2004.

10. Peace Parks and Resilience—Of What to what? RESILIENCE of: • Ecosystem within Peace Parks to perturbances? • Social systems within/ or out of Peace Parks? • Protected areas? • Local & Regional municipalities? • Nation states and larger regions? • Global network of Peace Parks, and by extension, biodiveristy conservation? • Global community of nations? Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

11. Final Thoughts-Next Steps • issues of scale • multiple replicates required from the “panarchies” • large project will create large scale collaboration but cost large dollars/rand, etc • risk of utility of concept Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

12. Acknowledgements • Dr. Marianne Krasny Cornell University • Dr. Roger Ellis Agriculture Research Council, SA (retired) • Theresa Sowry & Fanie Greyling Southern African Wildlife College • Kevin Moore Kruger National Park Social Ecology • The Resilience Alliance Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

13. References • Stefanick, L. 2008. Transboundary Conservation: Citizens, Security, and Cross Border Collaboration prepared for the Border Regions in Transition Conference (BRIT), January 2008. • Biggs et al, 2006. Systemic Links Between Society, Wetlands and Woodlands - The Bushbuckridge Case. Natural Forests and Savanna Woodlands Symposium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape South Africa. • Carpenter, S., et al., 2001. “From Metaphor to Measurement: Resilience of What to What?” Ecosystems, Vol. 4, No. 8, (Dec., 2001), pp. 765-781. • Allison, H. E. and R. J. Hobbs. 2004. Resilience, adaptive capacity, and the “Lock-in Trap” of the Western Australian agricultural region. Ecology and Society 9(1): 3. Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

14. Peace Parks in South (ern) Africa • Kgalagadi (Kalahari) Limpopo Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

15. From: Assessing and managing resilience in social-ecological systems: Volume 2 supplementary notes to the practitioners workbook. Free Template from www.brainybetty.com

16. Why SES? How do we know when something is a Social Ecological System? Two properties set a complex system apart from one that is merely complicated: • emergence • self-organization Source: Free Template from www.brainybetty.com