Explore how local communities build sustainable livelihoods through 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…
Several rural and urban Nova Scotian communities face issues with accessing healthy and sustainable foods. Many communities began initiating self-sustaining food projects, such as community gardens, in an attempt to improve food security. ...
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. ...
Severe land degradation and environmental disasters can act as triggers to new community conservation and development initiatives and as stimulus to existing ones. ...
Sasi laut is a local knowledge and culture-based practice of coastal resource conservation. Through cooperation of multiple stakeholders, the sasi laut system has strengthened, helping locals to consider global issues related to conservation practices....
Koh Sralao is a small 300 household mangrove-estuarine fishing village on the southwestern coast of Cambodia. Fishers have spoken about fish declines for decades and continue to be concerned about fish stocks...
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...
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...
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....
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. ...
The people of Qeshm Island have a strong connection to the land and sea. This connection, and sense of environmental belonging have encouraged them to actively participate in community conservation. ...
In an attempt to protect local forest reserves, community members in Tujereng, The Gambia, have pursued the government’s Community Forestry Programme (CFP), seeking new ways to sustain and expand local conservation efforts....
Being a very impoverished mangrove-based neighborhood, mangrove conservation is vital to the livelihoods of Vila dos Pescadores....
Produced by Cintia Nascimento, this video focuses on coastal conservation in Timor Leste....
This video from one of our study sites in South Africa focuses on local communities that demonstrate the importance of indigenous knowledge and river management practices in a community that depends on fisheries for its livelihoods....
This beautiful documentary by Steve De Neef and Gord More for HAKAI Magazine features CCRN Partner and Researcher Dr. Juan Carlos Seijo. In Punta Allen, Mexico, a lobster fishing cooperative supports the community and the environment. Perched aside the sparkling Caribbean Sea, Ascension Bay in Punta Allen, Mexico, is the site......
A video report on the inhabitants of the scenic Koh Pitak island and their efforts to manage local ecotourism...
The following case study of a Brazilian mangrove community located in an industrial area, Vila dos Pescadores (Fishers' Village), analyzes the impact that environmental degradation has on fishers' livelihoods....
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......
Small-scale fisheries produce two-thirds of all catches destined for direct human consumption and provide 90% of the employment in the sector...
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......
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......
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......
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
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
Westlund, L., A. Charles, S. Garcia, and J. Sanders (eds). 2017. Marine protected areas: Interactions with fishery livelihoods and food security. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No.603. Rome, Italy. FAO. 158p
Berdej, S., D. Armitage and A. Charles. 2016. Governance and Community Conservation. Community Conservation Research Network. Halifax, Nova Scotia
Berkes, F., M. Arce-Ibarra, D. Armitage, A. Charles, L. Loucks, M. Makino, A. Satria, C. Seixas, J. Abraham & S. Berdej. 2016. Analysis of Social-Ecological Systems for Community Conservation. Community Conservation Research Network. Saint Mary’s University. Halifax, Canada. Available on-line at: https://www.communityconservation.net/resources/social-ecological-systems-guidebook/
Charles, A., L. Westlund, D.M. Bartley, W.J. Fletcher, S. Garcia, H. Govan, and J. Sanders. Fishing livelihoods as key to marine protected areas: insights from the World Parks Congress. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 26:165–184. (2016)
Downie, B.K. 2016. Towards the resolution of a conservation and community conflict: A Tanzania case study. Policy Matters, 20, 66-80.
Charles, A. People, Oceans and Scale: Governance, Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in Marine Social–Ecological Systems. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 4:351–357. (2012)
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 online 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)