Kothari, Ashish

Conventional approaches to managing protected areas have often seen people and nature as separate entities. They preclude human communities from using natural resources and assume that their concerns are incompatible with conservation. Protected area approaches and models that see conservation as compatible with human communities are explored. The main themes are co-managed protected areas and community conserved areas. Practical guidance is offered, drawing on recent experience, reflections and advice developed at the local, national, regional and international level.

At the heart of co-management of natural resources is a process of collective understanding and action by local communities and other social actors. The process brings about negotiated agreements on management roles, rights, and responsibilities, making explicit the conditions and institutions of sound decentralised governance. De facto, co-management is about sharing power. The publication is designed to support those who wish to better understand collaborative management processes and to develop and enhance them in practice.

Le processus collectif de compréhension et d’action par les communautés locales et d’autres acteurs sociaux se trouve au cœur de la « cogestion » des ressources naturelles. Ce processus aboutit à des accords négociés sur les rôles de gestion, les droits, les responsabilités et rendent explicites les conditions et institutions pour une gouvernance saine et décentralisée. De fait, la cogestion revient à partager le pouvoir. Cette publication vise à soutenir ceux qui s’évertuent à mieux comprendre les processus de gestion collaborative, et à les développer et les renforcer dans la pratique.

This new series of publications on the values of Protected Landscapes and Seascapes is intended to document and spell out the various environmental, economic, social and cultural values that Category V protected areas can provide. The first volume addresses the topic of agrobiodiversity. Since they are lived-in, working landscapes, Category V protected areas would appear to provide a potential mechanism for conserving agrobiodiversity.

The most authoritative guide ever compiled to the principles and practice of park (or "protected area") management essential for all professionals and students in all countries and contexts. There are over 108,000 parks/protected areas on Earth, covering 13.5 million square kilometres - an area the size of China and India combined. Produced by renowned experts from IUCN, the world's largest and most important conservation network, whose membership includes 82 States, 111 government agencies, 800 NGOs, and 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries.

Conventional approaches to managing protected areas have often seen people and nature as separate entities. They preclude human communities from using natural resources and assume that their concerns are incompatible with conservation. Protected area approaches and models that see conservation as compatible with human communities are explored. The main themes are co-managed protected areas and community conserved areas. Practical guidance is offered, drawing on recent experience, reflections and advice developed at the local, national, regional and international level.

At the heart of ‘co-management’ of natural resources is a process of collective understanding and action by local communities and other social actors. The process brings about negotiated agreements on management roles, rights, and responsibilities, making explicit the conditions and institutions of sound decentralised governance. De facto, co-management is about sharing power. The publication is designed to support those who wish to better understand collaborative management processes and to develop and enhance them in practice.

There is increasing recognition of the value that local, indigenous and mobile communities can bring to the process of conserving biodiversity, and of the need for a range of conservation types from strict protection to multiple sustainable use. Such a paradigm shift is reflected in the outcomes of two recent global events: the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress (Durban, September 2003) and the 7th Conference of Parties of the Convention of Biological Diversity (Kuala Lumpur, February 2004).