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

本博士研究调查了洪都拉斯东部和尼加拉瓜北部蚊子生物走廊的资源使用者对农业扩张的反应以及保护区权属政策对当地土地利用决策的作用。社会和自然科学家对传统资源使用者根据经济和人口变化制定适当的保护制度的能力进行了激烈的争论。在拉丁美洲，对农田和牧场日益增加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。本研究比较了在蚊子走廊的两个联合国教科文组织生物圈保护区（洪都拉斯的里约热内卢Platano生物圈保护区和尼加拉瓜的BOSAWAS生物圈保护区）背景下当地土地利用制度的演变。虽然这两个保护区具有相似的人口和生态特征，但里约热内卢Platano的管理政策限制了居民对土地及其资源的权利。相比之下，BOSAWAS政策总体上加强了居民资源管理和土地保有权保障。这两个保护区都受到外来入侵的威胁。在每个保护区，社区一级的个案研究将确定当前的土地使用规范、居民对土地使用重大变化的看法和居民对保有权保障的看法。这些社区研究将与以前关于该区域土地使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参与进程的分析结合起来。卫星图像将用于分析森林覆盖变化与保护区政策和当地土地使用做法的关系。与保护区使用权相关的不同政策为研究当地社区如何应对农业扩张和测试使用权安全如何影响规则制定和执法活动提供了理想的环境。

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.