An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales
- Aswani, Shankar, Howard, J A E, Gasalla, Maria A, Jennings, Sarah, Malherbe, W, Martins, I M, Salim, Shyam S
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A E , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim, Shyam S
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123063 , vital:35402 , https://doi.10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795
- Description: Across the globe, many coastal communities rely on marine resources for their food security (FS), income and livelihoods and with predicted trends in human populations, the number of people reliant on these resources is likely to increase (FAO, 2012). However, the effects of climate change including increased variability are already being experienced by coastal communities and appear to be accelerating (Doney et al., 2012). Depending on a range of factors, including location, these changes are having mild to severe impacts on communities both in direct and indirect ways (Miller et al., 2010). Communities in coastal areas, for instance, are particularly at risk due to sea level rise but also through their dependence on marine resources that are impacted by multiple climate change pressures. A change in the availability and condition of marine resources has consequences on the livelihoods of fishing populations or those who depend directly on fishing as a source of food (Badjeck, Allison, Halls, & Dulvy, 2010).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A E , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim, Shyam S
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123063 , vital:35402 , https://doi.10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795
- Description: Across the globe, many coastal communities rely on marine resources for their food security (FS), income and livelihoods and with predicted trends in human populations, the number of people reliant on these resources is likely to increase (FAO, 2012). However, the effects of climate change including increased variability are already being experienced by coastal communities and appear to be accelerating (Doney et al., 2012). Depending on a range of factors, including location, these changes are having mild to severe impacts on communities both in direct and indirect ways (Miller et al., 2010). Communities in coastal areas, for instance, are particularly at risk due to sea level rise but also through their dependence on marine resources that are impacted by multiple climate change pressures. A change in the availability and condition of marine resources has consequences on the livelihoods of fishing populations or those who depend directly on fishing as a source of food (Badjeck, Allison, Halls, & Dulvy, 2010).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales
- Aswani, Shankar, Howard, J A, Gasalla, Maria A, Jennings, Sarah, Malherbe, W, Martins, I M, Salim Shyam, Van Putten, Ingrid E, Swathilekshmi, P S, Narayanakumar, R, Watmough G R
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim Shyam , Van Putten, Ingrid E , Swathilekshmi, P S , Narayanakumar, R , Watmough G R
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421581 , vital:71863 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795"
- Description: Coastal communities are some of the most at-risk populations with respect to climate change impacts. It is therefore important to determine the vulnerability of such communities to co-develop viable adaptation options. Global efforts to address this issue include international scientific projects, such as Global Learning for Local Solutions (GULLS), which focuses on five fast warming regions of the southern hemisphere and aims to provide an understanding of the local scale processes influencing community vulnerability that can then be up-scaled to regional, country and global levels. This paper describes the development of a new social and ecological vulnerability framework which integrates exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with the social livelihoods and food security approaches. It also measures community flexibility to understand better the adaptive capacity of different levels of community organization. The translation of the conceptual framework to an implementable method is described and its application in a number of “hotspot” countries, where ocean waters are warming faster than the rest of the world, is presented. Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons to uncover similarities and differences in vulnerability and adaptation patterns among the study’s coastal communities, which can provide accelerated learning mechanisms to other coastal regions, are highlighted. The social and ecological framework and the associated survey approach allow for future integration of local-level vulnerability data with ecological and oceanographic models.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim Shyam , Van Putten, Ingrid E , Swathilekshmi, P S , Narayanakumar, R , Watmough G R
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421581 , vital:71863 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795"
- Description: Coastal communities are some of the most at-risk populations with respect to climate change impacts. It is therefore important to determine the vulnerability of such communities to co-develop viable adaptation options. Global efforts to address this issue include international scientific projects, such as Global Learning for Local Solutions (GULLS), which focuses on five fast warming regions of the southern hemisphere and aims to provide an understanding of the local scale processes influencing community vulnerability that can then be up-scaled to regional, country and global levels. This paper describes the development of a new social and ecological vulnerability framework which integrates exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with the social livelihoods and food security approaches. It also measures community flexibility to understand better the adaptive capacity of different levels of community organization. The translation of the conceptual framework to an implementable method is described and its application in a number of “hotspot” countries, where ocean waters are warming faster than the rest of the world, is presented. Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons to uncover similarities and differences in vulnerability and adaptation patterns among the study’s coastal communities, which can provide accelerated learning mechanisms to other coastal regions, are highlighted. The social and ecological framework and the associated survey approach allow for future integration of local-level vulnerability data with ecological and oceanographic models.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Assessing a social norms approach for improving recreational fisheries compliance
- Bova, Christopher S, Halse, S J, Aswani, Shankar, Potts, Warren M
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Halse, S J , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123122 , vital:35408 , https://doi.10.1111/fme.12218
- Description: This study aimed to assess the suitability of the Berkowitz’ (2005) social norms approach (SNA) for improving compliance behaviour amongst recreational fishers. A total of 138 recreational shore anglers were interviewed in Eastern Cape, South Africa and asked about their compliance, attitudes towards compliance, perceptions of compliance and the attitudes of other anglers. Results indicate that angler compliance for individual regulations was relatively high (75%–90%). Attitudes of anglers towards compliance was positive, with >80% feeling that “breaking any regulation is wrong.” Yet, as predicted by the SNA, interviewees often overestimated the non-compliance and negative attitudes of other anglers, particularly as their social proximity decreased. Interviewees with the greatest misperceptions were also less compliant. The social norms present in the Eastern Cape rock and surf fishery fulfil the criteria required for the application of the SNA, suggesting that this approach may provide a suitable normative intervention for improving compliance to be used in conjunction with instrumental approaches in recreational fisheries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Halse, S J , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123122 , vital:35408 , https://doi.10.1111/fme.12218
- Description: This study aimed to assess the suitability of the Berkowitz’ (2005) social norms approach (SNA) for improving compliance behaviour amongst recreational fishers. A total of 138 recreational shore anglers were interviewed in Eastern Cape, South Africa and asked about their compliance, attitudes towards compliance, perceptions of compliance and the attitudes of other anglers. Results indicate that angler compliance for individual regulations was relatively high (75%–90%). Attitudes of anglers towards compliance was positive, with >80% feeling that “breaking any regulation is wrong.” Yet, as predicted by the SNA, interviewees often overestimated the non-compliance and negative attitudes of other anglers, particularly as their social proximity decreased. Interviewees with the greatest misperceptions were also less compliant. The social norms present in the Eastern Cape rock and surf fishery fulfil the criteria required for the application of the SNA, suggesting that this approach may provide a suitable normative intervention for improving compliance to be used in conjunction with instrumental approaches in recreational fisheries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Assessing a social norms approach for improving recreational fisheries compliance
- Bova, Christopher S, Halse, S.J., Aswani, Shankar, Potts, Warren M
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Halse, S.J. , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420373 , vital:71737 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12218"
- Description: This study aimed to assess the suitability of the Berkowitz' (2005) social norms approach (SNA) for improving compliance behaviour amongst recreational fishers. A total of 138 recreational shore anglers were interviewed in Eastern Cape, South Africa and asked about their compliance, attitudes towards compliance, perceptions of compliance and the attitudes of other anglers. Results indicate that angler compliance for individual regulations was relatively high (75%–90%). Attitudes of anglers towards compliance was positive, with >80% feeling that “breaking any regulation is wrong.” Yet, as predicted by the SNA, interviewees often overestimated the non-compliance and negative attitudes of other anglers, particularly as their social proximity decreased. Interviewees with the greatest misperceptions were also less compliant. The social norms present in the Eastern Cape rock and surf fishery fulfil the criteria required for the application of the SNA, suggesting that this approach may provide a suitable normative intervention for improving compliance to be used in conjunction with instrumental approaches in recreational fisheries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Halse, S.J. , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420373 , vital:71737 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12218"
- Description: This study aimed to assess the suitability of the Berkowitz' (2005) social norms approach (SNA) for improving compliance behaviour amongst recreational fishers. A total of 138 recreational shore anglers were interviewed in Eastern Cape, South Africa and asked about their compliance, attitudes towards compliance, perceptions of compliance and the attitudes of other anglers. Results indicate that angler compliance for individual regulations was relatively high (75%–90%). Attitudes of anglers towards compliance was positive, with >80% feeling that “breaking any regulation is wrong.” Yet, as predicted by the SNA, interviewees often overestimated the non-compliance and negative attitudes of other anglers, particularly as their social proximity decreased. Interviewees with the greatest misperceptions were also less compliant. The social norms present in the Eastern Cape rock and surf fishery fulfil the criteria required for the application of the SNA, suggesting that this approach may provide a suitable normative intervention for improving compliance to be used in conjunction with instrumental approaches in recreational fisheries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Can Local Knowledge of Small-Scale Fishers Be Used to Monitor and Assess Changes in Marine Ecosystems in a European Context?
- Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina, Barrientos, Sara, Barreiro, Rodolfo, Aswani, Shankar, Pascual-Fernández, José, De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel
- Authors: Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Barrientos, Sara , Barreiro, Rodolfo , Aswani, Shankar , Pascual-Fernández, José , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391331 , vital:68642 , ISBN 978-3-031-01980-7 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01980-7_24
- Description: Significance Statement In the last decades, many coastal areas have observed dramatic changes in marine ecosystems, due to anthropogenic and environmental alterations. The general absence of long-term data sets in the marine environment and, more specifically, on benthic and demersal communities represents a severe issue for management and conservation. We propose to incorporate the small-scale fishers’ knowledge and science for better policy recommendations, both in terms of fisheries optimization and resource conservation. Based on two different cases of study with diverse ecosystems, we explore the combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, and participative techniques used to incorporate fishers’ local ecological knowledge. The results highlight fishers’ capacity to identify coastal and marine landscapes resources and changes, reinforcing and complementing the scientific assessment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Barrientos, Sara , Barreiro, Rodolfo , Aswani, Shankar , Pascual-Fernández, José , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391331 , vital:68642 , ISBN 978-3-031-01980-7 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01980-7_24
- Description: Significance Statement In the last decades, many coastal areas have observed dramatic changes in marine ecosystems, due to anthropogenic and environmental alterations. The general absence of long-term data sets in the marine environment and, more specifically, on benthic and demersal communities represents a severe issue for management and conservation. We propose to incorporate the small-scale fishers’ knowledge and science for better policy recommendations, both in terms of fisheries optimization and resource conservation. Based on two different cases of study with diverse ecosystems, we explore the combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, and participative techniques used to incorporate fishers’ local ecological knowledge. The results highlight fishers’ capacity to identify coastal and marine landscapes resources and changes, reinforcing and complementing the scientific assessment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Can perceptions of environmental and climate change in island communities assist in adaptation planning locally?
- Aswani, Shankar, Vaccaro, Ismael, Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth, Albert, Simon, de Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Vaccaro, Ismael , Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth , Albert, Simon , de Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123310 , vital:35426 , https://doi.10.1007/s00267-015-0572-3
- Description: Local perceptions of environmental and climate change, as well as associated adaptations made by local populations, are fundamental for designing comprehensive and inclusive mitigation and adaptation plans both locally and nationally. In this paper, we analyze people’s perceptions of environmental and climate-related transformations in communities across the Western Solomon Islands through ethnographic and geospatial methods. Specifically, we documented people’s observed changes over the past decades across various environmental domains, and for each change, we asked respondents to identify the causes, timing, and people’s adaptive responses. We also incorporated this information into a geographical information system database to produce broad-scale base maps of local perceptions of environmental change. Results suggest that people detected changes that tended to be acute (e.g., water clarity, logging intensity, and agricultural diseases). We inferred from these results that most local observations of and adaptations to change were related to parts of environment/ecosystem that are most directly or indirectly related to harvesting strategies. On the other hand, people were less aware of slower insidious/chronic changes identified by scientific studies. For the Solomon Islands and similar contexts in the insular tropics, a broader anticipatory adaptation planning strategy to climate change should include a mix of local scientific studies and local observations of ongoing ecological changes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Vaccaro, Ismael , Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth , Albert, Simon , de Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123310 , vital:35426 , https://doi.10.1007/s00267-015-0572-3
- Description: Local perceptions of environmental and climate change, as well as associated adaptations made by local populations, are fundamental for designing comprehensive and inclusive mitigation and adaptation plans both locally and nationally. In this paper, we analyze people’s perceptions of environmental and climate-related transformations in communities across the Western Solomon Islands through ethnographic and geospatial methods. Specifically, we documented people’s observed changes over the past decades across various environmental domains, and for each change, we asked respondents to identify the causes, timing, and people’s adaptive responses. We also incorporated this information into a geographical information system database to produce broad-scale base maps of local perceptions of environmental change. Results suggest that people detected changes that tended to be acute (e.g., water clarity, logging intensity, and agricultural diseases). We inferred from these results that most local observations of and adaptations to change were related to parts of environment/ecosystem that are most directly or indirectly related to harvesting strategies. On the other hand, people were less aware of slower insidious/chronic changes identified by scientific studies. For the Solomon Islands and similar contexts in the insular tropics, a broader anticipatory adaptation planning strategy to climate change should include a mix of local scientific studies and local observations of ongoing ecological changes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Can Perceptions of Environmental and Climate Change in Island Communities Assist in Adaptation Planning Locally?
- Aswani, Shankar, Vaccaro, Ismael, Abernethy, Kirsten, Albert, Simon, De Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Vaccaro, Ismael , Abernethy, Kirsten , Albert, Simon , De Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421841 , vital:71889 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0572-3"
- Description: Local perceptions of environmental and climate change, as well as associated adaptations made by local populations, are fundamental for designing comprehensive and inclusive mitigation and adaptation plans both locally and nationally. In this paper, we analyze people’s perceptions of environmental and climate-related transformations in communities across the Western Solomon Islands through ethnographic and geospatial methods. Specifically, we documented people’s observed changes over the past decades across various environmental domains, and for each change, we asked respondents to identify the causes, timing, and people’s adaptive responses. We also incorporated this information into a geographical information system database to produce broad-scale base maps of local perceptions of environmental change. Results suggest that people detected changes that tended to be acute (e.g., water clarity, logging intensity, and agricultural diseases). We inferred from these results that most local observations of and adaptations to change were related to parts of environment/ecosystem that are most directly or indirectly related to harvesting strategies. On the other hand, people were less aware of slower insidious/chronic changes identified by scientific studies. For the Solomon Islands and similar contexts in the insular tropics, a broader anticipatory adaptation planning strategy to climate change should include a mix of local scientific studies and local observations of ongoing ecological changes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Vaccaro, Ismael , Abernethy, Kirsten , Albert, Simon , De Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421841 , vital:71889 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0572-3"
- Description: Local perceptions of environmental and climate change, as well as associated adaptations made by local populations, are fundamental for designing comprehensive and inclusive mitigation and adaptation plans both locally and nationally. In this paper, we analyze people’s perceptions of environmental and climate-related transformations in communities across the Western Solomon Islands through ethnographic and geospatial methods. Specifically, we documented people’s observed changes over the past decades across various environmental domains, and for each change, we asked respondents to identify the causes, timing, and people’s adaptive responses. We also incorporated this information into a geographical information system database to produce broad-scale base maps of local perceptions of environmental change. Results suggest that people detected changes that tended to be acute (e.g., water clarity, logging intensity, and agricultural diseases). We inferred from these results that most local observations of and adaptations to change were related to parts of environment/ecosystem that are most directly or indirectly related to harvesting strategies. On the other hand, people were less aware of slower insidious/chronic changes identified by scientific studies. For the Solomon Islands and similar contexts in the insular tropics, a broader anticipatory adaptation planning strategy to climate change should include a mix of local scientific studies and local observations of ongoing ecological changes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Change in Roviana Lagoon Coral Reef Ethnobiology
- Aswani, Shankar, Albert, Simon
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421868 , vital:71892 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23763-3"
- Description: Coral reefs are iconic for their beauty and biodiversity, and are of great socioeconomic and cultural importance for many coastal communities across the tropics. However, little is known about people’s local classification and their social and ecological relationship with these habitats. This chapter describes Roviana people’s changing ecological and social relationship with their coral reefs, which are increasingly being damaged by humans. First, we combined ecological and social data to describe people’s classification of local coral reefs in tandem with the productive practices conducted in these habitats. Second, we examined local perceptions and recognized effects of environmental and climatic changes on reefs over the last two decades. Finally, we measured changes in fishing activities and in the taxonomic systems (between 1995 and 2011) to evaluate if recent social and economic change has led to the erosion of marine indigenous ecological knowledge and associated practices. Studying people’s changing perceptions of their coral reefs is crucial to understand their ability to identify and adapt to environmental transformations. Simply, the way local people perceive the state of the environment is not only important in terms of changes in local epistemology but also has important implications for how resources are used and managed, and this information can be coupled with scientific one for a broader management strategy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421868 , vital:71892 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23763-3"
- Description: Coral reefs are iconic for their beauty and biodiversity, and are of great socioeconomic and cultural importance for many coastal communities across the tropics. However, little is known about people’s local classification and their social and ecological relationship with these habitats. This chapter describes Roviana people’s changing ecological and social relationship with their coral reefs, which are increasingly being damaged by humans. First, we combined ecological and social data to describe people’s classification of local coral reefs in tandem with the productive practices conducted in these habitats. Second, we examined local perceptions and recognized effects of environmental and climatic changes on reefs over the last two decades. Finally, we measured changes in fishing activities and in the taxonomic systems (between 1995 and 2011) to evaluate if recent social and economic change has led to the erosion of marine indigenous ecological knowledge and associated practices. Studying people’s changing perceptions of their coral reefs is crucial to understand their ability to identify and adapt to environmental transformations. Simply, the way local people perceive the state of the environment is not only important in terms of changes in local epistemology but also has important implications for how resources are used and managed, and this information can be coupled with scientific one for a broader management strategy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Change in Roviana Lagoon Coral Reef Ethnobiology
- Aswani, Shankar, Albert, Simon
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421863 , vital:71891 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23763-3"
- Description: Coral reefs are iconic for their beauty and biodiversity, and are of great socioeconomic and cultural importance for many coastal communities across the tropics. However, little is known about people’s local classification and their social and ecological relationship with these habitats. This chapter describes Roviana people’s changing ecological and social relationship with their coral reefs, which are increasingly being damaged by humans. First, we combined ecological and social data to describe people’s classification of local coral reefs in tandem with the productive practices conducted in these habitats. Second, we examined local perceptions and recognized effects of environmental and climatic changes on reefs over the last two decades. Finally, we measured changes in fishing activities and in the taxonomic systems (between 1995 and 2011) to evaluate if recent social and economic change has led to the erosion of marine indigenous ecological knowledge and associated practices. Studying people’s changing perceptions of their coral reefs is crucial to understand their ability to identify and adapt to environmental transformations. Simply, the way local people perceive the state of the environment is not only important in terms of changes in local epistemology but also has important implications for how resources are used and managed, and this information can be coupled with scientific one for a broader management strategy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421863 , vital:71891 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23763-3"
- Description: Coral reefs are iconic for their beauty and biodiversity, and are of great socioeconomic and cultural importance for many coastal communities across the tropics. However, little is known about people’s local classification and their social and ecological relationship with these habitats. This chapter describes Roviana people’s changing ecological and social relationship with their coral reefs, which are increasingly being damaged by humans. First, we combined ecological and social data to describe people’s classification of local coral reefs in tandem with the productive practices conducted in these habitats. Second, we examined local perceptions and recognized effects of environmental and climatic changes on reefs over the last two decades. Finally, we measured changes in fishing activities and in the taxonomic systems (between 1995 and 2011) to evaluate if recent social and economic change has led to the erosion of marine indigenous ecological knowledge and associated practices. Studying people’s changing perceptions of their coral reefs is crucial to understand their ability to identify and adapt to environmental transformations. Simply, the way local people perceive the state of the environment is not only important in terms of changes in local epistemology but also has important implications for how resources are used and managed, and this information can be coupled with scientific one for a broader management strategy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Change in Roviana Lagoon Coral Reef ethnobiology:
- Aswani, Shankar, Albert, Simon
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145460 , vital:38440 , ISBN 9783319237633 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-23763-3_10
- Description: Coral reefs are iconic for their beauty and biodiversity, and are of great socioeconomic and cultural importance for many coastal communities across the tropics. However, little is known about people’s local classification and their social and ecological relationship with these habitats. This chapter describes Roviana people’s changing ecological and social relationship with their coral reefs, which are increasingly being damaged by humans. First, we combined ecological and social data to describe people’s classification of local coral reefs in tandem with the productive practices conducted in these habitats. Second, we examined local perceptions and recognized effects of environmental and climatic changes on reefs over the last two decades. Finally, we measured changes in fishing activities and in the taxonomic systems (between 1995 and 2011) to evaluate if recent social and economic change has led to the erosion of marine indigenous ecological knowledge and associated practices. Studying people’s changing perceptions of their coral reefs is crucial to understand their ability to identify and adapt to environmental transformations. Simply, the way local people perceive the state of the environment is not only important in terms of changes in local epistemology but also has important implications for how resources are used and managed, and this information can be coupled with scientific one for a broader management strategy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145460 , vital:38440 , ISBN 9783319237633 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-23763-3_10
- Description: Coral reefs are iconic for their beauty and biodiversity, and are of great socioeconomic and cultural importance for many coastal communities across the tropics. However, little is known about people’s local classification and their social and ecological relationship with these habitats. This chapter describes Roviana people’s changing ecological and social relationship with their coral reefs, which are increasingly being damaged by humans. First, we combined ecological and social data to describe people’s classification of local coral reefs in tandem with the productive practices conducted in these habitats. Second, we examined local perceptions and recognized effects of environmental and climatic changes on reefs over the last two decades. Finally, we measured changes in fishing activities and in the taxonomic systems (between 1995 and 2011) to evaluate if recent social and economic change has led to the erosion of marine indigenous ecological knowledge and associated practices. Studying people’s changing perceptions of their coral reefs is crucial to understand their ability to identify and adapt to environmental transformations. Simply, the way local people perceive the state of the environment is not only important in terms of changes in local epistemology but also has important implications for how resources are used and managed, and this information can be coupled with scientific one for a broader management strategy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Communicable and non-communicable diseases in the Solomon Islands villages during recovery from a massive earthquake in April 2007
- Furusawa, Takuro, Furusawa, Hana, Eddie, Ricky, Tuni, Makiva, Pitakaka, Freda, Aswani, Shankar
- Authors: Furusawa, Takuro , Furusawa, Hana , Eddie, Ricky , Tuni, Makiva , Pitakaka, Freda , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422118 , vital:71913
- Description: Aim The major causes of mortality and morbidity have changed from infectious diseases and malnutrition conditions to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Melanesian societies. However, a massive earthquake and its related changes might have disturbed the patterns. This study aimed to explore which health problems were likely to be prevalent during the recovery process from the 2 April 2007 earthquake in the Solomon Islands. Methods Participants were recruited in Titiana, a severely damaged village located near a town; Tapurai, a severely damaged remote village; Mondo, a severely damaged, medium urban village; and Olive, a control village. Health indicators measured were classified into communicable and nutritional conditions (malaria, malnutrition, infection status and child growth) and NCDs (overweight/obesity, hypertension and diabetes). Results Titiana residents were more at risk of infectious conditions (C-reactive protein 1 mg/dL) and obesity (BMI 30 kg/m2). Tapurai and Mondo residents were at risks of infectious conditions and becoming overweight (BMI 25 kg/m2), respectively. Titiana and Mondo residents complained about insufficient subsistence production. Conclusion The urban communities were found to be at risks of both communicable and NCDs. Controlling the urbanisation as well as providing continuous support against infectious conditions during the recovery process would be beneficial.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Furusawa, Takuro , Furusawa, Hana , Eddie, Ricky , Tuni, Makiva , Pitakaka, Freda , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422118 , vital:71913
- Description: Aim The major causes of mortality and morbidity have changed from infectious diseases and malnutrition conditions to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Melanesian societies. However, a massive earthquake and its related changes might have disturbed the patterns. This study aimed to explore which health problems were likely to be prevalent during the recovery process from the 2 April 2007 earthquake in the Solomon Islands. Methods Participants were recruited in Titiana, a severely damaged village located near a town; Tapurai, a severely damaged remote village; Mondo, a severely damaged, medium urban village; and Olive, a control village. Health indicators measured were classified into communicable and nutritional conditions (malaria, malnutrition, infection status and child growth) and NCDs (overweight/obesity, hypertension and diabetes). Results Titiana residents were more at risk of infectious conditions (C-reactive protein 1 mg/dL) and obesity (BMI 30 kg/m2). Tapurai and Mondo residents were at risks of infectious conditions and becoming overweight (BMI 25 kg/m2), respectively. Titiana and Mondo residents complained about insufficient subsistence production. Conclusion The urban communities were found to be at risks of both communicable and NCDs. Controlling the urbanisation as well as providing continuous support against infectious conditions during the recovery process would be beneficial.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Cost-effective methods for accurate determination of sea level rise vulnerability: A Solomon Islands example
- Albert, Simon, Abernethy, Kirsten, Gibbes, Badin, Grinham, Alistair, Tooler, Nixon, Aswani, Shankar
- Authors: Albert, Simon , Abernethy, Kirsten , Gibbes, Badin , Grinham, Alistair , Tooler, Nixon , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422708 , vital:71971 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-13-00010.1"
- Description: For millions of people living along the coastal fringe, sea level rise is perhaps the greatest threat to livelihoods over the coming century. With the refinement and downscaling of global climate models and increasing availability of airborne-lidar-based inundation models, it is possible to predict and quantify these threats with reasonable accuracy where such information is available. For less developed countries, especially small island states, access to high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from lidar is limited. The only freely available DEMs that could be used for inundation modeling by these nations are those based on data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). These data, with a horizontal resolution of ≈90 m and a vertical accuracy of ±5–10 m, are generally unsuitable for local-scale planning and adaption projects. To address this disparity, low-cost ground-based techniques were tested and applied to accurately determine coastal topography in the Solomon Islands. This method had a significantly improved vertical accuracy (±2 cm) and was readily learned by local community members, who were able to independently map and determine the vulnerability of their costal community to inundation from sea level rise. For areas where lidar is not economically viable, this method is intended to provide an important balance of cost, simplicity, accuracy, and local participation that can assist remote coastal communities with coastal planning decisions. The method can enhance local capacity and arguably promotes more meaningful local engagement in sea level rise planning and adaptation activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Albert, Simon , Abernethy, Kirsten , Gibbes, Badin , Grinham, Alistair , Tooler, Nixon , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422708 , vital:71971 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-13-00010.1"
- Description: For millions of people living along the coastal fringe, sea level rise is perhaps the greatest threat to livelihoods over the coming century. With the refinement and downscaling of global climate models and increasing availability of airborne-lidar-based inundation models, it is possible to predict and quantify these threats with reasonable accuracy where such information is available. For less developed countries, especially small island states, access to high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from lidar is limited. The only freely available DEMs that could be used for inundation modeling by these nations are those based on data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). These data, with a horizontal resolution of ≈90 m and a vertical accuracy of ±5–10 m, are generally unsuitable for local-scale planning and adaption projects. To address this disparity, low-cost ground-based techniques were tested and applied to accurately determine coastal topography in the Solomon Islands. This method had a significantly improved vertical accuracy (±2 cm) and was readily learned by local community members, who were able to independently map and determine the vulnerability of their costal community to inundation from sea level rise. For areas where lidar is not economically viable, this method is intended to provide an important balance of cost, simplicity, accuracy, and local participation that can assist remote coastal communities with coastal planning decisions. The method can enhance local capacity and arguably promotes more meaningful local engagement in sea level rise planning and adaptation activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Cultural Seascapes in the ‘Sea of Calms’ and La Restinga Coast
- De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel, Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina, Aswani, Shankar, González-Cruz, Carla, Domínguez, David, Ordóñez García, Paula, Santana-Talavera, Agustín, Pascual-Fernández, José
- Authors: De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Aswani, Shankar , González-Cruz, Carla , Domínguez, David , Ordóñez García, Paula , Santana-Talavera, Agustín , Pascual-Fernández, José
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391319 , vital:68641 , ISBN 978-3-031-07289-5 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07289-5
- Description: El Hierro has been characterized by the balance between human development and environmental sustainability. The island was historically far from the mass tourism developments dominant on the other Canary Islands. Tourism accommodations in El Hierro are few compared to more developed coastal areas in the Archipelago, and recreational activities are mainly linked to cultural and natural sites and resources. This chapter focuses on La Restinga fishing village and its coasts, where the ‘Sea of Calms’ and one multiple-use Marine Reserve (MR) are located, both of which became popular over the last decade. The tourist development experience has promoted a new way of looking at the sea and conceptualizing its habitats and populations. In 2014, after the submarine volcano eruption occurred in 2011, we estimated that at least 25,391 dives had been carried out in the diving spots established by the MR and other diving sites close to La Restinga. Despite the difficulties experienced after the volcano eruption, a unique imaginaire has been consolidated, thanks to the image of the island's exclusive nature and iconic elements. In addition, the rapid recovery of the destination is an excellent example of how the tourism system can adapt and incorporate unexpected events such as volcanic eruptions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Aswani, Shankar , González-Cruz, Carla , Domínguez, David , Ordóñez García, Paula , Santana-Talavera, Agustín , Pascual-Fernández, José
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391319 , vital:68641 , ISBN 978-3-031-07289-5 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07289-5
- Description: El Hierro has been characterized by the balance between human development and environmental sustainability. The island was historically far from the mass tourism developments dominant on the other Canary Islands. Tourism accommodations in El Hierro are few compared to more developed coastal areas in the Archipelago, and recreational activities are mainly linked to cultural and natural sites and resources. This chapter focuses on La Restinga fishing village and its coasts, where the ‘Sea of Calms’ and one multiple-use Marine Reserve (MR) are located, both of which became popular over the last decade. The tourist development experience has promoted a new way of looking at the sea and conceptualizing its habitats and populations. In 2014, after the submarine volcano eruption occurred in 2011, we estimated that at least 25,391 dives had been carried out in the diving spots established by the MR and other diving sites close to La Restinga. Despite the difficulties experienced after the volcano eruption, a unique imaginaire has been consolidated, thanks to the image of the island's exclusive nature and iconic elements. In addition, the rapid recovery of the destination is an excellent example of how the tourism system can adapt and incorporate unexpected events such as volcanic eruptions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Customary management as TURFs: social challenges and opportunities
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145403 , vital:38435 , DOI: 10.5343/bms.2015.1084
- Description: There is a growing interest in working with customary management (CM) systems to effectively manage benthic resources and small-scale fisheries. The underlying notion is that CM institution as territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) can be sufficiently adaptive and dynamic to create the local incentives that are necessary for promoting sustainable fishing practices and marine conservation more generally in a given region. This paper reviews the social opportunities and challenges of working with CM systems as a form of TURF, particularly in Oceania. A key conclusion is that policy makers and managers not only need to recognize natural interconnectivity in any one marine space, but also consider the social interconnectivity of stakeholders that covers customary TURFs. Only by recognizing and working with the existing social networks that overlay any given marine territory can the operational principles of CM (as reviewed in this paper) be effectively deployed for achieving some kind of bioeconomic efficiency and creating an equitable rights-based fisheries management system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145403 , vital:38435 , DOI: 10.5343/bms.2015.1084
- Description: There is a growing interest in working with customary management (CM) systems to effectively manage benthic resources and small-scale fisheries. The underlying notion is that CM institution as territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) can be sufficiently adaptive and dynamic to create the local incentives that are necessary for promoting sustainable fishing practices and marine conservation more generally in a given region. This paper reviews the social opportunities and challenges of working with CM systems as a form of TURF, particularly in Oceania. A key conclusion is that policy makers and managers not only need to recognize natural interconnectivity in any one marine space, but also consider the social interconnectivity of stakeholders that covers customary TURFs. Only by recognizing and working with the existing social networks that overlay any given marine territory can the operational principles of CM (as reviewed in this paper) be effectively deployed for achieving some kind of bioeconomic efficiency and creating an equitable rights-based fisheries management system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Customary management as TURFs: social challenges and opportunities
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420407 , vital:71741 , "https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2015.1084"
- Description: There is a growing interest in working with customary management (CM) systems to effectively manage benthic resources and small-scale fisheries. The underlying notion is that CM institution as territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) can be sufficiently adaptive and dynamic to create the local incentives that are necessary for promoting sustainable fishing practices and marine conservation more generally in a given region. This paper reviews the social opportunities and challenges of working with CM systems as a form of TURF, particularly in Oceania. A key conclusion is that policy makers and managers not only need to recognize natural interconnectivity in any one marine space, but also consider the social interconnectivity of stakeholders that covers customary TURFs. Only by recognizing and working with the existing social networks that overlay any given marine territory can the operational principles of CM (as reviewed in this paper) be effectively deployed for achieving some kind of bioeconomic efficiency and creating an equitable rights-based fisheries management system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420407 , vital:71741 , "https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2015.1084"
- Description: There is a growing interest in working with customary management (CM) systems to effectively manage benthic resources and small-scale fisheries. The underlying notion is that CM institution as territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) can be sufficiently adaptive and dynamic to create the local incentives that are necessary for promoting sustainable fishing practices and marine conservation more generally in a given region. This paper reviews the social opportunities and challenges of working with CM systems as a form of TURF, particularly in Oceania. A key conclusion is that policy makers and managers not only need to recognize natural interconnectivity in any one marine space, but also consider the social interconnectivity of stakeholders that covers customary TURFs. Only by recognizing and working with the existing social networks that overlay any given marine territory can the operational principles of CM (as reviewed in this paper) be effectively deployed for achieving some kind of bioeconomic efficiency and creating an equitable rights-based fisheries management system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Design of realistic hybrid marine resource management programs in Oceania
- Aswani, Shankar, Ruddle, Kenneth
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70615 , vital:29681 , https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70615 , vital:29681 , https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Design of Realistic Hybrid Marine Resource Management Programs in Oceania
- Aswani, Shankar, Ruddle, Kenneth
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422721 , vital:71972 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11"
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422721 , vital:71972 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11"
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Detecting change in local ecological knowledge: an application of an index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in the Solomon Islands
- Aswani, Shankar, Ferse, Sebastian C A, Stäbler, Moritz, Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastian C A , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179059 , vital:40103 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastian C A , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179059 , vital:40103 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Detecting change in local ecological knowledge: An application of an index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in the Solomon Islands
- Aswani, Shankar, Ferse, Sebastien C, Stäbler, Moritz, Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastien C , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406521 , vital:70282 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865"
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015. Results indicate that both endogenous (gender, age) and exogenous (proximity to market) factors have discernible effects on folk taxonomic knowledge in the region, with younger respondents and communities closer to a regional market center displaying a significantly lower richness of local species names. Folk taxonomic distinctness was significantly reduced closer to the regional market. The modified index of taxonomic distinctness applied in this research provides a useful tool to explore facets of local ecological knowledge in addition to simple richness of terms, and to compare across different regions and cultural backgrounds. Understanding changes in LEK is important because such knowledge enables communities who are highly dependent on living natural resources to harvest and manage resources more efficiently and also to detect and react to environmental change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastien C , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406521 , vital:70282 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865"
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015. Results indicate that both endogenous (gender, age) and exogenous (proximity to market) factors have discernible effects on folk taxonomic knowledge in the region, with younger respondents and communities closer to a regional market center displaying a significantly lower richness of local species names. Folk taxonomic distinctness was significantly reduced closer to the regional market. The modified index of taxonomic distinctness applied in this research provides a useful tool to explore facets of local ecological knowledge in addition to simple richness of terms, and to compare across different regions and cultural backgrounds. Understanding changes in LEK is important because such knowledge enables communities who are highly dependent on living natural resources to harvest and manage resources more efficiently and also to detect and react to environmental change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Environmental and social recovery asymmetries to large-scale disturbances in small island communities
- Aswani, Shankar, Van Putten, Ingrid, Miñarro, Sara
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Van Putten, Ingrid , Miñarro, Sara
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67325 , vital:29073 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2685-2
- Description: publisher version , People’s livelihoods in tropical small-island developing states are greatly dependent on marine ecosystem services. Yet services such as fisheries and coastal buffering are being degraded at an alarming rate, thus making people increasing vulnerable to protracted and sudden environmental changes. In the context of the occurrences of extreme events such as earthquakes and tsunamis, it is vital to uncover the processes that make people in these island states resilient, or not, to environmental disruptions. This paper compares people’s perceptions of social and environmental impacts after an extreme event in the Western Solomon Islands (11 different villages on 8 different islands) to better understand how knowledge systems influence the coupling of human and natural systems. We examine the factors that contributed to perceptions of respective recovery in the environmental versus the social domains across communities with different traditional governance and modernization characteristics in a tsunami impact gradient. First, we separately assessed, at the community and individual level, the potential determinants of perceived recovery in the environmental and social domains. At the community level, the average values of the perceived environmental and social recovery were calculated for each community (1 year after the tsunami), and at the individual level, normally distributed environmental and social recovery variables (based on the difference in perceptions immediately and 1 year after the tsunami) were used as dependent variables in two General Linear Models. Results suggest that environmental and social resilience are not always coupled correspondingly and, less unexpectedly, that asymmetries during recovery can occur as a result of the underlying social and ecological context and existing adaptive capacity. More generally, the study shows how by evaluating post-disturbance perceptional data in tsunami-affected communities, we can better understand how subjective perceptions of change can affect the (de)-coupling of human and natural systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Van Putten, Ingrid , Miñarro, Sara
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67325 , vital:29073 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2685-2
- Description: publisher version , People’s livelihoods in tropical small-island developing states are greatly dependent on marine ecosystem services. Yet services such as fisheries and coastal buffering are being degraded at an alarming rate, thus making people increasing vulnerable to protracted and sudden environmental changes. In the context of the occurrences of extreme events such as earthquakes and tsunamis, it is vital to uncover the processes that make people in these island states resilient, or not, to environmental disruptions. This paper compares people’s perceptions of social and environmental impacts after an extreme event in the Western Solomon Islands (11 different villages on 8 different islands) to better understand how knowledge systems influence the coupling of human and natural systems. We examine the factors that contributed to perceptions of respective recovery in the environmental versus the social domains across communities with different traditional governance and modernization characteristics in a tsunami impact gradient. First, we separately assessed, at the community and individual level, the potential determinants of perceived recovery in the environmental and social domains. At the community level, the average values of the perceived environmental and social recovery were calculated for each community (1 year after the tsunami), and at the individual level, normally distributed environmental and social recovery variables (based on the difference in perceptions immediately and 1 year after the tsunami) were used as dependent variables in two General Linear Models. Results suggest that environmental and social resilience are not always coupled correspondingly and, less unexpectedly, that asymmetries during recovery can occur as a result of the underlying social and ecological context and existing adaptive capacity. More generally, the study shows how by evaluating post-disturbance perceptional data in tsunami-affected communities, we can better understand how subjective perceptions of change can affect the (de)-coupling of human and natural systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2017