IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i22p12411-d675944.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biosphere Reserves in Lebanon: Rifts between Conservation Discourse and Practice

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Karam

    (Environment and Sustainable Development Unit, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon)

  • Giuliano Martiniello

    (Political Science and Political Economy at Sciences Po Rabat, Universite’ Internationale de Rabat, Rabat 11103, Morocco
    Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon)

  • Ali Chalak

    (Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon)

  • Mounir Abi-Said

    (L2GE, Life and Earth Sciences Department, Faculty of Sciences II, Lebanese University, Jdeideh 90656, Lebanon)

  • Shadi Kamal Hamadeh

    (Environment and Sustainable Development Unit, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon)

Abstract

Protected areas (PA), especially biosphere reserves (BR), are considered effective instruments for nature conservation and rural development. However, their impact on rural communities constitutes the most controversial debate in conservation policy and practice. This study aims to reveal the perceptions of local communities towards conservation, the extent of the inclusion of local communities in the establishment and management of a BR and the impact of BRs on local livelihoods by exploring a case study while reflecting on major debates in the conservation and rural development paradigms. Mixed research methods focusing on qualitative methodology are used. By exploring a BR in Lebanon, this research highlights how the allocation and management of the BRs have not always reflected participatory, sustainable and community-based approaches. This study stresses the importance of the locals’ engagement in the whole conservation process. By putting people, their needs and perceptions at the center of decision-making, conservation agencies would shift the main objective of BRs from conservation to poverty reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Karam & Giuliano Martiniello & Ali Chalak & Mounir Abi-Said & Shadi Kamal Hamadeh, 2021. "Biosphere Reserves in Lebanon: Rifts between Conservation Discourse and Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12411-:d:675944
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12411/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12411/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Coria, Jessica & Calfucura, Enrique, 2012. "Ecotourism and the development of indigenous communities: The good, the bad, and the ugly," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 47-55.
    2. Pretty, Jules & Ward, Hugh, 2001. "Social Capital and the Environment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 209-227, February.
    3. Michael Chappell & Liliana LaValle, 2011. "Food security and biodiversity: can we have both? An agroecological analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(1), pages 3-26, February.
    4. Vedeld, Paul & Jumane, Abdallah & Wapalila, Gloria & Songorwa, Alexander, 2012. "Protected areas, poverty and conflicts," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 20-31.
    5. Agarwal, Bina, 2001. "Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry, and Gender: An Analysis for South Asia and a Conceptual Framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1623-1648, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Classen, Lauren & Humphries, Sally & FitzSimons, John & Kaaria, Susan & Jiménez, José & Sierra, Fredy & Gallardo, Omar, 2008. "Opening Participatory Spaces for the Most Marginal: Learning from Collective Action in the Honduran Hillsides," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2402-2420, November.
    2. Catherine Ragasa & Jennifer Golan, 2014. "The role of rural producer organizations for agricultural service provision in fragile states," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(5), pages 537-553, September.
    3. Dave, Radhika & Tompkins, Emma L. & Schreckenberg, Kate, 2017. "Forest ecosystem services derived by smallholder farmers in northwestern Madagascar: Storm hazard mitigation and participation in forest management," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 72-82.
    4. Yaw Boakye Agyeman & Augustine Oti Yeboah & Enoch Ashie, 2019. "Protected areas and poverty reduction: The role of ecotourism livelihood in local communities in Ghana," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1), pages 73-91, January.
    5. Moslem Ghasemi & Mojtaba Javdan & Simin Tavalaee & Zohreh Charipour, 2024. "Local drivers in community-based tourism development: an analytical study of Bonlar village, Iran," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 27057-27081, October.
    6. Ishihara, Hiroe & Pascual, Unai, 2009. "Social capital in community level environmental governance: A critique," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1549-1562, March.
    7. Gotschi, Elisabeth, 2007. "The "Wrong" Gender? Distribution of Social Capital in Groups of Smallholder Farmers in Búzi District, Mozambique," Discussion Papers DP-26-2007, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute for Sustainable Economic Development.
    8. Fábio T. F. Silva & Alexandre Szklo & Amanda Vinhoza & Ana Célia Nogueira & André F. P. Lucena & Antônio Marcos Mendonça & Camilla Marcolino & Felipe Nunes & Francielle M. Carvalho & Isabela Tagomori , 2022. "Inter-sectoral prioritization of climate technologies: insights from a Technology Needs Assessment for mitigation in Brazil," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 27(7), pages 1-39, October.
    9. Lauren Pandolfelli & Ruth Meinzen-Dick & Stephan Dohrn, 2008. "Gender and collective action: motivations, effectiveness and impact," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 1-11.
    10. Sergio Currarini & Carmen Marchiori & Alessandro Tavoni, 2016. "Network Economics and the Environment: Insights and Perspectives," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(1), pages 159-189, September.
    11. Nazifa Rafa & Samiha Nuzhat & Sayed Mohammad Nazim Uddin & Mukesh Gupta & Rahul Rakshit, 2021. "Ecotourism as a Forest Conservation Tool: An NDVI Analysis of the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Ecopark in Chattogram, Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-22, November.
    12. Hannah Romanowski & Lauren Blake, 2023. "Neonicotinoid seed treatment on sugar beet in England: a qualitative analysis of the controversy, existing policy and viability of alternatives," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 13(3), pages 453-472, September.
    13. Crespo, Joan & Réquier-Desjardins, Denis & Vicente, Jérôme, 2014. "Why can collective action fail in Local Agri-food Systems? A social network analysis of cheese producers in Aculco, Mexico," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 165-177.
    14. Arsovski Slobodan & Kwiatkowski Michał & Lewandowska Aleksandra & Peshevska Dimitrinka Jordanova & Sofeska Emilija & Dymitrow Mirek, 2018. "Can urban environmental problems be overcome? The case of Skopje–world’s most polluted city," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 40(40), pages 17-39, June.
    15. Imen Turki Abdelhedi & Sonia Zouari Zouari, 2020. "Agriculture and Food Security in North Africa: a Theoretical and Empirical Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(1), pages 193-210, March.
    16. Tobias Böhmelt & Jürg Vollenweider, 2015. "Information flows and social capital through linkages: the effectiveness of the CLRTAP network," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 105-123, May.
    17. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:3:y:2007:i:68:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Pandit, Ram & Bevilacqua, Eddie, 2011. "Forest users and environmental impacts of community forestry in the hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 345-352, June.
    19. Alkire, Sabina & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes & Seymour, Greg & Vaz, Ana, 2013. "The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 71-91.
    20. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2006. "Environmental Morale and Motivation," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-17, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    21. Paul L. G. Vlek & Asia Khamzina & Hossein Azadi & Anik Bhaduri & Luna Bharati & Ademola Braimoh & Christopher Martius & Terry Sunderland & Fatemeh Taheri, 2017. "Trade-Offs in Multi-Purpose Land Use under Land Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12411-:d:675944. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.