LIVEDIVERSE - governance and policy recommendations
The project LIVEDIVERSE set out to increase knowledge of ecological, socio-economic and cultural/spiritual vulnerability through an integrated study of all of these aspects identifying aquatic and riparian biodiversity.
The motivation for limiting the studies of biodiversity and livelihood to aquatic and riparian environments was that the International law and policy - such as the EU Water Framework Directive, EU Water Initiative, Dublin Principles, Agenda 21 - recognized that the river basin was the most appropriate level to link social and economic development with the protection of natural ecosystems and biodiversity through catchment management of both land and water interactions, as it was reported in the Final project Report for dissemination of information.
Governance and policy recommendations of each region were extensively described for protecting biodiversity in the four study cases.
1. The Ba Be / Na Hang Conservation Complex in northern Vietnam
During the past 20 years, the trend towards less centralized, command and control processes in protected areas and more subsidiarity and participation of local communities, has been steadily growing, spurred by international organizations and NGOs. Vietnam is not an exception and it has gradually set up a new framework for natural resources management and conservation, opening up new opportunities to 44 individuals and communities.
2. The Warana River basin in India (Maharashtra)
There are significant problems in Maharashtra and the Indian case area with respect to both the content and the implementation of the existing law, in regard to both livelihood protection and to conservation of biodiversity.
3. The Terraba River basin in Costa Rica
Threats to the conservation of the Terraba river basin are evident along the entire length of the basin: from the upper part where there is increasing reliance on the production of pineapples, to the lower stretches where human exploitation of the wetlands and the likely effects of the El Diquís hydropower dam are obvious.
4. The Greater Kruger Area in South Africa
There are multiple challenges in ensuring that conservation areas within the Mutale River case study area serve the dual purpose of biodiversity conservation and sustaining livelihoods. This project has also shown that there is a strong connection between the law and policy architecture and the relevant actors’ networks, where they are both dependent on one other.
Source:
Recommendations for strategies, conflict reconciliation, policy formulation and implementation (LIFEDIVERSE Deliverable 9.1 Final Report)
