Doctoral Dissertation Research: Micro-level Decision Making and Macro-level Policies in the Management of Natural Resources

在包括美国在内的世界许多地区，砍伐森林和森林碎片化的情况有增无减。这导致流域退化，生物多样性减少，生态系统服务丧失。此前的研究发现，农业前沿的扩张是这一进程的主要驱动力，当地小农往往受到指责。对此，政府机构和非政府组织经常将农林业作为一种“可持续发展”战略加以推广，以打击砍伐森林，同时改善农民的生计。不幸的是，这些项目往往不成功。这项由该奖项资助的研究的目标是了解其中的原因。到目前为止的证据表明，问题可能存在于局外人的指令性想法与当地人对如何管理森林、田地和资源的理解之间的冲突，这将是本次调查的重点。德克萨斯农业和矿业大学博士生凯瑟琳·戴维斯将在阿曼达·斯特龙扎博士的指导下，重点研究巴拿马圣玛丽亚河分水岭和圣达菲国家公园缓冲区的农林项目。她之所以选择这些地点，是因为在巴拿马相对较小的地区，许多机构正在推动面向小农的农林项目，这使得可以在受控框架内进行比较抽样。农林复合行动的推动者包括巴拿马政府的国家环境管理局、国家机构和几个非政府组织。戴维斯将采用混合方法收集数据，包括：半结构化访谈、参与性地图绘制和参与者观察。这些数据将使她能够比较农民、非政府组织和政府工作人员在农林业、农民协会以及农林和森林保护之间的关系方面的观点和做法。通过将微观层面的农民自然资源管理和生计决策与宏观项目和农林话语联系起来，这项研究的结果将帮助社会科学家更好地确定在改善当地居民生计的同时，成功管理自然资源以实现全民保护成果的关键因素。这些发现将推广到美国的多个地点，那里的小规模农业和自然资源管理经常发生冲突。

Deforestation and forest fragmentation continue unabated in many parts of the world, including the United States. This has led to the degradation of watersheds, reduction in bio-diversity, and the loss of ecosystem services. Previous research has found that the expansion of the agricultural frontier is a prime driver of this process and frequently local smallholder farmers are blamed. In response, Government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) often promote agroforestry as a "sustainable development" strategy for combating deforestation while improving farmer livelihoods. Unfortunately, these projects frequently are not successful. The goal of the research funded by this award is to understand why. Evidence to date suggests that the problem may lie in a clash between prescriptive ideas from outsiders and local understandings of how forests, fields, and resources should be managed, which will be the focus of this investigation.Texas Agriculture and Mining University doctoral student, Katherine Davis, under the direction of Dr. Amanda Stronza, will target her research on agroforestry projects in the Santa Maria River watershed and the Santa Fe National Park buffer zone in Panama. She chose these sites because in the relatively small area of Panama, numerous agencies are promoting agroforestry projects for smallholder farmers, which allows comparative sampling in a controlled framework. Agroforestry promoters include the Panamanian government's National Environmental Authority, national institutions, and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Davis will gather data with a mixed-methods strategy, including: semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping, and participant observation. These data will allow her to compare the views and practices of farmers, NGOs, and government staff in regard to agroforestry, farmer associations, and the relationship between agroforestry and forest conservation. By linking micro-level farmer natural resource management and livelihood decisions with macro-level projects and agroforestry discourse, findings from this research will help social scientists better identify the key factors involved in successfully managing natural resources for conservation outcomes for all while improving livelihoods of local residents. These findings will be generalizable to multiple sites in the United States where small-scale farming and natural resource management frequently come into conflict.