Explore how communities navigate governance, rights, and conflict in community-based conservation
See the wide-ranging discussion of the theme within a full-length film and book, and within many community stories, videos, webinars, presentations and publications…
Innu of all ages are concerned with preserving their culture and language - inseparable from Innu identity. However many Innu youth are less immersed in their culture and language as they face pressures to seek “…work opportunities, often outside of their communities.”...
A lack of communication between the regulating authority and the fishers has increased conflict in the Tsitsikamma area and endangered community member’s food security and livelihoods. ...
Les Village's marine environment was devastated by a traditional local use of cyanide for catching marine ornamental fish; however, local conservation began when eco-friendly, community-based approaches were introduced to restore local marine resources...
Between 1999 and 2002 there was exponential growth in the number of Galopagos fishing license holders and vessels. Consequently, fishing effort increased in the spiny lobster fishery leading to its over-exploitation...
Since 2011, indigenous communities have worked with researchers from the Asociación Faunagua, World Fisheries Trust, and the University of Victoria, to better understand the fisheries situation, and identify pathways to improve livelihood and food security in the region...
Local community groups have been key actors in the Eastern Shore’s forestry and wilderness conversation...
The Olifant communities face several challenges to their livelihoods including threats to close the fishery and proposals to build a mine adjacent to the estuary. Working with their community partners, the Olifants Estuary fishing communities are addressing these challenges...
The coastal ecosystem conservation activities conducted by the local communities have been studied as part of a comparative analysis of the social and ecological conditions that each community experiences, and their influence on the nature of community conservation....
Bridging organizations can contribute to a more balanced conservation effort through collaboration, communication and resource sharing – all of which include and resonate with local communities....
The growth of aquaculture and the opening of a new sea mouth has resulted in environmental and social consequences for the Chilika Lagoon. To address these changes lagoon fishers have come together in protest....
West Coast Aquatic provides several consensus-based forums, including a Governance Board that makes policy recommendations to government, and multi-sector roundtables for salmon management, for involving First Nations and other local communities in decision-making....
The Maya people engage in conservation activities that help to maintain the services that the local environment provides....
In Paraty, the Caiçara communities include Tarituba, Praia do Sono, and Trindade, each of these communities face different challenges and are working towards different solutions. ...
Being a very impoverished mangrove-based neighborhood, mangrove conservation is vital to the livelihoods of Vila dos Pescadores....
Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations have been forced to utilize legal actions to protect their resources and have their Aboriginal rights recognized....
The Ysyk-Köl Biosphere Reserve (YKBR), the largest protected area in Kyrgyzstan, gained international UNESCO designation in 2001. Lake Ysyk-Köl, which is considered as a sacred lake by local people, is a keystone element within the YKBR....
This short movie was produced to communicate scientific findings that describe the plurality of human-ocean relationships and their associated values on Yaeyama islands, Okinawa, Japan...
Nakatuenita: Respect is a documentary film about the Innu First Nation of Labrador taking back control of its land, government, schools, social services and resources....
Produced by Cintia Nascimento, this video focuses on coastal conservation in Timor Leste....
The story of the coastal communities of the Tsitsikamma and their relationship with the National Park and Marine Protected Area....
Fishing rights and traditional livelihoods among the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations....
Sharing the Waters, Saint John, NB was produced for the Fundy North Fishermen’s Association, a partner community organization of Coastal CURA. This film begins with a brief introduction to the history of the inshore fishery in Saint John followed by an overview of issues stemming from......
Promoting Environmental Conservation and Cooperation (PECC) is a project of the Kesho Trust in cooperation with 6 villages adjacent to Saadani National Park, Tanzania. The project is focused on building relationships between park management and communities through improved mutual understanding and open communication....
The film celebrates the resilience of the Mi’kmaq, and Indigenous people in general....
In 2009, the BC Supreme Court ruled that five Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations have an Aboriginal right to fish and sell all species of fish from their territories on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada....
This webinar presents some of the insights coming from the work of the Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN) over the past six years. Tony Charles, CCRN Director, explores the linkages of Communities, Conservation and Livelihoods by drawing on the network’s case studies of communities around......
Issues of power and politics are at the heart of community conservation which in turn influences its ultimate success and failure. Power is central to understanding processes and structures associated with resource and environmental conservation. This may be particularly important in the case of community......
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly recognised across the world as an important strategy for protecting marine resources, conserving biodiversity, rebuilding threatened fish stocks and restoring degraded habitats. The value of MPAs has been discussed at various global gatherings such as the World Summit on......
Nature conservation and protected areas have had a complex history with violence, conflict and peace. The advent of fortress model conservation created a legacy of disenfranchisement, coercion and human rights abuses, while wildlife wars are creating a new trend towards armament in the call to......
What are the fundamental principles of engagement of First Nations governments, organizations and peoples in community conservation, land use and resource management issues? How can these principles, such as respect, guide process and action? This talk will cover these questions, as well as what reconciliation......
This webinar has two aims; firstly, it gives account of historical traits of the origin as well as on current debates on Rights Based Approaches (RBA) to the management of coastal resources; secondly, it addresses the context of RBA of three Mexican Caribbean case studies......
Join researcher and environmental activist Sadie Beaton as she describes her journey to better understand the meaning and motivations for environmental justice in Mi’kma’ki, the indigenous Mi’kmaq lands on Canada’s Atlantic coast. This multimedia presentation will focus on a current environmental justice issue – resistance......
Dr. Fikret Berkes is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba and a core member of the Community Conservation Research Network team. Dr. Berkes is a leader in developing and applying the approaches of social-ecological systems, resilience, community-based management, adaptive co-management, indigenous knowledge......
The over 400 registrants attending the Communities
Charles, A., D. Kalikoski, and A. Macnaughton. 2019. Addressing the Climate Change and Poverty Nexus: A Coordinated Approach in the Context of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Rome, Italy. 100p.
Gillam, C., and A. Charles. 2019. Community wellbeing: the impacts of inequality, racism and environment on a Brazilian coastal slum. World Development Perspectives 13:18-24
Léopold, M., O. Thébaud and A. Charles. 2019. The dynamics of institutional innovation: Crafting co-management in small-scale fisheries through action research. Journal of Environmental Management 237:187-199.
Bennett, N.J., M. Kaplan-Hallam, G. Augustine, N. Ban, D. Belhabib, I. Brueckner-Irwin, A. Charles, J. Couture, S. Eger, L. Fanning, P. Foley, A.M. Goodfellow, L. Greba, E. Gregr, D. Hall, S. Harper, B. Maloney, J. McIsaac, W. Ou, E. Pinkerton, D. Porter, R. Sparrow, R. Stephenson, A. Stocks, U.R. Sumaila, T. Sutcliffe, and M. Bailey. 2018. Coastal and Indigenous community access to marine resources and the ocean: A policy imperative for Canada. Marine Policy 87:186-193
Charles, A. 2018. Meaningful partnerships in meaningful ocean governance. p.24-29 in: The Future of Ocean Governance and Capacity Development: Essays in Honor of Elisabeth Mann Borgese (1918-2002)
Armitage, D., F. Berkes, and A. Charles. 2017. Governing the Coastal Commons: Communities, Resilience and Transformation. Earthscan, Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Oxford, UK.
Bavinck, M., F. Berkes, A. Charles, A. C. Esteves Dias, N. Doubleday, P. Nayak and M. Sowman. 2017. The impact of coastal grabbing on community conservation – a global reconnaissance. Maritime Studies 16:8. doi.org/10.1186/s40152-017-0062-8
Bennett, N.J., Teh, L., Ota, Y., Christie, P., Ayers, A., Day, J.C., Franks, P., Gill, D., Gruby, R.L., Kittinger, J.N., Koehn, J.Z., Lewis, N., Parks, J., Vierros, M., Whitty, T.S., Wilhelm, A., Wright, K., Aburto, J.A., Finkbeiner, E.M., Gaymer, C.F., Govan, H., Gray, N., Jarvis, R.M., Kaplan-Hallam, M. and Satterfield, T. 2017. An appeal for a code of conduct for marine conservation. Marine Policy, 81, 411–418
Alexander, S.M., Andrachuk, M., and Armitage, D. 2016. Navigating governance networks for community-based conservation. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14(3):155-164.
Berdej, S.M. and Armitage D.R. 2016. Bridging organizations drive effective governance outcomes for conservation of Indonesia’s marine systems. PLoS ONE, 11(1): e0147142.
Berdej, S., D. Armitage & A. Charles, with contributions from F. Berkes, C. Conrad, M. Makino, P. Nayak, S. Salas, A. Samakov, C. Seixas and Uu-a-thluk, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. 2016. Governance and Community Conservation. Community Conservation Research Network. Saint Mary’s University. Halifax, Canada. Available on-line at: https://www.communityconservation.net/resources/governance-guidebook/
Rathwell, K., Armitage, D. and Berkes, F. 2015. Bridging knowledge systems to enhance governance of the commons: A typology of settings. International Journal of the Commons. 9(2): 851–880
Charles, A. Governance of tenure in small-scale fisheries: Key considerations. Land Tenure Journal 1:9-37. (2013)
Charles, A. 2012. People, oceans and scale: governance, livelihoods and climate change adaptation in marine social–ecological systems. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 4:351–357.
Armitage, D., de Loe, R. and R. Plummer. 2012. Environmental governance and its implications for conservation practice. Conservation Letters 5: 245-255.
Coastal CURA: Communities Managing Coasts Together. 2011. People in Places: Engaging Together in Integrated Resource Management. An International Conference in Halifax, Canada. June 27-29, 2011. [Available at: http://www.coastalcura.ca/cap_follow2.html]
Charles, A., M. Wiber, K. Bigney, D. Curtis, L. Wilson, R. Angus, J. Kearney, M. Landry, M. Recchia, H. Saulnier, and C. White. Integrated Management: A Coastal Community Perspective. Horizons 10(4):26-34. (2010)
Nasuchon, N., and A. Charles. Community involvement in fisheries management: Experiences in the Gulf of Thailand countries. Marine Policy 34:163-169. (2010)
Wiber, M., A. Charles, J. Kearney, and F. Berkes. Enhancing community empowerment through participatory fisheries research. Marine Policy 33:172-179 (2009)