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The intertwined challenges of food insecurity, deforestation, and biodiversity loss remain perennial challenges in Ethiopia, despite increasing policy interventions. This thesis investigates smallholding farmers’ tree- and forest-based livelihoods and management practices, in the context of national development and conservation policies, and examines how these local management practices and policies transform the agriculture–forest mosaic landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia. The thesis is guided by a political ecology perspective, and focuses on an analytical framework of ecosystem services (ESs) and disservices (EDs). It uses a mixed research design with data from participatory field mapping, a tree ‘inventory’, interviews, focus group discussions, population censuses, and analysis of satellite images and aerial photos. The thesis presents four papers. Paper I investigates how smallholding farmers in an agriculture–forest mosaic landscape manage trees and forests in relation to a few selected ESs and EDs that they consider particularly beneficial or problematic. The farmers’ management practices were geared towards mitigating tree- and forest-related EDs such as wild mammal crop raiders, while at the same time augmenting ESs such as shaded coffee production, resulting in a restructuring of the agriculture–forest mosaic. Paper II builds further on the EDs introduced in paper I, to assess the effects of crop raids by forest-dwelling wild mammals on farmers’ livelihoods. The EDs of wild mammals and human–wildlife conflict are shown to constitute a problem that goes well beyond a narrow focus on yield loss. The paper illustrates the broader impacts of crop-raiding wild mammals on local agricultural and livelihood development (e.g. the effects on food security and children’s schooling), and how state forest and wildlife control and related conservation policy undermined farmers’ coping strategies. Paper III examines local forest-based livelihood sources and how smallholders’ access to forests is reduced by state transfer of forestland to private companies for coffee investment. This paper highlights how relatively small land areas appropriated for investment in relatively densely inhabited areas can harm the livelihoods of many farmers, and also negatively affect forest conservation. Paper IV investigates the patterns and drivers of forest cover change from 1958 to 2010. Between 1973 and 2010, 25% of the total forest was lost, and forest cover changes varied both spatially and temporally. State development and conservation policies spanning various political economies (feudal, socialist, and ‘free market-oriented’) directly or indirectly affected local ecosystem use, ecosystem management practices, and migration processes. These factors (policies, local practices, and migration) have thus together shaped the spatial patterns of forest cover change in the last 50 years. The thesis concludes that national development and conservation policies and the associated power relations and inequality have often undermined local livelihood security and forest conservation efforts. It also highlights how a conceptualization of a local ecosystem as a provider of both ESs and EDs can generate an understanding of local practices and decisions that shape development and conservation trajectories in mosaic landscapes. The thesis draws attention to the need to make development and conservation policies relevant and adaptable to local conditions as a means to promote local livelihood and food security, forest and biodiversity conservation, and ESs generated by agricultural mosaic landscapes. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: In press. Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

This exploratory research project explores the production and use, and subsequent closure and eviction of the community-designed and managed Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford – a predominantly working-class area in south-east London. This community garden played a key role in the lives of many local residents and its closure and subsequent demolition to make way for a large housing project drew a significant backlash from local residents which included protests, law-suits, and the occupation of the garden itself. Why this small, half-acre community garden garnered such a notable response is the main focus of and motivation for this research project. Using a combined-methods approach consisting of semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this research investigates what it was about Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden which resulted in this backlash, and why the local council’s decision to close it drew such a militant revolt from local community members. Combining the empirical results of this research with a deep inquiry into the concepts of space and power within urban theory, this thesis seeks to understand the rights working-class communities have to contribute to the production of public green space, and how such community-led contribution can impact on the space produced, both inside and outside the context of Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden and its former users.

A partir da Política Nacional de Meio Ambiente que instituiu a Avaliação de Impacto Ambiental e o Licenciamento Ambiental, e posteriormente, com os regulamentos das Resoluções CONAMA, a participação pública torna-se obrigatória na análise e tomada de decisão sobre a viabilidade ambiental de empreendimentos potencialmente poluidores ou de significativo impacto ambiental. O presente estudo problematiza o papel das Audiências Públicas no processo democrático de tomada de decisão, e como instrumento de proteção dos diferentes interesses envolvidos na construção de grandes empreendimentos de infraestrutura. O objetivo foi identificar e analisar os conflitos socioambientais evidenciados nas Audiências Públicas do projeto de ampliação do Porto de São Sebastião, localizado no litoral norte do Estado de São Paulo. Também buscou-se identificar os principais temas discutidos, os atores sociais envolvidos e a formação dos diferentes grupos de interesse. Utilizando o referencial teórico da ecologia política, pode-se definir a hipótese de que as Audiências Públicas não cumprem seu papel de proporcionar aos diversos segmentos sociais que atuam naquele território, com suas diferentes lógicas culturais, o acesso aos recursos naturais para a manutenção de seu modo de vida, e garantindo a sua sustentabilidade. A partir dos dados obtidos foi possível averiguar que embora as Audiências Públicas se configurem instrumentos democráticos, que se propõem ouvir as partes envolvidas, com seus anseios e preocupações, resultam apenas em um protocolo administrativo no processo de licenciamento ambiental, a serviço única e exclusivamente dos programas de desenvolvimento econômico em curso. Nesse sentido, se faz necessário repensar a instituição Audiência Pública, pois da forma como se evidencia, esta apenas legitima uma decisão já tomada a priori. Do contrário, cabe à sociedade civil organizada estar atenta e atuar de forma participativa, trazendo a si o protagonismo da história. Observou-se também que, para o caso do projeto de ampliação do porto de São Sebastião, os grupos em conflito se mostraram organizados, instruídos e capazes de ser articular politicamente para impedir, até o presente momento, que o processo de licenciamento ambiental seja conduzido sem observadas e legitimadas suas demandas. / After the Brazilian´s National Environmental Policy establishing the Environmental Impact Assessment and the Environmental Licensing, and later with the regulations of the CONAMA Resolutions\', public participation becomes mandatory in the analysis and decision-making on environmental viability of potentially polluting or significant environmental impact projects. This study discusses the role of public hearings in the democratic process of decision-making, and as an instrument of protection of the various interests involved in the construction of large infrastructure projects. The objective was to identify and analyze environmental conflicts evidenced in the hearings expansion project of the Public Port of San Sebastian, located on the northern coast of São Paulo. It also sought to identify the main topics discussed, the actors involved and the formation of different groups of interest. Using the theoretical framework of political ecology, one can define the hypothesis that public hearings do not fulfill their role of providing various social groups that operate in that territory with its different cultural logic, access to natural resources to maintain its way of life, and ensuring their sustainability. From the data obtained it was possible to ascertain that although public hearings to configure democratic instruments, that purport hear the parties involved, with their anxieties and concerns, results only in an administrative arrangement in the environmental licensing process, the only service exclusively of ongoing economic development programs. In this sense, it is necessary to rethink the institution Public Hearing because the way is evident, this only legitimizes a decision already taken a priori. Otherwise, it is up to civil society to be attentive and act in a participatory way, bringing them the role of history. It was also observed that, in the case of São Sebastião, the conflicting groups were organized, educated and able to be articulate politically to prevent, so far, that the licensing process is conducted without observed and legitimized their demands.

Este é um trabalho sobre a ecopolítica internacional das mudanças climáticas. Ele trata dos conflitos de interesses entre os Estados no que diz respeito a questões ambientais mais especificamente, no que diz respeito às alterações do clima terrestre. Nas últimas décadas e séculos o ser humano tem alterado a composição da atmosfera, fazendo com que o sistema climático se aqueça e se modifique. Portanto cabe ao ser humano entender o problema, avaliar suas conseqüências e desenvolver medidas de resposta. Para auxiliar nesses esforços na esfera internacional foi criado o IPCC, Painel Intergovernamental sobre Mudança do Clima. Sua função é dar as bases científicas necessárias para a tomada de decisões políticas que afetem o clima. Nesse sentido o IPCC está incumbido de tratar de questões relevantes para a política, sem no entanto interferir na tomada de decisões. Este estudo questiona justamente se o IPCC tem sido neutro como deveria ao expor os impactos das mudanças climáticas e ao apontar possíveis medidas de resposta. O recorte analítico selecionado para investigar essa questão é o Ecologismo dos Pobres, segundo o qual as sociedades humanas seriam marcadas pela desigualdade na distribuição dos benefícios e dos custos ambientais. Observando os relatórios do IPCC sob essa ótica foi possível encontrar indícios de que esse Painel talvez não seja tão neutro do ponto de vista político quanto afirma ser. Talvez ele não seja imune às disputas políticas entre os Estados. Como conseqüência o IPCC pode não ser a alternativa mais eficaz para responder às mudanças climáticas no âmbito internacional / This is a study about the international ecopolitics of climate change. It analyses the conflicts of interests among States concerning environmental questions more specifically, concerning changes in the planets climate. Over the last decades and centuries the human being has shifted the composition of the atmosphere, and the whole climatic system is being pushed to warming. For that reason human being is supposed to understand the problem, assess its consequences and develop answer measures. In the international arena the IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was created to help in such efforts. The Panels function is to provide the political decisions concerning the climate with the necessary scientific basis. In that sense IPCC is meant to take into account policy relevant questions, but with a policy neutral perspective. This study inquires into IPCCs neutrality when it presents the climate change impacts and when it points out eventual answer measures. The analytical approach selected to investigate this question is the Environmentalism of the Poor. This approach argues that human societies distribute unequally the environmental benefits and costs. From this point of view, analyzing the IPCC reports brings evidence that the Panel may be not so policy neutral as it announces. Maybe it is not immune to political disputes among States. As a result IPCC may be not the most efficient alternative to respond to climate change.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:21:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Arlindo Manuel Esteves Rodrigues.pdf: 2499519 bytes, checksum: 67fdd69ebdf86f19551f2e7071cea125 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-06 / The thesis develops a study on Ecosocialism, a current of thought and socio-environmental action, and is mainly aimed to analyze the progress and challenges of international ecosocialism, deeper political parties of France and Brazil. Therefore, the thesis presents at first, the motivations for the concrete actions of eco-socialism. It discusses how is developing the socio-environmental crisis and risks for humanity. It then sets the various forms of social and environmental proposals to address the crisis, their differences and similarities. Then, it presents in more detail the form of thought and action of ecosocialist current and how it is present in the French party politics. Ecosocialism in Brazilian party politics is analyzed from the aspects of its history and perspectives. The survey results show that, despite its limitations, namely the resistance of the traditional left and the low electoral performance, current ecosocialists in French and Brazilian party politics have grown in internal debates and may progress to increase their interaction with social movements mainly awakening in them the awareness of ecological aspects often already present in its patterns / A tese desenvolve um estudo sobre Ecossocialismo, uma corrente de pensamento e ação socioambiental, e tem como objetivo central analisar os avanços e os desafios do ecossocialismo internacional, com mais profundidade nos partidos políticos da França e do Brasil. Para tanto, a tese apresenta, de início, as motivações para as ações concretas do ecossocialismo. Discute-se como está se desenvolvendo a crise socioambiental e os seus riscos para a humanidade. Em seguida, expõe as diversas formas de propostas socioambientais para enfrentar a crise, suas divergências e convergências. Posteriormente, apresenta mais detalhadamente a forma de pensamento e ação da corrente ecossocialista e como ela está presente na política partidária francesa. O ecossocialismo na política partidária brasileira é analisado sob os aspectos de sua história e perspectivas. Os resultados da pesquisa demonstram que, apesar de apresentar limitações, quais sejam as resistências da esquerda tradicional e o baixo desempenho eleitoral, as correntes ecossocialistas na política partidária francesa e brasileira têm crescido nos debates internos e podem evoluir ao aumentar sua interação com os movimentos sociais, principalmente despertando neles a consciência dos aspectos ecológicos, muitas vezes, já presentes nas suas pautas

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:55:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Arlindo Manuel Esteves Rodrigues.pdf: 2499519 bytes, checksum: 67fdd69ebdf86f19551f2e7071cea125 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-06 / The thesis develops a study on Ecosocialism, a current of thought and socio-environmental action, and is mainly aimed to analyze the progress and challenges of international ecosocialism, deeper political parties of France and Brazil. Therefore, the thesis presents at first, the motivations for the concrete actions of eco-socialism. It discusses how is developing the socio-environmental crisis and risks for humanity. It then sets the various forms of social and environmental proposals to address the crisis, their differences and similarities. Then, it presents in more detail the form of thought and action of ecosocialist current and how it is present in the French party politics. Ecosocialism in Brazilian party politics is analyzed from the aspects of its history and perspectives. The survey results show that, despite its limitations, namely the resistance of the traditional left and the low electoral performance, current ecosocialists in French and Brazilian party politics have grown in internal debates and may progress to increase their interaction with social movements mainly awakening in them the awareness of ecological aspects often already present in its patterns / A tese desenvolve um estudo sobre Ecossocialismo, uma corrente de pensamento e ação socioambiental, e tem como objetivo central analisar os avanços e os desafios do ecossocialismo internacional, com mais profundidade nos partidos políticos da França e do Brasil. Para tanto, a tese apresenta, de início, as motivações para as ações concretas do ecossocialismo. Discute-se como está se desenvolvendo a crise socioambiental e os seus riscos para a humanidade. Em seguida, expõe as diversas formas de propostas socioambientais para enfrentar a crise, suas divergências e convergências. Posteriormente, apresenta mais detalhadamente a forma de pensamento e ação da corrente ecossocialista e como ela está presente na política partidária francesa. O ecossocialismo na política partidária brasileira é analisado sob os aspectos de sua história e perspectivas. Os resultados da pesquisa demonstram que, apesar de apresentar limitações, quais sejam as resistências da esquerda tradicional e o baixo desempenho eleitoral, as correntes ecossocialistas na política partidária francesa e brasileira têm crescido nos debates internos e podem evoluir ao aumentar sua interação com os movimentos sociais, principalmente despertando neles a consciência dos aspectos ecológicos, muitas vezes, já presentes nas suas pautas

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis critically analyses collective action processes and outcomes in Community Forestry through the concept of embeddedness. This research focuses on the questions of when people cooperate, how and why collective action emerges and evolves, and what leads or does not lead to equitable outcomes. The thesis makes a fundamental distinction between equality and equity. The research focuses specifically on the Nepalese experience with Community Forestry (CF), which is regarded as one of the most progressive CF programs being implemented in one of the poorest countries in the world. The thesis adopts an integrated research approach involving multiple actors, scales and methods with a focus on local level CF processes and forest users. This study considers the Forest Users Group (FUG) as a unit for analysis. Field work was conducted in three FUGs from the mid-hill region of Nepal over seven months between August 2001 and February 2002. The field research moves downwards to the household level and upward to the district, national and international level actors. It employs a combination of the process analysis and actor oriented approach and qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how CF is being driven, who is driving it and why CF is advancing in a certain direction. The study shows that the emergence, evolution and outcomes of collective action in CF are complex and varied due to specific and changing socio-cultural, economic, political and ecological contexts. Without understanding the complexities, in which peoples’ motivation and collective action are embedded, we cannot explain the emergence and evolution of collective action in CF. This thesis challenges the rational choice tradition and some key points of Common Property Regimes (CPR) theory and highlights the concept of embeddedness in participatory natural resource management. The thesis highlights the problem of decentralised CF policy and the forest bureaucracy. Decentralisation universally imposes a formal democratic system based on equality without acknowledging unequal societies. In Nepal, there has been little reorganisation of the forest bureaucracy. Despite being an international model for community forestry, in Nepal the existing bureaucracy has been unable or unwilling to transfer knowledge to forest users. The thesis concludes by stating the need to avoid the pitfalls of some democratic principles associated with standardisation and formalism. This means transforming bureaucratic norms and ideology. Context is central for the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. It must be further researched and applied in decision-making if CF is going to achieve its potential to improve the condition of forests and the welfare of rural people.

<p>The purpose of this study is to understand what impact courses in sustainable agriculture have had on small-scale farming women in Zambia, who have started using alternative techniques in their farming. Weather conditions, political issues and other circumstances in Zambia have made it difficult for people to grow enough crops to feed their families and gain extra money alternative methods are being promoted by organisations at all institutional levels, in order for people to survive. At Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre, east of the capital, Lusaka, sustainable methods in farming practices are taught to small-scale farmers. It is a qualitative study, accomplished within the field of Human Geography, and the theoretical frameworks that have been used are political ecology of sustainability, low-external input in sustainable agriculture, and gender and development. The qualitative methods used are in accordance to Rapid Rural Appraisal, where small-scale farming women have been interviewed on a semi-structural basis. Additionally, secondary data in the form of literature has been gathered and direct observations have been made in the field. Results show that the courses in sustainable agriculture have had an impact on the lives of participating small-scale farming women and that they are able to spread their knowledge to neighbouring small-scale farmers. It also shows that politics has a major influence on the daily life of the women.</p>

Based on field and archival research, Becoming Wilderness analyses the fluid constructs of game preservation and their affect within networks and landscapes to the west of Tarangire National Park, Northern Tanzania from the late 19th Century until the present. The initial query of this thesis is how and why Tarangire comes to be separated as different from its surrounding (on the map and within policy) and what this has entailed for what is ‘within’ and ‘outside’. This thesis is written to add to the understanding of how ‘one of Tanzania’s most spectacular wilderness areas’ was created, in order to problematize and deepen the understanding of the factual people/park conflicts and entanglements existing there today. Through a topological investigation, it shows Tarangire’s transformation from peripheral to central and the simultaneous transformation of peopled landscapes from central to borderlands. Based on interviews, focus groups and archival research the thesis firstly investigates the transformation of peopled landscapes to the west of Tarangire National Park. Secondly it analyses the alternations in the tsetse geography that has previously been claimed to be the root cause behind the creation of the park, pointing to the fluid and relational character of tsetse landscapes. Thirdly, this thesis queries the notion of an ‘imposition of wilderness’ and suggests that vast tracts of Tanzania’s protected areas have in fact gradually become wilderness within heterogeneous networks, rooting themselves in ways that are far more tricky to oppose than had they suddenly been imposed. As such it seeks to contribute to the understanding of the root causes of conservation vs. people conflicts existing today. / People Land and Time in Africa (PLATINA)