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Institutionalizing cultural values– lessons &challenges of

integrating cultural values in protected areas management in

Uganda

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CULTURE – what it is

Culture

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Cultural Values

Cultural values are • commonly shared concepts about right, wrong,

possible or impossible, true or false and so on

Find expression in terms of • Cultural heritage, Traditional knowledge,

language, lifestyle, arts & crafts, aesthetic values, spiritual values.

• Unwritten unrecorded

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How these values are institutionalized

• Often informal or bestowed onto individual

• Believed and practiced on individual basis

• Enforcement based on individual no policing

• Punishment collectively undertaken and includes the ‘unseen’ consequences

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Cultural values and conservation

• Cultural values include meanings, practices, and behavioral patterns and shape attitudes

• Context-specific conservation, empathetic to communities and their values

• Partnership with communities can be better anchored by understanding and engaging with their values

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Protected Areas

• PA are seen as cornerstones of National & International biodiversity conservation strategies

• Designated based on their biodiversity values and subsequently economic benefits

• Have formal institutions with policies laws, guidelines, regulations and protocols

• People’s cultural values and interests forgotten or least understood

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Protected Areas

• Yet often such landscapes are culturally and spiritually significant to local populations

• Integration of intangible values of local people in PA management has been overlooked

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What are institutions

A set of rules governing cooperative human behavior. Term commonly applied to:

• customs and behavior patterns important to a society

• particular formal organizations of government and public service

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Formalizing cultural values; challenges

• Different parameters of defining ‘values’ – tested and proven versus ‘professional’ knowledge

• Biased balance of power – national/international interests versus local needs

• Failures in expressions and presentations – shy, powerless and hopeless

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Challenges continued

Lack of clearly defined boundaries of jurisdiction over the resource/cultural landscape.

Un-defined community/groups managing/using the resource.

Rules that are not locally appropriate or devised.

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Challenges Cotd… Unclear, un-recognised rights to resources and

rules about them. Those involved in resource use not taking part in

decision making about the resources.

Decision making taking place in offices that are inaccessible to resource users.

Lack of accountable monitoring and effective authority structures to meet expectations of the resources users.

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Learning from Case-study session

• Bring the culture question to bear upon the enquiries into community practices and associations with the landscape

• Thorough understanding of rules and norms that communities follow and its implications for conservation

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Learning Ctd…

Graduated sanctions should be devised for non-compliance with collective rules.

Conflict resolution mechanisms should be clear, accessible and rapid.

‘Nesting’ local values in decision-making allows multi-layered resources management in complex systems

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Learning Contd…

• Engage with traditional structuresHowever,• be aware of cultural politics, • ways by which communities could be asserting

their power, • perpetrating inequitable practices, etc. Encourage and practice:• Open and transparent deliberations• provide spaces for negotiation and collaboration,

not to intensify conflicts

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Addressing Challenges

• Understanding the concept, not a threat but a complimentary approach in the basket of other community based conservation approaches

• Have targeted communication strategy to make the approach accessible and understandable to a wide variety of stakeholders

• Anchor the approach in partnership with other institutions so that more organizations understand the approach and greater potential of it being effectively engaged with

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Addressing challenges Ctd.

• Requires rigorous field-level engagement to understand the nuances within and between stakeholders

• It is time-consuming process to deliver results but starting with acknowledging and understanding local values often is the key to effective, long-term engagement with communities

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Recommendations

• The approach calls for open, transparent and accountable systems for dialogue and negotiations.

• There is a need to think outside the ‘box’ – beyond PA boundaries and beyond the ‘enabling policy and legal framework

• Need for constant reviews with respect to the context

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Recommendations Ctd

• Explore policy spaces within which the approach can be institutionalized

• Possibility for advocacy through this approach, for inclusion of local communities and their values in PA governance

• Re-think how to include the cultural values in the planning and management ‘instruments’ of Protected areas i.e. laws, policies etc.