TY - JOUR

T1 - Local perceptions as a guide for the sustainable management of natural resources

T2 - Empirical evidence from a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia

AU - Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro

AU - Díaz-Reviriego, Isabel

AU - Guèze, Maximilien

AU - Cabeza, Mar

AU - Pyhälä, Aili

AU - Reyes-García, Victoria

N1 - Funding Information: The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement FP7-261971-LEK. ÁF-L, AP, and MC were also supported by the Academy of Finland (grant agreements 250444 and 257686), and AF-L received additional support from the Finnish Centre for International Mobility (CIMO). We thank all the Tsimane’ for their invaluable contributions to this project; the Gran Consejo Tsimane’ and CBIDSI for all their support; V. Cuata, S. Fraixedas, S. Huditz, P. Pache, M. Pache, and I. V. Sanchez for all their help during fieldwork; A. C. Luz and J. Nyman for cartographical assistance; and M. McBride for insightful comments and ideas. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 by the author(s).

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - Research on natural resource management suggests that local perceptions form the basis upon which many small-scale societies monitor availability and change in the stock of common-pool natural resources. In contrast, this literature debates whether local perceptions can be effective in guiding the sustainable management of natural resources. With empirical evidence on this matter still highly limited, we explored the role of local perceptions as drivers of harvesting and management behavior in a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia. We conducted structured interviews to capture local perceptions of availability and change in the stock of thatch palm (Geonoma deversa) among the Tsimane', an indigenous society of foragers-horticulturalists (n = 296 adults in 13 villages). We analyzed whether perceptions of availability match estimates of abundance obtained from ecological data and whether differences in perception help to explain harvesting behavior and local management of thatch palm. Perceptions of availability of G. deversa are highly contingent upon the social, economic, and cultural conditions within which the Tsimane' have experienced changes in the availability of the resource, thus giving a better reflection of the historical, rather than of the ecological, dimensions of the changes undergone. Although local perceptions might fall short in precision when scrutinized from an ecological standpoint, their importance in informing sustainable management should not be underestimated. Our findings show that most of the harvesting and management actions that the Tsimane' undertake are, at least partially, shaped by their local perceptions. This paper contributes to the broader literature on natural resource management by providing empirical evidence of the critical role of local perceptions in promoting collective responses for the sustainable management of natural resources.

AB - Research on natural resource management suggests that local perceptions form the basis upon which many small-scale societies monitor availability and change in the stock of common-pool natural resources. In contrast, this literature debates whether local perceptions can be effective in guiding the sustainable management of natural resources. With empirical evidence on this matter still highly limited, we explored the role of local perceptions as drivers of harvesting and management behavior in a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia. We conducted structured interviews to capture local perceptions of availability and change in the stock of thatch palm (Geonoma deversa) among the Tsimane', an indigenous society of foragers-horticulturalists (n = 296 adults in 13 villages). We analyzed whether perceptions of availability match estimates of abundance obtained from ecological data and whether differences in perception help to explain harvesting behavior and local management of thatch palm. Perceptions of availability of G. deversa are highly contingent upon the social, economic, and cultural conditions within which the Tsimane' have experienced changes in the availability of the resource, thus giving a better reflection of the historical, rather than of the ecological, dimensions of the changes undergone. Although local perceptions might fall short in precision when scrutinized from an ecological standpoint, their importance in informing sustainable management should not be underestimated. Our findings show that most of the harvesting and management actions that the Tsimane' undertake are, at least partially, shaped by their local perceptions. This paper contributes to the broader literature on natural resource management by providing empirical evidence of the critical role of local perceptions in promoting collective responses for the sustainable management of natural resources.

KW - Change perceptions

KW - Collective action

KW - Common-pool resources

KW - Local peoples

KW - Overharvesting

KW - Tsimane’

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962720751&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.5751/ES-08092-210102

DO - 10.5751/ES-08092-210102

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 27660639

AN - SCOPUS:84962720751

VL - 21

JO - Ecology and Society

JF - Ecology and Society

SN - 1708-3087

IS - 1

M1 - 2

ER -