Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Examining the Resilience and Adaptation of Traditional Resource Management Institutions in the Mosquitia Corridor of Mesoamerica

这项博士研究调查了资源使用者对农业扩张的反应，以及保护区保有权政策对洪都拉斯东部和尼加拉瓜北部莫斯基梯生物走廊当地土地使用决策的作用。传统资源使用者为应对经济和人口变化而建立适当的保护机构的能力受到了社会科学家和自然科学家的激烈竞争。在拉丁美洲，对农田和牧场越来越大的压力挑战了传统的自然资源管理系统，并威胁到以前偏远的林地。这项研究比较了教科文组织在莫斯基蒂亚走廊的两个生物圈保护区--洪都拉斯的里奥普拉塔诺生物圈保护区和尼加拉瓜的博萨瓦生物圈保护区--的当地土地利用机构的演变情况。虽然这两个保护区拥有相似的人口和生态特征，但里约热内卢的普拉塔诺管理政策限制了居民对土地和资源的权利。相比之下，波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的政策总体上加强了驻地资源管理和土地保有权保障。这两个保护区都受到了外部入侵的威胁。在每个保护区，社区一级的案例研究将确定当前的土地使用规范、居民对土地使用的重大变化的看法以及居民对保有权保障的看法。这些社区研究将与以前对该区域土地利用做法的人类学研究进行比较，并将与对保护区政策和每个保护区的参与进程的分析结合起来。将利用卫星图像分析保护区政策和当地土地利用做法方面的森林复盖变化。与保护区保有权有关的不同政策为审查当地社区如何应对农业扩张和测试保有权保障如何影响规则制定和执行活动提供了一个理想的环境。

This doctoral research investigates resource users' responses to agricultural expansion and the role of protected area tenure policies on local land-use decision-making in the Mosquitia Biological Corridor of eastern Honduras and northern Nicaragua. The ability of traditional resource users to craft appropriate conservation institutions in response to economic and demographic changes is hotly contested by both social and natural scientists. In Latin America, increasing pressure for farm and range lands challenge traditional natural resource management systems and threaten previously remote forest lands. This study compares the evolution of local land-use institutions in the context of two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in the Mosquitia Corridor: the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras and BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve, Nicaragua. While the two reserves share similar demographic and ecological characteristics, the Rio Platano management policies have limited residents' rights to the land and its resources. In contrast, BOSAWAS policies have generally enhanced resident resource management and land tenure security. Both reserves are threatened by outside encroachment. In each reserve, community-level case studies will identify current land-use norms, resident perceptions of major changes in land-use and resident perceptions of tenure security. The community studies will be compared to previous anthropological studies of land-use practices in the region and will be combined with an analysis of protected area policies and participatory processes in each reserve. Satellite images will be used to analyze forest cover change with respect to protected area policies and local land-use practices. The different policies related to protected area tenure offer an ideal setting to examine how local communities are responding to agricultural expansion and to test how tenure security influences rule-making and enforcement activities.