Doctoral Dissertation Research: Land Use and Land Access Patterns Among the Achuar of the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Role of Market Integration and Shifting Institutions

世界各地的土著人民随着融入区域市场，其生产系统正在经历重大变化。经验证据表明，在一些情况下，土著群体迅速转向面向市场的土地使用，在其他情况下，这些群体即使在长期融合之后也遵循其特有的轨迹。对这些模式的理论解释主要是通过社会关系和不对称的权力条件来约束当地土地利用决策的结构性因素，或者是旨在实现效率最大化的决策动态。然而，在将结构性制约因素与行为过程联系起来方面仍然存在差距，因为它们影响着土著领地的土地利用和土地覆盖模式。 这项研究的目的是通过调查基于身份的社会关系和地方权力系统如何影响土著领地的地方决策，在研究土地使用和土地覆盖模式时将机构和结构联系起来。以下问题将得到解决1）如何管理获得土地，劳动力和森林资源的制度机制塑造土地利用决策在地方一级？2)融入区域市场对这些准入机制和现有的土地使用模式有何影响？这些问题将利用来自阿丘阿尔人的资料来回答，阿丘阿尔人是厄瓜多尔亚马逊河南部的一个土著群体，正处于市场一体化进程的早期阶段。将分别在社区和家庭一级采用重点小组和半结构化访谈的方法，以确定规范获得服务的正式和非正式体制安排的特点。此外，将与在研究区工作的外部行为者进行访谈，将他们的保护和发展干预措施的议程与当地土地利用实践联系起来。此外，将结合使用参与性绘图和对高分辨率（2.4米）QuickBird卫星图像的判读，对家庭一级土地利用和土地覆盖模式的近期轨迹进行量化。将指定统计模式，解释不同土地使用类型下的面积变化，作为一套独立变量的函数，假设这些变量影响家庭一级的决策过程。与准入条例有关的信息将被用来推断驱动所观察到的土地使用和土地覆盖模式的社会进程。预计最近家庭一级土地使用模式的变化反映了地方行为者之间基于身份和权力的谈判进程，反映了传统机构和新机构之间的紧张关系，并最终改变了边缘和强大行为者之间的权力平衡，这项研究将有助于增强厄瓜多尔亚马逊地区代表性不足的土著群体的能力。该项目的成果将有助于了解，在机构不断变化和权力动态不断变化的背景下，地方行为体相互作用时，如何作出有关资源使用的决定。这些信息将与社区分享，社区可利用这些信息维护其获取权，并确定当地的发展优先事项。此外，这项研究还有助于查明在以市场为导向的土地使用方面遇到成本或利益分配不公平的具体群体（如妇女、年轻家庭）。从政策角度来看，对这种变化机制的分析将提供指导方针，以确定针对当地社会经济边缘化和环境退化进程的发展和保护干预措施的目标。作为博士论文改进奖，该项目将使一个有前途的学生发展强大和独立的职业生涯。

Indigenous peoples around the world are experiencing important changes in their production systems as they become integrated into regional markets. The empirical evidence shows cases where indigenous groups have converged rapidly to market-oriented land uses and other cases where these groups have followed characteristic trajectories even after long term integration. Theoretical explanations of these patterns have given predominance to either structural factors that constraint local land use decisions through social relations and asymmetric conditions of power, or decision making dynamics aimed at maximization of efficiency. However, a gap persists in linking structural constraints with behavioral processes as they influence land use and land cover patterns in indigenous territories. The purpose of this research is to link agency and structure in studying land-use and land-cover patterns by investigating how social relations based on identity and local systems of authority influence local decision making in indigenous territories. The following questions will be addressed 1) How do institutional mechanisms that regulate access to land, labor, and forest resources shape land use decision making at the local level? 2) How has the integration to regional markets influenced these access mechanisms and the existing patterns of land use? These questions will be answered using information from the Achuar, an indigenous group in the Southern Ecuadorian Amazon undergoing early stages in the process of market integration. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews at the community and household levels respectively will be used to characterize formal and informal institutional arrangements that regulate access. Additionally, interviews with external actors working in the study area will be conducted to link their agendas of conservation and development interventions to local land use practices. Furthermore, the recent trajectory of land use and land cover patterns at the household level will be quantified using a combination of participatory mapping and the interpretation of high-resolution (2.4 m) QuickBird satellite images. Statistical models will be specified to explain the variability of the area under different land use types as a function of a set of independent variables hypothesized to influence the decision-making process at the household level. The information related to access regulations will be used to infer the social processes driving the observed land-use and land-cover patterns. It is expected that recent changes in land use patterns at the household level reflect an underlying process of negotiation among local actors based on identity and authority reflecting tensions between traditional and new institutions, and ultimately shifting the balance of power between marginal and powerful actors.This study will contribute to the empowerment of an underrepresented indigenous group in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The results of this project will contribute to the understanding of how decisions regarding resource use are made when local actors interact in a context of changing institutions and shifting dynamics of power. This information will be shared with the communities and can be used by them to defend their access rights and to identify local priorities of development. Furthermore, this research can help to identify specific groups (e.g. women, young families) experiencing unfair allocation of cost or benefits associated with market-oriented land uses. From a policy perspective, the analysis of such mechanisms of change will provide guidelines to identify targets for development and conservation interventions aimed at local processes of socioeconomic marginalization and environmental degradation. As a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement award, this project will enable a promising student to develop a strong and independent career.