Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Forest conservation

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Factors shaping the availability of state-owned, degraded tropical forests for conservation management by NGOs in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Management, Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Ross, Amy Elizabeth
    Degradation of tropical forests contributes to climate change, loss of biodiversity through habitat reduction and ongoing poverty for people who depend on forest resources. This study investigates the current policy environments governing the use of degraded state forests in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. The research has been undertaken with a view to assisting A Rocha International, an international NGO, in their evaluation of the potential to establish a community conservation project in one or more of these countries. In order to achieve this aim, two key research questions were posed: 1) How do institutional, social and ecological factors enable or constrain NGOs from achieving community conservation goals?; and 2) To what degree are state-owned, degraded tropical forests available for conservation management by NGOs? A multiple case study approach was used for the research. Data was gathered through face-to-face and remote interviews, current policy documents and other secondary sources and personal observation during field trips to Ghana and Kenya. Interviews were conducted with conservation NGO staff, forest-adjacent residents, state forestry officials and district forestry services staff. The policy environments of each country were analysed using a modified version of the social structurationist framework. It was found that the policy environments in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda share many important similarities. Despite the fact that published state policies in all three countries are generally supportive of community conservation initiatives, it is evident that limited policy implementation is likely to have the greatest impact on any proposed project. Socially, pressures on forest governance stemming from corruption, demographic pressures, poverty and energy dependency are common to all three countries. Ecologically, on a broad scale, similar conditions exist across the three countries. Complexities of land tenure, forest benefits distribution and competing interests of actors in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, can lead to challenges in developing partnerships 3 with local stakeholders in a community conservation project. A key lesson emerging from the study is that time and resources should be invested in addressing this issue. If successful, regardless of the published state forestry policy the conservation NGO may be enabled by the stakeholders to achieve its goals and even influence policy. Faith-based organisations may also have some advantages when it comes to building successful working relationships between project stakeholders. Further lessons relevant to conservation NGO work in the African context may be gleaned from the field of development studies.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Farmers' attitudes and behaviour towards the natural environment : a New Zealand case study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ecology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Durpoix, Dorothée
    Scholars from the natural and social sciences have sounded the alarm regarding the future of our productivist society, calling for a change in worldview towards our relationship with the environment. Agriculture rests at the centre of such an issue. Relying on natural resources, it fulfils our basic need for food, yet has caused great damage to this same environment it depends on. Sustainability of farming lies increasingly today in farmers’ ability to generate and export ecologically sound products, while remaining competitive on the international market. The New Zealand farming population represents a particularly good case study. New Zealand’s short human history is associated with one of the highest rates of natural habitat destruction, enabling the country to develop a strong agricultural sector. Today, due to a lack of a comprehensive national legislation, management of native ecosystems on private land depends mainly on private owners’ goodwill. The first of the four objectives of the present research was to assess the general and specific environmental attitudes of farmers in New Zealand. Farmers’ general attitudes towards the natural environment were measured using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale and the Environmental Motives scale (EMS). Farmers’ specific attitudes towards New Zealand native forest were assessed using the tripartite model of attitude composed of affective, cognitive and conative dimensions. The second objective was to compare the attitudes and context affecting the pro-environmental attitudes of farmers with and without native forest on their farm. The third objective was to assess the pro-environmental attitude-behaviour relationship in farmers with native forest. Finally, the fourth objective was to investigate the context affecting the relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour in farmers with native forest. It was found that farmers with and without native forest responded to different models of attitude towards native forest. The attitudes of farmers without forest were more cognitively based than those of farmers with forest. Farmers without forest tended to distinguish between native forest on and off the farm, while farmers with forest tended to hold more holistic environmental attitudes. Farmers’ environmental attitudes predicted their behaviour towards their native forest fragments to a similar extent to that usually found in the literature. Direct experience with nature, interactions with one’s family and objective and subjective knowledge were instrumental in predicting the environmental attitudes of all groups of farmers and the behaviour of farmers with native forest.