Comments on: Has Research in a Peruvian National Park Revolutionized Conservation?

By: Johnny Molloy

Johnny Molloy — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:31:04 +0000

Mr. Novey,

I liked how you noted how your own preconceived notions of things were dispelled, which gives you are more credible approach. Even handed approached always work better with more people than a radical anti-capitalist, anti-human approach, which turns off most people. After all, we are the humans.

By: Alaka Wali

Alaka Wali — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:26:25 +0000

Levi– thanks for picking up on our work in Cordillera Azul and your thoughtful discussion! I want to also give proper credit to our long-time collaborators in Peru, the NGO, CIMA-Cordillera Azul, who helped us develop the assets-based approach and who is continuing to use it in participatory management of the Park. This year, they are undertaking a major “update” of the assets data-base– now including 89 communities, in all.

By: Levi Novey

Levi Novey — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:32:22 +0000

Sejin, thanks for those links. I will check
them out as they sound quite relevant and
interesting to what I have written about.

Carol and Tom, thank you for you thoughtful
comments as well. They’ve made me think about
a few additional aspects to the approach
that I had not previously pondered.

By: Tom Camp

Tom Camp — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:52:44 +0000

In the social sciences we have known that respecting people invites positive responses and cooperation, and this article supports this theory. I wonder what the secondary benefits of this experiment might be – such as greater sense of community, less conflict in families, less sense of victimization by distant powers of government, etc.
Thanks for making this hopeful information available.

By: Carol Sheppard

Carol Sheppard — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:38:03 +0000

It’s refreshing to learn of an approach to conservation land management that gives a voice to the people most affected by the decisions. Public ownership of the lands should mean more than committing tax dollars and vesting government with all responsibility. Ownership in the truest sense of the word means taking part and being engaged–this sounds like a good way to give the communities of Peru that possibility.

By: Sejin

Sejin — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:06:52 +0000

Oh, no…
I typed dozens of lines but all gone as I forgot to put my e-mail address!!

Hey, Levi…
After reading your interesting piece between breaks of my long day in the lab, I’ve just checked old papers back home. It might be similar to a paper of me and my mates 2yrs ago. The title was The Community-Based Natural Resouce Management(well, in Korean, though) with case studies of Mt. Jiri National Park and a sea village of Jeju island. The first would be a better case for you.
Well, let me tell you things later again; it’s 3am now after the long message was gone away.

However, you can have a look of following web sites:

* Dr. Fikret Berkes(Univ of Manitoba) http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~berkes/
* The Community Based Natural Resource Management Network
http://www.cbnrm.net/members/docs/index.html

By: ed novey

ed novey — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:12:49 +0000

interesting piece-could serve as a prototypical approach to “national park issues” as well as other land based problems (such as redelopement projects, rezoning, etc)

By: Levi Novey

Levi Novey — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:25:39 +0000

Thanks, Gavin. I don’t know much about national parks in South Korea. Are there any very popular or well-known parks there?

By: Gavin Hudson

Gavin Hudson — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:28:05 +0000

A really intelligently written approach to conservation. I agree that it is essential to incorporate the needs and values of people living in the area in order to achieve meaningful and lasting conservation successes. Nice piece.