Mediation of tropical forest interests through empowerment to locals by means of ecological indicators

Globalization and global concerns for tropical moist forests have a strong impact on the ability of local, indigenous people who live either in or close to the forest and depend upon the quality of the ecosystem resources that the forest provides for the vital necessities of their daily life. This paper explores how tension between global and local interests arises. It investigates differences in the acquisition of knowledge about the forest ecosystem and suggests ways to mediate and negotiate between the interested parties. Catchment forest management at Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania is the reference case for this research. Methodologically, there are challenges connected to the different positions expressed in a 'locals - globals' discussion about forest ecosystem services and sustainability. Within this setting, the paper argues for an ecological mediation between locals and globals based on an actor-network and stakeholder approach. In the conclusion, the paper suggests a framework for ecological methods, where ecological semantics can be a mediator between nature (ecology) and culture (society) to evolve a common understanding for environmental sustainability and valuation of ecosystem services. From this, another framework for mediating ecological indicators is developed to keep the elements of local versus global interest, nature versus society and epistemology versus ontology together in one system. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.