No description available.

No description available.

Yes / Extractive economies can use the natural resource dividend for infrastructure and sustainable development though this involves overcoming many challenges. The original contribution of this chapter is to see BRICS as natural resource rich economies that have not yet signed up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The paper reports original analysis of relationship between resource dependence and human development index for the period 1990 to 2015 which suggests that non-resource rich countries tend to have higher values of HDI than resource rich countries. Using in depth case studies of two countries that have joined EITI (namely Norway and Mongolia) and two emerging economies that have not joined the EITI (Botswana and Chile) and one of the BRICS (namely Brazil), this chapter highlights some of the successes and challenges in using the natural resource wealth to transform economic and social development outcomes. Governance indicators of these cases suggest that transparency initiatives can be helpful but they should be part of a larger programme of transparency and institutional development. The analysis highlights that the links between extractive economies, policies, institutions and human development outcomes are complex and require long term policies and commitments. Three specific policy issues for BRICS are identified. / UNDP, FCO

Previous research has not specified the puzzling occurrence of the low prevalence of natural resource management (NRM) in intrastate peace- and ceasefire agreements. The purpose of this thesis is to address this gap by applying the theoretical perspectives on high natural resource abundance. High natural resource abundance produces conditions for poor economic management, which may serve as a possible explanation of the low prevalence of NRM. The result of the study indicates a negative correlation between high natural resource abundance and an inclusion of NRM in intrastate peace- and ceasefire agreements. Thus, the hypothesis “If a high level of natural resource abundance exits, there is a lower probability of an inclusion of NRM in intrastate peace- and ceasefire agreements” is upheld. Since the assumptions of the theories do appear to hold, the thesis offers findings that further our understanding of the low prevalence of NRM in intrastate peace- and ceasefire agreements.

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Most rural communities in developing countries are involved in various natural resource exploitation programmes to improve their livelihood status. The main objectives of the research were to assess the contribution of fish conservation as a strategy towards improving the livelihood status of people in Maranda Ward 9 in Mwenezi, Zimbabwe, and to ascertain the challenges in fish conservation and access to fishing activities. In this research, a questionnaire, interviews, focus group discussions and observations were used to gather information. In the administration of the questionnaires on the village households, 80 households were used as research subjects drawn from a 10% sample size for each of the 10 villages. Purposive sampling was also used for selecting respondents for the interviews and focus group discussions. Secondary data sources used include data from the Parks and Wildlife Authority on recorded cases of fish poaching. The researcher discovered that the fish conservation project improved the livelihood status of the people. Food security was improved through supplementary purchases of food using money derived from the selling of fish. A decrease in school dropouts and improved income are some of the indicators of improved livelihood status of the people. However, there is still a need for continuous support to the programme from various external institutions such as universities, research institutions, financial institutions and Rural District Council. These institutions play a significant role in community development through educational support, training and development, financial support and in creating a favourable environment for economic development in rural areas. There is also a need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of all project activities to assess improvements in rural livelihoods and also compare the actual performance of the IGPs with the desired performance. The deviation makes a platform for corrective actions towards improving the lives of rural people

Social-ecological change has driven smallholder farmers throughout the world to employ a diverse array of adaptation strategies. Social, economic, and cultural factors along with environmental changes have been widely studied as determinants of adaptation decision-making. Increasingly, scholars are also examining the role of values in these decisions. Many have posited that adaptation to social-ecological change will necessitate tradeoffs of these values; however, little empirical work has been done to identify and examine these tradeoffs. In response to this gap, we first identify how farmers and fishers adapted to multiple social-ecological stressors in northwestern Pakistan. Second, we investigate how social-ecological factors, perceived changes, and perceived costs influence adaptation decision-making and adaptive capacity. Third, we examine the role of and tradeoffs between values in adaptation decision-making. Based on our findings, we posit that in addition to the identification of values, it is also necessary to examine values as they relate to one another, change over time, and are embedded in multi-scalar processes. This will allow us to more fully understand the factors that influence adaptation decisions and support more equitable strategies that align with stakeholders’ diverse values.

Thesis advisor: Geoffrey Sanzenbacher / Despite growing importance in the global economy, many of the countriees with large natural resource economies are among the poorest. In this paper, I first construct a theoretical model that provides a framework for the harm of natural resources on corruption levels and governance. Then, I construct what I call the Resource Volatility Index. This measures both a country's level of dependence on a category of resources and the price volatility of these resources themselves. Finally, I use Correlated Random Effects models to show that both average and year-varying levels of this index can explain the level of corruption and the quality of governance in a given country. The nagative impacts I find on both variables confirms previous economic theory on governments funded by natural resources. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics. / Discipline: Scholar of the College.

<p> Barren-ground caribou herds are part of social-ecological systems that are of critical importance to northern Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic, contributing to nutritional, cultural, and spiritual well being that are today undergoing significant changes. This dissertation uses multiple disciplinary lenses to understand the dynamics of these systems and to clarify methods for studying them. Chapter 1 focuses on a prediction of summer (June 1- August 31) mosquito activity and potential insect harassment of caribou in response to a changing climate. The Mosquito Activity Index (MAI) was based on daily ambient temperature and wind velocity obtained from the North American Regional Reanalysis dataset (NARR) from 1979 to 2009 for summer ranges of Alaska&rsquo;s four Arctic herds: Western Arctic Herd (WAH), Teshekpuk Caribou Herd (TCH), Central Arctic Herd (CAH), and Porcupine Caribou Herd (PCH). Mean MAI was lowest for TCH, followed by WAH and PCH and highest for CAH. Over 31 years there was an increasing trend in MAI that affected the summer habitat of TCH and PCH, but a decreasing trend for WAH. Intra-annual patterns in MAI among herds differed in peak MAI. Chapter 2 presents a novel method of participatory videography to document the knowledge and experiences of Caribou People. Ninety-nine interviews were videoed in six arctic communities of North America in the summer of 2008 as part of the International Polar Year. Chapter 3 presents &ldquo;Voices of Caribou People,&rdquo; a composite film of those interviewed, portraying the range of topics reported. Chapter 4 presents the results of an open-coding content analysis of a sample of 34 of the Voices Project interviews. Interviews described people&rsquo;s rich memories of the past, aspects of their traditional knowledge and practices, the changes they have observed, the challenges they face, and what they perceive as their needs to meet present and future challenges. A key finding of the analysis is that while the research community and funding agencies are highly focused on climate change, Caribou People expressed greater concern about their social, economic, and political challenges. Caribou people noted that more studies undertaken in full partnership with caribou user communities along with community authority in decision-making are needed to sustain their human-caribou systems.</p>

Given current environmental crises, many citizens have taken personal concern towards the issues and seek to become involved in the solutions. The integration of democracy and knowledge production plays an important role in this situation, in order to include the values and interests of citizens in the traditionally scientifically driven world of natural resource management. Public participation in natural resource management has manifested in a variety of ways given societal and environmental circumstances, as well as political legislation of nations. Emergent models bear many similarities and difference, which creates the opportunity to understand how models can learn from one another. This research studies two cases of public participation in natural resource management, with two different models of participation: Ontario, Canada with a primarily top-down participation model, and the communities around Lake Tämnaren, Sweden, with their bottom-up model. This research seeks to understand if the models of participation affect the outcomes of the projects and how democracy plays a role in the different models. To compare these two cases, interviews were conducted (12 participants in Canada and 6 participants in Sweden), along with field observations and document analysis. Results of the research indicate the models of participation have different challenges and advantages to once another, but the main obstacle in both scenarios relates to the support in terms of finances and resources available to the projects. The research concludes there is a need for bottom-up approaches to public participation in order to sustain deliberative democracy in the projects, but with top-down support there is much more immediate action taken towards solving issues at hand.

In Peru, the rapid expansion of extractive activities has led to increased mobilization by peasant communities. In remote rural areas, the mediating efforts of the state between communities and corporations are often weak, and corporations have played an important role in dealing with communities’ demands and protests through different strategies. These processes are illustrative of a broader trend in which private corporations engage in governance processes by assuming state-like functions in relation to citizens. This study investigates how communities’ mobilization and scope of influence is affected by their interactions with corporations. Based on interviews and written primary sources, the study provides a detailed empirical account of the multifaceted relations and negotiations between corporations and communities in the context of two macro-economically significant Peruvian mining projects – Rio Blanco and Las Bambas. In this way, the study contributes to the empirical and theoretical debates on the political role of corporations and the implications for social movements and democratic influence. The study shows that the presence of private corporations alters the conditions for mobilization by creating opportunities as well as constraints, with significant impact on mobilization structures and framing of demands. However, communities relate to those opportunities and constraints differently, depending on how state-society relations and other forms of private dynamics have played out historically at the subnational level.