Doctoral Dissertation Research: Drought Resource Management and Pastoralist Livelihood Change: An Examination of the Social Dynamics Mediating Conservation Goals and Outcomes

有充分的证据表明，人类会影响他们的环境，而保护倡议可以对当地人民产生重大影响。不太了解保护倡议如何影响社会变化，以及这些社会变化如何反过来影响保护目标。在北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校地理系保罗·莱斯利教授的指导下，博士生布莱恩·米勒将进行一项研究，通过检查个人和机构对资源获取变化的反应，探索调节保护行动和结果的社会动态。河流、沼泽和高地是生活在干旱和半干旱生态系统中的牧民（牧民）的关键资源区，但公园和其他保护区的建立抑制了牧民对这些旱季/干旱资源的获取。可获得资源的这种变化对牧民的生计有相当大的影响，在撒哈拉以南非洲，他们的生计正越来越多地由耕种和雇佣劳动补充或取代。虽然牧民生计的变化有充分的记录，但很少有关于其与获得干旱资源的相互作用的研究。本研究将描述肯尼亚/坦桑尼亚边境地区干旱资源的可及性，资源可及性与马赛人生计决策之间的关系，以及当地资源管理机构对持续生计变化的反应。描述人类对资源可及性变化的反应将说明保护的社会后果以及这些影响的间接生态影响。本研究将采用混合方法，包括资源分布的地理空间分析、家庭调查数据分析以及与距离国家公园不同距离的社区成员的访谈。保护工作直接影响到牧民获得生计所需资源的途径。与此同时，牧民生计的持续变化可能会大大改变牧场生态系统，这些生态系统覆盖了地球陆地表面的很大一部分。这些变化有可能改变标志性保护区（如塞伦盖蒂国家公园）附近的景观，阻断野生动物迁徙通道，从而影响旅游经济的可行性。这项研究探讨了自然资源保护主义者和牧民面临的挑战是相互依赖的，解决这些挑战的办法也是相互依赖的。了解保护举措对当地土地使用的影响，对于制定管理战略，在保护区边界之外维持生态系统功能和资源可用性是必要的。此外，一些地区的牧民正逐渐被认为是宝贵的保护伙伴，需要确定可获得资源的模式，以便确立使用权，防止进一步剥夺土地和边缘化。最后，了解允许一些人留在畜牧部门的个人战略和集体资源管理机构，可能对牲畜牧民和保护主义者都有指导意义。

It is well documented that humans influence their environment, and that conservation initiatives can have substantial impacts on local people. Less well understood how conservation initiatives affect social changes, and how these social changes in turn impact conservation goals. Doctoral student Brian Miller, under the supervision of Professor Paul Leslie in the Department of Geography at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill will conduct a study that explores the social dynamics that mediate conservation actions and outcomes by examining the individual and institutional responses to changes in access to resources. Rivers, swamps, and highlands are key resource areas for livestock herders (pastoralists) living in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, but pastoralist access to these dry-season/drought resources is inhibited by the establishment of parks and other protected areas. Such changes in resource availability have considerable implications for pastoralists' livelihoods, which are increasingly being supplemented with, or replaced by, cultivation and wage labor in sub-Saharan Africa. Although livelihood change among pastoralists is well documented, there has been little study of its interactions with access to drought resources. This study will describe the accessibility of drought resources in the Kenya/Tanzania border region, the relationship between resource access and Maasai livelihood decisions, and the response of local resource management institutions to ongoing livelihood changes. Describing the human responses to changes in resource accessibility will illustrate the social consequences of conservation as well as the indirect ecological implications of these effects. This study will use a mixed methods approach that will entail geospatial analysis of resource distributions, household survey data analysis, and interviews with members of communities that are varying distances from a national park. Conservation efforts directly affect pastoralists' access to the resources they need to make a living. At the same time, ongoing pastoralist livelihood changes could substantially alter rangeland ecosystems, which cover a large portion of the earth's land surface. These changes have the potential to transform landscapes in the vicinity of iconic conservation areas (e.g., Serengeti National Park), block wildlife migration corridors, and thereby affect the viability of tourism economies. This study explores the idea that the challenges facing conservationists and pastoralists are mutually dependent, and so are the solutions for resolving them. Understanding the consequences of conservation initiatives for local land use is necessary for developing management strategies that sustain ecosystem function and resource availability beyond the boundaries of protected areas. Moreover, pastoralists in some regions are gaining recognition as valuable conservation partners, and identifying patterns of resource availability is needed in order to establish access rights that prevent further land dispossession and marginalization. Finally, learning about the individual strategies and the collective resource management institutions that have allowed some people to remain in the pastoral sector will likely be instructive for livestock herders and conservationists alike.