Participatory scenarios to explore local adaptation to global change in biosphere reserves

In an era of anthropogenic stress on ecological systems at multiple scales, involving rural people in planning for adaptation to social-ecological changes is crucial to strengthen local efforts in dealing with uncertainty. In protected areas, this enquiry is even more relevant since conservation reg...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ruiz Mallén, Isabel|||0000-0002-9679-3329, Corbera, Esteve|||0000-0001-7970-4411, Calvo Boyero, Diana|||0000-0002-7414-3392, Reyes-García, Victoria|||0000-0002-2914-8055
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:137817
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/137817
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2015.07.027
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Adaptation
Governance
Latin America
Protected areas
Participatory scenarios
Vulnerability
Descripción
Sumario:In an era of anthropogenic stress on ecological systems at multiple scales, involving rural people in planning for adaptation to social-ecological changes is crucial to strengthen local efforts in dealing with uncertainty. In protected areas, this enquiry is even more relevant since conservation regulations can impinge negatively on people's ability to adapt. In this paper, we use participatory scenarios to explore the desired adaptation options of four rural communities located in two biosphere reserves in Bolivia and Mexico. We collaboratively design four plausible scenarios in each country that encompass distinct climatic, policy, and socio-economic horizons up to 2030. In Bolivia, the scenarios consider colonisation and infrastructure development as key drivers of social-ecological change, whereas in Mexico drivers include rainfall variability and conservation regulations. We discuss these scenarios at community level and highlight that winners and losers of such scenarios are significantly determined by people's ability to access land and natural resources. Communities' preferred policies and strategies for their future adaptation remain limited, thus revealing a context of restricted opportunities in both biosphere reserves. We conclude with policy recommendations to support local livelihoods in the studied protected areas and beyond.