Participatory Research in Conservation and RuralLivelihoods: Doing Science Together starts from theunderstanding that all people create knowledge and that thecreation of sustainable livelihoods and of conditions that protectand sustain rural ecosystems are interrelated. Here local experts and professional researchers writeindependently about the participatory research processes throughwhich they created new knowledge together. They demonstrate thatinterdependent science can produce more accurate and locallyappropriate data, while frankly addressing persisting issues suchas unequal power, whose knowledge and what ways of knowing count,whose voice can be heard or appear in print, and other dilemmas ofthis practice. Conservation scientists and practitioners will bothbenefit from reading this book. First book to examine community participatory researchtechniques that focuses on conservation aims Unique book in that it is written from the perspective ofparticipating community volunteers and researching scientists Part of the prestigious Conservation Science and Practiceseries published in association with the Zoological Society ofLondon "Participatory Research in Conservation and RuralLivelihoods is brilliant, passionate, and inspiring..." Richa Nagar, University of Minnesota, co-author ofPlaying with Fire

Findings suggest that all farms, as part of a diversified livelihood strategy, maintained similar levels of native tree and fruit species and supported important watershed service functions. However, findings verify conditions of poverty among coffee farmer households and strong economic pressures to abandon shade coffee for high input monoculture crops (e.g., chayote squash and beans) with potential loss to ecosystem services across the region. To conserve ecosystem services at multiple scales, a coordinated effort to support shade coffee farmers who practice diverse, low input agroecological management was evaluated through market and non-market approaches. In order to promote more sustainable landscape management in the region, a set of policy recommendations was developed for improving livelihoods and environmental conservation over the long-term.

This handbook illustrates concepts, methods and tools for "primary environmental care", an approach that seeks to empower communities to meet basic needs while protecting the environment. In particular, it focuses on how population size, structure, growth (or decline) and movements relate to the quality of the environment and the quality of life. Emphasis is placed on a community-led process of participatory action research in which local knowledge and skills are fully utilized. A main purpose is to promote the effective, integrated management of environment and population dynamics for the benefit of local people. As a collection of tools for action, it is designed for professionals in conservation and natural resource management, development, population and public health who wish to promote and assist participatory action research in rural communities.

It has long been claimed that addressing biodiversity loss and other environmental problems demands a better understanding of the social dimensions of conservation; nevertheless, the active participation of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in conservation initiatives is still a challenging and somehow controversial issue. In this context, this book hopes to give voice to other perspectives related to biodiversity conservation beyond the “fortress conservation” model and emphasize one of the pillars of democracy – popular participation. It covers a wide range of environments and issues of special significance to the topic, such as the expansion of culturally constructed niches, protected areas and food security, community-based management, participatory agroforestry, productive restoration and biocultural conservation. The contents also explore the limitations and shortcomings of participatory practices in protected areas, the relationship between the global crisis of democracy and the decline of biocultural diversity, as well as present current discussions on policy frameworks and governance systems for effective participatory biodiversity conservation. In sum, this book provides a comprehensive and realistic perspective on the social dimensions of conservation based on a series of interrelated themes in participatory biodiversity conservation. The connections between biocultural conservation and the current political and economic environment are highlighted through the chapters and the book closes with a debate on ways to reconcile human welfare, environmental justice and biodiversity conservation.

Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development looks at the role of social institutions and the politics of policy, as well as issues of identity, gender and generation. The relationships between sustainability and livelihoods are examined, and livelihoods analysis situated within a wider political economy of environmental and agrarian change.