Browsing by Subject "Konflikt"

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Capacity development of tribal forest dwellers through Participatory Forest Management in Bangladesh
(2018) Kabir, Khondokar Humayun; Knierim, Andrea
This thesis examines the Participatory Forest Management (PFM) approach in the micro-scale context of the Madhupur Sal forest in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, PFM has been the main policy instrument for managing natural forest areas in the last two decades. The present national forest policy in Bangladesh emphasizes the importance of the participation of different actors, especially forest dwellers, in forest management programs. The overall aim of PFM is to capacitate and to improve the livelihood conditions of forest dwellers through different forestry extension programs. Since its outset, many PFM programs have been conducted within the context of Madhupur Sal forest. Scientific studies have examined PFM contexts using a wide range of indicators, focusing on outcomes such as change in forest coverage, change in income level, poverty reduction and livelihood improvement to evaluate the impact of a PFM program. Few studies have also focused on institutional analysis and looked at formal and informal institutions and their role in natural resource management. According to scientific evidence, the impacts of PFM programs on livelihood and forest improvement remain contested. Despite the execution of different PFM programs over the last two decades in Madhupur Sal forest, the forest area reduced dramatically, the livelihood of forest dwellers became more vulnerable and forest dwellers engaged in conflicts with officials of the forest department (FD) concerning their rights. In the past, most studies considered that problem from the narrow perspective of a lack of ‘knowledge or empowerment’ of forest dwellers without systemic consideration of forest development agencies, and the roles of other actors in PFM. To date, there is still limited research which considers the capacity issue at the individual, organizational, and ‘enabling environment’ level. An improved understanding of the role of people’s capacity level is, however, vital to guide future PFM programs. Therefore, this study considers the PFM context from a holistic perspective that focuses not on forest dwellers but other actors within this system. Thus, the objectives of this study are: (1) to determine the changes in capacity level of participants in PFM programs and to explore the factors that influence changes in capacity level of forest dwellers, (2) to assess the role and performance of the pluralistic forest advisory systems, and (3) to explore the potential of a rights-based approach to create an enabling environment for collaborative action and cooperative conflict management. This thesis is composed of five chapters. The introductory chapter provides background information, the problem statement, the main research objectives, information about the study area and population, the theoretical embedding, and presents the outline of the thesis. The thesis combines qualitative and quantitative methods for collecting and analyzing data to deal with the three interrelated research objectives. The work on the first objective is based on a mixed methods approach (face-to-face survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and participatory observation). The second objective is pursued using qualitative methods (stakeholder analysis, semi-structured interviews, participatory workshops) while the third objective is followed employing a case study approach. In Chapter 2, a modified analytical framework is used to explore the assertion that capacity is the outcome of a process-oriented approach like PFM. This revised framework combines different components of social learning platforms with essential components derived from a capacity development framework developed by the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP). Key capacities include the capacity to navigate complexity, capacity to collaborate, capacity to learn and reflect, and capacity to engage in political and strategical processes. Changes in the capacity level of forest dwellers were investigated with regard to the PFM initiative ‘Re-vegetation of Madhupur Forests” (RMF). The findings show that this PFM approach has brought desired changes in different dimensions of capacity development, i.e., capacity to collaborate, capacity to learn and reflect, and capacity to engage in strategic and political processes. The initiative did not bring changes to the capacity to navigate complexity. Furthermore, the long-run engagement and a range of participatory activities with different development organizations increased the understanding of participants and kept them up-to-date about their rights in forest management. The results also reveal that the FD worked through existing social capital within the community and took initiatives like several group discussions and meetings with the tribal community and their leaders before the RMF program. This initiative resulted in a common consensus of the tribal forest dwellers and reduced conflicts between FD and tribal forest dwellers. Findings regarding factors that influence changes in the capacity level of forest dwellers reveal that extension services, credit support, trust within society, information and communication influence the level of capacities to adapt and respond to changes among the tribal forest dwellers. Chapter 3 presents the role and performance of a pluralistic forest advisory system, considering the influence and importance of advisory service providers for managing natural resources, their organizational characteristics, and their service quality. A stakeholder analysis was conducted to identify advisory organizations along with the dynamics of power relations with forest dwellers. A ‘best-fit’ framework was used to explore the characteristics and service quality of the existing organizations. The findings reveal that a range of organizations including public, private, and social organizations was working with tribal forest dwellers and followed the common objective of improving forest management and the livelihoods of the local forest dwellers. Also, a number of organizations involved in the provision of advisory services were still struggling with lack of capacities such as a limited number of advisors, lack of training facilities for the advisors and a lack of need-based technological contents. The findings further reveal that the FD had limited linkages and partnerships with other actors at the local level, despite being a central coordinating and executing agency for furthering forest policies and programs. At the same time, analysis of the organizational pluralism highlights that some NGOs worked for the livelihood improvement of forest dwellers by providing a range of technologies and information. Here, social organizations collaborated closely with forest dwellers and provided necessary information about the rights of forest dwellers. The overall assessment suggests that public sector organizations should take more proactive roles in integrating the important services of NGOs and other social organizations with forest dwellers within the pluralistic system. The study on exploring the potential of the rights-based approach to creating an enabling environment (chapter 4) reveal that neglecting rights of the forest dwellers before the initiation of RMF program led to ineffective policies and programs and subsequently to long-running conflicts. Different development programs implemented by the FD without any prior concern of tribal forest dwellers’ rights and interests, such as social forestry, eco-park and rubber garden establishment, became subject to conflicts. Results further revealed that several tribal forest dwellers died due to the clashes with the police when they steered the action of social movements for the sake of their rights. Tribal forest dwellers experienced top-down, non-cooperative, and even aggressive interventions from the FD which brought uncertainties into their daily lives. In contrast, participants of the RMF program reported that the FD initiated several meetings with tribal people and their leaders to know about their needs and expectations and engaged them in RMF program by offering several promises. During the execution of the RMF program, the FD contributed to welfare provisions like financial support, jobs, training, social forestry plots, healthcare cards, and similar offers. The results also reveal that the FD acknowledged different non-material issues like mutual respects, mobility in the forest, freedom to make decisions as a community forest worker, individual and social security, harassment-free life, access to information and regular communication between FD’s and forest dwellers. Based on the above findings, this study provides some recommendations for the future design and implementation of PFM in Bangladesh which are: (i) the government should integrate the rights-based approach in the policy development since this can transform long-run disputes into collaborative action; (ii) more attention needs to be paid by the FD for the establishment of coordinated advisory services with other advisory service providers; (iii) the importance and influence of social organizations to mobilize the tribal forest dwellers towards cooperation and action should not be overlooked by the FD; (iv) any participatory forest management intervention in the future should be designed in such a way that it implies changes in the capacity level of the forest-dependent people, (v) the FD should integrate other public sector organizations in the provision of advisory services for forest management, because they are providing a range of technologies and information and working closely with forest dwellers, and (vi) the Government should move away from ‘one-size-fits-all’ thinking to a ‘best fit’ thinking.
Conflicts of human land-use and conservation areas : the case of Asian elephants in rubber-dominated landscapes of Southeast Asia
(2017) Harich, Franziska K.; Treydte, Anna C.
Over the last decades, expanding rubber plantations in Southeast Asia have continuously diminished natural habitat, thereby increasing conflicts between human land-uses and nature conservation. The consequences are manifold, with short-term economic benefits for smallholder farmers and long-term costs for species diversity and ecosystem services (ESS). Sustainable wildlife populations are critical for ecosystem functioning but the ongoing habitat degradation and conflicts with people threaten the survival of larger mammal populations. This trend is particularly problematic if the respective species in decline are keystone species such as the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), which holds important ecological functions in maintaining tree diversity. Continuous land-use transformations increase the importance of conservation efforts for biodiversity within the agricultural matrix. The major aim of this thesis’ work was to analyze the potential of rubber-dominated landscapes in sustaining wild mammal populations while considering the risk of conflicts due to wildlife damage as well as the ecological importance of mammals. As a first step, the literature on wild mammals in rubber and oil palm plantations was analyzed to provide an overview on species diversity found in these systems. Our review showed that species richness was highly reduced in the plantations compared to the forest and that most species in the farms were rather visitors than residents. For a detailed assessment of species richness and presence in rubber plantations, transect and camera trap surveys were conducted in the farm-forest transition zone of the Tai Rom Yen National Park in southern Thailand. Furthermore, farmers were interviewed on the kind and extent of wildlife damage. With 35 recorded wildlife species, the forest was found to hold the highest diversity while more than 70% of these mammals were still found at the forest edge. However, a strong decline of species diversity and presence was observed in the farmland. Crop damage by wildlife affected 40% of all interviewed farmers. In 85% of all rubber damage incidents, young trees were affected, which had not yet been tapped. Elephants were most frequently named as damage causing species. Nevertheless, damage to rubber occurred only in half of the elephant visits, indicating that this crop species was not particularly attractive to wildlife. To account not only for the costs inflicted through elephant damage but also for the ecological benefits elephants provide, the potential of these megaherbivores for seed dispersal was assessed as a crucial ecological function in forest ecosystems. Feeding experiments with elephants were conducted and germination success of ingested and fresh control seeds of a tree species with characteristic mega-faunal syndrome fruits (Dillenia indica L.) was monitored. Seeds ingested by elephants showed a significantly higher and earlier likelihood for germination compared to control seeds. The exemplary tree species in our experiments did not solely depend on but benefited from elephant consumption for germination. This highlights the risks of long-term negative implications for certain tree species and entire ecosystems if elephant and other large mammal populations further decline. Biodiversity is an integral component of ecosystem functioning and the provisioning of services. However, a challenge in the evaluation of ESS is the allowance for the many facets of biodiversity assessments. We therefore developed a methodology for including multiple levels of species diversity into an ESS evaluation model. Diversity data of animal groups and plants derived from our data collections and from literature were normalized using the most diverse habitat as benchmark. Through this approach we obtained a comparable habitat suitability matrix for different land-use systems, which was then applied to different land-use scenarios. The outcomes confirmed that a conservation focused scenario scored higher habitat suitability for all species as well as for threatened ones compared to two other scenarios with no or limited conservation measures. Increasing conflicts between human land-use and nature conservation as a result of shrinking resources pose imminent risks for the diversity and resilience of ecosystems. This thesis provides an assessment of the current state of and conflicts with wildlife diversity in rubber-dominated landscapes surrounding protected areas. The results of this thesis can serve as a basis for the development of measures to consolidate farming and conservation interests. Although intensively managed plantations cannot substitute for natural forests, efforts are required to conserve multiple levels of biodiversity within the farming landscape. High species diversity will maintain ecosystem functions and services sustainably, which both human and wildlife communities rely on for their long-term persistence.
Konfliktkostenmanagement – Wirtschaftlichkeitskontrolle im Konflikt- und Kommunikationsmanagement
(2014) Audi, Manuel; Brettschneider, Frank
Conflict management is a method of limiting the negative effects of conflict while increasing the positive ones. Conflict cost management has not yet been considered as a major task of the conflict management process. The dissertation bridges this gap by developing a theoretical model which aims to ensure a systematical management of direct and indirect conflict costs. The conflict cost management model is being integrated into the conflict and communication management process. The model can be incorporated in the organizational management process as an independent approach to identify, measure and control conflict costs. Furthermore the model can be used to manage the profitability of different interventions aiming to prevent and/or to treat existing or potential conflicts.
Kooperation oder Konfrontation? Die Wirkung von Commitment, Empowerment, Emotion und Kritik in Verhandlung und Mediation
(2019) Hartmann-Piraudeau, Andrea; Brettschneider, Frank
The present work examines the effects of commitment, empowerment, anger, happiness and criticism by means of computer-based negotiation in the laboratory. In negotiation and mediation research, only a few experimental studies exist on the mechanisms of these conditions or interventions in a negotiation context with a mediator or a mediating third party. Usually, the results of experimental negotiation studies are based on classical two-party negotiations. With the research question of how the interventions of a mediator affect the negotiation process and the selected topics commitment, empowerment, emotions and criticism, a scientific contribution to the research of the effect of media-tion should be made. This is relevant because conflicts in society are less and less resolved by power. This development can be seen in different fields of social life In the first part of the work, mediation and negotiation are described as procedures for dealing with conflicts of interest and their similarities and differences are worked out. The state of research on the mechanisms of mediation in general and specifically on the research topics of Commitment, Empowerment, Emotions and Critique forms the theoretical basis of the work. Subsequently, the specific experimental conditions are discussed and the extent to which the negotiation situation in the laboratory can be transferred to the mediation context is worked out. 186 participants took part in the negotiation and were then questioned by questionnaire. The effects of the different test conditions on the willingness to cooperate, the agreement rate, the evaluation of the negotiating partner, the emotions experienced during the negotiation and the evaluation of the mediator were examined. The negotiating movements of the individual groups were compared against two reference groups and evaluated according to the principle of "match and mismatch" (Pruitt and Syna 1985; Benton et al. 1972). There were statistically significant differences between the experimental groups: All in all, those groups that were confronted with anger or criticism agreed faster. In the case of the condition "anger", concessions - analogous to previous attempts (without mediator) - can be seen as a strategic approach. The anger of the negotiating partner was evaluated by the test persons as an indication of their negotiating limits. In order to avoid an escalation or even a break, the participants reacted with concessions, even if they were not happy and felt negative. If the mediator criticised the course of the negotiations, a similar effect resulted: the participants in this group reached agreement more frequently than in other groups. However, the motivation for the concession was not based on strategic considerations, but on the uncertainty triggered by the mediators intervention, and was accompanied by strong negative emotions of its own, which were projected onto all participants. Below-average cooperative behaviour and below-average agreement rates indicate the experimental conditions of "confidence" and "empowerment". The difference between the two conditions lies above all in the emotion experienced and the assessment of the negotiating partner. If the test persons were given "confidence" by their negotiating partner, they reacted in an above-average good mood, little anxious and confident and found their negotiating partner sympathetic and cheerful. In the "Empowerment" group, the mediator induced his own encouraging comments. In addition to the restrained cooperation, these triggered a rather average emotional response, and the mediator was rated as "unhelpful". The analysis shows that the test persons interpreted the confidence of the negotiating partner analogously to the condition "anger" as a sign of his satisfaction with the progress of the negotiation. Accordingly, they saw no strategic necessity to show increased cooperation. In the empowerment of the mediator, the restraint is also based on the fact that the mediator as an external third party evaluates the progress positively. This is interpreted as an indication that there is no danger of escalation or abortion in the room and that the situation does not require increased concessions. However, the subjects were less positive in this condition and were more critical of the mediators intervention. There are indications that the test persons felt restricted in their self-determination. The test condition "Commitment" examines the effect on the demand of a written commitment of the test persons before the beginning of the negotiation. The agreement rate as well as the cooperation behaviour remained rather average. One conspicuous feature of the group analysed, however, is the high number of words used in the comments during the negotiation compared to the other groups. The request to write a first comment significantly increased the communicativeness in the course of the procedure and led to positive emotions among the test persons and an equally positive attribution of the negotiating partners. In addition to descriptive observation, data analysis and interpretation, recommendations for action in mediation practice were derived from the results for each group.