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In a world of increasing demands for biodiversity information, participatory biodiversity assessment and monitoring is becoming more significant. Whilst other books have focused on methods, or links to conservation or development, this book is written particularly for policy makers and planners. Introductory chapters analyze the challenges of the approach, the global legislation context, and the significance of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Specially commissioned case studies provide evidence from 17 countries, by 50 authors with expertise in both biological and social sciences. Ranging from community conservation projects in developing countries to amateur birdwatching in the UK, they describe the context, objectives, stakeholders and processes, and reflect on the success of outcomes.
Rather than advocating any particular approach, the book takes a constructively critical look at the motives, experiences and outcomes of such approaches, with cross-cutting lessons to inform planning and interpretation of future participatory projects and their contribution to policy objectives.
1. What does participatory biodiversity assessment mean for planners and policy makers? / Anna Lawrence
2. Monitoring and assessment of biodiversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity and other international agreements / Ruth Mackenzie
3. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: a multiscale assessment for global stakeholders / Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne and Doris Capistrano
4. Conservation of biological diversity in El Salvador shade coffee: the importance of taxonomic capacity for participatory assessments / Alex Monro and David Jones
5. Taking stock of nature in species-rich but economically poor areas: an emerging discipline of locally-based monitoring / Finn Danielsen, Neil Burgess, Mikkel Funder, Tom Blomley, Justin Brashares, Amina Akida, Arne Jensen, Marlynn Mendoza, Greg Stuart-Hill, Michael K. Poulsen, Hadija Ramadhani, Moses K. Sam and Elmer Topp-Jorgensen
6. Researching local perspectives on biodiversity in tropical landscapes: lessons from ten case studies / Manuel Boissiere, Marieke Sassen, Douglas Sheil, Miriam van Heist, Wil de Jong, Robert Cunliffe, Meilinda Wan, Michael Padmanaba, Nining Liswanti, Imam Basuki, Kristen Evans, Peter Cronkleton, Tim Lynam, Piia Koponen and Christiana Bairaktari
7. Participatory resources monitoring in SW China: lessons after five years / Jeannette van Rijsoort, Zhang Jinfeng, Marlon Ten Hoonte and Wang Lei
8. Forest inventory in Nepal - technical power or social empowerment? / Jane Hull, Hemant Ojha and Krishna Paudel
9. Perceptions of landscape change in British Columbia's Northwest: implications for biodiversity and participatory management / John Lewis
10. How thousands planned for a billion: lessons from India on decentralized, participatory planning / Seema Bhatt and Tejaswini Apte
11. Inside monitoring: a comparison of bird monitoring groups in Slovenia and the United Kingdom / Sandra Bell, Mariella Marzano and Dan Podjed
12. The personal and political of volunteers' data: towards a national database in the UK / Anna Lawrence
13. Improving forest management through participatory monitoring: a comparative case study of four community-based forestry organizations in the Western United States / Heidi L. Ballard, Victoria Sturtevant and Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez
14. Conclusions: towards effectiveness in participatory biodiversity assessment / Anna Lawrence
Anna Lawrence has been working for nearly 20 years in participatory conservation and social forestry research. Following degrees from Cambridge and Oxford Universities, her early career in South America and Asia inspired a focus on interaction between local and scientific knowledge, and linking research to policy and practice. At the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, she established and led the Human Ecology research group for seven years. After working in more than 20 countries she has recently moved to focus on issues closer to home, as Head of Social and Economic Research in the British government's Forestry Commission.
