Pregledni rad

Developing Local Capacity for Participatory Management of Protected Areas: The Case of Tara National Park

Jelena Tomićević orcid.org/0000-0001-7905-5722 ; Faculty of Forestry, Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, Belgrade, Serbia
Marget A. Shannon ; The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, USA
Dijana Vuletić orcid.org/0000-0003-4631-7604 ; Hrvatski šumarski institut Jastrebarsko

Sažetak

In this study the focus is on the role of local communities in the management of protected areas with the expectation that without the coo peration and assistance of local communities achieving biodiversity conser vation in places where the land and resources are fundamental to supporting people’s livelihoods will be less successful than if the local people actively support this goal.
Management capacity in protected areas depends upon the system of go vernance, the level of resources and local community support. The key que stion of interest at the global level are whether the responsible authorities have the capacity to manage their protected areas effectively, and whether de sired outcomes are achieved on the ground. Measuring these dimensions is contextual; what is effective in one country or locale may be inappropriate in another. Thus, assessing management capacity is context specific.
The potential declaration of Tara National Park located in Serbia as a Biosphere Reserve necessitated research to characterize the institutional con text, the social and demographic situation of the communities within the Park boundaries. There is a growing recognition that the sustainable management of protected areas ultimately depends on the cooperation and support of the local people. In order to achieve sustainable conservation, state legislators and environmental planners should involve local people in the management of protected areas and need to identify and promote social processes that enable local communities to conserve and enhance biodiversity as a part of their live lihood system.
Drawing upon research in Tara National Park, this paper analyzes the po tential capacity of people living within Tara National Park to effectively parti cipate in the management of the protected area by incorporating activities that promote biodiversity within their everyday livelihood strategies. The re sults demonstrate that sustaining or providing alternative livelihood strate gies is necessary in order to halt the exploitation of protected areas by local people striving to survive.

Ključne riječi

Participatory management; protected areas; local community; livelihoods; communicative action

Hrčak ID:

60012

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/60012

Datum izdavanja:

31.10.2010.

Podaci na drugim jezicima: hrvatski

Posjeta: 1.406 *