Kate Schreckenberg | King's College London (original) (raw)

Papers by Kate Schreckenberg

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Restoration Ecology, 2021

As the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins, there remains insufficient emphasis on the huma... more As the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins, there remains insufficient emphasis on the human and social dimensions of restoration. The potential that restoration holds for achieving both ecological and social goals can only be met through a shift toward people-centered restoration strategies. Toward this end, this paper synthesizes critical insights from a special issue on "Restoration for whom, by whom" to propose actionable ways to center humans and social dimensions in ecosystem restoration, with the aim of generating fair and sustainable initiatives. These rules respond to a relative silence on socio-political issues in di Sacco et al.'s "Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits" on socio-political issues and offer complementary guidance to their piece. Arranged roughly in order from pre-intervention, design/initiation, implementation, through the monitoring, evaluation and learning phases, the 10 people-centered rules are: (1) Recognize diversity and interrelations among stakeholders and rightsholders'; (2) Actively engage communities as agents of change; (3) Address socio-historical contexts; (4) Unpack and strengthen resource tenure for marginalized groups; (5) Advance equity across its multiple dimensions and scales; (6) Generate multiple benefits; (7) Promote an equitable distribution of costs, risks, and benefits; (8) Draw on different types of evidence and knowledge; (9) Question dominant discourses; and (10) Practice inclusive and holistic monitoring, evaluation, and learning. We contend that restoration initiatives are only tenable when the issues raised in these rules are respectfully addressed.

Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2021

Although it has long been recognised that human activities affect fire regimes, the interactions ... more Although it has long been recognised that human activities affect fire regimes, the interactions between humans and fire are complex, imperfectly understood, constantly evolving, and lacking any kind of integrative global framework. Many different approaches are used to study human-fire interactions, but in general they have arisen in different disciplinary contexts to address highly specific questions. Models of human-fire interactions range from conceptual local models to numerical global models. However, given that each type of model is highly selective about which aspects of human-fire interactions to include, the insights gained from these models are often limited and contradictory, which can make them a poor basis for developing fire-related policy and management practices. Here, we first review different approaches to modelling human-fire interactions and then discuss ways in which these different approaches could be synthesised to provide a more holistic approach to understa...

If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination... more If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 2019

Parks, 2018

A hundred research priorities of critical importance to protected area management were identified... more A hundred research priorities of critical importance to protected area management were identified by a targeted survey of conservation professionals; half researchers and half practitioners. Respondents were selected to represent a range of disciplines, every continent except Antarctica and roughly equal numbers of men and women. The results analysed thematically and grouped as potential research topics as by both practitioners and researchers. Priority research gaps reveal a high interest to demonstrate the role of protected areas within a broader discussion about sustainable futures and if and how protected areas can address a range of conservation and socioeconomic challenges effectively. The paper lists the hundred priorities structured under broad headings of management, ecology, governance and social (including political and economic issues) and helps contribute to setting future research agendas.

Land Use Policy, 2018

Biodiversity offsets are a rapidly spreading conservation approach They can have significant loca... more Biodiversity offsets are a rapidly spreading conservation approach They can have significant local costs by displacing local livelihoods There are stringent standards covering mitigation of local costs However there is a gap between policies and practice on the ground This must be resolved if offsets are to equitably contribute to conservation

Geo: Geography and Environment, 2018

Human migration is often considered an important driver of land use change and a threat to protec... more Human migration is often considered an important driver of land use change and a threat to protected area integrity, but the reasons for in-migration, the effectiveness of conservation restrictions at stemming migration, and the extent to which migrants disproportionately contribute to land use change has been poorly studied, especially at fine spatial scales. Using a case study in eastern Madagascar (603 household surveys, mapping agricultural land for a subset of 167 households, and 49 focus group discussions and key informant interviews), we explore the patterns and drivers of migration within the lifetime of those currently alive. We investigate how this influences forest conversion on the border of established protected areas and sites without a history of conservation restrictions. We show that in-migration is driven, especially in sites with high migration, by access to land. There is a much higher proportion of migrant households at sites without a long history of conservation restrictions than around longestablished protected areas, and migrants tend to be more educated and live closer to the forest edge than non-migrants. Our evidence supports the engulfment model (an active forest frontier later becoming a protected area); there is no evidence that protected areas have attracted migrants. Where there is a perceived open forest frontier, people move to the forest but these migrants are no more likely than local people to clear land (i.e. migrants are not 'exceptional resource degraders'). In some parts of the tropics, out-migration from rural areas is resulting in forest regrowth; such a forest transition is unlikely to occur in Madagascar for some time. Those seeking to manage protected areas at the forest-frontier will therefore need to prevent further colonisation; supporting tenure security for existing residents is likely to be an important step.

Ecosystem Services, 2019

Although it has been hypothesized that men and women vary in the way they value ecosystem service... more Although it has been hypothesized that men and women vary in the way they value ecosystem services, research on ecosystem services rarely incorporates a gender dimension. We conducted research with nine indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon to understand which ecosystem services men and women perceive as most important for their wellbeing and to rank them according to locally-defined criteria of importance. Participants identified a total of 26 ecosystem services and 20 different ranking criteria. Ecosystem services such as land for agricultural fields (a supporting service), and provision of fish and medicinal plants were equally important for both men and women. Wild fruits and resources to make handicrafts were more frequently mentioned by women, whereas timber, materials for making tools and coca leaves were more frequently mentioned by men. There were also differences in the criteria used to value ecosystem services, with 11 criteria mentioned by both men and women, five mentioned exclusively by women and another four only by men. Our results suggest that taking gender differences into account in ecosystem services assessments may result in the prioritization of different services in conservation and sustainable development programs, and may lead to different outcomes for ecosystem service provision and local livelihoods. Gender is an important mediator of how humans view and interact with their environment. It often influences the use, knowledge, management, access and control over environmental resources (Rocheleau and Edmunds, 1997; Sunderland et al., 2014). There is substantial evidence highlighting gender differences in local ecological knowledge (e.g., Dovie et al., 2008). Gender differences have also been explained in relation to the use of natural resources (e.g. Meinzen-Dick et al., 1997; Westermann et al., 2005), including non-timber forest products (e.g., Ingram et al., 2014; Paumgarten and Shackleton, 2011) and community forestry (e.g., Agarwal, 2001; Mai et al., 2011). As emphasized by Leach et al. (2016), consideration of gender differences and relations is integral to achieving sustainable development and avoiding

Energy for Sustainable Development, 2017

Growing urban populations in Sub-Saharan Africa are increasing demand for charcoal. This paper pr... more Growing urban populations in Sub-Saharan Africa are increasing demand for charcoal. This paper presents a detailed case study of three communities supplying charcoal to Zomba, a medium-sized city in Southern Malawi. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to structure our analysis, we examine individuals' motivations for producing charcoal, assess the seasonality of charcoal production, how livelihood outcomes vary between men and women, and identify sources of vulnerability for charcoal producer livelihoods. Drawing on data from four focus group exercises in each community and a total of 42 semi-structured interviews, we identify direct (e.g. financial) and indirect (e.g. strengthening of social networks, improved access to goods and services, opportunities for livelihood diversification) benefits that contribute to reducing producers' vulnerability to financial insecurity and improve their livelihoods. Irrespective of the benefits obtained and the actions (e.g. prioritising charcoal production over farming) of producers, participants did not perceive charcoal production as a desirable activity because the work was illegal, stigmatised hard and dangerous. Producers' primary motivations for engaging in production were to provide income to meet one-off purchases of expensive items, respond to an income shock, or to meet recurrent seasonal needs. Under certain conditions women were more dependent on income from charcoal production than men, as they had fewer alternative income generating options available to them. There was no reported management of charcoal resources in the study area, therefore the environmental sustainability of charcoal production and its associated benefits are uncertain. Malawi's current de facto charcoal ban leads to enforcement activities that exacerbate livelihood risks and increase producers' vulnerability to income insecurity.

PARKS, 2016

There have been numerous calls to ensure that protected areas are governed and managed in an equi... more There have been numerous calls to ensure that protected areas are governed and managed in an equitable manner. While there has been progress on assessing management effectiveness, there has been less headway on defining the equitable part of the equation. Here we propose a framework for advancing equity in the context of protected area conservation that was developed through a process of expert workshops and consultation and then validated at three sites in East Africa. The framework comprises three key dimensions (recognition, procedure and distribution) and 16 principles embedded in a set of enabling conditions, which we illustrate with reference to case studies. We go on to present the case for shifting the framing of protected area conservation from a livelihoods framing to an equity framing, justifying this from both a moral (normative) and instrumental perspective. Finally, we show how equity relates to a number of other key concepts (management effectiveness, governance and social impact) and related assessment tools in protected area conservation, before outlining a step-wise process for using the framework to advance equity in protected area conservation.

Conservation and Society, 2017

Major developments, such as mines, will often have unavoidable environmental impacts. In such cas... more Major developments, such as mines, will often have unavoidable environmental impacts. In such cases investors, governments, or even a company's own standards increasingly require implementation of biodiversity offsets (investment in conservation with a measurable outcome) with the aim of achieving 'no net loss' or even a 'net gain' of biodiversity. Where conservation is achieved by changing the behaviour of people directly using natural resources, the offset might be expected to have social impacts but such impacts have received very little attention. Using the case study of Ambatovy, a major nickel mine in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar and Ambatovy, a company at the vanguard of developing biodiversity offsets, we explore local perceptions of the magnitude and distribution of impacts of the biodiversity offset project on local wellbeing. We used both qualitative (key informant interviews and focus group discussions) and quantitative (household survey) methods. We found that the biodiversity offsets, which comprise both conservation restrictions and development activities, influenced wellbeing in a mixture of positive and negative ways. However, overall, respondents felt that they had suffered a net cost from the biodiversity offset. It is concerning that benefits from the development activities do not compensate for the costs of the conservation restrictions, that those who bear the costs are not the same people as those who benefit, and that there is a mismatch in timing between the immediate restrictions and the associated development activities which take some time to deliver benefits. These issues matter both from the perspective of environmental justice, and for the long term sustainability of the biodiversity benefits the offset is supposed to deliver.

Environmental Conservation, 2016

SUMMARY Miombo woodlands supply ecosystem services to support livelihoods in southern Africa, how... more SUMMARY Miombo woodlands supply ecosystem services to support livelihoods in southern Africa, however, rapid deforestation has necessitated greater knowledge of tree growth and off-take rates to understand the sustainability of miombo exploitation. We established 48 tree inventory plots within four villages in southern Malawi, interviewed representatives in these same villages about tree management practices and investigated the impact of climate on vegetation dynamics in the region using the ecosystem modelling framework LPJ-GUESS. Combining our data with the forest yield model MYRLIN revealed considerable variation in growth rates across different land uses; forested lands showed the highest growth rates (1639 [95% confidence interval 1594–1684] kg ha–1 year–1), followed by settlement areas (1453 [95% confidence interval 1376–1530] kg ha–1 year–1). Based on the modelled MYRLIN results, we found that 50% of the villages had insufficient growth rates to meet estimated off-take. Furt...

Forest Policy and Economics, 2016

Tropical dry deciduous forests provide numerous ecosystem services yet their contribution to agri... more Tropical dry deciduous forests provide numerous ecosystem services yet their contribution to agricultural production remains underexplored. We address this research gap by quantifying the broader suite of ecosystem services that support small holder farmers and identifying farmers' knowledge of storm hazard reduction benefits provided by forest fragments in Madagascar. We survey 240 households and interview eight key informants to identify household and community responses in two communities with contrasting forest cover trajectories. Using multivariate statistics, results show a heavy dependence on forests for food and raw materials and a majority of the respondents holding a positive view of hazard mitigation services provided by forest fragments. Education levels, earning an income from forest based tourism and honey production are the only predictors of participation in forest management. Positive view of the hazard reduction benefits derived from forests could be due to external influences or personal observations, and together with barriers to participation in forest management need to be further investigated to better link forest management to reduced hazards risks. These findings are significant for forest management policy, as local knowledge and rationale for decisions are instrumental in the success of decentralized forest management and maintenance of vital forest benefits to farmers.

Les opinions exprimées dans cet ouvrage sont celles des auteurs. Elles ne représentent pas nécess... more Les opinions exprimées dans cet ouvrage sont celles des auteurs. Elles ne représentent pas nécessairement celles des institutions dont les auteurs font partie ni des personnes ou institutions ayant financé la publication du présent ouvrage. Centre de recherche forestière internationale CIFOR défend le bien-être humain, la conservation de l'environnement et l'équité en menant une recherche pour éclairer les politiques et les pratiques qui affectent les forêts dans les pays en développement. CIFOR est l'un des 15 centres au sein du Groupe consultatif sur la recherche agricole internationale (CGIAR). Le siège du CIFOR est situé à Bogor, en Indonésie. CIFOR a également des bureaux en Asie, en Afrique et en Amérique du Sud.

The geographic designation employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not i... more The geographic designation employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Agroforestry Centre concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

It is widely recognised that substantial opportunities exist in Latin America to enhance liveliho... more It is widely recognised that substantial opportunities exist in Latin America to enhance livelihoods of marginalised forest dependant communities, through the commercialisation of forest resources. The research presented in this paper explores the relationship between successful commercialisation of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), and poverty alleviation and gender equality, in Mexico and Bolivia. It documents the approach taken in designing and implementing a research project that would contribute to the increased imderstanding of different needs of both women and men involved in NTFP commercialisation. It acknowledges that for poverty reduction to be effective, the many varied and important roles of women, including their contribution to household income generation through the use and management of natural resources, need to be recognised. Gender discrimination is globally the most widespread form of social exclusion, and this inequality is a key obstacle to development. United Nations estimates indicate that up to 70% of the world's poor are female, and women in developing countries constitute the majority of the labour force, playing a key role in managing community resources and helping to protect the environment. This paper shares some of the challenges facing researchers wanting to mainstream gender issues in the natural resources sector, and some of the valuable lessons learnt from the field. Introduction: During the past decade, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been widely promoted as a potential solution to high rates of tropical deforestation. The commercial development of NTFPs, such as fruits, nuts, resins, fibre and medicines derived from plants, could increase the value of forest resources and thereby reduce the conversion of forest to other land uses. As a result, many development agencies and conservation organizations have fostered the commercial development of such products, with the aim of encouraging forest conservation while alleviating rural poverty. However, the result of such ventures has been highly variable. While some NTFPs have been commercialised successfully, many others have failed, raising questions about the joint contribution that NTFPs can make to rural development and conservation strategies. A key question has therefore emerged: which factors determine whether the commercialisation of an NTFP will be successfiil? Non Timber Forest Products are an important tool in addressing poverty issues for marginalised, forest dependant communities, by contributing to livelihood outcomes, including food security, health and well being, and income (FAO, 1995; Falconer, 1996). In many parts of the world these resources are critical, especially for the rural poor and women, and may provide them with the only source of personal income (Falconer, 1996; Rodda, 1993). It is the socially most marginalised people who are the main actors in NTFP extraction (Ros-Tonen, 1999). NTFPs represent an important source of income and employment, particularly to women, encouraging increased production and harvesting for