Assessing the effectiveness of community-based management strategies for biocultural diversity conservation

The COMBIOSERVE consortium aims to identify the conditions and principles of successful community-based conservation in selected locations in Mexico, Brazil and Bolivia, working in partnership with local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and indigenous communities. Many Latin American and Caribbean rural and indigenous communities have historically developed strategies to regulate land use and conserve biodiversity whilst enhancing livelihoods and reducing conflicts. This has occurred while new panaceas for conservation and development, such as ecotourism, payments for environmental services, and biodiversity derivatives, have emerged and impacted community dynamics in ways that require urgent analysis. Our analysis will rely on the assessment of past and present trajectories and future scenarios of environmental change; an examination of individual and collective dependence on natural resources and ecosystem services, and analysis of people’s capacity to adapt and be resilient to multiple stressors. We will also assess the cultural traditions, knowledge systems, and institutional arrangements that have allowed communities to devise collective conservation strategies, address social tensions, and resolve resource conflicts. The development of a co-enquiry/advocacy approach will provide significant benefits to local communities and CSOs. The project outcomes will strengthen community conservation and management of natural resources through the design and provision of locally-owned methods and data, and will provide the theoretical and empirical foundations for scaling-up in similar communities and environments. We will scientifically address the opportunities and challenges of biocultural diversity conservation and its role in the resilience of socio-ecological systems, and produce documents for policy and civil society audiences at European and international levels, using varied communication platforms and strategies.